It can be said that disbelievers will not be able to see the signs of Divine Mercy and His unlimited bounties on the Day of Judgment that shall be offered to the pious and the believing people. The infidels will not be able to see Paradise, its inmates and its bounties. They shall be blind from this aspect. In the same way they would be unable to hear the melodious songs of Paradise. They shall be deaf in this regard. (But when the Almighty desires, the inmates of Heaven and Hell shall, staying in their respective places be able to see each other through windows and exchange words.)
In gardens, they shall ask each other. About the guilty: What has brought you into hell? They shall say: We were not of those who prayed.[85]
Here it must be clarified that like the Muslims, unbelievers will also be questioned about Prayer and other obligatory acts. That is they should have become Muslims and performed these acts.
Just as the unbelievers fail to see success and truth in this world, in the Hereafter also their condition will be same. They shall be blind and deaf there too. On the Day of Judgment their blindness and deafness will be a kind of punishment upon them.
Perhaps you are wondering why I am emphasizing on this so much when the readers of this book and other books like this are Muslims? They are believers in the matter regarding the beginning of creation and Hereafter.
The fact is that the flood of infidelity has surrounded the Muslim society from all sides. Especially the new generation is in a precarious position. Using various propagandas the infidels are trying to remove faith from the hearts of young Muslims. Even if our young men remain Muslims they have scanty knowledge of religion and they have a very weak faith.
Muslims should plan a systematic propagation of their religion. Every one of us must try to assure that our young people are well versed in the articles of faith and do not go astray in matters of religion. They should be immune to the deceit of enemies. But O irreligiousness! What can you say about their deplorable attitude that they are not even prepared to listen to any advice? They are attracted towards something else!
Cure for the Denial of the Origin and Hereafter
The unbeliever is suffering from the disease of compounded ignorance when he says that there is no wise and powerful God, there is no Prophet to convey the message of God to the people and there is no need to reward good and punish evil. He doesn't even know that he is ignorant. He is a foolish person who considers himself intelligent. From the aspect of his inner being he is a blind man who considers himself of perfect sight, of perfect reason and liberal views. The only method to cure his folly is to make him aware of his ignorance so that he may correct himself.
Lack of knowledge is different from lack of realization that one lacks knowledge
He should be told that he does not know the truth. He has not recognized the Almighty. He has not understood the system of recompense in the Hereafter. Lack of knowledge doesn't mean that you close your eyes to any forthcoming information. Denial is justified when you are certain that there is no god.
If a person who is born blind says that sun does not exist he should be told that the fact is he has never seen a shining sun. He does not recognize it. He should say, 'I know nothing about the sun.'
Actually this stance of infidels is itself sufficient to defeat them. They are actually giving a proof of their double ignorance. One is that they are ignorant of reality - secondly they are ignorant of their ignorance.
Denying the sun is denying oneself. It seems the one who is denying is himself blind.[86]
The person who is denying faith must be told for example that, 'at present you are not certain that there is no God.' You are just making a conjecture. Doesn't your reason tell you that probably the believers are right and there is indeed a wise and a powerful God? And that reward and punishment are realities? And it is possible that what the Prophets had said was truth?
If he says that he is certain there is no God you can be sure he is lying. He doesn't want to be guided. Such a person should be left alone. But if he deals with justice and says truthfully: Yes! There is a possibility of the existence of God. It is not impossible. He must be told:
If you cannot find proof you cannot say that there is no proof
This is a rational principle. Failure to find a proof does not prove its non-existence. If one cannot find something one cannot say that, that particular thing does not exist. It is possible that one has not searched in a proper way. Such a person should say, “It may be there, but I could not find it.”
If the disbeliever confesses his ignorance you can say that there is a ray of hope. It is now possible for the light of faith to enter his heart. Now he has realized that he has doubt concerning this matter. He can remove this doubt by study and investigation. Based on human nature every person is hungry for knowledge, intelligence and success. If he realizes this hunger he would strive to remove the hunger of doubt and thirst of knowledge by certainty and knowledge.
He gradually achieves the status of Certain Knowledge (Ilmul Yaqeen), Eye of Certainty (Ainul Yaqeen) and Reality of Certainty (Haqqul Yaqeen). And finally he achieves the grade of human perfection. If Allah gives divine opportunity (Tawfeeq) he is not slothful in striving on this way. He tries to cross each obstacle and moves ahead. 'Ilmul Yaqeen' is complete knowledge of a thing, 'Ainul Yaqeen' implies seeing something with the inner eye and being certain of it and 'Haqqul Yaqeen' comes after this and it is the last stage. That is a certainty that is absolute.
O pampered one! Your doubt is a strange kind of doubt, which does not fly upto the garden of certainty. O Son! Every doubt is thirsty for certainty. It struggles to quench its thirst at least. And when it becomes knowledge it begins the search for certainty. Know that knowledge is always in search for certainty. And certainty desires the eye of certainty. When this is also acquired it becomes desirous of the reality of certainty.[87]
Difference in the Understanding capacity of Human beings and Animals
This is in fact, the difference between men and animals. Man is concerned about his conditions. He confesses his ignorance and doubt. Man is superior to animals in this matter. Animals are very simple minded. They remain unconcerned of their ignorance. They do not even know whether they are having any understanding or not. Whereas human beings have superior intelligence. It is known as compound intelligence in our terminology. A human being understands what he knows and what he is ignorant of, while animals have no desire to know more. Man is always in search of increasing his knowledge and intelligence.
Thus there is a difference between the understanding of animals and human beings. Human beings have a compound understanding. Secondly the perception of animals does not urge them to obtain more knowledge and increase their capabilities, while man does not want to have limited knowledge.
The above discussion tells us that if the deniers of truth do not become aware of their ignorance and do not take steps to remove it, they are like beasts. They do not have more intelligence than animals. Let us present some verses of Quran to support our assertion
And those who disbelieve enjoy themselves and eat as the beasts eat, and the fire is their abode.[88]
Neither are they aware that they are not enjoying the bounties of Allah, nor they recognize the creator of these bounties. They are not even concerned about the aim of the creation of these things and own creation.
Is as the likeness of the ass bearing books.[89]
The Jews were given the Torah but they did not act upon it.
So his parable is as the parable of the dog.[90]
It is always barking against truth in every condition. As far as his inner being is concerned, he is an animal. If the infidels become deceitful and start conspiring they become like Satans.
And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the Satans from among men and jinn.[91]
People who act like Satan will be raised with the Satan in the Hereafter.
Whatever we have discussed so far regarding the cure of disbelief, it is mentioned in the verses of Quran and the traditions of Ahlul Bayt. For example pay attention to the following verses:
And they say: There is nothing but our life in this world; we live and die and nothing destroys us but time, and they have no knowledge of that; they only conjecture.[92]
“We live and die” implies that “some of us live and some of us are born.” And the system of births and deaths goes on. It may also mean that “initially we are dead in the form of sperm and later we became alive.”
This verse has pointed out towards compounded ignorance. That is, in spite of their lack of knowledge they consider themselves knowledgeable and issue a denial. However, some disbelievers are not compounded ignorant. They are in simple ignorance. They are aware of their ignorance. Such disbelievers are mentioned in the following verses:
And when it was said, Surely the promise of Allah is true and as for the hour, there is no doubt about it, you said: We do not know what the hour is; we do not think (that it will come to pass) save a passing thought, and we are not at all sure.[93]
Nay, they reject that of which they have no comprehensive knowledge, and the final sequel of it has not yet come to them; even thus did those before them reject (the truth)[94]
Nay, their knowledge respecting the hereafter is slight and hasty; nay, they are in doubt about it; nay, they are quite blind to it.[95]
Say: Have you any knowledge with you so you should bring it forth to us? You only follow a conjecture and you only tell lies.[96]
That is, whatever they utter is based on their whims and fancies, and is absolutely false.
These verses indicate that we must inform such people who are in doubt and lack knowledge so that they can also learn the true facts.
Knowing Allah, the Prophet and the Hereafter are the most important matters for human beings. If we do not have faith in them we shall indeed be doomed to perdition. Even if one has a slight expectation that lack of belief will destroy him, he can as a precautionary measure bring faith in them. Reason dictates that one should take all possible precautions to avoid future risks. Even a slight chance of expected danger should oblige us to learn the articles of faith. Now the disbeliever has no other excuse.
The Holy Quran says,
Do not these think that they shall be raised again. For a mighty day?[97]
That is if they are not certain about it at least they can imagine it might be true. And reason says that even if there is a slightest chance of danger you must be careful and take every precaution to keep yourself safe. You must obtain recognition (Ma’arifat) even if you feel there is a slight risk in case you do not accept faith. Not only recognition, you must act upon all such things that can bring your doom if you omit them. For example one who cheats while selling (weighing short), shall have a severe chastisement.[98]
The style of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.)
An atheist named Abdul Malik came to Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.). The Imam said to him, “Do you know there are places on the earth and beneath it?”
“Yes”, he replied,
“Have you ever been below the earth?”
“No.”
“Do you know what is below the earth?”
“I don't know but I feel there is nothing below it.”
“Have you been to the sky?”
“No.”
Imam said, “When you have never been to the west or east and never traveled to the sky or below the earth, how can you say that they have no creator? You are denying without seeing it and saying there is nothing below the earth. When a sensible person is ignorant of something, does he deny its existence altogether?”
The atheist said, “No one spoke to me like you before.”
Imam asked, “Thus do you feel that there could be something below the earth?”
The atheist confesses his doubt and said, “It is possible.” When he confessed his doubt the Imam began to teach him. He taught him to ponder upon the perfect system of the universe and its gigantic proportions, the details of which are available in concerned books. Anyway, the person accepted faith and became a believer in Allah.
As you see, first the Imam made him aware of his ignorance. When he had come out of his compounded ignorance he was given further knowledge by Imam.
The Almighty Allah speaks of a Good Tree and the Evil Tree in the following verses of Surah Ibrahim:
Have you not considered how Allah sets forth a parable of a good word (being) like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven, Yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord? And Allah sets forth parables for men that they may be mindful. And the parable of an evil word is as an evil tree pulled up from the earth's surface; it has no stability.[99]
Leaves, Branches and Fruits of the Tree of Belief
If the light of belief illuminates the heart of a person, the tree of his faith gets branches. That is, he has faith on the prophets. Especially he has faith in the Last Prophet and also in the twelve successors of the Prophet. He believes in the Hereafter, Paradise and Hell.
The tree of belief has leaves too. That is charity, chastity, courage, justice, magnanimity, patience, Allah's satisfaction, reliance etc. Thus all the good qualities are the leaves of the tree of belief.
The tree of belief also bears fruits. The bounties of Allah continue to descend upon the believer. The tree continues to bloom and fructify. Its roots become stronger by the day. Increase in faith and action brings increase in divine rewards. Allah's proximity is gained. At last he is rewarded with Paradise where he shall reside forever.
The consequence of disbelief is that when a man enters the darkness of infidelity and polytheism he denies all the beliefs of prophethood, Wilayat (guardianship of Ahlul Bayt), Day of Judgment, reward, punishment and all true principles. Evil traits like greed, miserliness, jealousy, injustice, defalcation, and fornication take root in him and he begins to commit all these bad deeds.
Denials of true principles of belief are the branches of the tree of disbelief, bad morals are its leaves and depravity and divine retribution are its fruits.
Disbelief is a negative affair. It is due to absence of a factor. For example ignorance is due to lack of knowledge. That is why it has neither a root nor branches and no fruit is derived from it that could please one in the world or the Hereafter.
This discussion clearly shows that disbelief and belief are opposite of each other and are contradictory traits. One is knowledge, the other is ignorance. One is acceptance, the other is denial. One is good moral and the other is filled with vices. One is the basis of good deeds and the other leads to sinful acts. One is thankfulness of bounties and the other is thanklessness. One is contentment, the other is greed. One is charity, the other is miserliness. One is generosity, the other is jealousy. One is courage the other is cowardice.
The Believer does no evil, the Infidel does no good
According to our statement a believer cannot do anything but good and the unbeliever only commits evil. If someone says, “Some unbelievers also do good things and believers are also prone to do evil sometimes?”
The reply to this is as follow: The unbeliever never does something that is basically good. Even if he does a good work it is apparently good. If a disbeliever gives some amount in charity we must check if has obtained that money in a legitimate manner? Then we should see if he is spending it in consonance with Islamic Shariah and reason? Whether he is not squandering? Whether he is doing needless spending? ('Israaf' implies spending more than necessary and 'tabzeer' is totally needless expenditure. For example, spending in some prohibited act).
We should also see if he is doing it for Allah or for some other benefit? If he is doing it for profit, fame or show off it is not charity and it is certainly not a good deed.
For example the Meccans used to fill up their coffers from public funds and Islamic Treasury (Baitul Maal). Then they used to gift a hundred or two thousand gold coins to a poet who composed panegyrics in their praise. They never intended to do good. It was for gaining fame, popularity and consolidation of their thrones. Does it amount to be a good act?
If we suppose that an unbeliever has given charity as a gesture of kindness then the Almighty Allah gives increase in his wealth or removes some of his difficulty. Or He may reduce his punishment in the Hereafter. In brief we can say that the pure good deed of an unbeliever does not go waste. He certainly gets its recompense in this world or the Hereafter. For example it is well known about Hatim Tai that he would indeed be sent to Hell for his disbelief, but the Hell fire shall not burn him.
As far as the bad deeds of a believer are concerned, actually a believer never commits bad deeds. He never commits a sin while denying Allah and the accounting of the Day of Recompense. He happens to commit a sin by chance, due to the overpowering of selfish desires and satanic instigation. Then due to his belief he feels deep remorse for it. He repents and seeks forgiveness.
Yes, if a person commits a sin but does not regret it or seek divine forgiveness for the same, he can be called a Muslim but never a Believer. Belief has not entered his heart; it is just confined to verbal utterance.
The Almighty Allah says,
The dwellers of the desert say: We believe. Say: You do not believe but say, We submit; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts.[100]
We have already discussed the denial of the origin of creation and the Hereafter and also suggested the cure. Another kind of disbelief is the denial of the prophethood of the prophets. For example there is a religion called Brahmanism in India. They believe in God, but they say that human intellect is sufficient to seek the truth and salvation.
They should be told that they are denying the prophets. And this denial of theirs is itself contradicting their conscience and reason. You cannot say with certainty that the prophets spoke falsehood. You certainly think that it is possible that the news that the prophets gave regarding salvation and doom, recompense of good and bad deeds, information regarding the Hereafter etc, is all true. May be it is the reality. You do not intend to bear the responsibility of divine commandments.
You want to follow your carnal desires and remain unfettered without seeking the truth. Without making any investigation you deny the message of the prophets. (As we have proved in the preceding pages, to deny something without having certainty is foolishness).
Once the denier accepts that his denial is not justified we can present further arguments. We can then prove the correctness and necessity of the message of the prophets. Such arguments are presented in the books of scholastic theology (Ilmul Kalam).
The general arguments proving the need of prophets can be seen in Allamah Majlisi's books Haqqul Yaqeen and Kifayatul Muwahhedin. Let us see the following Quranic verse at this point:
And they do not assign to Allah the attributes due to Him when they say: Allah has not revealed anything to a mortal.[101]
Those who say that Allah has not sent any messenger have actually failed to recognize Allah. They do not recognize the God Who has given everything that man needs. Thus, is it possible that Allah acted miserly in the matter of sending the prophets? The greatest want of man is that someone makes him know the aim of his creation. That someone distinguishes for him the path of fortune and misfortune and also inform him of his future. Such guidance is needed more than anything else. It is more important than the need for fingernails and eyelashes!
The Almighty Allah has given man such capabilities that if he gets a proper guide and instructor he can excel in any field. He can learn the secrets of the material world and he can obtain knowledge of the unseen. He can get divine recognition and reach upto the level of Absolute Certainty (Haqqul Yaqeen). Then how can it be possible that God would disregard sending a teacher of divine laws? While the unending spring could benefit the human beings in this way?
Intellect in isolation is subdued by desires
Is it correct to say that intellect itself is sufficient? Every sensible person knows that his intellect is limited. The things regarding whom he is ignorant are limitless. He can discriminate between good and evil due to his animal desires. He cannot take a right decision due to habits, customs and blind following.
He can have mistaken notions and deny the truth. He begins to consider good as evil and evil as good. Man needs another life to obtain salvation. In order to correct the mistakes of this life he must know about his next life. But he does not know about this life. If the Almighty Allah does not convey the information regarding the next life through His prophet and if He does not teach man the way to attain salvation in the next life it would amount to be injustice on man. While God is pure of every type of injustice and deficiency.
In other words, just as the eye cannot see in darkness without an external source of light, in the same way man cannot distinguish good and evil on the basis of his intellect alone.
Denial of the Messengership of the Last Prophet
Like Jews and Christians, those who deny the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (S) are actually acting against their conscience and intellects. If they are just and do not follow others blindly or do not harbor unjustified malice, the following verse of Quran is sufficient for them:
And you did not recite before it any book, nor did you transcribe one with your right hand, for then could those who say untrue things have doubted.[102]
That is they began to say that the Quran contains things made up by himself or it is taken from other books.
It is a well-established historical fact that the Holy Prophet (S) did not receive traditional education in any school, neither did he have a human teacher. In the earlier part of his life he remained in Mecca and hardly went abroad. During this period he undertook two journeys to Sham (Syria).
One of it was during his boyhood when he accompanied his uncle, Abu Talib. The second one was when he was twenty-five years old and he went as a business representative of Khadijah. This time Maysara accompanied him. The life of the Holy Prophet (S) was an open book for the Meccans. It was known to all that he could neither read nor write. In these circumstances he brought a book from his Lord. And the book was such that it was based on complete information of divine recognition, the best morals, worship, business transactions, politics and civil administration etc.
Apart from this it also contained prophecies that were proved true later. From the aspect of eloquence and diction this book compelled the most eloquent nation to admit helplessness before it. Another thing is that from the beginning to the end there is no contradiction in this book. Thus a lot can be written on this topic. To learn about the miraculous aspect of Quran please refer to books of scholastic theology and Quranic exegesis, especially the first volume of Tafsir al-Mizan.
As far as the miracles of the Holy Prophet (S) are concerned, they are calculated to be more than four thousand. Regarding this subject please refer to the sixth volume of Biharul Anwar, Anisul Aalaam and Allamah Majlisi's Hayatul Quloob.[103]
Neither my beloved has been to a school nor he has learnt to write. He understood the whole problem with a solitary glance and become the teacher of thousands of schools.[104]
The twelve Imams: Amirul Momineen Ali (a.s.), Hasan, Husain, Ali Zainul Abideen, Muhammad Baqir, Ja'far Sadiq, Musa Kazim, Ali Ridha, Muhammad Taqi, Ali Naqi, Hasan Askari and Mahdi Sahibuzzaman are the true successors of Muhammad Mustafa.
The tyrant caliphs of Bani Umayyah and Bani Abbas compelled the people to deny the Imamate of these Imams because of jealousy and desire for temporal power. The cure for doubts regarding Imamate and Wilayat is that we study the books on this subject. For example in Arabic we have Sayyid Murtada'sSahifa, Sayyid Ibne Tawus' Taraif.
Similarly in Persian we have Kifayatul Muwahhedin. These books contain the traditions of Ahle Sunnat also. To remove doubts and misunderstanding, one can just say that both Shias and Sunnis have accepted the following tradition of the Holy Prophet (S). The Messenger of Allah (S) said, “I leave among you two weighty things, the book of Allah and my progeny. If you attach to them you shall never go astray.”
Sayyid Bahraini in Ghayatul Maram quotes the above traditionthrough 39 chains of Sunni narrators and 82 chains of Shia narrators.
In the same way there are other traditions also that are recorded in the Sunni as well as Shia sources from the Holy Prophet (S). These traditions even mention the names and special characteristics of the Holy Imams. They also contain the fact that the last of these Imams shall be Mahdi and that he would have a prolonged occultation.
There shall be large-scale mischief and corruption during this occultation. However, after he reappears he will fill the earth with justice and equity just as it had been filled with injustice and oppression.
More than a thousand traditions have been recorded on the subject of Imamate and Wilayat. Please refer to the bookGhayatul Maram regarding this.
[85] Surah Muddassir 74:40–43
[86] Persian Couplet.
[87] Persian Couplets.
[88] Surah Muhammad 47:12.
[89] Surah Jumah 62:5.
[90] Surah Araaf 7:176.
[91] Surah Anam 6:112.
[92] Surah Jathiya 45:24.
[93] Surah Jathiya 45:32.
[94] Surah Yunus 10:39.
[95] Surah Naml 27:66.
[96] Surah Anam 6:148.
[97] Surah Mutafaffefeen 83:4-5.
[98] Surah Mutafaffefeen 83:2.
[99] Surah Ibrahim 24–26.
[100] Surah Hujurat 49:14.
[101] Surah Anam 6:91.
[102] Surah Ankabut 29:48.
[103] Volume Two
[104] Persian Couplet.
source : Qalbe-Saleem, Immaculate Conscience by Ayatullah Sayyid Abdul Husain Dastghaib Shirazi
