The Necessity for sending the Messengers (Part 2)
a) The personal, social and spiritual perfection of man is one of the aims of creation.
b) Conscience alone is not enough for the true perfection of man.
c) Human ideologies cannot completely satisfy all the demands of men nature, and there is no guarantee for their implementation.
d) Prophets have been sent and their prophet hoods proved through miracles so that man distinguish the truth and no one can excuse his disobedience by saying that he could not find the truth.
Through these four points, we discover that the prophets are necessary for the perfection of man, and that they were sent to inform man of what he requires in the way of perfection, so that they may tread the path of happiness. One cannot imagine that the Wise God could leave man without instructions, laws and obligations, or that He could leave them in the hands of tyrants, so that they might become the victims of human desires and be prevented from reaching perfection.
Ibn Sina wrote in "ash-Shifa": More necessary for the continued existence of man and his essential perfection than even the growth of eyelashes and eyebrows and the concavity of the soles of the feet is the sending of prophets by Allah.
Thus, in arriving to the aim of creation and to spiritual and material perfection, God must have sent some people as messengers, as indeed we see that he has, so that they might guide people by the radiant torch of revelation.
A tradition is related by Hisham ibn al-Hakam that: Imam Jafar Sadiq (A.S), in answering an atheist who had enquired about the need for the sending of prophets, said: "When we have shown that there is a Creator Who fashioned us and Who is above us and all of His creation, and that this Creator is Wise and Elevated in the sense that He did not allow his creatures to see or touch Him, so that He might be together with them, and they might be together with Him, and that He might argue with them and they might argue with Him, then it becomes clear that He has emissaries in His creation so that they can speak from His Presence to His creatures and servants, and they might guide them to their advantage and benefit and to that in which is their continued existence and in the absence of which is their extinction. So it has become evident that there are some who command and prohibit on behalf of the Wise, the Knowing to His creation, and who speak from His Glorified Presence, and these are the prophets, and His chosen from among creation, wise and trained through wisdom, and raised in it.
They are apart from man in all their conditions - in spite of sharing with him in his form and fashioning - they are sustained in wisdom by the Wise, the Knowing. Then the above is evident in every epoch and era in which the messengers and prophets brought evidence and proofs so that the earth of Allah might not be deprived of a witness with whom there is a sign which refers to His Truthfulness and Righteousness." (Usul al-Kafi Kitab aI-Hujjah) of course, Divine plans are not conceived on only one level. Rather they guide us from all directions. Worship, government, justice, economy, power, individual and social duties, and also the general laws which govern individual problems. Many of these are the aims of religions and they enable man to perfect himself in all the three dimensions of his nature.
Again Divine plans do not restrict themselves to one class of society, but encompass all levels of society and uphold the rights of all people, so those who think that religion was invented by the ruling or wealthy class, and that it was invented in feudal and capitalist societies to serve the purposes of these societies are clearly wrong, because these people have not paid proper attention to the foundations of religion.
In addition to this, history bears witness that the upper and wealthy classes did not participate in the movements led by the prophets, and Divine religions always opposed the oppression and transgressions of feudalists and capitalists.
Leaders, scholars, the simple, the poor and others, all come to religion because only by its clear objectives can they satisfy the demands of their natures and emotions, and they realize that only religion can guide them to real perfection. This is the only reason why man turns to religion.
Fortunately, today, educated people are more that real peace and perfection can only be had in the shade of religion and belief.
After man has realized that he needs the guidance of prophets in order to reach an all-embracing happiness, and that he can only construct the glorious edifice of perfection through their instructions, he naturally feels affection for those teachers who work for his benefit and sacrifice their sinless souls for his advantage. Thus belief comes to reach such a degree that people do not spare themselves any hardship in order to advance the aims of the prophets, and they prefer the demands of the prophets to the demands of their own souls.
Reference: Roots of Religion
Written by: Dar Rahe Haq Institute Writing Board
Other links:
27th Rajab,The Beginning of the Prophetic Mission
Prophetic Mission of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Finality of Prophethood, Khatm an-Nubuwwah (Part 1)
Finality of Prophethood, Khatm an-Nubuwwah (Part 2)
