Significance of Guidance ہدایت کی ضرورت اور اہمیت
We live in
this contemporary world where Human intellect seems to have reached its zenith
(but it is still evolving to further heights). This spike in the knowledge and
information boost people to deny the need of Divine Guidance. They say that
when people were in dark ages, they need some divine force to guide them but as
of now when we have explored many aspects of life, we are better equipped to
define our requirements and guide ourselves accordingly and hence the need to
divine Guidance is a thing of past and no more needed as of now.
Excerpts of
scientist rejecting Divine Guidance
One idea is
that, as humans evolved from small hunter-gatherer tribes into large agrarian
cultures, our ancestors needed to encourage cooperation and tolerance among
relative strangers. Religion then—along with the belief in a moralizing God—was
a cultural adaptation to these challenges.[6]
Richard
Dawkins, a University of Oxford biologist, said in a preview copy of ''Faith
and Reason.'' He found it baffling that some of his colleagues struggle to keep
God in the picture. ''I don't understand why they waste their time going into
this other stuff, which never has added anything to the storehouse of human
wisdom,'' he said, ''and I don't see that it ever will.'' [1]
According to
Richard Dawkins, "Not only is science corrosive to religion; religion is
corrosive to science. It teaches people to be satisfied with trivial,
supernatural non-explanations and blinds them to the wonderful real
explanations that we have within our grasp. 2
PZ Myers' view
is that all scientists should be atheists, and that science should never
accommodate any religious beliefs.[3]
Physicist Sean
M. Carroll claims that since religion makes claims that are supernatural, both
science and religion are incompatible.[4]
However, some
scientist believes that there are some facts which cannot be explained by science.
cosmologist Allan
Sandage, have found that their search for objective truth has led them to
questions that science cannot answer. ''The most amazing thing to me is
existence itself,'' Dr. Sandage said at the Berkeley conference. ''Why is there
something instead of nothing?'' This impenetrable mystery, he said, drove him
to become a believer. ''How is it that inanimate matter can organize itself to
contemplate itself? That's outside of any science I know.''[1]
These
believes has resulted in mass exodus of scientist from religion; A survey done
explain the mindset of general public and scientists with regards to Religion
& GOD.
Meaning
of Hidayah (Guidance)
Let’s try to
understand the meaning, importance and significance of Hidayah (Guidance).
He-D-Y ہ د ی ہُدًی (huda) basically
means to be prominent and light up ,
and to be in the forefront and to
lead others
ہَادِیَۃٌ
(haadiyah): raised rock which can be seen from afar at sea {T, M}.
Deen is based
on this basic fact that the human intellect cannot formulate the permanent
values nor reveal them and as a consequence cannot achieve required
self-development. These values are received from Allah and the guidance is
called the revelation (The Quran). The Quran was revealed to the Messenger
Muhammed and is a complete book of guidance i.e. what is required by mankind
for all times is within the book. Human intellect needs the Quran just as
the human’s eye needs the light of the sun (in order to see). If human life is
lived under the guidance of the Quran, then the present life on earth will
become a heavenly life. Otherwise, it will be chaotic and hellish and the
mutual conflicts will continue and will never get resolved. This guidance of
the Quran is called the guidance from God which takes man towards the balanced
way of life.
Meaning
of Allah’s Guidance
- · Showing the true path
- · Letting you walk the path
- · Helping you stay on the path till you reach the destination
Three
types of Allah’s Guidance
1. 1. To all Creatures: All Creature receive the Guidance from
Lord and keep praying and praising him in the way shown to them though we don’t
have thorough understanding of how they pray
تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ السَّمَاوَاتُ السَّبْعُ
وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ ۚ وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ
وَلَـٰكِن لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًا ﴿٤٤﴾
The seven heavens, the earth, and all that
is within them give glory to Him. There is nothing but gives glory to Him with
His praise, though you do not understand their hymns of praise. He is Most
Forbearing, Exceedingly Forgiving." (17:44)
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّـهَ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَن
فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالطَّيْرُ صَافَّاتٍ ۖ كُلٌّ قَدْ
عَلِمَ صَلَاتَهُ وَتَسْبِيحَهُ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ ﴿٤١﴾
Do you not observe that all those who are
in the heavens and the earth, and the birds with outspread wings, glorify
Allah? Each one knows the mode of its prayer and glorification, and Allah has
full knowledge of all they do. (24:41)
When Pharaoh
asked Moses about the lord and the guidance he replied:
قَالَ فَمَن رَّبُّكُمَا يَا مُوسَىٰ ﴿٤٩﴾ قَالَ
رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ ﴿٥٠﴾
Pharaoh said:" Moses! Who is the
Lord of the two of you?" (49) He said:
"Our Lord is He Who gave everything its form and then guided
it." (20:50)
2. 2. To All Mankind: Allah has sent the guidance to all
mankind in different forms وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ ﴿٧﴾ and every people has its
guide. (13:7)
3. 3. To all Believers: When Human submit oneself to the
obedience of lord then He guides him to success in both the worlds.
وَالَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْا زَادَهُمْ هُدًى
وَآتَاهُمْ تَقْوَاهُمْ ﴿١٧﴾
As for those who were led to the
Guidance, Allah increases them in their guidance and causes them to grow in
God-fearing. (17)
First
Human was a Prophet (Scholar)
Unlike science
which believe Humans are evolved from apes and monkeys, Quran says that the
first person on earth was a Prophet (Adam AS) who was sent from heaven with
clear guidance which if followed will remove all fears and sorrows.
قُلْنَا اهْبِطُوا مِنْهَا جَمِيعًا ۖ فَإِمَّا
يَأْتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّي هُدًى فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا
هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿٣٨﴾
We said, "Now go down, all of you
from here. Henceforth there shall come to you Guidance from Me now and again:
whoever will follow it shall have neither fear nor sorrow (38)
Quran says
Quran Says If
other nations after receiving the guidance reject it; then tell them that the
real guidance is from Allah which is based on pure Knowledge (not hypothetic
guess); they will not accept anything but their followership and will use all
the means to force their ideologies on the mankind.
وَلَن تَرْضَىٰ عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلَا
النَّصَارَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ ۗ قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّـهِ هُوَ
الْهُدَىٰ ۗ وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَاءَهُم بَعْدَ الَّذِي جَاءَكَ مِنَ
الْعِلْمِ ۙ مَا لَكَ مِنَ اللَّـهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ ﴿١٢٠﴾
2:120 The Jews and the Christians will
never be satisfied with you, O Muhammad, until you follow their way. Tell them
plainly, "The right way is shown by Allah." And if, after all the'
knowledge you have received, you were to yield to their desires, you shall find
neither any friend nor helper to protect you from Allah's wrath.
As against
it, the guidance devised by human beings is not guidance but waywardness
أُولَـٰئِكَ
الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَىٰ فَمَا رَبِحَت تِّجَارَتُهُمْ
وَمَا كَانُوا مُهْتَدِينَ
These are the people who have bartered away Guidance for error, but this is a profitless bargain that they have made, and they are not at all on the right way. (2:16). The experimentation of Socialism and capitalism is the most recent example where both failed to address the social and economical aspects of life and eventually collapsed in their own dens.
The world
kept on switching between one ism to another Monarchism to Feudalism to Socialism
to Capitalism to Liberalism to Consumerism to Globalism. and this search is
still on.
God
has admonished us that the path shown by Lord is the right path and all other
are wrong paths
اتَّبِعُوا مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا
مِن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ ۗ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿٣﴾
[O men!] Follow what has been revealed to
you from your Lord and follow no masters other than Him. Little are you
admonished. (3)
Choosing the right path is on our will
Allah Himself
has made the path bright and evident for humans. He has not created them so
that they follow only the right path automatically:
76:3 we have made the road evident for
him: he can either adopt it or reject it
اِنَّا هَدَیْنٰهُ السَّبِیْلَ اِمَّا شَاکِرًا وَّ اِمَّا کَفُوْرًا
Man can
traverse the right path only out of his own will. He cannot be forced by anyone
to traverse this path, because there is no coercion in Deen (2:256).
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ
الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ ۚ فَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِن بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ
بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَىٰ لَا انفِصَامَ لَهَا ۗ وَاللَّـهُ
سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٢٥٦﴾
There is no compulsion and coercion in
regard to religion. The right thing has been made distinct from the wrong
thing: now whoever rejects taghut and believes in Allah has taken a firm
support that never gives way. (2:256)
The word
guidance itself testifies to the fact that there is no coercion in this matter.
The way is shown only to those who want to undertake the journey to reach the
destination and want to avoid the difficulties of being misled. These people
are called muttaqeen. The Quran has called itself ہُدًی لِّلْمُتَّقِیْنَ (hudal lil muttaqeen) in this sense (2:2)
i.e. those who want to avoid the wrong
path, it is guidance for them to the right path.
Tawfeeq
Tawfeeq is
the gratitude of Allah in providing means and situations which leads a person
towards the truth. This is entirely the mercy of him and we should pray that
his tawfeeq remains with us till our last breath.
The
messengers came into this world with this Divine guidance, but they were
responsible only to make the people aware of this guidance, not to make the
people follow the right way.
(O Prophet), you cannot grant guidance to
whom you please. It is Allah Who guides those whom He will. He knows best who
are amenable to guidance. (28:56)
إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ
وَلَـٰكِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ
بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ ﴿٥٦﴾
In another
verse Allah says: O Prophet,
you are not responsible for their guidance; Allah Himself shows guidance to
anyone He pleases.
لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـٰكِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ
Failure
for those who reject Guidance
After receiving
the admonitions towards the guidance, Those who follow path of Devil will go
astray. Though they keep thinking themselves on the right path.
فَرِيقًا هَدَىٰ وَفَرِيقًا حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ
الضَّلَالَةُ ۗ إِنَّهُمُ اتَّخَذُوا الشَّيَاطِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ
وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ
A party He has
guided to the Right Way, and for another party straying is justly its due for
they have taken satans, rather than Allah, as their guardians, even though they
think that they are rightly-guided. (7:30)
A day of
Judgement is a certainity to resolve the struggle result between truth and
evil. Those who succeed on that day will have a blissful eternal life and those
who rejected the Guidance will have remorseful eternal life.
May Allah
help us all in following his Guidance and leave the world when our time comes
in a way where HE is pleased with us. Aameen
References
- https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/30/science/essay-science-and-religion-bridging-the-great-divide.html
- Richard Dawkins on militant atheism (transcript), TED talk, 2007 (page visited on 21 January 2015).
- "PZ Myers on how much science should accommodate religion". 18 October 2010.
- ^ Carroll, Sean (June 23, 2009). "Science
and Religion are Not Compatible". Sean Carroll Blog.
- https://cutt.ly/QjWt4ZZ
- https://cutt.ly/njWuanc
Quite impressive..
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