In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficial, The Most Merciful. Sincere Durood and Salaam on the Beloved Prophet Mohammad (SAW). May Allah give us strength to understand the purpose of our existence within this very identity of ours and to have faith in Him and His messenger Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Praise be to Allah, The Creator and the Rabb of the worlds (chapter 1: verse 1), whose promises are beyond doubt delivered (18:21), the path closest to Him is Islam (3:19). Among his revelations throughout ages, He has promised to protect (15:9) the everlasting and the best guidance – The holy Quran (17:9, 16:89). We are and should always be so thankful to Him that today we are followers of His religion- Islam, under His guidance- The Holy Quran.
For Him, our faith in Him and His Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is our only identity (4:13, 4:69, and 24:52). Our other attributes, like decent social life, love and respect towards other living beings, etc are all an integral part of our faith. Aren’t they? They all actually culminate in our faith (2:3).
Faith never needs proofs to justify itself. Faith is not bounded by wisdom and our judgment; it is rather the effect of our perspective. We don’t believe in Allah and His messenger just because they have proved themselves to be so. Neither do we observe fast in ramadhan just because it is proved that keeping fast is beneficial to health nor do we follow sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) just because it is scientifically proven to be beneficial to mankind and society. We do so only because we have submitted our belief, our faith, our love to the Truth! Still Truth, as it is the sunnah of Allah, always comes with signs and evidences which comes to surface time and again and speak for themselves to justify its presence. You just need to keep your heart open and Truth by itself will occupy it. Wisdom then bows to Truth as evidences logically justify its existence.
Humans understand better when explained with examples. Examples are simpler versions and analogous of the topic in question and are known to the learner. They help the learner to make faster neural connections of the latest learning facts and also act as continuous reminders because of their analogy with the fact in question. No wonder why Allah has used a zillion examples in Holy Quran and says we have made Quran easier to understand (12:2). So why don’t you use your wisdom and look around and learn. In this article I would be using examples from His creation to show you the reason of His creation – Man.
Verily, your friend is none other than Allah, His Prophet Mohammad (SAW) and the believers (5:55). Beginning with His name and His Prophet’s (SAW) guidance, in a series of articles, I would be putting light on some intricate facts which define our faith. It is of utmost important to keep in mind that Quran is not dependent on our understanding and faith to express and establish itself. It is The Truth which is bound to be established (17:81). It is indeed us and our faith that depends on our understanding of Quran. . If you have faith in Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (SAW), then Quran itself will guide you (17:9)
Have you ever wondered who are you? Why has Allah created this world and what am I born for? What is the reason for my every existence? Not asking this question or ignoring when encountered is like participating in a running race without knowing the purpose of the race, the goal you have to achieve, the rules you need to follow but still running just because you saw others running. This is the most fundamental question which answers the reason for existence hence the basis of our faith
FACT: Man is not a social animal. Neither is he just any creation nor a result of evolution. He is the epitome of creation. Every single creation of Allah is present in man.
FAITH: And surely we created you and GROOMED you (7:11). On the earth there is evidence of the Truth for those who have strong faith. There is also evidence of Truth within your own selves. Will you then not see (51:20, 21)
EXPLAINATION: Man created in the best mould (95:4), is actually the epitome of the universe. Every single entity in the universe can be exemplified in man!! As seed is the beginning as well as the culmination of a tree, man is the beginning and the culmination of the universe. In the beginning seed is not visible; it is developed through the action of branches, leaves and fruit. The purpose of branches, leaves, fruit and every part of the tree is to work only of the development of the seed. It is the culmination of the efforts and purposes of every part of the tree and it carries the entire tree within it. It completes the cycle of life. Similarly in this world man is the best and the last creation. Allah has not created any other species better than man. All other living beings make way for man, they’d surrendered to man. Allah has even asked angles to bow to man (17:61). He is the best i.e., you are the best. You culminate the purpose of His creation.
PROOF 1 (ATTRIBUTES): Looking at the behaviour and attributes of man shows the presence of all the animals in man. Every animal in this world has different behaviours and unique abilities. Like a horse will stand up to confront masses in war and is not hesitant to give its life for its owner. No other animal can jump into battlegrounds against battalions, guns, and tanks. Similarly, a dog is known for its loyalty and giving security. It can differentiate between its owner and strangers and will allow only the owner to enter the house and stops others from entering. No other animal like elephant, horse, donkey, monkey, etc can replace dog for the work of housekeeping. But man can like a dog do the job of housekeeping and like a horse can walk into battle field and give his life on the command of his commander. This shows all other animals are present in man.
PROOF 2 (SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR): In the animal kingdom we see animals who are loyal to only one partner throughout their life like sparrow, pigeon, dove, crow, tiger, lion, etc There are other animals as well who have more than one partner like duck, ox, sheep, horse, donkey, etc. But man can have both preferences. Some stick to only one partner all their life while others accept keeping more than one partner. Pigs have a peculiar mating behaviour which is not seen in any other animal. During mating one female pig is seen involved with many pigs at a given time. These pigs even help each other to express their desires. Same behaviour is also seen in some humans where shameless people are involved in such inhuman adulterous acts. In animal kingdom there are some animals that even fight for their partner. This type of compassion is seen in humans as well indicating the presence of behaviour of all animals in man.
Animals have specific breeding seasons like some animals breed only during night, while some during day, some in summer season while some in winter and others in spring but man is not bounded by any such restrictions. Man breed any time of the year, anytime of the day. This shows that man sums up the abilities and behaviours of all the animals in him and is the epitome of creation.
PROOF 3 (COMMUNICATION): Every animal has its own and unique way of communication and no animal copies other animal’s sounds. A sheep cannot neigh like a horse, a pigeon cannot bark like a dog. Donkey brays as it use to do in the past and would continue doing so in future. Centuries have passed by but donkeys still bray the same. The same is true for all other animals. In contrast to this man can make different sounds as and when he likes. He can make sounds of other animals. He can make sounds of a dog, tiger, elephant, etc this proves that entire creation is filled in him and he is the epitome of creation. This is the reason why his language is continuously changing and evolving. Sometime he can communicate in English, sometime in Persian, other time in Arabic, some other time in French, etc.; this is what Allah says in Quran then Adam learnt from his Lord words of inspiration (2:37).
PROOF 4 (EATING HABBITS): We are very much aware that a tiger will not eat grass and a cow cannot eat meat because they are not born to do so. They don’t have the system (teeth and enzymes) for eating the food of any other animal. In contrast to this a man is omnivorous he has the ability to digest both type of foods. Off the 32 teeth he has, 4 teeth are for cutting which resembles the teeth of carnivores and 28 teeth are for chewing resembling the teeth of herbivores. This proves that man is naturally created to eat both meat and vegetarian food with a ratio of one part of non-vegetarian to seven parts of vegetarian food. The reason for this specific ration is the distribution of teeth - 4 for eating meat and 28 for eating vegetarian. To be healthy man should also eat food according to this natural ratio. That is why Allah says in Quran eat and drink but do not be excessive (7:31).
PROOF 5 (POSTURE): human posture is in itself a unique superiority over other animals. Every creation has different posture and every animal have its specific movement. For example, trees and fire have a standing posture up straight, while quadrupeds and air have a lower bent posture. But man can stand tall like plants, bend and crawl like quadrupeds. He can even sit as rocks and hills are sitting on earth, he can also have a posture of prostration like water and crawling insects. Actually, he is created with all these abilities in him which shows he is the epitome and summation of the entire universe. All these postures are an integral part of a Muslim’s namaz – epitome of all types of prayers!! We will discuss about this in coming articles.
PROOF 6 (IDENTIFICATION): Every animal in this world has its own identification like some have stripes, while others are spotted, some have tails while others have horns, some have snout while others have trunk, etc but in contrast to it man has no distinct identification mark. He is in himself distinct enough to be identified as man – the master of all other creations.
Therefore, man being the master of all creations has a clear, distinct purpose than all other creations. Other creation is also not purposeless (21:16, 38:27). Their purpose is to serve man and fulfil his necessities and they are rightly doing so. Before we realize what is the purpose of our existence? We should know who we are? For us, the first and foremost important thing, as Islam teaches, is to become human. As an individual you have to represent yourself (the man in you – THE MUSLIM) not the millions of animals in you!! Unless you tame these animals in you by following the fundamentals of Islam, you cannot follow the righteous path, the path for which we ask Allah, in every rakaat of our namaz, to guide us (1:6).
In coming articles – man is the representative of Allah on earth, man culminates Allah’s creation, Islam is the religion of Allah, and Islam suits naturally to the instincts of man, and a lot more to come.
