JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE
AS EXPOUNDED IN THE QUR`AN
(Excerpts Only)
By:
Shaykh
Fadhlalla Haeri
Chapter
3
Growth and
Sustenance
Life
and growth are inseparable. All physical realities are in dynamic
flux and all sentient systems – plants and animals – go through
a cycle of growth, maturity, and decline.
Man
grows in size and strength physically and usually materially,
intellectually, and spiritually. Physical growth generally precedes
the other aspects of growth. The gross seems to outdistance the
subtle but, in fact, heralds it. Man has no choice in achieving
physical growth and equilibrium, for he is driven by basic motives
to achieve it, such as hunger, thirst, the need to care for his
body, avoidance of pain, and so on.
Growth
in knowledge is spurred on by unsatisfactory interaction with the
environment and transgression of the bounds. Man soon learns not to
question gravitational or, indeed, any other natural physical force.
He learns how to enhance physical realities by applying his genius
in selective interactions. In chemistry he can bring about new
situations by bringing together certain amounts of materials,
sometimes in certain manners that do not commonly exist in nature.
The same thing applies to all other sciences.
Man
differs from all other animals in that he is driven, from birth to
death, to use his mind for both physical and spiritual purposes. He
is the only animal who has no natural body protection. Nature
stripped him of that advantage to enhance a much greater facility,
his intellect. Science was born when man began understanding the
relationship between cause and effect.
Soon
after the physical parts are brought under reasonable balance, man's
intellectual and spiritual capacities begin to grow and demand
satisfaction. Questions arise: what is the purpose of creation, its
beginning and end? Reflection upon these higher meanings is the
beginning of man's spiritual growth.
Allah
is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water
from the clouds, and brought forth with it fruits as a
sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to
you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command,
and He has made the rivers subservient to you.
And
He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing
their courses, and He has made subservient to you the night and
the day. (Ibrāhīm:32-33)
For
the subtle and timeless to be manifest, it has to be captured in a
form that exists within time. Everything to be found in creation –
water, vegetation – has been made available to man, and from it he
can derive physical sustenance. Even the seas and rivers have been
tamed so that he can roam the earth with ease. The sun and the moon,
which influence life on earth so much, have also been made for him.
From their interaction with earth, we have both night and day and
consequently the cycles of rest and work. All of these natural
systems of physical phenomena have been created to enable the human
system to come into existence, to survive, and to reach its full
potential.
The
hidden and unknown blessings include all those factors that keep
this creation stable and in balance. They are the intangible forces
that hold the fabric of this existence together and enable us to be
still and reflect.
Surely
We have made whatever is on the earth an embellishment for it,
so that We may try them (as to) which of them is best in works.
(al-Kahf:7)
Just
as all this sustenance, maintenance, and provision are there for our
benefit, so are they a test for us to see whether we get carried
away and take them as ends in themselves. They are there to try us
and trip us up, not in a bad sense, but only for our growth, just as
taking a child on a hike hardens and toughens him up. But when
ensuring enough provision for oneself becomes an end in itself, a
self-feeding, corrupting cycle of decadence sets in.
Elsewhere
the Qur`an says that a culture or community is destroyed by people
who are mutrafūn (plural of mutraf, one who lives in
sumptuous, excessive luxury and ease), who go for the excesses and
become corrupt because of indulging in excessive luxury. The same
thing can be a boon as well as a doom. Everything in creation has a
positive and a negative application. The Qur`an makes this clear,
for it is a complete book.
God
is He Who made subservient to you the sea that the ships may run
therein by His command, and that you may seek of His grace, and
that you may give thanks. (al-Jāthiyah:12)
Man
will reflect upon this short experience of life only when he is in a
neutral and reflective state, and that usually comes about when he
is content and in gratitude. When one is clothed, fed, and sheltered
from the elements, one is at least physically protected from the
harsh and distracting pursuits for one's basic needs, and can be,
for a moment, grateful. In that state of gratitude one's heart is
open, soft, receptive, and free from concern.
The
experience of this life is for the heart to be in that state, for it
to reflect the divine story, the divine purpose of life. The heart
is like a pond of water; it reflects well if it is still, badly if
it is agitated. Its capacity for clear reflection is as good as its
calmness and contentment. Shukr (gratitude) is what is
intended by all these provisions and the knowledge that comes with
them.
The
Qur`an says: La'in shakartum la-azīdannakum; "if you
are grateful, I would certainly give to you more" (Ibrāhīm:7).
The more one is grateful, the more God will increase one in that
knowledge until he reaches a point of absolute certainty that he is
not an animal who has come here only to die.
The
Qur`an promises that this life is only an experience, a test for man
to grow and be readied for another state about which he can only
have a description in an allegorical form. This is the ultimate rizq
(provision) or sustenance.
On
the physical side of sustenance, the Qur`an tells us of so many
communities that had a great deal of prosperity and well-being, but
because of their transgression and deviation from the natural path
of the divine laws, they were doomed. The people of Moses, 'Ād,
Hūd,
Lot and others, were those who transgressed. They were warned, told
why, and were shown the way, but they became arrogant and they, like
all other such cultures, collapsed. Frequently, it was natural
phenomena that brought about their ruin. The Qur`an tells us to
visit the sites of their cities and see what happened. Like the
people of Salih in north-eastern Arabia, they built well and had so
much. All that is left now are the ruins of those palaces that had
been carved into the hills.
Elsewhere
the Qur`an says: Wa mā zalamnāhum wa lākin kānū anfusahum
yazlimūn; "and We did them no injustice, but they were
unjust to themselves" (an-Nahl:118). Justice takes place
on this earth by bringing to an end those who have not evolved
enough to recognize the divine laws; they will be doomed on this
earth.
Anna-l-arda
yarithuhā 'ibādiya-s-sālihūn;
"(as for) the land, My righteous servants shall inherit
it" (al-Anbiyā':105). "Righteous servants"
means those who are evolved, those who know what is right and wrong,
those who recognize, differentiate, and act accordingly, not those
who just recognize and then do nothing about it. The Qur`an is very
clear about this point.
There
will be a time on this earth when there will be highly evolved
spiritual beings. From the Qur`anic point of view, there is
evolutionary progress. Man begins as a clot in the womb and grows
into a fully fledged being; creation was a dense dot and then
expanded explosively into our universe. Man reaches his highest
point in a global sense when the Mahdī (literally, the
rightly guided one) appears. The Qur`an gives us the background and
backbone, and the rest of it we learn from the Prophet, salla-llāhu
'alayhi wa ālihi wa sallam. That last stage of existence on
this earth, in which man will be fully evolved, will begin after the
appearance of the Mahdī when justice will prevail. According
to the traditions, this stage will last for some time; it will not
be for just one or two days. Therefore we believe that the world
will not come to an end, even if great wars and destruction occur.
And
one of His signs is that He created mates for you from
yourselves that you may find rest in them, and He put between
you love and compassion; most surely there are signs in this for
a people who reflect. (ar-Rūm: 21)
Mankind
is created from one self; and the meaning of the higher self is
higher consciousness. We are all conscious of the attributes of
creation that we experience. On the physical level we are conscious
of cold and heat, health and illness, sleep and wakefulness,
emptiness, and fullness. We are also conscious of feelings such as
love and hate, peace and agitation, anger, and contentment. Where we
differ among ourselves is in what causes these feelings or
attributes in us, the extent of their manifestation, and the result
of the direction to which they are aimed. Being angry can drive one
person to violence, another to a long-term plan, another to
immediate corrective action, and yet another to patience,
perseverance and gentle reaction. Yet, we all come from one self.
<snipped>
