The wise always had three practices;
1. To help all living beings.
2. To give out the bounties from God in the places where the people assemble to remember Him.
3. To awaken the people to God through wise words.
(Dho’l Nun al Misri (ra).
For much of ancient human history the majority of the Children of Adam were good believers who formed loving wholesome communities in tune with the needs of humanity whilst respecting God’s creatures and the environment.
Living in such a wonderful era of natural spiritual peace, tranquility and well being meant that most of these communities were peaceful and pleasant places to live, however there were always some foolish Children of Adam who would lustily listen to the whispering of Satan and cause troubles.
When the Children of Adam first arrived upon the Earth they followed the pure, true faith of Prophet Adam and his wife Eve (Hawa) peace and blessings be upon them both), but gradually some people began to adopt false religious ideas, whilst others merely forgot parts of the Revealed religion.
Thus God sent Prophets (may God bless him and give him peace) to guide the people to the straight path and although these Prophets (may God bless him and give him peace) brought many different Divine Laws they all taught that there is no ‘god’ other than God and that worship was for Him alone.
Over the course of history some foolish people rejected the Prophets that God had sent to them and they subsequently fell into the depths of depravity and instead of worshiping the One True God they gradually developed invented Pantheons of idols made up from distorted memories deceased Prophets (may God bless him and give him peace), deceased heroes and Angels and/or through contact with various spirits.
These false pantheons typically consisted of various ‘human like’ idols who were associated with different parts of the world such as the sun, the moon, the sky, the stars, fire, water, weather, war, fertility and death etc.
Oftentimes malevolent or mischievous semi-immaterial beings would deliberately use their unusual form of materiality to make it appear that the worship of these false idols had real benefits, but those people of good hearts were able to gradually see through the corruption of these false religions and to return to the worship of God.
Bediuzaman Said Nursi once explained how genuine knowledge can easily develop into superstitions when it falls into the lap of people with insufficient knowledge. He quoted the story of how when he was young a lunar eclipse occurred and the people of his village responded by firing rifles and ringing cans together.
Upon asking why the people were doing these strange things he gained the explanation that a snake had swallowed the moon. He asked then why could it still be seen and was given the response that the snakes of the sky were made of glass and were therefore transparent.
A few years later Bediuzzaman studied astronomy and learned that lunar eclipses actually occurred when the earth blocks out the light of the sun due to these three celestial bodies coming into alignment.
Such wisdom is held by Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace), who have inspiration from the Divine (such as in the case of the eclipse that occurred after the passing of the blessed son of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and give him peace) and which he explained to the Muslims who thought it was a direct sign – that it was simply an occurrence as the celestial bodies moved through their courses).
It is a bad investment to seek worldly gain.
He whose hope is placed in Heaven never shall see pain.
The stratagems employed for worldly gain are vile,
But stratagems for gaining heaven are worth our while.
Blessed stratagem is that which bursts a prison door.
Cursed stratagem is one that spreads a dungeon floor.
The world’s a dungeon. We are all in prison here.
Burst, then, thy prison gate, and free thyself from fear.
What is the world? Unmindful of our God to be;
Not gold or silver, wife or children, things we see.
The wealth we hold at service of our God is blessed.
‘The riches of the just are pure,’ Ahmed confessed.
The water from a leak is danger to a ship;
The sea beneath her keel is just what makes her skipage.
Great Solomon despised wealth, sway, with all his heart.
With countless treasures poor he named himself. Best part!
An empty jar will float upon a raging sea,
The air that fills it will not let it sunken be.
The afflatus of true poverty man’s soul will buoy.
Above the troubles of the world he rides. Ahoy!
Should all earth’s boundless riches by him be possessed;
The whole is viewed in his pure sight as naught at best.
Close then the inlet to thy heart; seal it with love;
First filling it with wisdom’s spirit from above.
Endeavour is from God ; so sickness, and its balm.
He vainly strives who would deny this truthful psalm.
(Rumi)
Through observation we can see that the historical spread of urban living was linked to an increase in Paganism and false greedy priesthoods based around immoral ignorance and hunger for power.
These tended to develop a corrupt status quo in which gullible plebeians were the dupes of false religious guides and the serfs of the Kingly henchmen who were need to keep the doubters at bay, thus was born the archetype of the tyrannical Pharaoh, to be embodied all over the world from Nimrod in the time of Abraham (may God bless him and give him peace), to Pharaoh in the time of Moses and Herod in the tile of Jesus (may God bless him and give him peace).
Also associated with this misguided system would be the production of vain monumental constructions, temples, palaces and idols – a pattern that would be seen across the world, even in the modern age.
These pointless products are still with us today along with various iniquitous systems that were developed in these societies, yet so too is Divine Religion and the final form of the inspired Religion ofIslam that was brought through Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) has been preserved through the mercy of God for the good of humanity.
A key duty of the believers is to spread the good word of genuine Islam in the best of ways. It is written in the Holy Qur’an…
‘Call to the way of your Rabb (Lord)
with wisdom and lovely admonition
and disagree with them (the non-Muslims)
in ways that are better.’
(Surah an-Nahl 16,125)
God has instructed the Muslims to invite the non-Muslims to Islam in the best of ways, but ultimately if they reject the truth our message should be this.
In the name of God the Merciful and Compassionate.
Say O you that reject (true) Faith!
I worship not that which you worship,
Nor will you worship that which I worship.
And I will not worship that which you have been worshiping,
Nor will you worship that which I worship.
To you be your Way, and to me mine.
(Surah Al-Kafirun)
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