To Which ClassOf
Society do The Prophets Belong?
In thischapter
we are going to discuss the social origins of the Prophets themselves, i.e., to find out the social class to which the Prophets belonged. We are going to see whether they belonged to the rich people,aristocrats
and holders of worldly power or to the poor, the needy and the deprived. It is, in fact, very import-ant to know the social and economic classes from which the Prophets have arisen in the course of history, founded monotheistic movements and revolutions and provided the masses with divine words and messages.
The Holy Qur'an, theTraditions
and theNahj-ul-Balagha
are rich sources which can help us in the analysis of this matter, but here the emphasis is only on the words of theNahj-ul-Balagha
. In the long and famous sermon of al-Qasi'ah
(the Sermon of Disparagement) there are statements which deserve careful reflection and which offer information concerning the matter being discussed.
The statements run as follows: "Certainly ,
if God were to allow anyone to indulge in pride, He would have allowed it to His selected prophets and vicegerents.But
God, the Sublime, disliked vanity for them and liked humbleness for them. Therefore, they laid their cheeks on the ground, smeared their faces with dust, bent themselves down for thebelievers
and remained humiliated people (they were from the oppressed people). God tested them with hunger, afflicted them with difficulties, tested them with fear, and upset them with troubles."
Here, the Commander of the Faithful speaks about pride and vanity and emphasizes that since God disliked these two qualities, He misrepresented them in the eyes of His Prophets and righteous beings. Therefore, the Prophets hated self-deceit and superiority complexes, but liked humbleness and humility.
Thus, they bent themselves down for the believers, lived among the lowest classes of the people, rubbed their faces with the dust (in prostration) beforeGod
and refrained from indulging in haughtiness. They did, in effect, what the Holy Qur'an orders tobe done
to the parents. It says: "... and lower to them (one's parents) the wing of humbleness out of mercy " (17:24)
TheProphets.,
according to the Commander of the Faithful were from the oppressed masses of the people. They knew the, pains and agonies of the needy. They felt, for instance, what hunger was, because God had tried them with hunger. The Holy Qur'an quotes Moses, peace be upon him, to have said, "Oh God!I
need what you shall send me.
" According
to narrations, Moses, peace be upon him, was hungry and implored God in this manner to send him bread so that he could satiate his hunger. Thus, the Prophets felt the pains of hungry people. They had tasted the sufferings of life. They knew well the troubles of hard physical labor in cold and hot weathers. They understood the meaning of hardship.
Timidity and the state of being fearful are characteristics of the oppressed. They are usually fearful of the future, poverty and the dominance of a powerful hand over their destinies. They are always worried and in a state of mental disturbance, concerning the existing situations and the coming conditions. They expect at any moment tobe put
under pressure by a Powerful oppressor.
Likewise, the Prophets suffered from such fears and anxieties and, to say the least,were so surrounded
by hardships and difficulties as to become pure in the same way as gold derives its purity under the pressure of very hot temperature. In fact, the Prophets were not pampered individuals to suddenly come Out of their Palaces and call the people to make a revolution.
There was a close link between them and the common people. They had, like all members of the society been subjected to ignorance, tasted the pains and sufferings oflife
and then became worthy to be called 'Prophets'.
The Definition of the Deprived (mustad'af
)
A society dominated by ignoranceis always made up
of two groups of people. One group consists of those who make Plans, administersociety
and have total authority over all affairs. The other group consists of the subjects and subordinates who have nothing to do with different affairs of society. They work hard (and thus they are not good-for-nothings as they are usually called, compared for example, to the amount of work Pharaoh performed with the slaves in building the Pyramids), but they have no right to apply their will, personality and points of view in the administration of the affairs of their society.
The first group is a minority consisting of the powerful families and dynasties with various degrees of authority over society. Theyare called
'the arrogant' (mustakbirin
). The second group are the common people and the masses who are regarded as the weak and who are devoid of authority whatsoever. Theyare called
'the deprived' (mustad'afin
). Our own country, during the corrupt regime of Pahlavi,was administered
by a limited number of individuals, with the Shah at the head of them. It is true that an institution named the 'National Consultative Assembly' existed but all the decisionswere made by the Shah and his American advisers and dictated to the members of the Assembly, who had no will of their own
.
At the lower levels, decisions were made by the big money makers who acted in collusion with governmental personages, bygovernor generals
and so forth. In fact, the total authoritywas centralized
in the hands of one person, the Shah. If all the ministers, Assembly members, director generals and the like agreed on something, but the Shah opposed; it was his will anddecision which
prevailed.
The rest of the people, i.e. the masses, had no authority (even over their own destinies) tohnterfere
with the affairs pertaining to foreign relations (with Russia and America, for instance), internal industries, agriculture, animal husbandry, etc. let alone matters concerning religion and morality. They had no right to meddle with the total course of affairs of their society due to the absolute lack of democracy, voting `nd
elections in the country.
This state of affairs is nowadays an obvious characteristic of all socialist countries but in a more respectable form, i.e. one party (the Communist Party) possesses the total power and authority in administering the affairs of these countries. In fact,all the affairs of these countries are determined by the high governmental cadres, supreme councils and the general secretary himself
. Other people have no right to express their viewpoints, and their will and decisionsare not taken
for granted.
Thus, mental development is repressed in such countries, and perhaps this is why the youth usually engage in Sports and physical training and blossom out as the first rate athletes in international competition such as the Olympics as we observed in the recent Olympicgames
held in Russia.
In western societies, too, the situation is more or less the same (mostly in the so-called civilized countries of America and Europe where 'freedom' and 'democracy' have widespread literal application). Nowadays, there are unfortunately some people who try to transform freedom and democracy to western conceptions of freedom and democracy, without knowing that the West itself is bereft of real freedom; (in America, West Germany and the likes,
people
imagine that they elect their representatives freely whereas the reality is that it is specific currents which lead them to one side or another to cast their votes in favor of one party or another. Recent elections in America and the conflicts between the Democratic and Republican parties are the best evidence, verifying this reality).
Generally speaking, in
all countries of the world, people are divided into two classes: the deprived and the arrogant. The deprived masses are themselves two groups: the needy and the non-needy.In fact, a poor and wretched peasant who performs fifteen hours of physical labor a day under the difficulties of rain, snow and hot weather and one who lives an ordinary life, being a shopkeeper, or employee, etc., without suffering so much, are both in the category of the deprived, because both of them are considered to be worthless and good-for-nothing and are devoid of the right to participate in the administration of their society.
According to the Commander of the Faithful in the quoted Sermon, the Prophets belonged to the deprived classes and, like them,have been deprived
of the authority to carry out a responsibility in their society. A historical review of the life-accounts of Muhammad, peace and the mercy of Godbe
upon him and his descendants, and other Prophets will clarify this matter further.
Moses, peace be upon him, was born to a deprived family among the children of Israel who lived under severe pressures.But
after birth he was brought in a completely arrogant house and became a favorite with the Pharaoh's family although he had not been born of the Pharaoh's wife. He was brought up under the best living possibilities, the most deliciousfood
and different kinds of luxuries (as a perfect aristocrat). Then, when Pharaoh noticed that he was nourishing an enemy within his house, Moses decided to escape.
In fact, Moses had begun his invitation and calling people to God, had started his revolutionary propagations within the royalpalace
and had succeeded in converting the Pharaoh's wife to submission to God when Pharaoh experienced a feeling of danger and decided to prosecute him. Moses escaped to Egypt.
To say the least, Moses became a Prophet and invited the people to make a revolution when he was within the royal house and at the peak of arrogance (this biographical account of Moses is narrated in the Qur'an, and no use was made here of the Traditions).
Our Prophet, Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him and his descendants was born in a tribal house of high rank. He was the grandson of and a favorite with 'Abd
al-Muttalib
, the chief of Mecca (although he was, unlike Pharaoh, a pious, chief and a believer in God).When his father, Abdullah, who was one of the dearest children of 'Abd
al-Muttalib
, died in youth, the latter brought up Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him and his descendants, until he became four years of age (although Moses was the favorite with a great emperor and Muhammad with a tribal chief, both of them enjoyed the favor of highly respectful families).
Then 'Abd
al-Muttalib
passed away and Muhammad came under the guardianship of his uncle AbuTalib
who did not enjoy the same respect as his father, 'Abd
al-Muttalib
, but who was himself a distinguished personality, not belonging to the masses.
AbuTalib
acted as a good guardian for aperiod of time
and then he was afflicted with poverty. Thus, Muhammad lost the (financial) support of his uncle at this time.But
before long he marriedKhadija
, a rich woman. He first acted as a functionary toKhadija
but later on, (fifteen years before his appointment to prophet hood) he married her, thus becoming a relatively rich man in Medina.
Thevery financial
state remained with him until he became a Prophet at the age of forty (this is why it is said that Islam advanced throughKhadija's
wealth and Ali's sword).
Accordingly, the Prophet of Islam was born to an aristocratic family and lived a comfortable and affluent life untilhe was appointed to prophet hood by God
. After the appointment, however, due to the high expenses of propagation and calling people to monotheism and due to the lack of opportunity for conducting business, he became poor.
Other prophets, too, were more or less wealthy. It is in the Traditions (although there is no clear, historical accounts available) that Job, for example, possessed lands, gardens and trees which were destroyed when God wanted to test his belief. David, too, had a rural origin. He was a commoner. Yet he became a commander and a ruler. Solomon was born in the house of this commander (David).
In fact, this chosen Prophet of God (although there is no difference between him and Moses as far as his purity, piety,revolutionary
spirit and prophet hood are concerned) was the son of a ruler. Abraham was born in the house of an idol-carver, and the history of nations and religions reveals that idol-carvers were not only not among the low, deprived classes but were also consideredto be saintly
and respectable.
Wecome to the conclusion
, therefore, that a considerable number (not all of them) of the Prophets have been brought up among affluent and powerful families. Thus, we have two points here tobe considered
along with each other: First, in the Commander of the Faithful saying that Prophets have belonged to the deprived and humble masses of the people. Second, the Prophets (some of them), as we see above, have been born among the socially, comfortable families of high ranks.
Are these two realities incompatible? No It is not the main point here to see whether they are compatible or not,The
main point is to nullify the (communists') imaginary legend that all the revolutionary agents have originated from the proletarian, bare-footed and needy classes. What is essential is that a revolutionary person (be he a leader of the revolution or a commoner) should be dressed with revolutionary morals and Attributes.
Materialists and the interpreters of Marxism, in fact, hold a wrong belief that only those individuals can enjoy revolutionary morals and Attributes who themselves belong to the poor, bare-footed or proletarian classes, for man is always and everywhere a human being and thus corrigible. He can,like
the Prophets about whom Ali says, "They were from the deprived people," equip himself with correct, revolutionary habits and with the attributes of the deprived.
It is true that aristocratic training and education entail no result but an aristocrat human being, yet it is untrue to believe that such an education (in a person whois brought up
in an aristocratic atmosphere) is unchangeable and indestructible.In fact, should divine guidance (either in the form of thinking, meditation and the awakening of conscience of the individuals themselves or through training and purification of the soul by the teachers of morality, i.e. the Prophets) enlighten the sick bodies of those who are under the influence of aristocratic habits and training, they would come out of their spiritual depression and become dressed with revolutionarydispositions.nclusions
on the basis of theiri
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Author: Al-Shia.org
