Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Guidance in Nature

وَأَلْقَى فِي الأَرْضِ رَوَاسِيَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ وَأَنْهَارًا وَسُبُلاً لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ {o} وَعَلامَاتٍ وَبِالنَّجْمِ هُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ

And He has cast great mountains in the earth lest it might be convulsed with you, and rivers and roads that you may go aright; and landmarks; and by the stars they find the right way. (al-Nahl, 16/15-16)

The term “guidance” always brings to one’s mind the notion of spiritual instruction and direction. However, in the case of God Almighty and His constant and widespread grace, we cannot confine this term to such a narrow sense. A study of the great organization of the cosmos and the intricate detail of our own creation makes us reach the conclusion that the system of existence is founded on a set of essential principles in which every creation and phenomenon has its particular place and role. The Creator has guided every one of His creations according to its nature and composition and has prepared a program for every aspect and phase of its existence.

It is not possible for a creature to acquire existence or reach perfection and yet be independent of God’s nurturing influence; giving new life, bestowing bounties and conferring favours are amongst the distinctive prerogatives of the Creator, and the signs of this invigoration and constant bestowal and favour are clearly evident and manifest in every creation:

1. Existential or universal guidance (hidayat-e takwini)

Muslim thinkers unanimously agree that within the scheme of creation, God guides every creature towards its physical perfection; from the smallest cell, whose internal processes are governed by a special system, to the most magnificent phenomena in the cosmos - despite all their wonders, whenever they attain a certain station, they require and receive the guidance reserved for that station.

Indeed, everything is in utter need of Him so that not only may He allow it to achieve its inner potential, but also so that he may gently coax it along the correct direction of development through His permeating radiance. If it was not for this guidance, the entire universe would never be able to stand fast and become stable - in fact, it would not be able to even realise a tinge of existence.

2. Legislative or prescriptive guidance (hidayat-e tashri’i)

Just as the order of life has originated from the boundless wisdom and knowledge of God, guidance about the purpose of man in the system of existence is likewise from God, because the necessary consequence of life and intellect is to have an objective and goal. Aside from the intuitive knowledge that is inherent in every human being and which assists him in recognizing certain truths so that he may freely, without any preconceptions, choose his path based on this essential inner faculty (fitra ), external guidance that would strengthen and support the intellect and thefitra is also necessary. This is so that he may reform the rebellious and immoderate

elements in his temperament as well as protect his intellect andfitra from perversion.

Just as God Almighty guided man to seek physical perfection through the instinct of self-interest, He likewise guided him to reach human perfection through the agency of legislative or prescriptive directives, in addition to the guidance of thefitra . This is because when existential guidance encounters self-interest, it requires some assistance.

God appointed Prophets (A) to come to the aid of man, to take his hand and introduce him to the subtle cognitive abilities latent in his ownfitra and to enliven his positive and noble inclinations and motivations and inspire him to use these faculties in the manner they were meant to be used, and point out to him all the impediments that might obstruct his journey towards perfection.

It should be noted that this guidance is a manifestation of God’s grace and a preparation to examine the worthiness of the individual and to determine the kind of reward he will earn through his actions; it is not mean to divest man of choice or the power of independent rational thought and to extinguish the radiance of his free will, rather this is the manner in which the measure of the excellences and failures of individuals is manifested. Every human being can use the internal and external Divine guidance at his disposal to ennoble his actions and ascend the ladder towards intellectual maturity and perfection. Indeed, the path to perfection does not accept stagnation and man’s ascent will not take place until he consciously takes steps to fundamentally transform himself.

3. Guidance about the needs of life (hidayat-e zisti)

When we look at the life forms that inhabit the world as a whole and analyse their various aspects, we find that all members of this system occupy a position appropriate to their specific status. And when a particular subset of the creation is subjected to the laws of nature it starts to flourish in its preordained direction. From this perspective we can clearly see the general equilibrium that exists in the world between these members of creation (in the human, animal and plant kingdoms), all of whom possess their own intrinsic guidance.

When we analyse the characteristics of animals we conclude that their natural constitutions and habitats are totally different from that of plant matter, because nature does not place their sustenance at their disposal; rather animals have to ceaselessly forage and hunt to provide food for themselves, and obviously this necessitates the development of the appropriate tools and appendages for the task.

However, man who has reached higher stations and who possesses a determined and free will, is still at a lower level when it comes to his instincts. His physical constitution is comparatively weak and poorly equipped and he is much less able to withstand physical trauma than animals; indeed, it takes him many years to become self-sufficient and able to cater for his own needs. These particular characteristics which embrace all creatures are the means to the gradual progression towards perfection.

The verse above discusses a type of guidance that helps man in his daily life, and sheds light on some of the mysterious realities of creation. God the

Almighty, who is the source of mercy, and whose grace is continually flowing throughout the cosmos, has not neglected to create a variety of natural features and combinations of structures in the complex systems of the world which serve to guide its inhabitants during the course of their earthly lives.

The Creator of the cosmos - that grand Designer and Possessor of limitless power - has granted to His creatures special and wondrous perceptive powers and sensitivity so that they are able to live and flourish to achieve perfection. These abilities allow them to adopt the correct path in the journey that each must undertake in this world, and guide them in the course of their amazing lives.

When Musa (A) was asked by Fir‘awn to introduce his Lord, he replied,

قَالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى

Our Lord is He Who gave to everything its creation, then guided it (to its goal) [Ta Ha, 20/50].

Animals and birds have an acute sense of direction by which they accurately navigate distances. During the course of their lives, birds use this mysterious sense to easily move between their nests and remote feeding places without ever losing their way back.

The knowledge that every creature possesses is a bounty that has been placed in its essence and the majesty and grandeur of creation is amply manifested by these wondrous abilities that we see in different creatures.

Migratory birds sometimes travel across hundreds of kilometres to reach their destination, where they live for a long time before flying back along the same route until they unerringly return to their starting point.

What kind of compass do these birds use, that is so faultless and accurate, to be able to cross vast distances, stay in foreign lands for several months and then return back to their point of origin? Even today human science has not been able to completely unravel that mystery.

Many scientists have conducted a variety of experiments to try to understand more about the sense of direction that all birds possess and they have not been able to inactivate it in an animal (even by introducing different factors to confuse it); the birds are even able to use this calculated system to produce many other wondrous (acrobatic) movements within themselves which is a product of the same unknown system.

During their migration, these birds form aerial flocks and converge from different places and sometimes change places with one another creating a beautiful and awe-inspiring pattern in flight. What instrument has been placed in their nature and constitution that allows them to fly in perfectly efficient formations without colliding with one another?

Consider airplanes, which possess many intricate components and sensitive and advanced instruments; when they perform air manoeuvres, they could never gather and fly together in close proximity in these vast numbers and safely perform the various manoeuvres that birds effortlessly exhibit.

Often, even modern airplanes, which undergo rigorous testing and are put through planned simulations in an attempt to cope with any eventualities,

have had accidents and fatal crashes when they participated in aerial displays.

Apart from birds, other animals and insects also follow established systems and exhibit many forms of mysterious and unfathomable behaviour; to fulfil their needs they make use of astonishing locating abilities which are unique to their own species. Animals have been blindfolded and relocated hundreds of kilometres away from their normal habitat, and yet are amazingly able to return unerringly to their homes.

However, according to the Qur’an:

وَخُلِقَ الإِنسَانُ ضَعِيفًا

And man is created weak. (al-Nisa’, 4/27)

Man is relatively weak physically and has no internal direction/location system to speak of. At the same time he possesses an efficient and creative brain and a powerful intellect that is vastly superior to every other creature.

In any case, the Divine hands fashioned natural phenomena to make up for this deficiency in human bodies, so that they would serve man as beacons and signposts for him, and alert and protect him on his travels from possible dangers on his journey.

In ancient times the mode of travelling was confined to pack animals. Often, during journeys which were undertaken across deserts and plains which were devoid of mountains and hills, travellers would lose their way and become exposed to severe perils. In many cases, they strayed into unknown trails and lost their lives as a result. However, on routes which were flanked by mountains on one side, there was less likelihood of people getting lost because they could use them mountains as a guiding landmark to reach their destinations.

The verses under study make clear that in order to compensate for the lack of an internal radar system within man - a system that exists in various forms in other living creatures - God prepared for man a natural system to tell direction in the shape of mountains and hills and springs and rivers and clefts inside mountains so that when man travelled in the land form one place to another, these unchanging features would serve as landmarks and signs for him to easily plot his course of travel.

Even in our times, with the advances in scientific knowledge, airplane pilots, besides relying on their electronic systems to locate their position, also use mountain ranges, rivers and geographical features to check their course.

This is one of the innumerable blessings of God and is a testimony to the various uses and benefits which these natural phenomena afford to the inhabitants of the earth according to God’s plan, one of which is to guide and direct human beings. The benefits of these natural features are clearly visible when the sun shines forth warmly and brightly in the day; both the heat and the light of this magnificent heavenly body assist the inhabitants of the earth in their movements and travels.

For travel in the night also, God has created a system of stars in the heavens whose light and sparkle guide the inhabitants of the earth in the

land and the seas. The system of the movement of the planets, stars, sun and moon as they follow their ordained orbits, all serve to guide man:

وَبِالنَّجْمِ هُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ

And by the stars they find the right way. (al-Nahl, 16/16)

A study of the horizons and a survey of how beneficial the various natural phenomena are for mankind is in itself a source of spiritual inspiration and knowledge about God.

We know that the cosmos is never-ending and therefore knowing and understanding all of its secrets is also an infinitely difficult task; man’s advancing knowledge is still unable to explain many of the mysteries behind the phenomena that have been created for him. Despite every one of these signs and systems, which can be witnessed and perceived in nature, existing in such exalted planes, they cannot be compared to the intricate and complex constitution of the human being and the human intellect. For an individual who has intelligence and insight - which are also granted by God creative will - this matter is very instructive.

The existence of these landmarks throughout one’s journey from one place to another is a matter of comfort and peace of mind, and everyone can select the easiest path to reach their destination across nature’s mountains, rivers and gullies. Additionally, in travelling through these natural features they may contemplate on these signs of God and analyse them; as they marvel at the many amazing sights scattered throughout the world, they can witness the power and planning of God, most High. In every single atom in the expanse of nature they will see a testimony to the existence of the Source of creation and be thus inspired and guided.

The Qur’an states:

الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ مَهْدًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

He Who made the earth a resting-place for you, and made ways in it for you so that you may be guided aright (al-Zukhruf, 43/9)

From the term “tahtadun ” - guided aright - in the two previous verses, both meaning can be derived and from both we can get guidance; we benefit from mountains and rivers and natural trails in the course of our journeys and travel to our destinations without the anxiety and fear of losing our way and we also benefit from witnessing these grand and wondrous living phenomena, and through them appreciate the greater Reality and the needless, unique and omnipotent Source, Whose qualities are dimly reflected in man himself.

It is true that the understanding of a physiologist or curious scientist who examines the intricate inner workings of an animal is far removed from that of a layman who makes a simple study of the animal, however, even though both look at creation from different angles, they come to the same conclusion.

A Devastating Storm

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَاءتْكُمْ جُنُودٌ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا وَجُنُودًا لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا {o} إِذْ جَاؤُوكُم مِّن فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنكُمْ وَإِذْ زَاغَتْ الْأَبْصَارُ وَبَلَغَتِ الْقُلُوبُ الْحَنَاجِرَ وَتَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا {o} هُنَالِكَ ابْتُلِيَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَزُلْزِلُوا زِلْزَالًا شَدِيدًا

O you who have faith! Remember Allah’s blessings upon you when the hosts came at you, and We sent against them a strong wind, and hosts whom you did not see. And God sees best what you do. [33/10] When they came at you from above and from below you [higher and lower ground], and when the eyes rolled (with fear), and the hearts leapt to the throats, and you entertained misgivings about Allah, [33/11] it was there that the faithful were tested and were shaken severely. (al-Ahzab, 33/9)

The lofty mission of the Prophet (S) was to convey the radiant message of God to mankind and accordingly, two of his celebrated attributes are, “a bringer of glad tidings” (bashir ) and “a warner” (nadhir ). However, when ignorance reaches its limit and human beings are being deprived of their freedom to decide on and select the correct course of action, and no other choice remains to counter the situation, then the use of armed conflict as a corrective measure becomes legitimate. In the face of an enemy quick to war, the Prophet (S) had to react in a similar manner; indeed, this response is natural and reasonable.

Therefore, whenever the disbelievers challenged the Muslims to war and the survival of Islam was threatened, the Prophet (S) would take steps to protect the existence of Divine values within the society and defend Islam. Most of the battles of the Prophet (S) were defensive in nature, and were fought in response to the attack of the enemy.

However, because his mission was essentially to convey God’s message and to establish His unity, God favoured and assisted His Prophet (S), who was the most distinguished of His creatures. In battle against the enemy, too, the Prophet (S) received God’s aid so that he could ably shoulder the task of the guidance of humanity, and to deliver mankind from the grip of polytheism and spiritual pollution, and to convey his universal message to every corner of the world so that he could present new concepts in the shape of a comprehensive program of life. Thus, the principle of conflict and war in Islam is quite different from that in other schools of thought, because it pursues deeper and humanitarian objectives.

In Islam, resorting to armed conflict is only legitimate in order to liberate mankind in the true sense and to free minds from the captivity of doubt and every shackle that binds humanity.

In the battle of Ahzab which is partly described in the foregoing verses, the situation was such that several groups, comprising of polytheist and Jewish tribes, whose authority was threatened by the message of Islam, had been trying to divert the Prophet (S) from his mission. When all their efforts failed, they resorted to band together to wage war against the Muslims. Their alliance was made at in an environment where tribal allegiances were

very strong while Islam was teaching a message that transcended such considerations.

The confederation far outmatched the Muslim army in strength and equipment, and their organized formations presented a strong wall against the forces of Islam. It is recorded that they outnumbered the Muslims three to one, which naturally was an uneven match.

In this battle, which took place around Madina, the Muslim soldiers were in a very difficult situation due to their lack of numbers and means. Matters were proceeding in a manner that it seemed that the bigger and better equipped army was inevitably going to defeat the weaker force. The polytheists were confident that they would easily overrun the Muslim defences, deal them a crippling defeat and destroy the nascent establishment of Islam.

Meanwhile, the hypocrites and fifth-columnists began to direct all their efforts to weaken the morale of the Muslims. They used every means to plot and inflame the situation in an attempt to stop the spread of the pervading influence of Islam, which was threatening their age-old arrogant ways and customs.

It was in these difficult times that the help of God came to the rescue of the Muslims. In the manner described in the verses, God sent two forces to the aid of the believers.

One of these forces was visible and the other invisible; the invisible force could not be seen by either party in the battle, while the visible force was clearly felt by both sides. The invisible force, which the Qur’an mentions, was that of the angels, who aided the Muslims and strengthened their morale, and allowed them to remain steadfast against their enemy. The force whose presence was felt was that of a violent storm, whose devastating effects were clear to the Muslims and the enemy alike. The storm which occurred in the battlefield and at the time of battle, was so unexpected and sudden that it brought disarray in the ranks of the enemy within a few moments, resulting in their defeat.

The Muslims clearly understood and realized with certainty that an invisible army of angels had come to their aid at a critical time when they were hopelessly outnumbered and facing a well-equipped enemy, because they knew that their victory was not an ordinary or foreseeable outcome; the polytheists had no such belief in angels. As for the visible assistance which was the devastating storm, its effects had been clearly perceived by both sides of the conflict. The army of Islam as well as the forces of the enemy simultaneously witnessed the sudden storm with their own eyes.

Here the Qur’an emphatically declares the storm as the cause of the enemies’ defeat and this event has been mentioned as an example of God’s special blessing and grace to the Muslim soldiers.

And if such an extraordinary storm, which the idolaters themselves experienced and which brought about their complete defeat had not occurred, they would have certainly reacted angrily to, and openly challenged, the Qur’anic version of events. They would have lost no opportunity to spread propaganda against Islam and the Qur’an and would have declared everywhere that there had been no storm, and this would have

been a means to crush the beliefs of the Muslims and negate the claim of the Qur’an.

However, the fact is that after the revelation of the verses, the idolaters and hypocrites who were ever searching for ways to discredit Islam, and would question the verses of the Qur’an at the smallest pretext, remained quiet and gave no alternative explanation for their defeat. This itself is a sign that they acknowledged the truth of the Qur’anic report; that a storm had overwhelmed the army of disbelievers and caused their humiliating defeat; that also, a storm that only raged in the small area where the two armies were arrayed, targeting only their side and laying their army to waste while sparing the other. In the end they had been forced to abandon the field and accede to a weaker foe.

It is noteworthy that the battle of Ahzab, as mentioned earlier, was instigated by a confederation of various tribes from amongst the idolaters and the Jews ; despite this, no one from the ranks of the Jews, idolaters or the hypocrites could present any explanation contrary to the explicit and decisive account mentioned in the Qur’an.

In the years that followed this event, when opponents were constantly searching for ways and means to undermine the beliefs of the Muslims, even prejudiced historians amongst them have not been able to justifiably refute the statement of the Qur’an about what actually transpired that day, and to prove that the devastating storm that the Qur’an mentions as the cause of the chaos in their army and their ultimate unimaginable defeat, never occurred. This itself is a demonstration of the miracle of the Qur’an, which must be pondered upon, and not passed over casually.

If these hostile groups had wanted to move on from their dark past, and to forever put aside their legacy of baseless customs, which was an important cause of their intellectual stagnancy, and to benefit from the radiance of Divine teachings, this miraculous event which they witnessed with their own eyes was enough.

If they were willing to change, this experience would certainly make them reconsider their deviant beliefs and abandon their defiance and accept the religion which opened for man the doors to personal development, guidance and perfection, and which brought with it the keys to human prosperity. We should also take a look at the verses of Suratu Tawba which state:

يَعْتَذِرُونَ إِلَيْكُمْ إِذَا رَجَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ قُل لاَّ تَعْتَذِرُواْ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكُمْ قَدْ نَبَّأَنَا اللّهُ مِنْ أَخْبَارِكُمْ وَسَيَرَى اللّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَى عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ {o} سَيَحْلِفُونَ بِاللّهِ لَكُمْ إِذَا انقَلَبْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لِتُعْرِضُواْ عَنْهُمْ فَأَعْرِضُواْ عَنْهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ رِجْسٌ وَمَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ جَزَاء بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكْسِبُونَ {o} يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ لِتَرْضَوْاْ عَنْهُمْ فَإِن تَرْضَوْاْ عَنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَرْضَى عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ

They will offer excuses to you when you return to them. Say: Do not make excuses; we will never believe you. Allah has informed us of you state of affairs. Allah and His Apostle will observe your actions, then you shall be returned back to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, then He will inform you of what you used to do. They will swear to you by Allah when you return to them so that you may leave them alone. So do leave them alone. Indeed they are filth and their abode is hell; a recompense for what they used to earn. They will swear to you that you may be reconciled to them; but (even) if you are reconciled to them, indeed Allah is not pleased with the transgressing people. (Tawba, 9/94-96)

In these verses, the Qur’an describes the situation of the hypocrites at the end of the battle of Tabuk, before the return of the Muslim army to Madina and makes the Prophet (S) aware that the hypocrites, who had not participated in the expedition to Tabuk, were planning to turn to the victorious army on their return to Madina, and present excuses to explain their own absence in the war. The verses make clear that their words were only lies and that they would even try to convince the soldiers and deceive the Muslims by swearing false oaths so that they may be not be taken to task for the wrongful conduct that they were guilty of.

The Qur’an also exposes their reasons for swearing these vain oaths and makes the Muslims aware of the facts so that they would be prepared beforehand to respond to the hypocrites and not be taken in by their deception and behave favourably with them.

Therefore, the Muslims were required to respond to the baseless words of the hypocrites by telling them flatly that would not accept their excuses or trust their words, because God, Who is aware of everyone’s manifest and hidden secrets, had informed them of their devilish plotting and the trap they had lain to beguile the Muslims.

The Qur’an is essentially telling the warriors that:“As soon as you return to them they will swear oaths by God that you should overlook their crime, but you should not ignore the gravity of their actions because they are corrupt.” (Suratu Tawba, 9/96)

At this point, two possibilities may be considered. The first is that the hypocrites had become aware of the revelation of the verses about them before the Prophet (S) returned to Madina. If this was the case, they would have certainly acted contrary to the revealed verses when they met the Muslims, i.e., they would have neither made any excuses nor sworn any oaths, thereby scoring a decisive propagandistic blow against the Qur’an, because they were ever-alert for any opportunity to weaken the Muslims. Why then did they not undermine the verses by acting contrary to them and instead do exactly as foretold by the Qur’an?

The other possibility is that the hypocrites were unaware of the revelations of these verses and unknowingly made their excuses and took false oaths. In this case the verses of the Qur’an are a prediction which was completely accurate.

Therefore in both cases, the question remains that other than God, the Almighty - Who is aware of the secrets and inner thoughts of men - who else could have decisively foretold the aberrant actions of the hypocrites, and accurately announce their future words?

Undoubtedly this incident is a miracle of the Qur’an which has not been denied by any opponents of Islam.