The Quality of the Objectives in Allah's Acts
Allah's Attributes of Essence necessitate that He should have mercy upon His servants, because He likes Himself, and, consequently, He likes what He creates, i.e. Allah likes to be manifest, to have His names and attributes displayed. Thus, the original cause of Allah's acts and their final objectives are Allah Himself. That is why when the philosophers speak of the Necessary Being, the Exalted, they say: "The why of finality and the why of agency are the same." The cause of agency and the cause of finality are the same, i.e. Allah has no objective outside Himself. All these are no more than technical and philosophical terms. The gist is that Allah does not do things in order to satisfy a need nor to obtain what He doesn't have. Allah needs nothing. It is His Essence that requires Him to be bountiful, generous and merciful. The original cause is His very Attribute of Essence, nothing else. Middle objectives can also be considered, as will be referred to presently.
The Objectivity of Allah's Acts in the Qur'an's View
Through the previous discussion we concluded that it can be admitted that Allah's acts have objectives, which turn back to His Divine Essence, as well as other ones, which can be regarded as middle objectives, or, from a point of view, they are regarded as preliminary ones. This conclusion was reached at through a reasoning analysis of the Attributes of Allah. Let us now see what the viewpoint of the Qur'an in this respect is. There are in the Qur'an ayahs which not only confirm that Allah's acts have objectives, but describe them to be worthy, invaluable and wise. These ayahs can be divided into two parts according to their concepts:
1. Ayahs which generally confirm that Allah's acts have objectives, and
2. Ayahs which point out the objectives of the acts.
We first deal with the ayahs which speak in general of the fact that Allah's acts are not done purposelessly and in vain, actually they have wise objectives.
Among this group are the ayahs which include the adjective "wise", i.e. by describing Allah as "Wise", it means that His acts are wisely done, they are not aimless, but have wise, reasonable and worthy objectives. So, whenever Allah is described by the Qur'an as wise, it is an indication of the said meaning. Furthermore, there are ayahs which stress in particular that Allah's acts are not purposeless. This group of ayahs can also be sorted out: some indicate the context that Allah's acts, such as creating and managing the world, are true and not vain. Some other, ayahs stress that His acts are not futile. A third group of them say that His acts are not for amusement and fun. From all these ayahs, which confirm both the negative and positive sides of the subject it is gathered that Allah's acts are done for worthy and true aims, and that they are not vain nor for fun or amusement.
Explaining Some Terms
Originally, the Arabic word haq (true, truth) means something which is established, certain and proved. This is its linguistic meaning. But, terminologically, it has different usages, though common in letter, i.e. besides its original linguistic usages, which are diverse, it has many further practical usages, which sometimes have conflicting meanings. It is sometimes said that haq means a being which is self-existent, which exclusively means Allah. So, in this sense the word has but a single application.
Sometimes it indicates something which is consistent, continuous, no matter whether it is self-continuous or is caused to be continuous. So, because it has continuity we say it is haq, its opposite being that which is transient, perishing, not haq. The third usage of haq belongs to beliefs. It is said, for example, that so-and-so belief is haq, and so-and-so belief is batil (untrue, invalid). By a haq belief we mean that which is true and real: "I witness that death is haq (true) and Resurrection is haq." The questioning of Munkar and Nakir [the two angels who interrogate the dead in the gravel is haq. Such beliefs are true and real. Sometimes it is used to describe a statement, saying: "This speech is haq." Here we also mean that it complies with reality and truth. Formerly it was in respect to belief, while here it describes the speech. However, we may regard these latter two instances to be of the same meaning i.e. haq is that which complies with reality, be it a belief or a statement.
In both those examples, that is: a haq belief and a haq statement, the compliance is between the believer and the belief, or the speaker and the speech. Yet, sometimes haq is used as an adjective to a promise, which is predicative not compositive, i.e., somebody promises that he would do so-and-so. If he actually did it as he promised, we say that his promise was haq, but if he failed to keep his word, we say that his promise was batil (false). Here also it can be said that a promise is compositive, not predicative, so as to speak of something, though it may imply some sort of narration. The one who promises that he will do something, means to say that in a given time an act will be done. Though the style is compositive, not predicative, yet it includes a hint to a predication, i.e. he means to say something will happen at that time.
Now as it complies with reality according to its own condition, we say that this promise is haq or true, as is used in the Qur'an: "...that the promise of Allah is true"
That is what Allah promises will undoubtedly come true. So, here, too, there is a kind of conformity between the speech and what is hinted at to happen. The state of conformity is obvious in this instance.
Why do we say that this promise is haq? Because it is in conformity with the reality, and it will be fulfilled under its conditions. So far we have been using the term haq in real and genetic matters. Sometimes haq has juristic and legal applications, and sometimes acquires ethical concepts. Here the subject takes a different trend. It refers to values when the subject is ethical, and it .acquires conventional and nominal concepts when the subject is legal and juristic, in which case haq means "right, the right to possess, the marriage rights, etc.
This does not mean that something has, in itself and in actuality, the right to take place, as this right is nominal and based on mutual agreement. Likewise are the parental rights filial rights, the commander's right to be obeyed by his subordinates (the ruler's right upon his subjects) and vice versa. These are juristic concepts. The confirmation of real right is not intended here. Actually the confirmation of a convertional right is intended. The same is true when it is used in ethical concepts, and even some scholars do not differentiate them, using the fallacy of literal similarity and the like, i.e., by way of argumentation, they use a syllogism in which the word "haq" is repeated and is placed, as it were, in a "middle' position, while in a premise a different meaning is meant than in another one. Or they take the word haq. to have a certain meaning in the premises of the syllogism, and to have another meaning in the conclusion of the syllogism.
For example, in order to prove that theism is an innate disposition, they conduct the argument saying that: everybody by nature seeks the "truth" (haq) ,for the reason that he shuns the "untrue" -the non-haq (1st premise),and since Allah is haq(2nd premise), then man by nature seeks the haq(conclusion), noting that the term haq in the 1st premise denotes an ethical value, and in the 2nd premise it denotes another meaning. It must be noted that although man's natural disposition to worship Allah is, as had already been said, correct, yet it cannot be proved by such reasoning. Or, to say the contrary, in order to prove that man is by nature inclined to goodness, they argue by saying that: since man has an innate inclination to Allah (1st premise), and, since Allah is haq (2nd premise), then man is, by nature, a seeker of haq, (conclusion), while what they want to prove is the inclination to haq in its ethical concept, but they used it in a different meaning in the premises.
Creation - A Truth
Let us now see what it is meant by saying that: "The world is created in truth, not in vain." There is no doubt that "truth" (haq) is not intended here to mean a self-existent being (Allah). It refers to a created being. It is also incorrect to describe a transitory and ephemeral being like that especially that the Qur'an says: "...Allah created not the heavens and the earth, and what is between them, save with truth and a prescribed term."
So, whatever is in this world tastes for a while and then comes to an end-nothing is permanent in this world. Thus, "truth" does not mean here, the permanent and constant. Therefore, does saying "Allah created the world in truth", mean that this is a belief consistent with reality? This is inconsistent, too, since it does not concern the concept of truth and falsity nor of speech. It concerns creation. Creation is a truth, not a falsity, and thus it cannot be consistent with reality. Then, is the truthfulness of a promise? Allah says that this world, which He created, was created with the truth. There is no promise of any kind; therefore, haq, in this instance, does not refer to a promise which is to be fulfilled.
Has it, then, an ethical concept? Outside entities cannot acquire ethical concepts. It is a man's act that bears ethical values. No outside entity can have such values. The ethical concepts belong to the voluntary acts of man or of any other free-will being. Its legal meaning is also not intended, i.e. it has no intention to explain whether Allah has the right to create the world or not.
From among the many meanings of haq the one which suits this instance and which is supported by some ayahs, is that the creation of the world is an act with a worthy objective, contrary to an act of play and amusement, which has no worthy objective.
What proof is there of this? We have already studied the different meanings of haq and found out that none of them was consistent with the subject of the ayah, except this latter one. Yet, a better proof is that the very ayahs place the haq in contrast with play and amusement, and say: "And We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is in between them, in play. We created them not save with truth."
So, it is clear that the meaning of haq intended in these ayahs is that which stands in contrast with play, amusement, falsity and futility. This can be explained more by a deeper study of these terms.
The Term Futility in the Qur'an
The Arabic word "abath" is equivalent to the English word "futility", some act with no reasonable objective that which would be futile because the doer did not intend a worthy objective for it. Play and amusement have two close concepts. This is evidenced by these ayahs: and We did not create the heavens and the earth, and what is in between them, in play. Had We wished to have amusement, We could have had it Ourselves, if We ever did."
It is obvious that play and amusement are almost synonyms, i.e. the same thing can be said to be playful or amusing, and their evidences are not different, as otherwise the consistency of these two ayahs would be disturbed.
What are play and amusement? In the Persian language, amusement means pastime or entertainment, and play means sport or game. You do know that play is a sort of amusement, too. Therefore, both may be said of the same thing. In a way we call it play, in another, amusement.
The Qur'an uses these terms to describe this world: "The life of this world is but a play and amusement,",
or: "And the life of this world is nothing save play and amusement."
That is, if man takes the life in this world as his objective, he will be like the one who acts only for play and amusement. When one aims at a reasonable objective beyond that, using this world as a preliminary step to the other one, only then the world will have a value, or else, the very worldly life, disregarding its results in the Hereafter, is but a play in itself, and the achievements which he gains are not worthy of the pains and sufferings he accepts upon himself in this world. One's life in this world is to be regarded as a preliminary stage to an objective beyond it. Only then one may look for the Hereafter, which is to be his final goal. The preliminary will, then, melt in the final objective, losing its originality, if any, and will have no independence of its own.
The Term "La'ibun" in the Qur'an
What are meant by the terms "la'ibun"(play) and "lahwun (amusement)? Why do we speak of something as play, and of something as amusement? Play is a series of regular movements, performed to implement an objective which satisfies man's fancy, not his intellect, such as when some children gather to play and each of them undertakes to play a part of the game. There is no concrete outcome of playing, save that which tickles the player's fancy, through winning or losing. Sometimes there can be concrete results, but the very nature of play is some movement with a fanciful result. As a matter of fact, there can be reasonable aims for playing, such as the horse races, or shooting, which are used to encourage people to learn them for war time. Nowadays, if the plane pilots conduct contests in pilotting they will be better trained for wars, too. These sports, though for playing, have good objectives behind them.
Or football matches, which bring up strong bodies and encourage people to practise it. Actually, this objective belongs to sports, not to playing, as it can be achieved if practised at home, too. Strengthening the body is the result of movements, not the result of the concept of playing. The rules and regulations of a game have nothing to do with strengthening the body. What actually matter in this respect are the movements of the body. So, from this aspect, it is not playing, but since it also has fanciful winning or losing, it can be regarded as playing, too. Therefore, playing can have reasonable objectives, and the playing is only a means of attaining to its goal, which deserves it.
That was an explanation of the word play. The conclusion is that playing consists of certain regular movements based on certain agreed upon rules for the purpose of achieving a fanciful objective.
The Term Amusement in the Qur'an
As to the word "lahwun", amusement, it means in Persian, as in Arabic, amusement or entertainment, which implies that one engages oneself with something diverting one's thoughts from a particular subject. For example, a certain event requires us to think about a solution. This thinking is tiresome. We do not like too much thinking about that; so, we buy a newspaper with a crossword puzzle and busy ourselves solving it. This is an amusement. We may not want to carry out a duty, or we may want to relieve ourselves from a moral responsibility; in such cases we resort to an amusement to relieve our conscience. All these are amusement. Man was created so as to attain to his supreme humane objectives, as well as to the eternal happiness in the Hereafter. To attain to that happiness he will have to cover a road, a difficult one and with full responsibility. Man does not like, by nature, to cover that road. He likes to go without responsibility, to be free with no restrictions: "But man would want to burst off what (obstacle) is before him".
He wants to do whatever he desires. No body is to tell him what to do and what not to do. So, in order to relief himself from these biddings, forbiddings , and from any responsibilities, as well as from having to think about it and in order not to feel uncomfortable, he indulges in other irrelevant affairs. It is a characteristic of this world to deter man from the Hereafter.
To engage oneself with worldly affairs, as final objectives, hinders one from the Hereafter and from pursuing the objective for which he was created, and which one has to try to attain to.
Thus, this world's nature is that of seeking pleasure and entertainment, a nature which prevents man from advancing along his own road. In the Qur'an, life is obscribed as "pleasure and entertainment". But Allah did not create this world for this purpose, since such an objective does not befit the position of Divinity. Had such an objective been intended, Allah's work would have been mere "pleasure and entertainment". The objective of creation is, in fact, something becoming of Allah's divinity. We shall refer to that later on.
Conclusion
So, by saying that the creation of the world is true, not false, or it is not for pleasure and entertainment, we mean to say that it has a worthy purpose and a good objective, and not that Allah had aimlessly created it, just for play and amusement, since such unwise acts cannot be expected from the Supreme position of the Absolute wise.
The Purpose of Creation
Consequently, it is understood that Allah does His deeds for a wise purpose. The ultimate objective of all deeds is Allah Himself - the One who is of intrinsic qualities. These deeds are to display the said qualities. Here a question arises: Are there, besides the ultimate objective of all deeds, other intermediate objectives for each deed, or each creature? Are there, for all creatures of the same level, both intermediate and supreme objectives, or are there differences among the creatures in this respect? By considering the whole world of creation, that is, everything except Allah, the Exalted, it can be realized that there is no objective other than the manifestation of the Divine Essence, as we had explained in our former discussions. Thus, it can be said that the world had been created to receive the divine emanation. This emanation has no objective other than itself.
But if we consider the creatures in their separate individualities and take the kingdoms of the creatures according to their ranks, we may find that some of them have intermediate objectives, too.
The Abstracts
Among the creatures created by Allah, the Exalted - as is proved by rational argumentation, and probably can be concluded from some ayahs and narratives - there are series of creatures which are void of temporal, spatial, materialistic conditions and changeability. These are called "the complete abstracts". Now, these abstracts are of many kinds. They are proved by neither intellectual argumentation nor explicit statement in the Qur'an or the tradition, supposing that there is a world of complete abstracts without any change and alteration. From the beginning the Creator bestowed upon them what caused them to exist. Their existence is not gradual, and they undergo no change. Therefore, they cannot be more perfect. They remain the same from beginning till end, or, actually, with a deeper look, they have neither beginning nor end, since such beings are above time and place.
Maybe the ayah, quoting the angels who say: "And there is none of us but has an assigned position,"
denotes that they cannot move out of their positions and be more perfect than they are. They have a limit of existence. The one who was more perfect than the others from the beginning remain at the same degree of perfection, and the one who was in the second degree from the beginning remains so till the end.
Similarly the other degrees, whose numbers only Allah knows, and every one of them is in his prescribed position. There is no meaning in their being created to become more perfect, as their existence is the same from the beginning to the end. What perfection was possible for such a being, it had been given to him from the beginning. His capacity can contain no more perfection. Hence they can have no middle objectives.
They had been created to be benefitted by Allah's benevolence. Why should he be benevolent to them? Because it is in His Essence. But they themselves cannot have any objective other than receiving divine benevolence and emanation. They undergo no evolution so that we may say that they move from a stage to the next as their sought - for objective. Their complete existence is the same from the beginning to the end. Having passed through the world of the abstracts, we come to the world of matter and materialistics. That is, those beings which have no aspect of abstraction, or they have, but belong to matter, though essentially being abstracts - like the spirit of a human being, which is essentially an abstract being, but is united with, and belongs to, matter are under the shadow of this connection with matter, and attain to their perfection, too. The spirit, unlike the complete abstracts, does not have, from the beginning of its creation till its separation from the body, the same and unchanged degree of perfection.
As long as it is connected to matter, the body, it attains to its perfection under its shadow. Therefore, everything that is material and belongs to matter is changeable, alterable and perfectable. Such beings can have middle objectives. Generally speaking, the entire world is created so that perfection can take place, i.e. as a result of evolution it can be prepared to receive more of divine emanation. So, the difference between the realm of the abstracts and the realm of the materialistics is that the evolution and perfection have no meaning in respect to the abstracts, while in the .realm of the materialistics, besides that, there are middle objectives, too. There is no doubt that if these are wise objectives, they will inevitably be such as to lead to further perfections in the next stages.
If you suppose that Allah created a human being, endowed him with utmost ability, intelligence, wit, wisdom and other human faculties, the best in both the body and the soul, and suppose that this person gradually began to bodily deteriorate, worn out and get old, his soul also gradually declined, losing his knowledge, learnings, faith and thus, he began a downward movement, both materially and morally. Well, such a being who underwent changings and evolutions, but without any perfectness, would his creation be a wise act? It is clear that such an act could not be wise. The wise act is to prepare the preliminary arrangements for the creation of a worthier and more perfect being.
If somebody takes a worthy raw material, makes some changes in it such that it becomes less valuable; say, somebody takes a precious gem which worths billions of Tumans [Iranian currency], and uses it for a worthless and trivial experiment, this would not be a wise act, because the result of this experiment would be less valuable. Not any kind of changing can be regarded wise and reasonable. The change and alteration must be such that the result would be a more perfect being.
The supposition that Allah creates from beginning a completely perfect human being, and then due to the effects of natural factors and reactions, his perfectness decline and deteriorate, would not be an act based on wisdom. So, in order to make the evolution of this world wise, it must be in such a way that the result of the entire actions and reactions would lead to more perfection. It would be possible, however, that in this process, in some instances, some beings, due to the competition existing in the kingdom of nature, take a downward advance. Yet, if this system, which we had explained in our previous discussions, is a single one whose parts, within the whole system, enjoy inseparable coherence and totally connected to each other in a way resulting in the appearance of a more perfect and worthier being, despite there being within the process of actions and reactions instances of deterioration and downfall - such a system will be a wise one.
Now, as we believe in the Divine Wisdom, we think, as we had formerly proved, by reason and through the Qur'anic ayahs that the world of nature proceeds towards perfection. That is, the entire world of nature is such created that the evolution, which it undergoes along the time, will be better prepared for the appearance of more perfect beings.
This argument is not based on experiment, since experiments are less sufficient to form a ground for talking about the beginning and the end of the world. Experiments show a limited period of time under certain conditions. Therefore, through experiment we can never judge the post- and the pre-eternity. For example, experiment cannot prove that the world has always had a perfective advance. Likewise, it cannot prove that it will have such a perfective advance in the future.
Graduation in Creation
The hand of experiment is too short to be extended to the post- and pre-eternity. But through intellectual and philosophic argument it can be proved that since Allah is wise and never does whatever is vain and absurd, the advance of creation is, thus, to be towards perfection. Hence, it can be said that the world of nature had been created to reach its perfection. The perfection which we think of is the philosophic one, not the biological. By perfection we do not mean a change of species. By it we mean that the world of nature is so created that its parts are connected to each other and exchange action and reaction, effecting each other. These actions and reactions gradually pave the way for the appearance of more perfect beings.
For example, the earth, when it was first created, was not suitable for living beings, according to the experts. There are some traditional narratives which confirm this opinion. Nahjul Balagah also contains information which support it. Then gradually many changes took place in the universe. Allah alone knows how many millions or billions of years those changes took to happen, since there is neither a definite scientific, nor a devotional, proof.
Nevertheless, we do know that the earth had passed through several stages during which it underwent many evolutionary. changes, which, gradually, prepared the earth for plantation and for animals to come to existence. Then, after the elapse of a long time, it became prepared to receive the appearance of human beings. Those who believe in the change of species say that man had evoluted from other animals, while those who believe in the constancy of species say that man is a separate species that had been created under particular conditions. It is not our intention, however, to handle this subject for the time being. Generally we know that the evolution of the earth was in such a way as to prepare it for the appearance of man and for his living in it. This is regarded a kind of perfection for the earth, i.e. the earth, along its history, was proceeding towards its perfection. If the entire world of creation can, in this way, prepare the earth, through actions and reactions, for the appearance of more perfect beings, it will be a process of perfection.
The Middle Objective
Consequently, each of the beings of this world, before the appearance of man, must have had a middle objective, namely, the preparation for the appearance of a more perfect being, namely, man. The creation of the sky and the earth, besides their final objective, have a middle objective, too. It is the paving of the way for the appearance of man. Man himself, as a corporeal being susceptible to change and evolution, undergoes certain changes, both materially and spiritually. Thus, we can say that man was created in order to attain to more perfections so as to deserve receiving the emination of a more perfect mercy.
Somebody may ask: "If Allah's objective of creation had been bestowing mercy and emination, it would have been better to grant man whatever he could receive at the beginning of his creation, and to create him in Paradise. What are all these troubles and adventures of man's creation and appearance, for?" If the original objective had been that man should gain Allah's mercy, then it would have been better to place that mercy in man's hand at the very beginning and rest carefree. Or, as the heavenly Books say, Adam and Eve had been, driven out of Paradise, it would have been better if they had stayed and begotten their children and lived there and there would have been no quarellings, killings and corruptions.
Such questions are usually put forth by naive and simple-minded people. This means that we think that any kind of perfection can from the beginning be given to any being, like an empty vessel, which we can either gradually, or immediately, fill with water, and that the creatures of the world are like that vessel - the belief which arises the question: since the vessel is to be filled with water, why should it be filled drop by drop, causing it so much pains? Let what is to be given to him be given at the beginning, disregarding the fact that the final eminations which Allah prepares for man, and whose real nature we cannot now understand, require special capacities which must be prepared by man himself, i.e. it is up to man himself to choose these capacities. If these are forced on man at the beginning, without his consent, he will acquire none of the required capacities, as our minds are incapable of understanding their truth. This can be brought nearer to our understanding by way of an example.
The Significance of Man's Optional Acts
Suppose that an instrument or a machine, in the shape of a statue, had been invented and stationed at the door in order to receive whoever opens the door by greeting him: "Salam! You are welcome!" Now, when you open the door to enter, which one will have more effect upon you: encountering a machine greeting you with a smile and a nod, saying:
"Salam! You are welcome!", or facing your host receiving you with his own sweet words, saying: "I'm very pleased to see you! You are very much welcome!" Will both these greetings have the same or different effects upon you? The former is an automatic act done with no free-will. It is just a sound made by a machine. You attach no importance to it; except when you do not know that it was from a statue. But if you do know that it is a statue made in such a way to issue a sound, unknowingly and involuntarily, you would not take it to be a sign of respecting you. The greetings can be valued only when the saluter is free to greet or not to greet. If he did, on his own free will, you would endear it. But a being that greets you without knowing what it is doing, can be of no value at all.
Thus, you realize that the originality and credibility of some matters depend on their being done voluntarily and according to one's free will. They are to be done knowingly and consciously so as to be regarded valuable, as otherwise, a more mechanical gesture can be of no value. The mercy which Allah bestows upon man, as a reward for his voluntary good deeds, is such that man would not have deserved it had he not advanced along the voluntary path of free will. If man, from the beginning, had been created in Paradise, he would not have deserved understanding the divine blessings and spiritual pleasures. His highest pleasures would have been those of an animal.
Consequently, we can say that man had been created in this world of matter so that he might acquire such perfection that it would enable him to understand the supreme divine blessings.
Therefore, we may assign many objectives and several stages for man to go through to attain to the position of becoming worthy of understanding those divine blessings. Each one of his objectives would be one of his middle objectives. The conclusion is that the entire universe, i.e. the world of existence, minus Allah, if. taken as a whole, it can have no more than a single objective, because whatever perfection that may be obtained along the passing of time would be part of that whole. All the degrees of existence and the diverse realms, taken altogether, have but a single objective, i.e. obtaining Allah's blessing - the blessing which, as a divine act, has no objective except the very Divine Essence, in accordance with the gradation mentioned before.
Therefore, Allah's objective in creating the world is the manifestation of His Attributes, whereas the objective of the creatures, the world, and everything other than Allah, is to obtain His blessings. But if we take the realms of the world of existence separately, we realize that this is true of the realms of abstracts, too, since these are not subject to any further perfections, changes and alterations. So, their objective is also to obtain Allah's blessings, while Allah's objective in creating them is the manifestation of His Attributes and Names. But the non-abstracts or the semi-abstracts (such as the human soul), besides having the said final objective, they also have middle objectives, the total of which can be placed under the title "perfection" - that is philosophical, not biological perfection, as had formerly been explained.
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Author: Ayatullah Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi
