The Islamic Aqeedah is a defined set of concepts regarding the existence of the universe and the life of the human being. It serves as the primary concept which guides the human being in a specific direction with regards to the affairs of life. As such, it is essential that this Aqeedah be adopted through an enlightened and intellectual examination of the reality of the life of the human being, and not through imitation or superficial thinking. The intellectual adoption of the Aqeedah insures that the human being will be firmly fixed on it, such that his life becomes productive as well as progressive, and he doesn't deviate from this path.
Looking at the situation of the Muslim Ummah, however, we find that the productivity and progress that is expected from an entire nation that adopts the Islamic Aqeedah is conspicuously absent. In addition, a survey of the ideas that the Ummah has come to adopt over the course of time indicates the existence, in the ummah's mindset, of a plethora of ideas contradictory to the fundamentals of the Islamic Aqeedah. Amongst these ideas are the Bidah(innovation) which present themselves in the Sufi culture, the adoption of Maslaha (benefit) even when it contradicts the text, the separation of politics from Deen, and nationalism.
However, if we study the history of the Ummah prior to the emergence of these false concepts, such as at the time of the Sahabah and the early generations which followed them, we find an Ummah that was not only progressive, but provided leadership to the rest of humanity in all the affairs of life. Thus, our present day inability to lead a progressive life, as an Ummah, is at least in part, a consequence of our deviation from the purity of the Islamic Aqeedah. This realization ought to compel us to reevaluate the way in which we have adopted our Aqeedah, to rebuild it on sound intellectual proof, and cleanse ourselves of ideas taken solely by imitation or built on conjecture.
One of the fundamental concepts of the Islamic Aqeedah is that Muhammad (saaw) is the Messenger of Allah. Clearly, every Muslim believes in this idea; however, many Muslims fail to comprehend the idea which serves as a prerequisite for believing in Muhammad (saaw), that idea being the need for Messengers. Not realizing the fact that having Messengers from Allah is an essential need for humanity, leads us to lose sight of the real value of the Message of Islam. Thus, we present here some of the important proofs regarding the need for Messengers, and illustrate the impact this idea has on the way Islam is taken by the people.
A study of the various cultures and societies that have existed throughout the course of human history finds that the concept of worshipping something has been with humanity since at least as far back as recorded history. Societies from all parts of the world have developed, as a part of their culture, the reverence of someone or something. The existence of this behavior in societies regardless of the separation between them in terms of time and place indicates that worshipping is an instinctual behavior in the human being. It is part of his nature to look to something other than himself which may have some influence on his destiny. In addition, worshipping is an instinct which cannot be suppressed permanently.
As an example, under Communist Russia, religion was banned and the people had no means of satisfying the instinct of worship except by showing their reverence for Lenin, Stalin, or even the Communist Party. However, with the collapse of Communism, history records the very rapid emergence of religious identities amongst the people of Russia, such that churches and other symbols of the Christian heritage of Russian people began to be reconstructed very shortly after the ban on religion was lifted in Russia. This is an indication that the instinct of worship is so powerful in the human being, that even 70 years of communism, with its repressive and authoritarian means was unable to remove it form the people. Thus, it should be realized that the instinct of worship is a powerful force which pushes the human being towards the adoption of specific ideas and rituals that are the means through which this instinct is satisfied.
If this instinctual behavior of worshipping is molded by intellectual and enlightened thought, one would realize that the only being worthy of worship is the Creator, Allah (swt). This is because Allah (swt) is the one who created the human being, created the instinct of worship in him, and has the ability to influence man's destiny. Therefore, He (saaw) alone should be worshipped. This is of course, the most basic belief of the Islamic Aqeedah. However, the question that arises from this conclusion is that of how to worship Allah (swt).
Regarding this, it needs to be understood that worshipping is a relationship between the human being and Allah (swt). Every relationship needs to be defined because that definition becomes the basis for the relationship. If the relationship between the human being and Allah (swt) is not defined, then there will be no mechanism by which the instinct of worship could be satisfied. Thus, the instinct of worship needs to be defined, and the real question is how to define this relationship between the human being and Allah (swt). Reflecting on this issue yields the possibility that this relationship could be defined by either,
Each individual for himself,
The consensus of all individuals, or
By the Creator, Allah (swt).
Establishing the worship relationship with Allah (swt), as with any relationship, requires one to have some knowledge regarding all parties in the relationship. With regards to Allah (swt), the human being can obtain only very limited knowledge about Him through the use of the intellect. Thus, he is able to ascertain His existence, His Oneness, His Sovereignty, and other attributes. However, the human being can in no way ascertain how the Creator should be sanctified or worshipped. It is not possible to use the intellect to know what Allah (swt) likes or dislikes or to even talk about the concept of like or dislike regarding Allah (swt). This is because Allah (swt) is Unlimited and beyond our perception and comprehension, and presupposing how Allah (swt) ought to be worshipped is pure speculation that has no basis in reality. Thus, the human being by himself cannot determine how to Worship Allah (swt). In addition, if each individual worships Allah (swt) according to his own thinking, this will eventually lead to conflict in the society. One individual's idea of worship may be to construct idols to worship Allah (swt), and someone else's idea of worship may be to destroy all idols. Since the worship is an instinct which needs to be satisfied, both individuals would strive to perform their worship, and the inevitable result would be a fierce struggle between the people. In addition, the criteria for each one's worship is purely subjective, and there is no way that this conflict can be solved accept by one dominating the other.
In summary, the result of allowing human beings to establish the worship relationship for themselves is not only that they would have false concepts regarding worship, but they would also fight against each other for the sake of those false concepts. Thus, it is incorrect to satisfy the instinct of worship according to the individual's own thinking.
The second possibility is that the means of worship would be set through the consensus of all individuals. However, it has already been established that the human being does not have enough knowledge regarding Allah (swt) to establish this relationship. This is true of each individual as well as the collection of all individuals. So, though every human being may agree to a specific form of worshipping Allah (swt), there is no rational basis for believing that that form of worship is correct. In addition, the idea of having a consensus is itself vague. It would require surveying the opinion of every individual, adopting those ideas which have the most popularity, and convincing everyone to adopt them as their standard, which in reality is impossible. Therefore, the worship of Allah (swt) cannot be determined by the consensus of individual either.
The final possibility is that the Creator would determine for humanity how He should be worshipped. Since Allah (swt) is the Creator of mankind, and the one who instilled the attribute of worship in the human being, He is the only one knows how this instinct is best satisfied. In addition, Allah (swt) is the only one who has the knowledge of what the duty of the human being towards Him is. Therefore the only way for the human being to satisfy his instinct of worship correctly is to do so based on some revelation from the Creator. The revelation, however, is not something sent to each and every individual. This is obvious since not every human being claims to have revelation. In fact, very few people in the history of humanity have ever claimed to have received revelation.
In addition, the very fact that human beings have developed so many different forms of worship indicates that the revelation does not come on an individual basis. Thus, the revelation must come to humanity through specific individuals commissioned by Allah (swt) as Messengers. Messengers are needed not only to convey the message, but also to demonstrate the practical method of worshipping Allah (swt). This is due to the fact that the instinct of worship is satisfied through practical actions, whether it is reciting some words or performing certain rituals. Therefore, humanity is in need of Messengers to instruct the people regarding how Allah (swt) should be worshipped as well as to demonstrate the proper implementation of this worship.
In addition to this proof of the need for Messengers, there are other proofs which also arise from a study of the human being's life. Human beings, by their nature, are social creatures. They must live in societies and establish relations between each other. These relationships are geared towards the satisfaction of the human being's needs and instincts. Thus, we establish economies in order to earn wealth and satisfy our survival instinct. We marry and have children in order to satisfy the instinctual desire to preserve the human race. Along with these, there are many other activities in the society, all of which serve to satisfy the human being and provide him with tranquillity. Thus, the goal of every society ought to be the satisfaction of the needs and instincts of every human being. Since theses needs and instincts are satisfied through the relationships, it is essential that these relationships be formed in the correct way.
The relationships in any society are determined by the system that is applied in that society. This system could either be a product of man made thinking or be from the Creator of mankind. If one looks to the history of man-made systems, one would find that man-made systems are imperfect, subject to biases, contradiction, shortsightedness, and change according to time and place. Thus, mankind, has never been able to produce a perfect system that is capable of establishing the correct relationships which satisfy all the needs and instincts of every individual for all times. Rather, what we find are systems which lead to the satisfaction of only some individuals at the expense of the masses.
Modern day Capitalist societies are a clear example of such a result from man-made systems. Wealthy nations such as the United States and Britain would have pets which are well groomed, fed, and sheltered in virtual palaces, while hundreds of thousands of the nation's own citizens would live in cardboard boxes, eat from the garbage of restaurants, and have no medical care. Moreover, the reality of man-made systems is that any solutions which they put forth to solve one problem, inevitably leads to more problems. The current ''budget crisis'' faced by America is a classic example of this. A Capitalist economy, by its very philosophy, leads to poverty in a certain percentage of the population. In order to attempt to solve this problem, the idea of social security and medi-care was developed. However, we find today that those programs have led to the emergence of welfare families, insurance fraud, and enormous debt, all of which have become primary problems in the society, and have been the focus of the so called budget crisis. Thus, it is impossible for human beings to establish a system for themselves which meets the needs of all the people and satisfies their instincts completely.
The only means by which human beings can live according to the correct and productive system is if that system comes from Allah (swt), the Creator. Allah (swt), being the Creator has full knowledge of good and bad, of what will bring prosperity and what will bring disaster. He is aware of the past, present, and future. He created the human being and know his nature, what will satisfy him, and what will make him miserable. In addition, Allah (swt) is capable of providing a system which addresses every single human being, protects his rights, and gives him certain responsibilities which he is capable of fulfilling. Therefore, Allah (swt) is the one who should provide the system by which human beings organize their societies and satisfy their needs and instincts. This system, however, has come to in the form of a message from the Creator. It is not something which appears magically in the society such that the society begins to function through it immediately. Studying the reality today is enough to understand this point. Therefore, human beings, in order to establish the proper relations amongst themselves, are in need of Messengers from Allah who would convey the message to them and instruct them on its implementation.
The third proof of the need for Messengers is built on the understanding that we are all created by Allah (swt), and as such we are equal. Thus, no human being ought to be sovereign over another and no one should be a slave to another. In fact, the only Sovereign is Allah (swt) and the human beings would be slaves to Him only. However, if we accept the idea that man should legislate for himself in this life, then we begin to put some men sovereign over others. The philosophers of the western culture, however, argue that though God is the sovereign, He is the one who gave man the ability to legislate. Therefore, they argue, it is natural for the human being to legislate and attempt to discover, ''God's law.''
Man's ability to legislate, however, is not a special attribute that he is endowed with. Rather, it is merely an extension of his ability to think. Thinking requires the human being to pass judgments, and once the human being extends his judgments regarding the relationships in the society to be applied in the society, then he is legislating. Therefore, the ability to legislate is simply one of the functions of thinking. In addition, having the capacity to perform a certain action does not necessarily mean that one has the permission to do that action. As an example, just because we have hands and those hands have the ability to move and grasp objects, does not mean that we can take any object we wish, even if it belonged to another person. One needs permission from the owner of the object in order for one to perform that action. Thus, utilizing the human mind to legislate on behalf of the Sovereign, requires a proof of permission from Him to do so. This permission would have to come in the form of a message. The Western philosophers cannot lay claim to any authentic message from Allah (swt) which gives them this permission; therefore, their claim that the human being ought to legislate on behalf of Allah (swt) is in fact an attempt to usurp the Sovereignty of Allah (swt).
In addition, if the human being is permitted to legislate, those who will be able to do so are the ones who have the power and wealth to build public opinion, rally the masses. Thus, it is the powerful and wealthy who would decide for the rest of the society how they should live, what is right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral. The end result of this would be that the majority of the people would becomes slaves to a few elite. This was the case when the church in Europe claimed sovereignty for the clergy and ruled the people by their own man-made legislation. The consequence was that people came to be slaves to the church to the extent that they were not allowed to think except in the way the priests wanted them to, e.g. Galileo. Similarly, the Capitalist societies that emerged in Europe after the dissolution of the church as a political entity also made some men sovereign over others. They did so under the guise of democracy and instilled a new and more powerful system of slavery. Under democracy, the people have the illusion of freedom, when in reality, the are bound to live according to the legislation of a few people, elected to their posts due the support of the rich and powerful in the society.
This is the natural consequence of attempting to usurp Allah's sovereignty. Therefore, if human beings wish to live free from the slavery to each other, they must recognize Allah (swt) as the absolute Sovereign over them, and the only legislator for them. If Allah (swt) is to be the legislator, then we need messengers from Him (swt) through whom the legislation comes. The legislation which comes from Allah (swt) is not biased for one group or another, and is the only means by which to have equity and justice for all human beings. Thus, the real sense of freedom, is realized only when we recognize the need for Messengers from Allah, ascertain their truthfulness when they come, and follow them wholeheartedly , knowing that we are submitting to the Creator of mankind and the Universe, Allah (swt).
Utilizing these proofs to reconstruct our understanding of why we need Muhammad (saaw) as a Messenger to guides us is of principal importance in arriving at the proper Islamic Aqeedah. Unfortunately, many Muslims today espouse ideas which, if studied carefully, contradict the whole basis for accepting Islam. As an example, some Muslims started to claim that Islam did not come with a particular system by which to govern the society, but rather, came with general principles, leaving the human being to apply them as he sees fit. In addition, some people claim that the Islamic punishments are outdated, or that Islam's prohibition of Riba is impractical. The implication of all these claims is that the message of Islam is not applicable in its entirety for all times and places. This is an argument that the non-Muslims would bring, but for Muslims to bring ideas built on this argument reflects the weak understanding they have of the Islamic Aqeedah. If we believe that man-made systems are imperfect, that man by himself does not know how to worship Allah (swt), and that the only way for the human being to be free is to take Allah (swt) as the absolute Sovereign, then it is impossible that we would start favoring our personal opinions over the orders of the revelation. Doing so, is to nullify the belief that we need Messengers from Allah (swt) to run our affairs in the correct way, and consequently to nullify the belief in Muhammad (saaw).
Thus, it should be realized that all of the ideas stated earlier are false in their entirety and they are the products of a failure to realize why humanity needs Messengers. If we establish our belief in this need in the enlightened and intellectual way, through the proofs outlined above, we would, Insha'Allah, be able to protect ourselves from such deviant ideas and others similar to them which attempt to make the text of the revelation secondary to man-made ideas. Having a message from the Creator is a necessity and Muslims are honored to be the followers of the final Messenger, Muhammad (saaw), whose message will one day prevail over all man-made systems.
In addition to comprehending the need for messengers, the Islamic Aqeedah requires from us to have a conclusive belief in the messengership of Muhammad (saaw). This can be built only through the examination of the miracle which Muhammad (saaw) brought, the Qur'an.
Source: http://www.adduonline.com/articles/need.htm
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