It is, of course, possible to find people in society who believe in and adhere to laws and regulations of human origin, but it must be affirmed that such individuals are extremely rare and form the exception. They certainly do not represent the average member of society and cannot be regarded as a principal support of the social order. The practical effectiveness of a conscience that is not guaranteed by religious faith or principle is, moreover, very slight when compared to effectiveness of religious belief. It must, therefore, be accepted that this advantage deriving from the teachings of the Prophets is restricted to the heavenly religions. If the spirit of people is nurtured with faith in God and religious belief serves as a support for legal principles, law takes on a universal aspect, and its implementation is guaranteed to a degree superior to the ability of human laws to influence the human beings. Since belief has its roots in the activity of the existential mechanism of the human being and since it plays a basic role in the structure of human personality, profoundly, altering the conditions of the soul, the human being comes to believe in and adhere to the laws of religion not only with his brain but with the entirely of his being. The certainty that religion shines like a light in the depths of the human being’s being, illumining it and warming it at the same time.
The impetus that religion that religion can create in the human being cannot be found in any non-religious school of thought. Experience has shown that other schools of thought are unsuccessful in this respect, because it is religion alone that relies on the heart, and the more firmly rooted faith becomes in the heart, the more it will serve as a source of dynamic activity. The human being witnesses today the elaboration and ratification of laws on the part of societies that officially recognize all the human beings, irrespective of racial, national, religious or geographical differences, as possessing certain rights and values. Nonetheless, although scientific advances have created today more suitable conditions for the acceptance of reality, the attitude of different groups to the laws that represent their own accomplishment is entirely negative and denies those laws any influence or value.
What people accept in theory they do not observe in fact. Whenever the law concerns them directly and their interests and desires are threatened, they will not hesitate to cross the boundaries of the law, to perform inhuman acts, and to engage in trickery and sabotage. It is obvious that the attitude of others towards laws of this nature will also not be one of positive acceptance. This disregard for the value of the human being, this violation of law and the expansion of political struggle and conflict, the unhealthy economic rivalries of powerful states with most countries in the world, the tempestuous waves of social crisis and moral corruption all this shows clearly how shaky and unfirm is the position of man-made laws, how slight are their influence and standing from the point of view of implementation, and how limited is the sphere of their rule. A brief look at the manner in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been observed and implemented suffices to show that the only effect this declaration has had consists of the celebration of festivals, and the delivery of empty, meaningless lectures.
If we follow, step by step, the development of religious ideas among the masses of humanity, will this not cause us to conclude that non-religious principles, which do not derive from exalted concepts, are weak and inadequate? Will it not bring us to believe firmly in the veracity and truthfulness of religious systems which are nurtured with the power and majesty of the Lord of all creation and the influence of whose culture and ideology on the entire cultural life of the human of the human being becomes more fully known every day through the researches of thinkers? We must look at results, at the fruits that different schools of thought have borne in human society. Is not the reason for the failure of human laws in ensuring the human being’s progress and happiness not to be sought in their having remained ignorant of the true nature of the human being and their neglect of his real needs and creative abilities?
All of this serves to elucidate a single truth: that belief in the school of thought of the Prophets is a guarantor for the life of society, a support for all healthy relationships among the human beings, and a protector for the oppressed masses, and it has always bestowed the gift of freedom and brotherhood on mankind. Whatever society, group or system does not set its face on this path and does not respond affirmatively to the liberating summons of God’s Messengers to a more elevated life, will never experience true prosperity and salvation. The school of thought of the Prophets has provided penal laws for those persons who may exceptionally transgress against God’s law. These laws weigh the offence carefully and specify a punishment corresponding to the degree of seriousness of the crime and take into consideration the situation of the criminal.
MIRACLES: AN EFFECTIVE AND ELOQUENT PROOF
In the mission and summons of the Prophets, the human being’s free will and choice are the first subject to attract our attention. If the human being had no share of free will and choice, he would never have any need of Prophets; he would travel along a predetermined path, advancing automatically. Thus, in accepting the mission of the Prophets, we must necessarily accept also the freedom of the human being; otherwise, the fundamental themes in the mission of the Prophets could never be put forward, and it would not be possible to find any justification for their message, a message which in reality, awakens the human beings who are asleep and transforms them into free and conscious beings, not torpid masses without will. The general law of guidance is a universal law that covers the entirety of being. Given the insufficiency of the instinctual guidance the human being contains within himself, given the fact that his motion is not predetermined, given the various defects that negate the idea of reason being an adequate guide to perfection and happiness-given all this, it is necessary that the deficiency within the human being be made good, that the vacuum within him be filled. Therefore, the scheme of creation lays open before the human being the path of prophethood which will enable him to reach his unchanging goal. With the tools and resources that he has at his disposal to acquire knowledge and consciousness, he can then discover, within the sphere laid out by the Prophets, precise clear and infallible instructions for the attainment of happiness, and find answers to both his long-standing and increasing needs. It is a fundamental principle that nobody’s claim can be accepted without proof, particularly if it is a big and lofty claim. Then more decisive and convincing proofs must be offered for the claim being advanced.
Therefore,
for those who have accepted the world view based on Divine unity as the
foundation for their beliefs and their mode of viewing the world, whenever
someone claims a particular relationship with God, the importance of the matter
necessitates that it be examined carefully. One must look for the properties
and characteristics that are necessary in guides of humanity in order to able
to recognize a true Prophet. Given the significance of the rank of prophethood,
the great responsibility borne by the Prophets and the role of their message in
determining the different concerns of human life, Prophets must be able to
furnish a decisive proof for their claim to prophethood. The proof must be of such
a nature that it could be obtained only by means of God’s infinite power, of
forces that lie that lie beyond nature.
To be continued
