“Before your time, We never sent [as Our messengers] any but men whom We inspired. Hence, ask the followers of earlier revelations if you do not know this. Neither did We give them bodies that did not eat food, nor were they immortal.” (21:7-8) In His infinite wisdom, Allah chose His Messengers (peace be upon them all) from among human beings. They received His revelations and called on people to believe in Him on the basis of such revelations. Those noble messengers of Allah were men with human bodies. Allah did not make them of a special type, so as not to eat food. Food is a basic necessity for human survival, and Allah’s messengers, who were human, were not immortal. Such is the law Allah has set.

Moreover, Allah chose His messengers from among human beings because He wanted them to experience human life. Thus, their own practical lives would demonstrate the practicality of divine law, and their daily actions set the example of what they called for. When words are confirmed by practice, they are far more effective, because people see their effect as they are implemented. Had Allah’s messengers been of a different species, needing no food to eat, no going about in the markets to obtain their needs, and no intimacy with women, and had they had no experience of human emotion, they would have had no empathy with other people, and no understanding of their feelings and motives. In which case, people would not find in them relevant examples to follow.

Any advocate of a cause who does not interact with the people he addresses, neither sharing their feelings, nor letting them share his, remains on the margin of their lives, experiencing no mutual sympathy with them. Regardless of what he says to them, he will not be able to motivate them because of their mutual isolation. Likewise, an advocate whose actions do not endorse his words will not be able to reach people’s hearts, no matter how lucid and eloquent he may be. Indeed a simple word that is felt to be genuine and endorsed by action is the one that motivates people to act. Those who in times past suggested that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) should be an angel, like their successors who today suggest that such a messenger of Allah should be far above human earthly feelings, indulge in futile argument.

Furthermore, they are all oblivious to the fundamental fact that angels do not, by their very nature, experience human life. They an experience neither the physical needs and interactions of the human body, nor human feelings, emotions or concerns. A messenger from Allah must know all such feelings and motives, experiencing them in his own daily life so that he is able to provide practical guidance to those who respond to his message. Furthermore, were the messenger to be an angel, people would have no motivation to follow his example in their life’s details. They would feel that he belonged to a different race with a totally different nature. They will remain unable to follow his suit in their daily life. Needless to say, Allah’s messengers (peace be upon them all) have always provided their peoples with a good example to follow. Furthermore, such a suggestion betrays ignorance of the honour Allah has bestowed on mankind. For He chose His messengers from among them, providing them with contact with the supreme society of heaven as they received instructions and revelations from Him.

For all these reasons, Allah, in His infinite wisdom, selected His messengers from among human beings, subjecting them to all that a human being experiences from the moment of birth to the moment of death, including emotions, reactions, hopes, pains, eating food, marriage, etc. It is Allah’s wisdom that determined that the final and most perfect messenger (salallahu 'alayhi wasallam) to deliver His last and everlasting message should be the one who provided the most perfect example of human life on earth; a life full of motivation, experience, action and emotion. Such has been Allah’s law in selecting His messengers, and His law in saving them with their followers when He destroyed the wrongdoers who rejected the truth embodied in their messages: “In the end, We fulfilled Our promise to them, and We saved them and all whom We willed [to save], and We destroyed those who transgressed beyond bounds.” (21:9) This is, then, a law set in operation, like that of sending Allah’s messengers. He promised to save them along with those who truly believed in them and gave credence to their faith by action. He fulfilled His promise to them and destroyed those who were oppressors, transgressing all the bounds He set.

(Fi Zilal al-Quran)

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 19th February 2011

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