The Wahi 4, Wahi and Iman.
Iman means believing in something after
considerable thought. Many ideas are floating in the world; the wahi
offers a unique perspective on life that cannot be imposed on someone; it is a
belief that requires complete satisfaction of both mind and heart. The Quran
says, “If Allah willed, all on earth would have believed together.
Wouldst thou (Muhammad) compel men until they become believers?” (10:99). In
other words, compulsion and iman are contradictory terms that cannot
coexist. Allah has given the right of choice to all human beings. Therefore,
no compulsion must be used to alter it.
People
often ask what Allah provided that was missing in human life, which He
introduced through wahi, setting them apart from other creations. Wahi
represents concepts that were unknown to humans. Just as humans cannot grasp
life after death, nafs, the law of requital, or God, they also struggle
with ideas that transcend beyond the senses, and they can only comprehend
physical entities. However, personality is not a physical object, so humans are
incapable of understanding it only with the use of senses; the same can be said
about the personality of Allah and nafs.
All religions except Islam advocate that iman and
intellect are contradictory ways of thinking and cannot coexist. To have iman,
one must accept the dogmas of the religion without question. Thus, reasoning
and critical thinking are often detrimental to accepting dogmas of religion.
The Quranic way of presenting its ideas is distinct; unlike many
religions, it invites and encourages individuals to reflect and think about its
verses. “Will they then not meditate on the Quran or are their locks on
their hearts?” (47:24). The wahi in the Quran informs us that
human life does not end with the decay of the physical body; nafs is not
a result of physical evolution, and it defies the laws governing the physical
body. It does not cease to exist after the physical body's decay; instead, it
enters a new life. The belief in the continuity of life and the concept of nafs
rely on each other; they lose significance without one another. The same holds good
for believing in Allah and the law of requital.
A person who does not believe that Allah has created the universe
and is governing it, and for whom the universe came into existence by chance
without any purpose, cannot understand the concepts mentioned earlier, and nor
can they believe in morality, because without the concept of accountability and
Allah, morality fails to make any sense.
“Our Rabb! Raise in their midst a messenger from among them who shall
recite thy revelation unto them, instruct them in the scripture, explain the
wisdom it contains, and make them grow,” (2:129). This is the prayer of Ibrahim
and Ismail after building the Kabbah; the Prophet Muhammad and the
revelations he received were the answer to their prayers. The wahi is
not given individually; it is given through prophets, which broadens our outlook
in life and tells us that we are answerable for our actions.
Humanity began receiving wahi at the dawn of civilization, when people
started living together and their interests clashed, thereby highlighting the
need for regulation. As such, Allah sent His messengers with wahi
containing regulations for forming a balanced society where everyone lived in
harmony and happiness. At that time, there were no printing presses, and the
human population was small and scattered, resulting in the slow transmission of
information. Therefore, prophets were sent in quick succession to transform various
civilizations. When civilizations settled into organized groups, Allah sent His
final and complete message to humanity through His last Prophet, Muhammad. The Quran
is the only book that contains the untampered and unadulterated wahi. To
be a Muslim, one must believe in one creator, prophets, books, the day
of judgment, Malika (the agents that conduct and implement the orders of
God), nafs or personality, continuity of life, and the law of Requital.
The wahi is based on firm immutable concepts, and without a clear
understanding of them, one cannot form a correct idea about the system that wahi
gave. This system aims to emphasize the development of nafs and character.
The development of everyone is possible in society. Wahi provides the fundamental
principles, along with the enthusiasm to carry them out. Thinking is essential
for understanding these concepts, so iman is not a blind faith; it is accepting
the truth with complete satisfaction of heart and mind that cannot exist without
thinking.
