From: hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com (Kamran Hakim)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: Re: The Finality of Allah's Apostle (SAW)
Date: 19 Nov 92 23:07:13 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


In article <1992Nov18.131752.30657@davidsys.com>, merchant@davidsys.com 
(Rukhsana Merchant) you write:

RM>	The Finality of Allah's Apostle (SAW).
RM>
RM>	Abu Haraira report Allah's Messenger (SAW) as saying:
RM>	The similitude of mine and that of the Apostles
RM>	before me is that of a person who built a house
RM>	quite imposing and bueatiful, but for one
RM>	brick in one of its corners.   People would
RM>	go around it, appreciating the building, but
RM>	saying: Why has the brick not been fixed here?  He
RM>	said:  I am that brick and I am the last of the 
RM>	Apostles.
RM> 
RM>		Sahih Muslim.

Dear Rukhsana,

Allah the Creator and the Builder has indeed built the house, and Prophet 
Muhammad was indeed the last brick of that house or the last of the 
Apostles. However, the IMPLICATION that this house constitutes the END 
of God's Creativity and Buildership is a theological absurdity which is 
against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an about Godhood.

It is possible to understand this saying of Prophet Muhammad in a
different manner, WITHOUT LIMITING God's Creativity and Buildership.
That is to say: God, the Builder, built a HOUSE through His Messengers 
and Prophets (i.e. 124000 of Them from the time of Prophet Adam to the
time of the Seal of the Prophet according to a Hadith from Imam Ali.) 
and Prophet Muhammad was the last brick in this HOUSE, or the last
Apostle in the Adamic cycle of God's Creativity. However, upon the 
completion of this HOUSE, God's creativity DOES NOT STOP, it rather
continues towards building a CITY in a new cycle of creation whose
appearance is ushered by Imam Mihdi and whose foundation is laid by 
Issa-bni Maryam as a token of God's grace in a NEVER-ENDING process 
of God's Creativity. Such an approach in understanding the finality
of Prophet Muhammad keeps the Creatorship of God intact and bestows
meaning to the Mission of Mihdi and the Return of Christ.

I hope this offers another perspective for your consideration.

RM>--
RM>31. Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you
RM>and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, MercifuL
RM>32. Say: Obey Allah and the Apostle; but if they turn back, then
RM>surely Allah does not love the unbelievers.
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
RM>The Holy Quran: The Family of Imran.

No doubt about this Rukhsana. Indeed, to know God, to love God and to obey 
God becomes possible through knowing, loving and obeying God's Apostle. It 
is a token of God's mercy and love towards humanity that the cycle of 
REVELATION from God should NEVER end with a specific Prophet, so that God's
Will is EXPRESSED and human obedience to God is TESTED. Finality of God's
REVELATION would be against God's grace and justice.

"Thus, by the "sun" in one sense is meant those Suns of Truth Who rise from 
the dayspring of ancient glory, and fill the world with a liberal effusion 
of grace from on high. These Suns of Truth are the universal Manifestations 
of God, [i.e. Anbiya-yeh Ollol-azm, the Messengers of God like Moses, Jesus, 
Muhammad, Etc... KH], in the worlds of His attributes and names, even as the 
visible sun that assisteth, as decreed by God, the true One, the Adored, in 
the development of all earthly things, such as the trees, the fruits, and 
colours thereof, the minerals of the earth, and all that may be witnessed 
in the world of creation, so do the divine Luminaries [i.e. the Messengers 
of God. KH], by their loving care and educative influence, cause the trees 
of divine unity, the fruits of His oneness, the leaves of detachment, the 
blossoms of knowledge and certitude, and the myrtles of wisdom and 
utterance, to exist and be made manifest. Thus it is through the rise of 
these Luminaries of God the world is made new, the waters of everlasting 
life stream forth, the billows of living-kindness surge, the clouds of 
grace are gathered, and the breeze of bounty bloweth upon all created
things. It is the warmth that these Luminaries of God generate, and the 
undying fires they kindle, which cause the light of the love of God to 
burn fiercely in the heart of humanity. it is  through the abundant grace 
of these Symbols of Detachment, [i.e. the Messengers of God. KH], that the 
Spirit of life everlasting is breathed into the bodies of the dead [i.e. 
The term dead is an allusion to one who has not attained the spirit of 
faith, belief or certitude. KH]. Assuredly the visible sun is but a sign 
of the splendour of that Day-star of Truth, that Sun Which can never have 
a peer, a likeness, or rival. Through Him all things live, move, and have 
their being. Through His grace they are made manifest, and unto Him they 
all return. From Him all things have sprung, and unto the treasures of 
His revelation they all have repaired. From Him all created things did 
proceed, and to the depositories of His law they did revert. 

That these divine Luminaries [i.e. The Messengers of God. KH] seem to be 
confined at times to specific designations and, as you have observed and 
are now observing, is due to the imperfect and limited comprehension of 
certain minds. Otherwise, they have been at all times, and will through
eternity continue to be, exalted above every praising name and sanctified 
from every descriptive attribute. The quintessence of every name can hope 
for no access unto their court of holiness, and the highest and purest of 
all attributes can never approach their kingdom of glory. Immeasurably 
high are the Prophets of God exalted above the comprehension of men, who 
can never know them except by their own Selves. Far be it from His glory 
that His chosen Ones should be magnified by any other than their own 
persons. Glorified are they above the praise of men; exalted are they 
above human understanding..."
					Baha'u'llah, Ketab-i Iqan

Moreover Baha'u'llah reveals in the same Book:

"For this reason, hath the Point of the Baya'n [i.e. The Bab, Who proclaimed
to be the awaited Mihdi in 1844 in Iran. KH]- may the life of all else but 
Him be His sacrifice! - likened the Manifestations of God unto the sun which, 
though it rise from the "Beginning that hath no beginning" until the "End 
that knoweth no end," is none the less the same sun. Now, wert thou to say, 
that this sun is the former sun, thou speakest the truth; and if thou sayest 
that this sun is the "return" of that sun, thou also speakest the truth. 
Likewise, from this statement it is made evident that the term "last" is 
applicable to the "first," and the term "first" applicable to the "last;" 
inasmuch as both the "first" and the "last" have risen to proclaim one and 
the same Faith...."
						ibid.

Furthermore;

"In like manner, if it be said that all the days are but one and the same, 
it is correct and true. And if it be said, with respect to their particular 
names and designations, that they differ, that again is true. For though 
they are the same, yet one doth recognize in each a separate designation, 
a specific attribute, a particular character. Conceive accordingly the 
distinction, variation, and unity characteristics of the various 
Manifestations of holiness [i.e. Messengers of God. KH], that thou mayest 
comprehend the allusions made by the creator of all names and attributes  
to the mysteries of distinction and unity, and discover the answer to thy 
question as to why that everlasting Beauty should have, at sundry times, 
called Himself by different names and titles."
						ibid.

Turning back from the Messenger of God for TODAY in the name of obedience
to the commandments of the Messenger of God of YESTERDAY is the essence of 
disobedience towards Allah and His Will.

Warm regards,

Kamran Hakim
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan,soc.culture.arabic