The quality of employment of means in the Holy prophet’s and religious apponents’ manner-1

Another lesson that can be derived from the Holy Prophet’s practical attiude is the proper use of means to attain the ends. Generally speaking, man should have sacred and lofty goals in life. Moreover, as regards his goals as well as the means he employs, he should be a true Muslim. Some people are not true Muslims so far as their goals are concerned, i.e. they are only concerned with their stomach, sleep and seeking worldly pleasures. They want to live a life of self – indulgence only. These pepole cannot be called Muslims, not even human beings, for their aims do not go beyond the limit of man’s lustful animal passions, which a true human beings avoids. A true Muslims only aims at obeying God’s commands.

To realize his sacred goals, man should necessarily use certain means. The question here arises as to which means he should employs. Is it sufficient for one to have merely sacred and divine goals, regardless of how evil and unsacred the means he uses might be? Or else, should one apply sacred means to achieve sacred goals? These questions will be clarified hereafter.

Supposing our aim is to propagate religion. Is it admissible to use any means whatsoever to realise such an aim? The answer is definitely no. In the same way, it is forbidden to tell lies or to flater in order to secure personal interests. Also, it is not proper for someone having a sacred goal of building a mosque, to tell lies so as to collect money or building materials, although this may be praised and considered as a kind of devotion by others. Fabricating a tradition and attributing it to the Prophet and Imams in order to guide people to the straight path, even without any personal interests, or even to discourage back- biting and idle – speaking and encourage prayer instead, would be blameworthy as well. Islam in the attainment of goals, does not prescribe such means even if these are based on good intent. To say, for example, that the reciting of a given verse of the Quran will affect one in a certan way or fabricate a story or dream to make of people believers, and instill faith in them are way which are forbidden in Islam.

It is related that Abi bin Ka’b used to narrate a prophetic tradition concerning effects and blessings attained by recitation of different verses of the Quran. Someone asked him why he alone narrated that tradition and no one else? He replied that he had fabricated it to please God and added, “I had noticed that in gatherings, people usually narrate legends and adventures and recite poems from the pre- Islamic era, thereby wasting their time. I invented this tradition as a good way to make them recite the Quran instead.” This is wrong according to Islam, as truth cannot be founded or based on falsehood.

On the whole, te prophets of God and among them the Holy Prophet of Islam, never resorted to falsehood in order to establish the truth, rather to do so, they resorted to truth itself.

Quranic Narrations are Authentic
It has been asserted by some Egyptians that the Holy Quran is not a book of history which records factual events and occurrences. Rather, it has a sacred goal, namely to narrate stories and anecdotes to the people who may learn from them, regardless of their being true or not.

In the course of history, may admonitory tales have been narrated in the language of animals by the wise, which one and all know to be legends. Examples are the stories of “Kalilah Va Demnah”, in which lions, foxes, rabbits and other animals are main characters. In one story, for instance, the writer portrays a very small rabbit hurling a huge lion into a well in order to make man understand that the body and physical power cannot contend with wisdom and intellect. Now, some people have ( God forbids) tried to compare Quranic anecdotes with such tales, saying that it is not necessary for us to argue whether they are true historical stories or allegorical ones, for we have to merely learn from them.

This argument is entirely incorrect and nonsensical, for the prophetic logic does not permit the prophets to use untrue and fabricated event, even allegorically, to point to the truth. It si impossible for the prophet of Islam, the Holy Quran, the Imams ( A.S) and other learned scholars from this school of thought to use baseless arguments to attain a sacred goal. We ( Muslims) have no doubt that all narrations in the Quran, in their from and content, are manifest realities, and there is no need to support Quranic anecdotes by books of history, rather, history should be supported by the Quran.

* There is a basic difference in the line of thinking of the modern and the ancient scholars, The former believe that “the end justifies the means” i.e. one’s goal should be sacred, and for attaining it any means can be used. This is considered a principle by some Egyptian scholars. The ancient scholars have narrated a tradition which the late Sheikh Ansari, may God bless him, has narrated twice in his “ Makasib- i- Muharrimah’, enjoining that should one confront some people who distort religion by fabricating ideas not included in religion or remove from religion things included in it, one must stand against them with strong logic and make people aware of their lies and heresies.