sábado, 3 de abril de 2010

الله التوجيه

DO YOU not gaze with joy at pastures and hills covered with foliage and brilliant flowers? Are you not fascinated by the rays of golden sunlight as they filter through silvery clouds? Do you not enjoy watching a butterfly as it flutters over a blossoming garden? Are not the sounds of bubbling brooks, chirping birds, and rustling leaves enchanting to your ears? Do you not delight in the sweet smell of earth moistened with dew, the pleasant scent of herbs, and the perfume of flowers? No doubt you do.
These delights are not the products of a human artist, musician, or perfumer. They are God’s creations. They were all created in praise of God and for the enjoyment of mankind.
However, you may ask: ‘How can we find enjoyment when illness and death render life so bitter? Where is happiness when the world is filled with war, hatred, and discord?’ Conflicts are spreading like plagues. People do not hesitate to use the most savage means to torture and kill one another mercilessly. Families are being ripped apart by separation and divorce. Overwhelmingly, badness permeates the earth.
God did not make the beauty around us to be a mere work of art that we have no time to enjoy. Life was not meant to be futile. God created us not only to live but also to enjoy life.

God’s purpose has not changed. He still desires that we should live and find delight in living. This is in harmony with his qualities and creations. He wants us to lead contented lives that are blessed with good health, peace, and security. It is his will that we live together as brothers and sisters—undivided by color, race, or border—and be united by justice and equality. God also wishes our families to be happy and to share an abundance of delicious food and drink. He has placed in us the natural desire to wish for all of this.

Does it not seem contradictory that life is very often grievous, while our natural desire is to enjoy it? Through past centuries, man has struggled in vain to overcome obstacles that have often embittered him. This has proved that man is not able to solve his problems on his own and that he is in need of counsel and guidance from a superior source in order to traverse the difficulties of life. Who, other than God, is better able to guide mankind? Really, can we even imagine that he would leave mankind without guidance and assistance?
How God Provides Guidance
God has shown concern for mankind ever since creation. He gave his guidance to Adam first. Later God gave it to mankind through his prophets, such as Enoch (Idris), Noah (Nuh), Abraham (Ibrahim), Job (Ayyub), and Moses (Musa). Beginning with His prophet Moses, God inspired books, which are still available in our day. God wanted all mankind to be instructed by Him and to find happiness in following His guidance.
Concerning the obligation to exercise faith in these books, the Qur’an emphasizes: “Each one (of them) [the men of faith] believeth in God, His angels, His books, and His apostles.” (Al-Baqarah [2]:285) The Qur’an also speaks about the faithful “who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter.” (Al-Baqarah [2]:4) But what is meant by “the Revelation . . . sent before thy time”?

The Holy Scriptures are God’s books. They preceded the Qur’an, which mentions them often and emphasizes that they contain God’s guidance. We read at Al ‘Imran [3]:3, 4, NJD: “He has revealed to you the Book with the truth, confirming the scriptures which preceded it; for He has already revealed the Torah and the Gospel [Injil in Arabic] for the guidance of men.” (See also Al-Ma’idah [5]:46, 47.) And we find at Al-Nisa’ [4]:163: “To David We gave the Psalms.” The Qur’an also encourages going back to these books: “If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee.”—Yunus [10]:94.

What does it mean to exercise faith in God’s books? Surely, it signifies more than acknowledging their existence. True faith would include reading them, knowing their contents, and applying what they say. When we receive letters from loved ones, we are eager to read them. We are naturally more interested in the letters and in the one who sent them than in the person who delivered them. How much more so when God sends letters through his messengers. We should be eager to have these letters, read them, and receive guidance from him. Although we respect God’s messengers, our prime concern is to listen to him and to obey him. We should follow his books and make no distinction between one and another of his prophets.

God, as the Preserver and the Guardian of his books, has made them available for us today. No one can ever succeed in either eliminating or altering God’s Word. This is because they are God’s books, not man’s. God has given them to us so that we may be guided to the straight path. You will be deeply moved as you discover the message they contain.

Do you think that everyone who claims to believe in God applies what is written in His books? Many Jews and Christians say they believe in him, but do their deeds show that they stick to his books? We should not judge the Holy Scriptures in the light of those who claim to follow them. Many have deviated from the true faith and have removed themselves from under God’s guidance.—Compare Titus 1:14, 16.

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