184 Conspiractes against the Quran = the holy Quran says: Lo gre2 ee 282 (10:20) vonty CEC SS “Say: The unseen ts only for God (alonc}.” ‘Again it is said: (27:65). 5) C3 3 SENG or ald JS "Say: None in the heavens and on the carth, except Allah, knows what fs hidden.” Again, Noah, the messenger of God, sald to his people: arsn Og "1 tell you not that with me are the treasures of God, nor do | know what is hidden.” It indicates that even a messenger of God has no knowledge of all that ts hidden. He knows only as much as ts revealed to him. The holy Quran. in its description of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, addresses Muhammad , the last of His series of ‘Messengers, in the following words: (3:43) 2 BE ges oS CT Ge Gus “This is only a part of the things that are in hiding, and which we reveal unto thee.” ‘Thus even a messenger of God does not possess the power to discover the unseen al will, Afler the open proclamation by Allah Almighty that all those laws which are meant to be given for the guidance of humanity through revelation have been completed and safely preserved in the Quran, the last of the divine books, this particular belief that knowledge of the unseen can be obtained directly by anybody trying for it, fs preposterous. The mystics not only claim that they can get the knowledge of the unseen directly but also that they can see God with thelr own eyes, they can talk to Him and quarrel with Him. On the other hand, the holy Quran has emphatically proclaimed: (6103) OF § GSS 58S LS SCAN OHI 9 "No vision ean grasp iim, but His grasp is over all vision. tlc ts so fine and subtle eek that Ie te above all comprehension, yel Ile is yess acquainted with all things." ‘The latter part of the verse explains the first vaeed 2 ocee ofa ae vagy rgage « ‘Atyet another place the holy Quran says: : "Sig ost Ci Kab BE WPI SBS (2:55) OOKETRIS “And remember when you seach) sald: © Moses! We shall never believe in thce un ‘we sce God fitce lo face and you were in the gelp of thunder and lightning, even as you222Mystictsm 155 looked on.” Maarfat .=3,*. The phenomenon termed by the mystics as Maarfat is an impossibility. Even the span of time and space cannot be grasped by the human mind; none can imagine when did the time start and what is the last limit of space’. How can It be possible for man, a finite being, to grasp an inflnite object as God. The Quran only refers to ~24\ =u or “signs of God’ which one can see. No body can see God Himself. Any thing manifest thal Invokes a spontaneous impression about something hidden, or which indicates that there is some originator and planner of the universe, Is termed by the holy Quran as a1", Tazkiya-e-Nafs .,-s) ~_$33 . In mysticism “Rih’ (soul) is considered to be a part and parcel of God's “Rah’, from which it ts said to have separated and got entangled in matter; and the object of human life ts to purify “Rah’ and restore It to its place of origin. The process of separation of ‘Rah’ from the impurities of matter, 1s termed by the mystics as “Tazklya-e-Nafs' or purification of soul. That is why they pretend to dissociate themselves from ali that is material and even try to suppress ail aspirations for it. They say that the way to escape from all human miseries Is to have no aspirations. Freedom from aspirations is the teaching of Buddhism; to dissociate one's self from the material world is the teaching of Christianity: the world is an impurity is the teaching of Vedas. On the other hand the Quran came with the revolutionary proclamation: 45:13). ZEUS GT GOS oP G BR, "And tle has subjected to you (© mankind) all that fs in the heavens and all that is in the earth." ‘The Quran thus introduced a positive aspect of human Ife. According to Sufis . 3 455" or “Purification of soul is obtained through gradual and sustained isolation from ‘the material world after which the human soul gets merged into God Himself, According to the preachers of Vedanta’, however, this freedom from aspirations and merger into God takes place after man passes through so many life cycles. The Qurante concept of (jaa 465 1s, quite different. Here 2) ASF means the nourishment and actualisation of human personality, within atte frame-work of Quranic Social order. Thus it 1s said: (92:18) oS 30 Bees “One who spends his wealth (for the benefit of others) provides nourishment to his own personality’. Thus, according to the holy Quran, nourishment of human “Self takes place by parting with what you possess, for the benefit of humanity; not by dissociating one’s self from the material world, not by begging from others and certainly nol by parasitism. Thus the mystic concept of (p52, Is poles apart from its Quranic concept. Monasticism 24\e ,Man 1s a social animal. Human society ts not like that of156 Consptractes against the Quran certain animal groups where the individuals possess certain characteristics by instinct. ‘The social life of man has been evolved through millions of years. An individual man, as ‘a member of his society possesses characteristics which are his because of his integration within a totality. For example such various forms of expression in his generic individuallty as language, religion. law, customs etc, can never be rooted in an isolated individual. A person thinks. speaks a certain language and acts in a characteristic way because of his participation in an integrated whole. Thus for a man to get himself cut off from his society and lead a life of isolation Is reversion to animal life or going back to the point from where he started in the miocine period, ‘or rather worse than thal. It {s nothing but an Insult to man. Allah has been described in the holy Quran as UW! Le. the One Who provides nourishment to each of His individual creation so that it may develop from Its point of origin to its point of final destination. The creation of atoms was meant to produce early compounds; the creation of early compounds was meant to produce higher forms of compounds in succession till it reached the stage of organic compounds; the creation of organic compounds was meant to produce life: the creation of lower forms of life was meant to produce ~— 7 (a distinguished creation in the form of man; the creation of man ts meant to produce a still higher form of life. The means to achieve this end, as described by the holy Quran, is by the development of the human personality and the process of development of human personality comprises the exercise of one's faculty of freedom of choice between right and wrong in his day to day social life. Thus the creative acts of Allah have been, and are being. performed in a most orderly fashion. According to the holy Quran, the ways of Allah never change, and the same is true of His process of creation: (90:90)... gin gidy EaeS ... “Allah's process of creation never changes.” Mysticism, which envisages a Iife of isolation, is a deviation from the ways of Allah. It 1s an unnatural, unscientific and a deceitful way of Ife. It Is simply not possible to cut short the human approach to its next higher stage of Ife. The development of human personality depends on the process of development of Divine attributes within man himself. How can a dumb fool, absolutely cut off from the creative human activities, achieve the goal set for man. As regards .=-<*ty, or monasticism, as it Is practised in the Christian monasteries, the holy Quran says: CG ais crip, Togs) 2 Ge GES ae EN AEE... (57:27) Agha “But the Monasticism which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them. (They did so) only to sevk the good picasure of God; but that they did not foster ‘as they should have done.” ‘The life of isolation is most selfish life where one devotes himself entirely to his