Man is aware of nothing at the time of his creation. The creation around him, however, is so vast that only Allahu ta'ala knows its extent. This is reported in the thirty-first ayat of Surat al-Muddathir. A child begins to perceive classes of beings through its sense organs. Each class of beings is termed an 'alam. The sense organ created first in man is the tactile organ; with the ability of touch, man perceives cold, hot, wet, dry, soft, hard and the like. The tactile organ cannot perceive colors or sounds, and these are thought to be nonexistent. Then his organ of sight is created, and with it colors and shapes are perceived. The world perceived by this organ has more variety and more numerous beings than the tactile world. Next his organ of hearing functions. With this sense organ sounds and tunes are perceived. Afterwards, his ability to taste and then his ability to smell are created. Thus the five senses which reflect the world of perception are completed. Towards the seventh year of life, his power of discretion (tamyiz) is created by which things that cannot be comprehended through the sense organs are realized. This power differentiates things that are perceived by the sense organs from one another. Then his intellect or wisdom is created. What is useful, harmful, good or bad is ascertained by the power of discretion; wisdom distinguishes the necessary, permissible, possible or impossible from one another. Wisdom comprehends things that cannot be grasped by the powers of perception and discretion. Besides wisdom, Allahu ta'ala creates one more power in some of His chosen servants. With this, things that cannot be understood or learnt through wisdom and things that will happen in future are known. This is called the power of prophethood (nubuwwa). Because the power of discretion cannot comprehend the things comprehended by wisdom, it just discounts them. And because wisdom cannot understand the things comprehended by the power of prophethood, it disbelieves and denies them. Denial of what cannot be comprehended is the result of not comprehending, not knowing. Likewise, a person born blind will know nothing of colors or shapes if he does not hear about them. He will not believe in their existence. To reveal to His servants that the power of nubuwwa also exists, Allahu ta'ala created dreams in men similar to this power. In dreams, man might see what will happen in future clearly or in its vision in the alam-i mithal. If a person who does not know what dreams are is told, "When man's consciousness is suspended and thoughts and senses are gone like that of a dead person, he sees unknown things that are beyond mind's grasp," he will deny it. He will even attempt to prove that such a thing is impossible, saying, "Man perceives his surroundings by his sense organs. With these organs out of order, especially when they do not function at all, he will perceive nothing." He will reason rather coarsely. As sense organs cannot comprehend things that are known by wisdom, likewise, wisdom cannot perceive things that are known by the power of prophethood.
Those who doubt the existence of the power of prophethood doubt its possibility or, if its possibility is accepted, its occurrence. Its existence or occurrence shows that it is possible. And its existence is demonstrated by Prophets' giving information beyond the intellect's ability. This information, which cannot be acquired through the intellect, calculation or experimentation, was acquired only from Allahu ta'ala's ilham (inspiration placed upon the heart by Allahu ta'ala or His angels, that is, through the power of prophethood). The power of prophethood has also other peculiarities. Since dreams, which resemble one of its peculiarities, exist in men, we have given it as an example. Its other peculiarities are revealed through dhawq (tasting, sensitivity) to those who strive in the way of tasawwuf. The peculiarity we have given must suffice as a proof to make one believe in prophethood. Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali, too, wrote this peculiarity as a proof for believing in prophethood in his book Al-munqidh min ad-dalal.
According to ancient Greek philosophers, it is useful to believe in prophethood. They said, "To believe in prophethood helps wisdom. Meditating over the existence, power and knowledge of Allah is similar to this. Also, many useful things beyond the intellect's ability are learned from Prophets. Examples of this are the Rising Day, teachings pertaining to the next world, revelation of what things are good and what others are bad, and knowing whether some foods and medicines are harmful or not."
Those who do not believe in prophethood say:
1- "A person sent as a Prophet should have known that the one who said, 'I have sent thee as a Prophet. Communicate my message!' was Allah. And knowing Allah, in its turn, has no way. It may be a genie who uttered these words. All religious people believe in genies.' " Answer: The person who was sent (as a Prophet) proved by mujizas that he was sent as such. Allahu ta'ala is the One who creates the mujiza. Genies cannot perform it. Nor can any other creature.
2- "If the angel who brought wahy to the Prophet was an object, it must have been seen by all those who were present there. You, too, say that it was not seen. If it wasn't an object but a spirit, it would have been impossible for it to speak or to be heard. If your answer is: 'The angel that brought wahy from Allahu ta'ala to the Prophet was an object. Allahu ta'ala willed that it would not be seen, which is within His power,' then we would necessarily not see a mountain in front of us or hear a drum played near us, which is ridiculous."
Answer: The one who brought the wahy was an angel. An angel is a fine, transparent object. It is not Allahu ta'ala's law for colorless and transparent things to be seen. Air is a substance. But because it is transparent and colorless, it is not seen. It would be ridiculous if we said that solid things are not seen. It is possible for a spirit to take a visible shape, to speak and to be heard, which has happened many times.
3- "To believe in a Prophet, it is necessary to understand that he is a Prophet. And this is possible only after long observation. The obligation to confirm him on the spot is nonsensical."
Answer: After seeing a Prophet's wonders and mujizas, it becomes impossible not to acknowledge that he is telling the truth. Those who see or hear about them must acknowledge and believe the fact immediately.
4- "It is a Prophet's task to command useful things and to prohibit harmful things. And this, in its turn, would be unfair for it means enforcement or compulsion upon mankind. You say, 'Allahu ta'ala creates man's actions; man has no role in these actions.' Therefore, it means to compel the human servant to do what he could not do."
Answer: The servant's power has no effect on the creation of his actions, but he may wish their creation and prepare their causes. This is called "kasb" (acquirement). The human servant is encumbered to use his capacity called kasb. It is just that he is commanded to do so.
5- "Doing the command will tire the human servant, and he shall be tormented if otherwise. Both choices are harmful to the servant. Allah is Hakim (All-Wise), He does not do harmful things."
Answer: Our response to this is that all the commandments are useful both in this world and in the Hereafter. Their usefulness surpasses multiple times over the exhaustion they cause. It is unwise to miss so many benefits by trying to avoid so little labor.
6- "If there is no advantage in the recompense for the exhaustion caused by doing the command, it is nonsensical to give the command. If there are benefits in it and if all of them are useful for Allah, this means that He needs His servants, which is contrary to fact. If they are useful to men, it is unreasonable to command something useful and then to punish those who do not do it. In other words, this command means, 'Either do what is useful to yourself or I shall torture you eternally!' "
Answer: The intellect's finding something beautiful, ugly or nonsensical is not always valid. Nor is it correct to say that all the creations of Allahu ta'ala must be useful. We shall prove this later on. Eternal punishment will be given not because something useful is not acquired, but because the servant did not carry out the command of his Owner and Creator. Not doing His command is infidelity, sacrilege and flippancy towards Him.
7- "Even though Allah knows that His servant cannot do it or that he will not want to do something useful for himself, why does He command it? Wouldn't such a command be ugly and harmful to His servant?"
Answer: As we have stated above, even if we were to admit that such a command might be harmful to His servant, attaining great rewards necessitates putting up with insignificant difficulties. According to the Mutazila, one of the seventy-two heretical groups in Islam, there is also some value in proposing [Allahu ta'ala's] commands and prohibitions to a disbeliever. Encouraging him to earn thawab is valuable. Thawabs are blessings resulting from the performance of the commandments by the one who is propositioned. They are not blessings arising from the proposition. [For example,] a person invites someone to dinner though he is certain that he will not come. Thus, he wants to show his generosity and kindness. If he does not invite him, he will not be able to express his intentions. At this point I find it useful to report the statements of Muslim thinkers:
Allahu ta'ala has created men weak and needy. They need clothes, food, lodging, protection against their enemies, and many other things. A person cannot procure his needs by himself. His life is too short for this. Men have to cooperate and live together. One man gives an implement he has made to another, who in return gives him something else he needs. This need for cooperation is expressed as "Man has been created civilized." Living in civilization, that is, in societies, requires justice. Everyone desires to get what he needs. This desire is called shahwa. He becomes indignant with anyone who takes his advantages away. Quarrels, cruelties and torture between them ensue. Society disintegrates. To regulate all kinds of business transactions and to establish justice in a society, many principles have to be known, each of which becomes a law. They must be made known in the most equitable manner. If men cannot come to a mutual agreement in preparing them, chaos starts again. Therefore, they must be prepared by One who is equitable and above mankind. In order for his decisions to be accepted, He has to be powerful, and it must be understood that the decisions came from Him. Mujizas are the means by which this is proven. Those who run after their own pleasures and shahwa and behave arrogantly do not like the rules of Islam. They do not want to obey these rules. They violate others' rights and commit sins. By declaring that those who obey Islam shall be given thawab and those who do not obey them shall be tormented, the system of Islam becomes stronger. Therefore, the One who has ordained these rules and who will inflict the punishment must be known. For this end, worship ('ibada) has been commanded. By worshipping every day, He is remembered. Worship begins with confirming, believing in His existence, His Prophet and the blessings and torments in the next world.
Three things arise from believing in them and performing 'ibadat: Firstly, one becomes safe against following one's lust; the heart and soul get purified, and one does not get angry any more; lust and anger are hindrances against remembering the Creator. Secondly, one enjoys different information and pleasures that are unrelated with those obtained through the sense organs or through experiments with the matter. Thirdly, as it is meditated upon that the good shall be given blessings and the evil- doers shall be tormented, justice gets established among men. These statements of Muslim thinkers are similar to the statement of Mutazilas: "It is reasonable that proposals are useful."
8- "If the performance of the duty enjoined by Allah was predestined in the eternal past, such an injunction would be unbecoming, nonsensical and unreasonable. It would be a useless injunction to propose a duty which is absolutely inevitable. On the other hand, it would be torture to enjoin the performance of a duty which has not been predestined in the eternal past. It would mean to imply, 'Do the impossible!' "
Answer: Since man has the power to carry out the duty, it would not be torture to command it. All Allahu ta'ala's commandments are within man's ability. Our answer to this question concerning the commandments will be the same as the answer given to the question asked about Allahu ta'ala's creating. That is, it cannot be said that Allahu ta'ala has to create something which has been predestined in the eternal past. Nor can it be said that He is incapable of creating something which has not been predestined.
9- "Injunctions that are difficult for the body will deter man from considering and realizing Allah's existence. And it will not leave time for doing many other things."
Answer: The benefits in the injunctions induce meditation and an understanding of Allahu ta'ala's existence and regulation of life. We have explained this in detail in the answer to the seventh quotation above. (It is essential in iman to accept the commandments, that is, to believe that it is necessary to do the commands and to abstain from the prohibitions. One who believes most of the commandments but disbelieves only one of them and does not want to obey it will have disbelieved Muhammad ('alaihi 's-salam). He will become an unbeliever. Being a Muslim requires believing in all the commandments. If a Muslim, though he believes the commandments, disobeys them, e.g. does not perform salat out of laziness, or, following his bad friend or nafs, has alcoholic drinks, or, in case of a woman or girl, goes out with her arms and /or head uncovered, he or she does not lose their iman or become an unbeliever. A person of this sort is a sinful, disobedient Muslim. If he does not want to obey even one of the commandments, that is, if he disapproves it, does not esteem it as a duty or slights it, he loses his iman and becomes a murtad (renegade). Such statements as, "What if I do not perform salat and go out with a bare head? Living and doing favors to people have precedence over salat" mean to approve some of the commandments and disapprove others. Every Muslim must pay attention to this subtle point, and those who disobey the commandments must be vigilant lest they should lose their iman. Neglecting the commandments is different from wishing not to obey them. These two should not be confused!)
10- "The intellect does the thing it finds useful and does not do the thing it thinks harmful. When it cannot understand whether something is useful or harmful, it does it when there is need to do it. In view of this function of the intellect, sending Prophets is unnecessary."
Answer: There are many things which are misunderstood or which cannot be understood by the intellect, and they have to be taught by Prophets. A Prophet is like a specialized doctor. He knows the effects of medicines well. Effects of some medicines might be found by laymen through the intellect after long experiences, but men of intellect might face risks and harms before learning them, and it would require a great deal of time and work. They would have no time left for using their intellect in doing other necessary jobs. By giving the doctor a little recompense, however, they attain the benefits of medicines and rid themselves of their illnesses. To say that Prophets are unnecessary is like saying that doctors are unnecessary. Since the commandments taught by a Prophet are wahy revealed by Allahu ta'ala, they are all true and beneficial. The doctor's knowledge, although being the result of thought and experience, cannot be said to be wholly true.
11- "The mujiza's existence is not admissible. Since it is a wonder outside of normal events, it is not something which the intellect can accept. For this reason, prophethood is not something reasonable, either."
Answer: Creation of earths and heavens from nothing has much more wonder in it than a mujiza does. If it is impossible for certain things to happen outside of the laws of nature, this does not mean that wonders cannot happen outside of these laws. Wonders have happened through Prophets and Awliya' for centuries. A man of intellect cannot deny these events. A mujiza is intended to demonstrate that a Prophet has told the truth. It has to be a wonder; something done within the laws of nature cannot be a mujiza.
12- "A mujiza cannot prove that a Prophet is telling the truth. It is not certain whether a mujiza is created by Allah or made by a Prophet himself. Magic is a wonder, too. You also believe in magic and incantation."
Answer: The intellect putting forward various possibilities, i.e. hypothesis and theories, does not refute the knowledge acquired by the sense organs or experimentation. The occurrence of a certain thing does not prevent us from thinking of its nonexistence. Allahu ta'ala, alone, is the One who effects everything's coming into existence, as explained above. In other words, a mujiza is created by Allahu ta'ala, not by a Prophet. Even though everybody cannot perform magic and incantation, they do not resemble the wonders of [a Prophet's] splitting the sea, bringing a dead person back to life, restoring sight to a blind person, or curing a person whose illness has become hopeless from the medical point of view. Therefore, they are not confused with mujizas, which are wonders.
13- "Occurrence of a mujiza is known either by seeing or by hearing reports which are tawatur.(Tawatur is the state of being widespread or being reported by most people, which is a document for authenticity and makes denial impossible.) A report cannot be considered factual even if it is tawatur. Therefore, those who have not seen a mujiza will not know of a Prophet, for there may be liars among those who report it as tawatur: that is, commonly known.
Answer: In most worldly affairs, reports that are communicated through tawatur are believed. For example, such facts as there being a city named Delhi, that the earth is larger than the moon and smaller than the sun, that Muhammad the Conqueror conquered Istanbul from the Byzantine Greeks are believed by hearing them from others.
14- "We have studied religions. We have found things that are contradictory to reason and science. Thus, we have concluded that they have not been revealed by Allah. Examples of these are the permission given to cause pain to an animal for the purpose of eating; fasting at certain times; the prohibition of eating and drinking some delicious foods and drinks; the commandment imposing troublesome journeys for the purpose of visiting a certain place; performing sa'y and tawaf like insane people or children; throwing pebbles without any certain target; kissing a valueless stone; the prohibition of looking at an independent but ugly woman, and the permission to look at pretty jariyas."
Answer: Even if the intellect could distinguish good from bad and if we were to admit that Allahu ta'ala must command His human servants to do useful things, it is obvious that the intellect could not have the ability to grasp the benefit of the things mentioned in this question. This inability of the intellect does not show the absence of their value. Allahu ta'ala has given these commandments because He knows their worth. As we have explained before, there are many things which cannot be comprehended by the intellect but which are comprehended by the power of prophethood.