Martyr Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari:
What Should be Learned from Spring (Part 2)
If thinking is superficial, it will be easy but without any results. However if it is scientific, based on precise data and experiments, or based on the outcome of re¬search, studies and mental work of others, then it will be difficult but very beneficial.
The main pillars of the religion of Islam are monotheism and the belief in the Day of Judgment. Ac¬cepting the monotheism, the Unity of the Almighty, requires careful thinking. Also, as the Monotheism
is among the fundamental beliefs of Islam, one has to accept it after ample thought and investigation.
That is why the Holy Qur'an recommends thinking, research and investigation and most of its verses advise the Muslims to try their utmost in this regard.
The important point is that the Holy Qur'an has not dealt with thinking and pondering in a vague manner. Instead, it has mentioned the subjects which the Muslims are required to ponder on.
As it was said earlier, the Holy Qur'an refers to the spring and the revival of nature on some 15 dif¬ferent occasions. In general, the verses touching on this subject can be classified in three categories:
1. The verses that refer to the revival of nature in order to draw attention to the concept of Monotheism.
2. The verses which cite the revival of nature as a sign of the Resurrection and the Almighty's power to make the dead rise from the graves on the Judgment Day.
3. The verses that have un¬derlined both.
For instance, the following verse belongs to the first category:
"Most surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day, and the ships that run in the sea with that which profits mankind, and the water that Allah sends down from the cloud, then gives life with it to the earth after its death and spreads in it all (kinds of animals, and the changing of the winds and the clouds made subservient between the heaven and the earth, there are signs for a people who understand. " (Holy Quran 2:164)
The above verse calls on the
people to think about what they see in the nature in order to be led to the fact that whatever exists in the Heavens and the Earth has a Creator, Who is Unique.
It is true that thinking should be based on knowledge. Thus, when the Holy Qur'an urges the Muslims to ponder on the natural phenomena, it is also, at the same time, advising them to acquire the necessary knowledge of the na¬ture.
Two examples of the verses which fall into the second catego¬ry are given below:
"And Allah is He Who sends the winds so they raise a cloud, then We drive it on to a dead country, and therewith We give life to the earth after its death; even so is the Quickening. " (Holy Quran 35:9)
"And We send down from the cloud water abounding in good, then We cause to grow thereby gar¬dens and the grain that is reaped, and the tall palm-trees having spad ices closely set one above another, a sustenance for the serv¬ants, and We give life thereby to a dead land; thus is the Raising. " (Holy Quran 50:9, 10, 11)
The following three verses are among the verses that fall into the third category.
"O people! if you are in doubt about the raising, then surely We created you from dust, then from a small seed, then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh, complete in make and incomplete, that We may make clear to you; and We cause what We please to stay in the wombs till an appointed time, then We bring you forth as babies, then that you may attain your maturity; and of you is he who is caused to die, and of you is he who is brought back to the lowest part
of life, so that after having knowl¬edge he does not know anything; and you see the earth sterile land, but when We send down on it the water, it stirs and swells and brings forth of every kind a beau¬tiful herbage. " (Holy Quran 22:5)
"This is because Allah is the Truth and because He gives life to the dead and because He has power over all things. " (Holy Quran 22:6)
"And because the Hour is com¬ing, there is no doubt about it: and because Allah shall raise up those who are in the graves. " (Holy Quran 22;7)
It can be seen that, in these verses, the revival of nature in the spring forms the basis of thinking and pondering on the rising again to life of all the human dead be¬fore the final judgment and the Unity of God as well.
The above text is an excerpt from three lectures given by Ay-atollah Morteza Motahhari, the great Islamic philosopher and thinker, during the period March 26-28, 1959. The lectures also deal with other subjects besides spring. However, only the parts on the subject of spring have been extracted and quoted here. Those lectures are included in the book titled "Bist Goftar" (Twenty Lec¬tures) by Morteza Motahhari, published by Islamic Publications Office, Sixth Edition, 1981. Ayat-ollah Motahhari was martyred by counter-revolutionary elements right after the victory of the Is¬lamic Revolution in 1979.
Source:
Source: mahjubah.com
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