Grand Narratives: A Great Purpose & Greater Destiny

Angel Gabriel came to the Prophet Muhamnad, may God grant them peace, and said:

O Muhammad, live as you wish, but know that one day you will die. Do as you wish, and know that you will be repaid accordingly. Love whomever you wish, but know that one day you will be separated from that person. Know that the nobility of the believer is in prayer at night and his honor is in his independence of the people.1”

How great are those facts that were confirmed by the words of this narration.

They are existential facts that have been missed by many.

The Western philosophers and the claimants of Postmodernism have called these facts the Grand Narratives.

Not only they gave the titles, but they announced the end of these facts by denying the necessity of them.

Thus, people are divided.

Because no matter how people differ on the Small Narratives, the big ones still unite them.

I had once heard a simple explanation by Dr. Abd al-Wahhab al-Masiri about the small narrations, saying that they are similar to some popular proverbs, where he said:

It is said:

• Heaven helps those who help themselves.

• Away from home, there’s no rest and life is hardest.

The two examples contradict each other.

The first says you should go out and seek livelihood, while the second says you should stay at home.

Dr. Al-masiri commented:

“Small narratives mean that things are relative, not absolute. Each individual must take what he sees fit for him”.

This idea was adopted and sought by the West. They called for the abolition of Grand Narratives, which include recognizing the Truth of :

• Source of existence.

• Purpose of existence.

• Fate after death.

• Judgment and punishment.

It was only when I was discussing moral values with a British woman ​​that I understood this point very well.

She surprised me by saying:

Beastiality (sexual activity, actual or simulated, between a human being and an animal) may seem like a heinous act to you, but to some it’s normal. Some may set for this marriage elegant and expensive weddings.

She continued:

There is no creator or creature.

Each has to live his life in his own way.

I said to myself:

Now I understand it.

Have they not travelled throughout the land so their hearts may reason, and their ears may listen? Indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts in the chests that grow blind. (Al-Haj:46).

A director of a large Italian company once said:

I have no time for the Creator.

I am very busy with my work and my continuous successes.

I told her:

Then, the Creator will forget you on the day you meet Him and will have no regard for your existence.

I remembered then the Qur’anic verse which says:

… They neglected Allah (God), so He neglected them. Surely the hypocrites are the rebellious. (At-Tawbah: 67).

God also said:

And do not be like those who forgot God, so He made them forget themselves. It is they who are ˹truly˺ rebellious. (Hashr: 19).

This is, of course, the inevitable end of those who forget their Creator.

She said:

You believers, despite your faith, are always in fear and dread of meeting the Creator.

I told her:

How does an employee feel when the staff around him suddenly changes, he will only be confused.

This is an innate and natural fear of the unknown. It is praiseworthy as well. It always makes a man ready for this important and fateful meeting.

A newborn may cry for fear of the unknown once he is out of his mother’s womb, but he realizes in the end that he is in the hands of a tender mother.

The readiness of man to meet his Creator is a Great Goal. The believer must combine fear and hope in his heart. Fear of his sins, and hope in the mercy of his Creator.

Therefore, feeling the mercy of the Creator just by imagining the situation of a person meeting his mother, who is more merciful to him than all humans.

School students may get confused just because of switching a teacher they are used to, to another one, but they may eventually realize that this new teacher is of great value.

The believer’s habit of his presence in this life is what causes him confusion by his departure to another life.

The human’s fear of meeting his Creator after death should not be anything other than a feeling similar to the one who is getting ready to travel from one country to another country, which is better than the first by all standards.

The believer deserves the eternal journey to Heaven by preparations for this journey in his earthly life before death.

Knowing that all this can only be achieved by the mercy of the Creator first.

The believer’s life after death will be easy and smooth.

Waiting time for the day of judgment in his life after death passes as was a few minutes.

The waiting time for judgment on the Day of Resurrection to enter Paradise passes as it was a few minutes.

This is exactly what may we actually feel when certain periods pass us by as if they were years, and other periods pass us by at lightning speed.

As for the one who forgot his Creator and did not prepare for this meeting, he is the one who will tremble after death, and forever.

The Creator described this worldly life as an hour, in which people get to know each other.

On the Day He will gather them, it will be as if they had not stayed ˹in the world˺ except for an hour of a day,˹as though they were only˺ getting to know one another. Lost indeed will be those who denied the meeting with Allah, and were not ˹rightly˺ guided! (Yunis:45)

This is as well what we may actually feel.

When I traveled around the world, I spent a few hours in some countries, while I spent many years in other countries. Yet all that remained in my memory was an hour.

God said:

Know that the life of the world is only play and amusement and pageantry which is a boasting and abundance of wealth and children amongst you. (The life of the world) is like the rain that causes the vegetation to grow, which pleases the farmer. After a while it withers away and you see it turning yellow. Then it becomes garbage. There is severe torment, forgiveness from Allah and Allah’s Pleasure in the Hereafter. And the life of this world is nothing but a deceiving enjoyment. (Al-Hadid:20)

Dr. Abd Al-Wahab Al-Masiri says:

“God is the basic foundation for everything. The basic foundation for communication between people, to ensure that the truth is truth. If God is forgotten, the foundation of the entire universe collapses”.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him said:

“Whoever makes the Hereafter his goal, Allah makes his heart rich, and organizes his affairs, and the world comes to him whether it wants to or not. And whoever makes the world his goal, Allah puts his poverty right before his eyes, and disorganizes his affairs, and the world does not come to him, except what has been decreed for him.” (Al-Termizi)

When I read these words, I remembered words mentioned by Eng. Loai Sabri in an article of him, where says:

“The quarrel and discord between man and his Lord is due to the fact that man wants this world, while God wants the hereafter for him.”

… You ˹believers˺ settled with the fleeting gains of this world, while Allah’s aim ˹for you˺ is the Hereafter. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. (Al-Anfal: 67)

God also said:

Does man not consider that We created him from a [mere] sperm-drop – then at once he is a clear adversary? (Yasin: 77)

Every deed is done for the sake of other than the Creator will perish!

Every love for other than the Creator is mortal love.

Dr. Mostafa Mahmoud says:

God says:

When Saul marched forth with his army, he cautioned: “Allah will test you with a river. So whoever drinks ˹his fill˺ from it is not with me, and whoever does not taste it—except a sip from the hollow of his hands—is definitely with me.” They all drank ˹their fill˺ except for a few! When he and the ˹remaining˺ faithful with him crossed the river, they said, “Now we are no match for Goliath and his warriors.” But those ˹believers˺ who were certain they would meet Allah reasoned, “How many times has a small force vanquished a mighty army by the Will of Allah! And Allah is ˹always˺ with the steadfast.” (Al-Baqarah: 249)

The Creator linked victory in battle with victory over oneself.

In the Quranic story, as if God is telling them, despite thirst, do not drink.

When the thirst intensifies, then drink a little to quench your thirst.

The result was:

They all drank ˹their fill˺ except for a few!

Those “few” are in every nation.

Their motto:

We resist what we like, and tolerate what we hate.

Life is summarized according to the writer in these two words.

The writer described the world as the river that runs under our feet.

One person takes what suffices him, and another takes what is more than his needs.

Who takes what suffices them are the “few” who God created the world in order to excrete them and to distinguish them from the abundance.

He designated for them the gardens of His generosity in the hereafter because they are the people of God and His own.

As for the rest, they are the firewood of desires in this world, and the firewood of hell in the hereafter.

Finally, the writer says:

Oh God, make us of those who resist what they like and tolerate what they hate.

A Canadian secular once asked me:

How does the Creator know that His knowledge is true and correct?

I said to him:

The Creator is the Truth.

That is because Allah ˹alone˺ is the Truth and what they invoke besides Him is falsehood, and Allah ˹alone˺ is truly the Most High, All-Great. (Al-Hajj: 62).

How do you ask who is the Truth to prove the Truth?

It’s like saying: Prove to me that Wednesday is Wednesday.

Or how do you recognize that your eyes are your eyes?

Truth: Is what matches reality. Everything else is an illusion.

• The Creator is Truth.

• Death is Truth.

• Parting is Truth.

• Judgment is Truth.

• Justice is Truth.

The absence of Absolute Justice in this life leads us to the fact that it exists elsewhere.

The criminal should not escape the accountability for his crime.

The good doer must be rewarded for his kindness.

The Truth is Absolute.

He said:

There is no accountability, no punishment. There is no meeting with the Creator.

The Creator created us and got busy.

I said to him:

Who told you this?

He said:

This is my decision.

I am the one who decides my fate after death. I am the one who decides what the attributes of my Creator are. I am the one who decides my priorities.

After death, I would become a useful plant for people.

I have bought the land and recommended my sister take care of the tree that will grow on it. I am this tree.

He also said:

I had a difficult childhood and absolute poverty. Mow I am so rich. I want to become a tree for the benefit of mankind.

His answer made me laugh, and I said to myself:

The most terrible consequence of alleged modernism is that it has made people psychopaths who have lost the ability to distinguish between what benefits them and what leads them to the lowest of the low.

I told him directly:

Why don’t you buy a large farm and donate it to the poor to gain a reward from the Creator of mankind? It would be better for you than making yourself a tree.

What is the benefit of benefiting mankind without regard to the Creator of mankind, as long as you and mankind heading to an inevitable annihilation?

I also told him:

Who gave you the right to make this decision in the first place?

He said:

The essence of secularism is that man is the Absolute Value. He is the decision-maker.

I said to him:

So, you are a worshiper of yourself.

In this case, you become a false god to yourself. Worshiping a false god will never benefit man or harm.

In fact, once you are infected with a simple virus such as the Coronavirus, you will not be able to save yourself from certain death, not only decide your destiny.

If you had the ability to decide your destiny, you would have decided to stay alive and would have protected yourself from death in the first place.

If a person claimed that with material science alone, for example, and without the need for a Creator, he was able to cure his child of illness, then it would have been more appropriate for him to prevent the disease from him in the first place, and to guarantee him eternal life in this world.

I also told him:

The Creator owns what He creates.

If I invent a certain thing, everyone will consider me without hesitation the owner of that invention.

Only the owner has the right to decide the fate of his invention, how the invention works, and the purpose of the invention.

This is according to human law, which says that the wise owner is the one who has this right.

He who created the universe must logically be wiser than His creation.

By His wisdom, He will never leave what He created without care and attention, as you claim.

The Creator will not leave humans suffering in search of answers to questions that revolve in their minds; just like the source of their existence, and provide them with a method to follow in their lives.

He is also the only one who can decide their fate after death. He created them for a specific purpose and gave them the freedom to choose, on which they will be held accountable.

Dr. Abd Al-Wahab Al-Masiri says:

The essence of faith is:

“Readiness to be judged by a Higher External Value.”

As soon as I read these words of Dr. Al-Masiri, it occurred to me that distinguishing each person from others in the sight of the Creator is the degree of his willingness and preparation to meet the Creator for Judgment.

Just as the diligent student in school is distinguished from other classmates by the degree of his preparation for the exam.

Dr. Almasiri also says:

“Islamic relativism is: To believe in there the only absolute, which is the word of God. Therefore, other than that is a relative human interpretation in relation to the absolute”.

The questioner said:

Who is the true God? There are different deities revered by humans.

I said to him :

You have to believe in the God whose followers do not attribute to Him human or animal attributes.

The Power in Heaven to which everyone returns in adversity.

Who is the Creator of Muhammad and Jesus, peace be upon them.

The Creator of Buddha, Ram, and Krishna.

While you claim that you do not need the Creator, you are the first to call Him for help when all worldly means are executed.

It is He who enables you to travel on land and sea until, when you are in ships and they sail with them by a good wind and they rejoice therein, there comes a storm wind and the waves come upon them from everywhere and they assume that they are surrounded, supplicating Allah , sincere to Him in religion, “If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the thankful.” (Yunis:22)

All human beings will meet the Creator in a private meeting.

And each of them will return to Him on the Day of Judgment all alone. (Maryam: 95).

Humans have to get prepared with answers to three questions.

• who’s your God?

The answer:

The Creator, who is the one and the only. He has no partner in His dominion, nor a son. He created Christ without a father, just as He created Adam without a father or a mother. He creates and begets not.

• What is your religion?

The answer:

The religion of monotheism: The worship of the Creator directly, not through a priest, saint, Prophet Muhammad or any of his family members, or any intermediary.

• Who is your messenger?

The answer:

All the prophets of God, from Adam to Muhammad, including Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them all.

It is not permissible to beseech the prophets to seek refuge, including the Prophet of God, Muhammad, or any member of his family.

Humans must resort to the Creator just as the Prophet resorted to the Creator, but not by resorting to the Prophet himself.

There are many religions and people have been divided because of the worship of others besides the Creator.

God says:

If you call upon them, they cannot hear your calls. And if they were to hear, they could not respond to you. On the Day of Judgment they will disown your worship ˹of them˺. And no one can inform you ˹O Prophet˺ like the All-Knowledgeable. (Fatir:14)

It was narrated in the Tradition of the Children of Israel that the Creator says:

Mankind and the jinn are in a great offense. I created them while they worship others, I provide for them while they thank others. My goodness to them is descending, while their evil is ascending.

The fame of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche attracted my attention.

He announced the end of absolute and great truths. He maintained relativism and worthless facts. He announced the death of god.

It was an announcement expressing sadness. He wasn’t happy and proud as some might think. That was In his book “The Fun Science” published in 1882.

Where he said:

“God is dead. god remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?”

In an interview, I had with a French man, who had come across this point during the dialogue.

He claimed the absence of absolute truths. He also expressed his admiration for Nietzsche.

The French man said:

The great Nietzsche announced the end of the Grand Narratives in the sense of declaring the demolition of the Great Facts concerning the Origin of Existence.

I said to him:

Whoever demolishes what is great is not great.

The demolishment of the absolute truth means the absence of reference, thus, leading to declaring the human as a reference and a decision-maker in releasing values ​​and facts. This is not reasonable.

This makes human life like a jungle in which everyone sways between values ​​and ideas stemming from abnormal whims and tendencies.

In addition:

People’s ignorance of a particular fact or their disregard for this fact does not make it non-existent.

Man’s denial of his mother’s existence does not mean the absence of his mother.

Just because my conviction in having the largest house in the world does not mean that there is no bigger house than my house.

Great facts provide answers to questions that revolve in people’s minds such as:

• Where did we come from?

• Why are we here?

• Where are we going?

We must hold on to the answers to these questions with all our might, not to glorify those who ignore them.

We can understand that Nietzsche announced the death of a false god who has a son, who dies and gets crucified.

A person cannot live without knowing the great truths as materialistic reality does not provide a person with value, but rather provides him with material facts only.

For example:

Dr. Abd Al-wahab Almasiri says:

“If we smelt iron, it will expand, and if we smelt a child, it will expand. This is a fact from a physical perspective. Whoever arouses pity for the child, does not speak from a materialistic scientific perspective. Rather, he speaks from the standpoint of a non-material moral value.”

This is what the Great Facts provide us with.

In order to understand that, we have to realize that the conflict was not between Nietzsche (the mortal man) and the immortal God, but was between Nietzsche and the church, and between Nietzsche and the moral system that the priesthood planted in people’s souls, which calls for submissiveness, and separation from life.

Nietzsche rejected Darwinism as well because according to him, man is born from the womb of the will, not from just a random evolutionary and genetic mutation of a random nature, or from an ape ancestor.

This means for example, that while humans discuss great subjects just like the source of existence using their rationalities, on the other hand, we find monkeys jumping on the trees. There is no comparison between man and ape in any case.

The Creator distinguished man with rationality that qualifies him to distinguish between Right and Wrong, Truth and Falsehood.

The emergence of atheism with its materialistic view, and the revolution against the religious moral system adopted by Nietzsche, did not arise by coincidence. This was one of the intellectual revolution side effects in the nineteenth century.

Nietzsche found that Europe had excluded religion from life. Only a little spirituality was left that denied the body’s needs and ignore the joys and life goodness. Therefore, he, in return, refused to believe in religion completely and rebelled against it.

But Nietzsche did not، and will not be able to declare the death of the Great Power Who has no beginning or end.

The Eternal Creator Who does not die. Who is the Absolute Truth and the Origin of Existence.

In general, the idea of ​​abandoning the religious heritage and the Great Facts is not reasonable. This is impossible to implement in practice.

A person cannot make of himself a pure white page on which he lays down laws as he wants from scratch.

Even those (Westerners) who cut off their connection with the past and its heritage, confined to the present, and pushed hard towards the future, could not help but come back to elements of their heritage to achieve the creativity of their progress, whether they felt or not.

The atheist who speaks about human, animal, and women’s rights is borrowing these morals from his religious heritage. From a materialistic perspective, man must be neutral to good and evil just as matter and bacteria are, without rationality, logic, or feelings.

With his atheism, he can create a rocket, but he cannot know through his atheism that killing people with a rocket is wrong. This is the role of religion and the approach that the Creator sent with His Messengers.

God also implanted in man’s moral principles system the ability to comprehend the divine message.

Dr. Abd Al-Wahab Almasiri says:

“What is required is new modernism that adopts science and technology. It should not disregard human values ​​or goals. Modernity that revives the mind but does not kill the heart, develops our material existence while does not deny the spiritual dimensions of this existence. Living the present without denying the heritage”.

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Notes:

Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Middle East use the word “Allah” to refer to God, which refers to The Only True God. The word Allah was mentioned in the earlier version of the Old Testament 89 times. (Refer to Genesis 2:4, Book of Daniel 6:20 Hebrew and Arabic Bible). The word ‘Allah’ appears in the original Sanskrit text. (Reg Veda – Book 2 hymn 1, Verse 11).

The reference of God to Himself as WE or US in many verses of the Qur’an denotes Grandeur and Power in Arabic. In the English language, this is known as the royal WE, where a plural pronoun is used to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch. For the avoidance of doubt, the Qur’an has consistently reminded us of the SINGULAR pronoun in reference to God, when called upon by His servants.

[1] Source: al-Muʻjam al-Awsaṭ 4410