Guidance

You know,

the first thing we learned about God's guidance

was how humans needed it to understand why they are here,

their purpose in being,

and how to live their lives in a way that is good for them,

not self-destructive.

But what we learn as a child

needs to be revisited when we get older,

to make sure that our consideration of Divine Guidance

doesn't get discarded with other childhood things,

childish opinions.

Do we really need guidance,

or can we not work things out for ourselves

as we grow to be adults?

How do we answer those who don’t believe in God,

let alone any need for guidance,

people who say they want to be free

to do whatever they want?

Why do we need to answer them at all?

Do they have no need to answer us

when we ask them how they justify any restrictions on human behaviour?

How do they explain that for all our animal nature

we have a difference in that we establish moral laws,

rules for us to behave as individuals and together as a society,

that go against the selfish urge to do whatever we want

if it seems to be useful or pleasurable?

If any non-believer wants to restrict behaviour,

it is only right that they are asked the question

'Why?'.

If there is no greater being to explain what is the best form of human behaviour,

what is the chance of some random human getting it right?

Without recognition that good and bad,

right and wrong,

are at the centre of human existence,

and our relationship with them leads to an effect

in an afterlife that delivers justice,

there is little that can be said

to justify any kind of self-restraint

in a purposeless life that ends in nothingness.

But even if we do recognise our need for a gift of guidance,

in a world full of people claiming to know God's will for us,

how are we to know who and what we can trust?

Of course this depends on what we mean by guidance,

and muslims usually think of guidance as coming in several forms,

the kinds given to Messengers,

to Newsbringers

and to ordinary people.

The source of inspiration is the same,

but the intensity of communication is qualitatively different.

Closest to the Divine Power come the Messengers,

who hear God's Revelation in Words,

and often show miraculous Clear Signs,

but they also bring a new formal practice to their followers way of life,

a new way of worship,

whereas Newsbringers also pass on God's Message,

the good news and the warning,

but their way of life is situated in the context of their time and place and people.

This kind of inspiration, direct from God, is known in Arabic as Wahy,

with the special Revelation given to Messengers also being known as Tanzil.

But God can also interact with ordinary people,

helping them solve problems

and increasing their understanding of creation,

but this lesser form of inspiration springs from within.

Sometimes difficulties we face can seem to have no answer,

or at least no answer that we can come up with,

and then out of the blue an answer seems to appear out of nowhere,

perhaps in a dream,

fully formed in what is sometimes called a Eureka moment.

In Arabic this kind of inspiration is known as Ilham,

understandings that are revealed to ordinary people

in answer to their inner questions.

But we must always remember

that every good seeming idea

is not necessarily an instruction from God,

so one needs to be extremely cautious

with regard to what seems like Divine inspiration from within.

The Tanzil Revelation received by Messengers, however,

gives them an experience that is beyond doubt.

And the Messengers each passed on the Message they were given

to those around them,

often amidst a flurry of extraordinary signs to reinforce it.

And those around them did their best to understand

their surrender, their words and their way of life.

And those words and memories were collected

and formalised and ritualised

in ways that linked back to their Messengers,

and those various traditions can be seen in the lineages

of different religious groups around the world.

It is said that every people has its Messenger,

and the Arabs would say that there have been 124,000,

signifying a huge number,

but we can only try to learn what God wants us to understand

from the variety of expressions of the Message

in different times and places.

And for those who ask why we need to look beyond the Messengership of Muhammad,

they need look no further than the Qur'an itself,

which is filled from start to finish with assorted tales of the various Messengers.