Many people know through their intelligence and knowledge that gambling...

Many people know through their intelligence and knowledge that gambling, alcohol, stealing and crime are not good, but nevertheless they fall victims to such practices. Today we see that the United Nations, with over 130 members from countries all over the world, is a weak body whose resolutions generally remain merely in their minutes and only on paper. This is because intelligence and knowledge are no guarantee for action.

But the Divine scheme, because it comes from an unlimited source of knowledge, can have no room for error, and because it issues forth from the immaculate hearts of the prophets, it has influence on mankind. Moreover, the reward and punishment for not carrying out His instruction causes man to implement this scheme. Alone, intelligence and thinking is not enough; a confirmation must be found through Divine assistance.

These faculties are only, fields for training through the Divine discipline of the messengers so that man may reach felicity without being diverted.

Imam Ali (A.S.), in the first sermon m Nahj al-balagha explains the reason for the sending of messengers thus: Then Allah sent His messengers and the series of His prophets to them (mankind) to make them fulfil the pledges of His creation, to recall to them His bounties, to exhort them by preaching, to unveil before them the hidden virtues of wisdom and show them the signs of His Omnipotence.

However, supposing that man has a correct ideology, do the dictators and those who wish to enforce their own ideas allow us to distinguish the true from the false? Don't they rather try to cover the true face of ideologies? In this way people, through ignorance of correct beliefs, do not rise up against oppression and are successfully deceived.

However, a law that comes from God However, a law that comes from God can be made known to all through the miracles and signs of truth which God gives to His messengers, and people can understand its truthfulness and believe in it, and will then be unable to find any excuse for disobedience. The necessity for the sending of Messengers a) The personal, social and spiritual perfection of man is one of the aims of creation. b) Conscience alone is not enough for the true perfection of man.

c) Human ideologies cannot completely satisfy all the demands of man's nature, and there is no guarantee for their implementation.