ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Correspondence Course (book 1) Lesson 8 : Prophets & Human Guaidence 1. The Purpose of Life Did God create man as part of the chain of reproduction, to be a cog in a machine, and to be counted only as an automaton? Was man created only for his own enjoyment? Was he created only to amass as much wealth as possible through any means, direct or devious, so as to satisfy his material wants? Is there no greater idea behind His creation?

A large number of people regard only man's material aspect and neglect the other side of the coin, because they have not understood the profundity of the nature of man or because they have not correctly evaluated it. Men of great understanding have ascribed three dimensions to man: Individual material dimension. Social dimension. Spiritual dimension.

Those who give importance only to the first dimension, overlook the profound character of man and have thus forgotten the other two important dimensions. Those who land importance to the first two dimensions, but neglect the third, only succeed in creating an environment devoid of any spiritual and moral values.

Arnold Toynbee, the famous British historian, in a long interview with Life magazine, said that man had submitted himself to materialism and that from that point of view we do not lack anything. However, he said, we have become bankrupt on the spiritual side of things. There is still time, he said, to address this problem and return to religion. So a serious thinker goes further than the first two dimensions, and studies the purpose of life from all three dimensions.

The third dimension gives man the power to evaluate his entrances and exits on the stage of personal and social dimensions. Man can reach perfection only by making his way through various dimensions — he must find this way, for it is the purpose of his creation. 2. Human Conscience The question now arises of whether man's conscience alone can lead him through these dimensions. Let us begin to analyse this problem with description of human conscience itself.

Most people would agree that within the depth of man's nature, there is a power which can distinguish good from bad. This power is known as human conscience. We do not deny that society has an influence on deciding what is good and evil: for example, dress, food and other similar things may be good at one time and place, and bad in others. Such values are the result of a particular society's view-point.