Islam Guidance

C. CAN WE KNOW ALL THE REASONS FOR GOD'S ACTIONS?

C. CAN WE KNOW ALL THE REASONS FOR GOD'S ACTIONS?

As I just said, God does nothing without reason. ?'here must be a reason for everything which is created by God. However, it is not necessary that we should know the reason of His each and every ac­tion. We believe that every work of God is such that if we are made aware of its reasons, we would readily admit that it was the very right thing to do. We often feel perturbed by some incidents or by some problems because we do not know the real purpose behind them.

 An illustration can be found in the Qur'an where the meeting of Prophet Musa and another man (who had more knowledge than Musa) is described. The learned man had allowed Musa to accompany him on the condition that "ask me not concerning any­thing till I myself mention it unto thee." Here is the whole episode:

 The stranger: "Lo! You cannot bear patience with me. How can you have patience in that of which you have not got a comprehensive knowledge?"

 Musa: "Allah willing, you shall find me patient and I shall not disobey you in any matter."

 Then they proceeded in a boat. When they were in the boat, the learned man made a hole in it. Musa objected to it, and was reminded of the condition. Then the learned man slew a lad. Upon this Musa could not contain himself and condemned him in severe words. Again he was reminded of his promise not to ask questions.

 Then they came to a township where they were refused food. There they found a wall on the point of falling in ruin, and the learned man repaired it. Musa said, "If you had wished, you might certainly have taken a recompense for it." Upon this third argument, the learned man told Musa: "This is the parting between you and me."

 But before parting, he explained the reasons for his actions: "As for the boat, it belonged to the poor people working on the river; and I wished to mar it, for there was a king behind them who is taking every good boat by force.

 "As for the lad, his parents were pious persons, and we feared lest he should oppress them by rebel­lion and disbelief; and we intended that their Lord should change him for them with one better in purity and nearer to mercy.

 "And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town and there was a treasure [under the wall] belonging to them; and their father had been righteous. So their Lord intended that they should come to their full strength and should bring forth their treasure, as a mercy from their Lord, and I did not do it upon my command." (18:66‑82)

 I hope this example will suffice to explain our point of view about the actions of God.

 * * * *

 There is a saying in the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usulu 'l fiqh) that, "Whatever is ordained by reason, is also ordained by the shari'ah; and whatever is ordained by the shari’ah, is ordained by reason." A layman often misunderstands this saying. He thinks that whatever we decide to be good must be confirmed by the shari’ah as good accordingly. It is not so. The meaning of the above saying is that if we were to know the reason behind a certain law of the shari'ah, our intellect would certainly admit that the law is as it should have been.

 And that all laws of the shari ah are based upon wisdom.

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