A Key to Wisdom - Physical Recognition of the Perfect Man
Physical Recognition of the Perfect Man
Tags: Corporeality, Physical recognition, Physical body of Perfect Man
According to the belief of some people, the physical bodies of the Prophets and Awliyā' and their accessories are not like of those of other people and they attribute certain unnatural characteristics to them. Since this subject is related to the preceding one, therefore disregarding the detail of supposedly physical characteristics, we will mention here only those realities which are extremely necessary for us to understand in connection with the physical recognition of the Prophets and true Imams.
The physical recognition of the Prophet and the Imam in reality is such a basic and key issue of religion that, only if some fortunate person understands it through devotion, love and knowledge, can he walk on the true path with peace and safety, otherwise he suffers from ignorance which is the opposite of the recognition of the Prophet or Imam. This ignorance is such a talismanic spell that, not only has it prevented people from entering the treasure of realities from the very beginning of the cycle, but has also caused such a severe fear in their estimation and thinking that they have recklessly run away from its path and now it is impossible for them to turn their face towards it.
If you have carefully studied the description in the Qur'ān of those who rejected Prophethood, you can understand without difficulty that the unbelievers of different cycles unanimously objected to the fact that the Prophets were human beings like them and other than this they were nothing. By this they implied that the body of the Perfect Man should be extraordinary. We should now carefully uncover reasons why they continuously objected to the corporeality of the Perfect Man.
Do they have a scale or standard of recognition through which they are justified in saying that the physical characteristics of a true Prophet or a Perfect Man should be of such and such a kind, or is it their nature which compels them to discuss only the humanity of the Perfect Man and its accessories, while they themselves remained confined to the corporeal domain? In the following explanation, you can find the reasons for this objection and the satisfactory answers to the questions related to this subject.
Without mentioning the luminous body, as far as man's physical body and his humanity are concerned, it is necessary to investigate the point that in the natural physical relations of man and his necessities, the Prophets, the Awliyā', the pious ones and all the masses are generally alike and therefore, no human being's corporeality can be a proof or sign of his nobility or meanness. This is because God, the Exalted, in the reality of His essence and attributes is one. His law (sunnat) and creation (fitrat) also are one. Thus, according to His single nature He has created the bodies of the Prophets, the Awliyā' and the masses in the same way through the mingling of the elements and the procreative processes. Further, He did not keep any difference in their natural needs and the results of their bodies. Furthermore, had there been many ways of testing man by this (same) creation, Divine law would have approved the one in which there would have been greater possibility of knowledge and good deeds for him. Thus, in fact man is created in the best order of creation, as the Qur'ān says: "Indeed We created man in the best order". (95:4). Thus if the physical creation of men has been in the best order, then first of all it should be materialised in the Perfect Man, for the successful result in view of which human creation is considered to be the best creation, can first of all come about from the physical knowledge and good deeds of the Prophet and Walī.
Thus, it is obvious that in this world, the corporeality and humanity of the Prophet and the Imam are the most appropriate means for the trial and guidance of mankind. If they would have appeared in front of ordinary people in their luminous body, then their act would have been neither the means of trial, nor that of guidance. The means of trial is not the one due to which innumerable ranks of knowledge, deeds and recognition come to an end all of a sudden. As for guidance, it is attainable as a result of trial. Thus if no trial remains, the question of its result does not arise. Further, guidance is necessary for man to reach the higher ranks of recognition. But if there are no different ranks of recognition, the question of guidance and advancement does not arise. Thus, it is evident that recognition is the result of guidance. Guidance involves trial and the real trial is only through the Perfect Man's corporeality and humanity.
Now, if someone asks how the elemental body of the Perfect Man can be the means of trial for the ummah, the answer is that God always likes to try man in worldly and religious matters and the means of worldly trials are of a worldly kind and those of the religious trials are of a religious kind. The beginning and end, and the universality and centrality of religion cannot be anyone other than the Prophets and their successors. Thus the greatest means of religious and spiritual trial of man is the Perfect Man's body and his humanity and that of his religious trial is the Perfect Man's farmān, which is in front of him (man) in the form of an event related to his word, deed and body.
Think about the historical fact that the Holy Prophet also used to have the same elemental body as others despite the fact that he was the most noble of all Prophets and Awliyā'. Had his blessed elemental body been of a miraculous kind, he would not have suffered from the hands of the enemies of Islam as he did in the battle of Uhud, a brief description of which is as follows:
In the battle of Uhud when one of the Holy Prophet's teeth broke and his blessed head was wounded and he lost a lot of blood, he fell down into a cave and the Muslims did not see him for some time. The Muslims started to have many kinds of thoughts about him to the extent that, due to the rumour mongering of the enemies and his absence, they thought that he had been martyred. Then except for a few brave companions, what happened to the rest externally and internally, has been described in verse (3:144), which was revealed at that time: "And Muhammad (physically) is only a Messenger; (other) Messengers have (already) passed away before him. Will you turn back on your heels if he dies or is slain? And he who turns back on his heels will do no harm to Allah; and immediately Allah will reward the grateful." Here it is important to know that the Holy Prophet's pure life, both in word and deed, was a complete guidance and the best example for the ummah, and no Muslim doubts it. Thus in order to present a complete practical guidance and the best example of life, it was necessary for the Prophets and Imams to have the same elemental body as other human beings, so that they may be able to give them practical guidance appropriately and they may be able to have access to them due to this physical homogeneity. On the contrary, if an angel would have told them: "O people avoid doing bad deeds and accomplish good deeds", it would have been incomplete guidance, because it would only have been verbal guidance, which lacked a possible form of action. If this angel would have appeared in this world in human attire and had guided people on behalf of God, passing through physical difficulties and pain, it would in reality have been a practical and complete guidance and more and more useful to human beings. Thus, the Prophet and the Imam by their word and deed, present a complete guidance to the people by which the possible form of action is apparent to the people and this is possible through their elemental body.
A short and comprehensive Qur'ānic answer in verse (18:110) is sufficient for all possible questions about the corporeality and humanity of the Prophet and the true Imam, and what we have written now and are going to write about this subject is only an explanation of it. The verse is: "Say (O Muhammad)! I am only a man like you. It is revealed to me that God is One; therefore whosoever desires to meet his Lord, let him do good deeds, and associate no one in the worship of the Lord." (18:110). Thus it is evident that the Holy Prophet was like other human beings with respect to his elemental body and its natural necessities, but was distinguished from them only with respect to the revelation which he used to receive from God. Thus, when it is established that the Holy Prophet, the most noble of the Prophets and Awliyā', is a human being, then necessarily his Wasī (Legatee), i.e. the true Imam, also has to be a human being. But just as the Holy Prophet is distinguished from the rest of the people with respect to the tanzil of the revelation (wahy), the true Imam is distinguished from the rest with respect to the ta'wīl of the revelation.
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