Balance Of Realities - Natural urge in children for nurture and learning
Natural urge in children for nurture and learning
Tags: monotheist, muwahhid, qiyamat, sa`ah
"The discovery of realities is extremely necessary for the intellectual progress of humankind. Man, who is a traveller on the highway of life, begins to demonstrate this need and urge the moment he steps onto it. Realising by the hidden powers of the vegetative and animal souls that something is lacking in him, he expresses his craving in a voice which, despite being bereft of letters and words and devoid of modulation and accent, arouses affection. Then with the help of the gustatory faculty, he sucks milk and simultaneously and naturally starts to do light exercise for he has to digest the food to remain healthy. However, he has to grow to use his physical and intellectual faculties for the sake of individual and collective interest in the future.
Although the suckling child does not as yet have to accomplish any religious or worldly duty, nevertheless he naturally realises the value of time. Therefore, no moment of his time passes without some activity of his own programme, such as sleeping, waking, weeping, suckling, moving as well as struggling to see, hear, speak, etc. During the suckling age, as children seek to perfect their vegetative soul through milk and other light foods and that of the animal soul through feeling and moving, they also struggle to perfect their rational soul through conversation. Thus the child listens to the conversation of its mother, father, sister, brother and of other human beings in its surroundings, in order that its rational soul may attain perfection.
The rational soul of the child will thus adopt ethical qualities under the influence of the type and nature of conversation in its environment. It is a universally accepted fact that the nourishment of the rational soul, which is speech and without which the rational soul cannot attain perfection, enters the brain through the sense of hearing. One living proof of this is the inability of the deaf to speak, although mostly no defect is found in their tongue, throat etc. Another proof is that if a new born human baby is brought up away from human beings, in such a way that no human being speaks to him, it is certain that he will not be able to speak, except to make meaningless noises till the end of his life. It is therefore essential to have the best environment in order to form and refine decent habits and manners and for the education and upbringing of the rational soul.
God has endowed the nature of the rational soul with the characteristic of acquiring knowledge of everything through questioning. Therefore, young children ask questions about what appears in front of them or with which they come into contact. Sometimes we do not answer their questions considering them unnecessary, or we are unable to answer them. Sometimes we prevent them from asking about a certain thing. This is totally harmful for them. Not in as much as we did not answer one or two of their questions, but because the natural urge for enquiry which they possess dies. The capacity for search of realities and their analysis, with which they are endowed, vanishes completely. This is why most people do not ask about the realities even in the age of intellect and awareness, and tend to accept most things blindly.
The True God has confirmed this natural, productive faculty of enquiry in children in the Qur’anic description of a monotheist (muwwahid) like Hazrat Ibrahim, which took place in his childhood. In this event, when he first saw a star, he wondered about it and considered it God. But when it disappeared and the moon rose, he called it God. Then when the moon disappeared and the sun rose, he said that it was his God, for, it was the greatest of them. When the sun also disappeared, he said: I do not love those that set (6:77-79).
From the above-mentioned examples, the need to search for realities is evident. Now I would like to discuss a problem, namely that of resurrection (qiyamat), which although it is extremely intricate, is exceedingly necessary to solve in view of the exigency of time, lest the fatigue of the long wait for the resurrection and the wonders of material science and atomic energy cause a person of weak faith to turn away from or doubt his religion and creed. Nor should he remain disenchanted by science and frightened of atomic energy and bereft of [the benefits] of material and worldly progress.
If the holy Qur'an is studied with reflection and from the viewpoint of wisdom, it will be discovered that nothing physical or spiritual is lacking in its detailed description. Thus, the states of the resurrection are also undoubtedly mentioned in detail in those names and examples of it in the glorious Qur'an. One of these names is “as-sa`ah (the Hour)”, which I am going to explain in this book.
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