Reflections of Divine Attributes
Although Prophets are regarded as human beings, they are seen as having attained the highest rank of spirituality among all humans. According to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, only in spirituality (literally, “Nearness to God”) does one deserve any honour and that also usually only by God Himself and thus racism, sexism, nationalism and other ideologies such as these are condemned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Prophets are seen to have resisted and overcome Satan, which is either Satan taking a corporeal form and inviting them to evil or the metaphorical Satan which is the base desires of humans (i.e. wealth, fame, lust, greed etc.). The purpose of life, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and in principle with the Qur’an, is to worship God. This worship is in two parts:
1.) Direct Prayer with God to establish communion with Him, Zikr-Illahi (Remembrance of God) and other spiritual exercises.
2.) Service to humanity. As humans are the creatures of God, service to them means that you are in part worshipping God. This service may be on any scale, from being polite or holding the door for people, to being a doctor or establishing/donating to a large humanitarian relief organization. The only way to worship God completely is to mimic His Divine Attributes (though unlimited, 99 of which are told of in the Qur’an which is the literal Word of God, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) which are able to be mimicked (i.e. some attributes such as Al-Khaaliq (the Creator) cannot be mimicked by humans). Thus God sends prophets to ease this task for humans because Prophets are those, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, that have mimicked God’s Attributes and are thus Manifestations of God, or Manifestations of God’s Attributes. They are seen as representatives of God on earth and are invested with His Holy Spirit. According to Ahmadiyya belief, out of all Prophets which are Manifestations of God, Muhammad reflected God’s Attributes perfectly and was the Supreme Manifestation of His Attributes or the “Seal of the Prophets” as described in the Qur’an.
Read more about this topic: Prophethood (Ahmadiyya)
Famous quotes containing the words reflections of, reflections, divine and/or attributes:
“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?”
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“Give me the eye to see a navy in an acorn. What is there of the divine in a load of bricks? What of the divine in a barber’s shop or a privy? Much, all.”
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“True and false are attributes of speech not of things. And where speech is not, there is neither truth nor falsehood. Error there may be, as when we expect that which shall not be; or suspect what has not been: but in neither case can a man be charged with untruth.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)