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:
“Customs and convictions change; respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the change, and the ones most offended by fresh reflections of the facts in the mirror of art.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“Customs and convictions change; respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the change, and the ones most offended by fresh reflections of the facts in the mirror of art.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“Don’t you forget what’s divine in the Russian soul—and that’s resignation.”
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)
“God is the efficient cause not only of the existence of things, but also of their essence.
Corr. Individual things are nothing but modifications of the attributes of God, or modes by which the attributes of God are expressed in a fixed and definite manner.”
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