Chapter No. 7

Service to Humanity

God Almighty has eulogized Himself in these words in the Sura Fateha, "All praises be to Him who is the Lord of all the universe."

All praises are to Allah who is master of the universe, the Most Compassionate, the Merciful of all, the Greatest of all from the beginning to the last, the Obvious, the Hidden, the Knower of past, present and future; and every thing in day, night, earth and firmament.

Duty of the Creation

Allah Almighty had provided all the necessary things for life before creating everything He created. He arranged this universe in such a way that every particle and individual complements each other. All praise be to God Who created the sun which is so obedient and sacrificing that it does not care who benefits from its light. Its rays fall on scorching fields; provide heat to heaven kissing mountains, light rooms of palaces as well as ordinary huts. The rays spread on the fields and provide life to mud-dwelling insects as well. Allah created the moon. Its beautiful rays decorate the animal-dwellings, sweeten the fruits, create ripples in the water when the bright rays of the moon penetrate the bosom of sea, and create movements in its water. This tumultuous situation gives rise to violent crests in the otherwise stagnant waters, and consequently these seemingly stagnant waves jump up to the height of thirty feet.

Allah decorated the sky with stars which guide the wayfarers, camel riders and the boat travelers through darkness. Allah created earth neither too hard for people to stumble nor too soft to get into marshes; God has created the earth to serve as a mattress.

Eleven Thousand Species

The eleven thousand species present in the each depend on water for life. Water is at the service of the creation by virtue of the direction of Allah irrespective of the considerations like whether the beneficiary is oppressor, depraved or whether he submits to the Will of God or not. He attends to all of them. 'All praise be to Allah who is the Creator of the resources of this universe and Who is the Most Beneficent and the Merciful and the Provider of worlds'

There are about eleven thousand five hundred attributive names of Allah. Every name is associated with an attribute of Allah's name. 'Raheem' (the Most Merciful) stands out among all other names. Every genus is dependent, in some measure, upon other species. Every created being looks alike at the earth as well as to the sky. When he looks at the earth, he sees mountains; when inside, he traces minerals. When his thinking focuses on water, he perceives the inmates of water. A deep brooding over the inhabitants of water unfolds a world of wonders on him. A fish smaller than an inch, a big whale, pearls, sea food are all creations of sea.

When human gaze transcends the surroundings of the earth and touches the sky, he sees ten thousand stars. Neither stars nor moon prevents him from looking at them. In the Sufi’s world, it is taken to mean that in this universe, every species is related with every other species. If different species whether they are terrestrial, aquatic, airy, or any other, were not related with one another, there would be obstruction in every aerial view.

This secret relationship binds every tiny particle with every colossal sphere. This knowledge brings home the fact to a Sufi (mystic) that this universe belongs only to one entity. If different celestial bodies like moon, stars, angels, demon, earth, sun belonged to different entities, there would be clash in their spheres of action and there would be discord in their possessions.

The holy Quran has introduced such an entity by the name of Allah , "A.II praise be to Allah who is the Lord of all the universe" All praise is reserved to the master of universe called Allah. He is defined as One Who produced the creation and provides for their needs as such. Every particle of this universe obeys Him.

Allah is his original name with right of possession i.e. He is Master as well as Lord. Allah can rnake use of everything in His possession, can alter the system of creation and can assign duty, at His will, to anyone. No creature can interfere with His scheme of things.

"All praise be to Allah Who is the Lord of all the universe. He is the Most

Beneficent and Merciful"

These two verses mention the two qualities of Allah e. g., mercy and possession. The word 'Allah' implies lordship rights and the word 'Most Beneficent' and 'Most Merciful' imply His rights to power. The quality of power is called compassion in the language of sufi'ism out of more than eleven thousand names of Allah. The qualities of power and compassion are present in every name. These qualities serve as secret relation between creations. The light of the sun can not refuse the service merely on the account that dwellers of earth and the sun are in the lordship of only one entity. That entity is the lord of ultimate values, and His proprietary rights and his attributes of compassion and power are never prepared to allow its possessions to withhold service to each other. A spiritual teacher transfers this secret to his apprentice that beings, the life of beings and all components of life were in the knowledge of Allah before this universe came into existence. When Allah wanted these components to come into motion, He simply said, "Kun" (Get done). This knowledge divulges that this universe, every individual of this universe including man, is a type of motion which is set forth by the orders of Allah. This motion has thousands of components which themselves are a type of motion. That is to say, that human self is a collection of countless motions. Just as every creation is a motion with its corresponding components (which are, in turn, themselves a motion) every motion is associated with every other motion.

Every motion begins with Allah and has recourse to Allah. Just as every creation in on the move, it is related with other creations.

Allah Almighty says:

"We have made everything in heavens and earth subservient to you e.g., they have been set into your service. The sun, moon, earth, vegetation, man and everything are engaged in service of creations. The one who is serving is not even aware of such service. Allah has delegated man the distinction to learn this knowledge.

Rights of the Humans as well as other Creation

A vassal (novice spiritual seeker) asked a Murad (one from whom spiritual guidance is sought):

"How to be befriended with Allah?"

The murad asked the vassal, "What will you do when you want to be befriended

with some one?" The vassal replied,

"I shall treat him well and take great care of him and leave no stone unturned to serve him"

The murad said,

"What will happen If you do not do this or do not get an opportunity for doing this?"

Vassal said," May be, this friendship ends." The murad said, "A friendship matures when one acquires the interests of friend. If you want to be a fast friend of a prayer-offered (one who prays), begin praying with him. A gambler is a friend of another gambler and a drug addict can not make friends with another drug addict unless he uses drugs with him. The murad asked the vassal, "What does Allah do?" The vassal told a lot about irrelevant things according to his capacity. Interrupting him, the murad said, "To sum up, Allah serves His creation. If you want to make friends with Allah, serve his creation". Murad further explained: "Have you seen a goat?"

The vassal replied, "Yes, I have" Asked:" What does it do?" The vassal replied: "It gives milk; people eat its mutton; its skin is useful for the human beings"

The murad said, "It implies that a goat is engaged in the service of man "The murad then asked, "What is the duty of land?"

The vassal said, "Crops and trees grow on it. Fruit grow on trees and land adds colours to them in order to please the human beings." The murad asked, "What is the relation between land and a goat?"

The vassal submitted, "A goat grazes the grass on land and eats leaves".

The murad further explained, "Universal system is such in which everything is engaged in serving others. When non­ human creatures are serving the creation of Allah, it is man's duty to serve the creation"

When a seeker learns this secret and makes it his aim of life to serve the creation of Allah, the legacy of Hazrat Adam passes on to him"

Hazrat Adam(AS) is the first of such Sufis (saints) whom Allah taught secret knowledge. This secret knowledge is another name for Tasuvuff (sufi'ism) and it is the legacy of Hazrat Adam(AS).

Adam(AS) is the father of all. A father serves his children, ....rears them. Every son of Adam is father of Adam's progeny. It is incumbent upon father to serve his children. The progeny of Adam should also serve the creation because other creations are engaged in the service of them.