An Insight Into Prophecy: Infallibility Essay

Plato once remarked that a community could produce its ideal leader and guide by handpicking a select few and exposing them to an intricate balance of gymnastics and classical music. Apart from the emasculating effect of such a course of action, it no doubt falls short of the prophetic paradigm. Prophets are an important vehicle by which Allah (swt) guides mankind; their task is to convey God’s will and provide an example worthy of emulation. Yet, in order to be emulated they must themselves be of an impeccable character. In this brief article, I shall approach the topic of prophethood from the gateway of infallibility and attempt to assess, through a discussion of the purpose of prophethood, why infallibility is required. In order for the discussion of infallibility to be a fruitful one, it would seem most appropriate to begin by shedding light upon the institution of prophethood. The religions of the world have venerated those that they consider to be prophets. These charismatic figures have led communities and shaped subsequent history. Such influence and prestige appears to derive from their common claim; that they are divinely inspired. Their popular appeal thus stems form the fact that they represent one of the many ways by which God manifests His immanence; that God is closer to us than our jugular veins.1 Yet, beyond this link with the divine, religions have differed, in some respects, regarding prophethood. Prophets, as characterised by Judaism, the first of the three Abrahamic faiths, were people who felt very deeply. They were devastated by the suffering of those that were oppressed. Having great resonance with the life of our final messenger, Muhammad (s.a.w), the Jewish prophets tended to have three main phases to their lives; contemplative seclusion, scathing criticism of the status quo and finally the provision of a means to salvation. And yet, when reading the Old Testament, it becomes very much apparent that the prophets were not of an impeccable character; they appear fallible and at times guilty of serious sin. The Genesis account of Jacob tricking his father Isaac is a particular case to note.2 Another conspicuous difference is that of ethnicity. Israel was Yahweh’s chosen nation, and as such, prophets, divine favours, were sent to guide them. In contrast, the Islamic prophetology is a universal one; it recognises both that â€Å"to every nation is a guide†3 and that Muhammad (s.a.w), the seal of prophethood, was sent as a â€Å"mercy to all the world.†4 In Christianity can be seen an even greater departure from Islam’s prophetology. Here, prophetology becomes theology in the act of deifying Christ. As a footing, aiding our understanding of the alternate prophetologies of these two faiths, we may compare what have been taken to be the respective symbols of Christianity and Islam; the cross and the crescent. Placing aside the inherent defects of redemption, original sin and the act of deifying Christ, it would seem that the cross, in Christianity, represents the one, single and unique redemptive transection between the transcendent and immanent God; the Father’s horizontal loftiness is brought to earth by Jesus’ vertical sacrifice. On the other hand, the crescent, suggestive of cyclicity and renewal, is an apt symbol of Islam’s prophetology; seeing successive prophets as one of a chain of 124,000 guides sent by the Almighty. As one is extinguished, another is born. The Islamic prophetology is conceptually simple. Islam views all prophets as having a common aim; preaching the message of monotheism. In the Qur’an, great stress is laid upon the figure of Abraham (a.s.) He is given due respect as the great patriarch; father to the line of Isaac (a.s) and Ishmael (a.s), and as such represents an ideal, that of Islam, from which Rabbinical Judaism and Pauline Christianity departed: Abraham was not a Jew nor a Christian but he was an upright man (hanif), a Muslim, and not one of the polytheists5 Along the model set by Abraham, famously known to be the slayer of idols, a line of great prophets descended. The story of Yusuf (a.s), Abraham’s great-grandson, referred to in the Qur’an as ‘the best of narratives’,6 provides us with a glowing example of how tawhid manifests itself in a believer; Yusuf (a.s), even in times of great tribulation had firm tawakkul, absolute trust in Allah. Even in jail he did not lose sight of his mission. Indeed, when asked by his two jail-mates to interpret their dreams, he ceases the opportunity to begin preaching to them, in wonderfully eloquent prose, of God’s oneness, and their ultimate accountability before Him.7 In spite of such archetypes, the children of Israel on many occasion defied their prophets. The Qur’an gives many an example of such defiance and the resulting divine retribution. The end product was that Rabbinical Judaism became fraught with legalism, and the spirit of faith began to fade. This was to contrast with the esoteric teachings of Moses (a.s), to whom the burning bush spake.8 The Qur’an also presents Jesus (a.s) as a worthy apostle who vehemently denies claims that he is God. The very first words of the Qur’anic Jesus (a.s), uttered in the cradle to defend his mother from charges of unchastity, form both a rebuttal to Pauline Christianity and concisely capture the Islamic prophetology: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the book and made me a prophet.9 Hence, in Islam, a prophet is simply a messenger of God sent to guide his people to the right path. The practical side of prophecy is that of responsibility; a responsibility by the people to follow the prophet. Regarding the final and most honoured of the prophets, Muhammad (s.a.w) the Qur’an says: Take what the Messenger gives to you, and refrain from what he prohibits you.10 It is from this platform that we may make the relatively straightforward leap to infallibility. Many arguments, both rational and scriptural, abound regarding the infallibility of the prophets. One of the most convincing is the argument that builds upon our responsibility towards prophets, as noted, and the subsequent paradox of following an errant prophet. M.R Muzaffar elaborates upon this argument: The reason for the infallibility of a prophet is that if he commits a sin or mistake, or is forgetful or something similar, we have to chose between two alternatives: either we obey his sins and mistakes, in which case, in the view of Islam, we do wrong, or we must not obey the his sins and mistakes, which too is wrong, because this is contrary to the idea of prophethood where obedience is necessary; besides, if everything he says or does has the possibility of being either right or wrong, then it is impossible for us to follow him. The result is that the benefit of his mission is lost; it becomes unnecessary, and the prophet becomes like ordinary people whose acts and speech do not have the excellent worth that we seek, with the result that there will be no obedience and his actions will be unreliable.11 ‘Allamah Hilli (d.1325), the twelver Shi’ite theologian of the Il-Khanid period, cites another key rational, aqli, proof for infallibility. He points to the argument ad infinitum; if the guardian is not infallible, then we are left with the indefinite question of who guards the guardian?12 Having provided but a taster to the arguments in favour of infallibility, one needs clarify what exactly we take it to mean. Muslim theologians have united doctrinally in favour of prophetic infallibility, and yet differences are noticeable in both its extend and its duration. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d.1209), a Shafi’i jurist and theologian of the Ash’ari School, claims that infallibility occurs only in the domains of belief, transmission of the divine message and religious judgement. This however, appears to severely limit the extent of authority accorded to the prophet, who is the example par excellence in all domains. Though al-Razi claims that the Sunni Ash’arites had agreed upon this, it appears that al-Baqillani (d10.13), another Ash’arite theologian, believed that the ‘infallible’ may commit unintentional errors in the transmission of the message to mankind. The flaws of such a view are clear. ‘Allama Hilli, whose views remain those of orthodox twelver Shi’ism to this day, provides a watertight definition of ‘isma, infallibility. He begins by explaining that infallibility does not itself negate the prophet’s ability to commit sin;13 avoiding sin is an active choice. This is in contrast to the determininstic understanding prevalent amongst the Ash’arites. Further, he stipulates that the infallible must neither commit grave or minor sins, in any domain, either before or after his mission commences.14 He reasons that a person who becomes inerrant upon being made a prophet will not have acquired the necessary respect from his people. Only a person that has been of exemplary character throughout his life can take on such a great responsibility as that of prophethood. In sum, one may say, rather schematically, that prophetic infallibility is denied within the confines of Judaism, extended to that of a deity in Christianity, and defined downwards by orthodox Sunnism. And yet, upon reflection, it would appear that prophecy is a great burden. Indeed, the Qur’anic revelation is described as a ‘heavy word’15 that is sent down upon the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). It is only with impeccable character, fortitude and resilience that the prophets were able to welcome such a burden, and live up to the responsibility of guiding mankind. Such character can only be adequately captured in an understanding of infallibility that does not seek to atomise, either temporally or spatially, the lives of the prophets; inerrancy most truly encompasses all domains and periods of the life of a prophet. 1 Holy Qur’an 50:16. 2 Genesis 25-28. The Genesis account speaks of Jacob having an elder brother by the name of Esau. Isaac had intended to bless his elder son before he died, but Jacob, aided by his mother Rebekah sought to trick Isaac into giving Esau’s birthright to Jacob. 3 Holy Qur’an 13:7. 4 Holy Qur’an 21:107. 5 Holy Qur’an 3:67. 6 Holy Qur’an 12:3. 7 Holy Qur’an 12:36-42. 8 Holy Qur’an 20:9-14. 9 Holy Qur’an 20:33 10 Holy Qur’an 59:7. 11 Shomali, S.A. Shi’i Islam, ICAS (2002) (unpublished manuscript), p67. 12 ‘Allamah Hilli, al-Bab al-Hadi ‘Ashr, commentary by Miqdad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Siyuri, Mashad (1989), p41. 13 Tusi, Nasir al Din, Kashf al Murad fi Sharh Tajrid al-I’tiqad, commentary by ‘Allamah Hilli, Beirut (1990), pp.341-342. 14 Op.cit. Al-Hilli, p124. 15 Holy Qur’an 73:5

Advertising Effects On Young People Essay

Advertising on American youth has changed somewhat in the last ten years. Today’s youth, mostly between the ages of 15-18, see an advertisement on television, or the internet and they want to try it , have it, or even steal for it because they desire it. Take alcohol advertisements for instance. Alcohol advertisements are more complex and appealing to today’s youth than they were ten years ago. The effect of these alcohol related advertisements, cause our youth to try just a little sip or worse drink to many. Because our youth today don’t understand the effect of alcohol on them, they get behind the wheel of a vehicle and either cause an accident where they hurt or kill themselves or they hurt or kill someone else. Alcohol advertisements were not as appealing ten years ago as they are today. Really all you would see were a few beer advertisements and the â€Å"Drink Responsibly† at the end of it. Honestly, who really drinks responsibly these days? I don’t believe that our American youth does or there would not be that many drunk driving accidents involving our youth. As far as technology advertisements, they are just as bad. The effects of these advertisements are a hundred times worse on today’s youth than they were ten years ago. Therefore, the effects of advertising on today’s young population has increased the potential for success, however there is still non-targeted advertisement that reaches out to today’s American youth in a potentially negative perspective. Television is the dominant way to advertise to American youth because that is what our youth spends most of their time doing. By searching online for evidence that could support this, I found these statistics from thinkbox.tv: â€Å"Ages 15-24 spend 43% of their time watching television. Young people particularly like commercial television, which accounts for 76% of ages 16-34. Commercial television reaches 62% of the 16-34 population every day, 89% every week, and 97% every month. Of ages 5-16, 45% talk about their favorite television program with friends and family. Of ages 5-16, 34% say they regularly visit their favorite television website or Facebook page. 10% of ages 5-16, watch television on their laptops or computers in their rooms† (http://www.thinkbox.tv/getting-started-on-tv/discover-the-power-of-tv-advert  ising/#2). These statistics can somewhat show that the youth today spends more time watching television and playing on their computers than they do outside. Furthermore, television has become a powerful piece of technology for today’s youth. For example, the variety of channels that is now available for our youth. For that reason, television is the main source of advertising to our youth today. Advertising today vs ten years ago can raise a lot of viewpoints among Americans today. Most people will argue that advertisements do not cause any effects on our youth, but I disagree. For instance, cigarette advertisements effect our youth in some way. Some young people choose to ignore these advertisements because they know it harms the body, while others choose to go purchase cigarettes because they think it makes them fit in more with their peers. I have seen more young people with a cigarette today than I did ten years ago. In addition to the cigarette advertisements, the alcohol advertisements raise concern with some. Alcohol advertisements tend to persuade our young people that its ok to drink as long as you drink responsibly. There is not one young person that says â€Å"Ok, I will only have a couple of drinks†. Young people tend to do what they think will make them more acceptable in today’s society. To me, this is unacceptable behavior. In a similar fashion, Violence has taken over our youth today. The video games that most young people play portray violence in a very bad way. Some gangs or â€Å"clicks† use this type of violence as an initiation for young people to join. I have seen more teen tragedies in today’s news due to this type of violence than the last ten years. There is teen kidnappings, violent injuries and even murders. Most of the time, it is teen on teen violence because they think its ok because they see it on television or even the internet. It is ridiculous on how much violence has happen with today’s youth. I believe it is because of all the advertisements that portray violence has an ok thing. For example, video games are the main source of violence in today’s youth. My opinion on this type of advertising is one of the causes of most of our youth’s accidents, tragedies, and even deaths. Today’s advertising has more effect on our youth than it did ten year s ago. In conclusion, advertising on American youth has caused tragedies and even death. Young people today really don’t have enough common sense to know that if it looks, taste, or smells bad, that it probably is and that they should not partake in it. Our young people today seem to think that if they partake in things that could hurt them then it makes them fit in more with their peers. To clarify, â€Å"If you can drink this or smoke this or even try this, then you can be part of this â€Å"click†. It sickens me to know that even our youth today has effects on other young people. Parents should monitor more of what their child is doing, what they are watching and what kind of people their child is friends with. In another sense, parents could prevent tragedies or even death from occurring. Yes, advertising in some way has increased the potential for success in American youth; however it still has potentially negative perspectives on American youth today. By parents monitoring what their child is watching, what their child is doing, and what kind of people their child is friends with can potentially decrease the amount of smoking, drinking, and violence that our young people partake in today. There is always positive potential for our American youth. We just have to monitor more of what they watch and make sure that they know right from wrong. http://www.thinkbox.tv/getting-started-on-tv/discover-the-power-of-tv-advertising/#2 THESIS AND OUTLINE The effects of advertising on today’s young population has increased the potential for success, however there is still non-targeted advertisements that reaches out to today’s American youth in a potentially negative perspective. I. Introduction Paragraph A. The relation between advertising today verses ten years ago. B. The effects on American youth today verses ten years ago. C. Thesis Statement II. Body Paragraph A. Topic Sentence on the focus of the paragraph B. Specific examples of the effects of advertising on today’s youth. C. My explanation and analysis of my examples. D. Summary Sentence III. Body Paragraph A. Topic Sentence that identifies opposing viewpoints. B. My explanation on why I disagree C. Examples of why I disagree D. Summary Sentence IV. Conclusion Paragraph A. Summary of my body paragraphs B. Thesis statement reiterated C. My final thoughts or call for action

Verbal Communication AND Relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Verbal Communication AND Relationships - Essay Example According to Hutchinson (2010), communication is synonymous with human survival in the sense that in order to obtain survival needs, one must demonstrate that they are in the need. Citing communication in newborns as a vital element of direct and specific form of communication, the author reckons that communication can take several any level of consciousness and directness. Interpersonal communication as an important form and level of communication describes the type of influential communication that individuals engage in a meaningful relationship. Hutchinson (2010) highlights the importance of interpersonal relationship as a tool that sustains and retains special interactions between individuals who relate at a higher level of closeness than ordinary impersonal communication. Relationships that persist for a considerable duration of time apply interpersonal communication due to the special attachment with which the communication enables them to have. Such relationships as sustained and maintained by interpersonal communication are those that are unique in the lives of the involved individuals. Individuals in the interpersonal interactions are important and irreplaceable in the relationship, usually taking an unpredictable form due to the length in time associated. In this discourse, interpersonal communication is discussed with illustrations of specif ic application to highlight the importance with which relationships apply it. To develop a distinction between interpersonal and impersonal communication would be important in developing the special attention that interpersonal communication is given in this discourse. Apparently, interpersonal communication can be distinguished from impersonal communication by the generation of contextual relationship inference. On one hand, interpersonal communication involves less formal interactions between close individuals as defined above. In the daily progress of human interactions, a majority of

The Aesthetics of the Dell Corporate Blog Assignment

The Aesthetics of the Dell Corporate Blog - Assignment Example This is important as the blog contains a lot of information for the viewer. The Dell Corporate also acts as a landing page for all of the company’s other smaller blogs about events, education as well as health care. The dominant colors are white and sky blue keeping in line with the very minimalistic, business-like layout of the page. The page starts out with an excerpt from the latest blog entry on the left hand side with links to new blog posts on the right hand side. As we scroll further down, 80 percent of page space is dominated by latest blog posts on the left hand side, while the left hand side is reserved for miscellaneous links differentiating the Dell blogs by language and location. There is also a search bar on the left hand side. Ample white space on the page lets the design breath nicely and ensures that page looks well put together and clutter free despite the huge amount of information it contains. The text font is an ode to the minimalist approach and is the st andard clean web typography font Arial in 9 point size. The headings are an 11.5 font size in Arial font, colored sky blue. Overall, the blog is clean, readable and very corporate! The Writers of the Blog   Most of the blogs are written by Lionel Menchacha who is the chief blogger for the Dell corporate blog. Other writers include Matt Domsch, Linux Technology Strategist and Bill Gorden, GM smart phones division. These folks have been at Dell from 10 to 25 years and are uniquely knowledgeable about its businesses and processes. Content Included In the Blog The content on the blog mostly includes news about the company. The posts are informative and the blog is regularly updated with new posts. The blog successfully outlines the company’s activities throughout all of its international units. Posts like â€Å"Making the Cloud a Possibility in Government† and â€Å"Why Big Data is a Big Deal for Energy† clearly demonstrate the emphasis on industry knowledge by De ll. The blog also contains informative posts for public, these includes topics such as cyber bullying etc. The Dell corporate blog is basically a landing page. This means the company has a large number of smaller blogs about every one of its interests and this landing page is used to manage and house all these blogs. The corporate blog features content from across the wide range of smaller bogs. Content of the Most Recent Post The most recent post on the blog is titled, â€Å"Our Story: Tracing Dell’s Solutions Heritage with Precision†. The author is Michael Dell, CEO Dell Corporation. This post is marked â€Å"Direct2Dell† specifying that the post was written exclusively for the main corporate blog and not one of other little blogs. In this post, the CEO outlines how the company entered into the workstations market during the mid-90s. It is written in the general interest of employees, shareholders and customers. The post is basically an introduction to an embe dded YouTube video about the same. The Target Audience Dell’s corporate blog serves as a newsletter of sorts for the employees. The posts are frequently based upon the latest developments within the business and products of Dell. According to an introduction the blog, it is intended for the â€Å"millions of Dell customers and employees interested in technical support, learning and conversation about the power to do more with technology.†Ã‚  (Direct2Dell) The Best Features of the Blog The best

Camayd freixas interpreting ICE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Camayd freixas interpreting ICE - Assignment Example Although the office of the clerk at the U.S. District Court had already contracted interpreters almost one month ago, they could not talk about it, since they were not at liberty to do so with the fear of compromising the impending raid. This investigation was reportedly led by ICE from the executive branch with the help of U.S. District Court from the judicial branch. The court had moved to a remote location for two weeks which formed part of their continuity of operation exercise just in case there was no disruption from any emergency such as flood or tornado. In the process of interpretations during the first day, we had sluggish beginning due to the malfunctioning of the barcode booking system of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This meant that we had to sort out the documents manually and the office of the U.S. Attorney assisted us in processing the documents. Because of this, few, less than a third, detainees could be arraigned on Tuesday. We made rotations in shift due to the many numbers of interpreters available that day. Although the court adjourned after 4pm, there was an overnight prosecution work that planned on a 7am to midnight court during the next day. I found out more facts about the Agriprocessors such as the factual statistics of arrest and number of employees. However, the more I found out, I felt blind sighted in an assignment that I never needed any part. Although I mastered the whole rationale of the secrecy involved, I understood clearly that the interpreter of the contract is the one with the right to decline a job that have conflicts with his intuitional morals. I had however been deprived of this opportunity. I was already in anyway and at some point I considered withdrawing seriously from the assignment as a federally certified interpreter for the first time in 23 years due to conflict of interest. Nevertheless, I had both the contractual and ethical obligation to have a withdrawal in case of conflict

Globalization and Its Biggest Winners and Losers Essay

Globalization and Its Biggest Winners and Losers - Essay Example Globalization is characterized by many factors including increased international trade, multinational companies whose activities are based in several nations, great dependence on the global economy and free movement of capital goods and services. Although associated with many economic benefits to the participating nations, research has indicated that some nations fail to enjoy the benefits anticipated from globalization (Jacobs and Michael, 2003). The Biggest Winners and Losers in a Globalized World Several years of globalization efforts witnessed have led to an imbalanced economic scenario where economists have unanimously come into a consensus that globalization only favours some nations. A critical examination and comparison of both developed and undeveloped nations is a clear revelation of this reality (Bhagwati, 2004). Because of this imbalance, developed nations have emerged out as the biggest winners in a globalised world. These developed nations include America, china Canada and other nations in Europe and some parts of Asia. Undeveloped nations are mainly found in Africa and some parts of South America. Developed nation’s economies are largely industrially driven as opposed to undeveloped nations who mostly rely on agriculture as their main economic drive. The disparities evident in export levels between developed and undeveloped nations is a typical example how developed nations gain in a globalized economy as opposed to their undeveloped counterparts. A report published by an independent group of scholars and economic experts focusing on living standards in poor countries indicated living standard were worse than it was a decade ago. According to this report a fifth of the world’s richest nations were found to control 82 percent of the world export market. Direct investment is highly dominated by people from the richest with high figures of 68 percent. While majority of populations in poor countries still live below poverty levels chara cterized by widespread unemployment, a big population in developed nations are employed and they live above poverty levels (George, 2007). Globalization has led to opening up of market base, which has in turn triggered increased industrial production of various commodities in order to cater for the increased customer needs. This has seen a rapid increase of exports from developed to undeveloped nations. As a result, industrial sector in developed nations experiences a growth due to ever-growing globalization. Growth of industrial sector avails several benefits in developed nations. It facilitates growth of other sectors such as education and infrastructure further contributing to economic growth. Contrary to less developed nations, the rate of unemployment is much lower in developed nations due to ever-growing industrial sector. The level of innovativeness is also greatly supplemented by the wide variety of industries present in these nations (Roy, 2005). Over dependence of undevelo ped nations for various products from their developed counterparts has led to emergence of market monopolies, which developed nations use for their own economic gain. There has been a rise in number on international companies originating from the rich nations and expanding their market base to the less developed nations. A typical example can be drawn from china, which has expanded its market base in African countries (Scholte, 2000). The country strategically produces low quality goods, which are affordable in the African market. Because of economic status of African market, such substandard goods often remain more popular as opposed to genuine but more expensive goods. The benefits leapt through this strategy are immeasurable and have played a crucial in

Final Business Model and Strategic Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Final Business Model and Strategic Plan - Essay Example The new product division will analyze the potential market for their products. They will use the available budget to conduct research that will provide insights about the competition in the markets and what the competitors are doing to win customers. In addition, the new product division will use the information received to build a strong company brand presence. Moreover the brand owners who include the brand manager and marketing manager will gather information about the prospective customers. They will conduct online surveys as well as group and personal interviews to find out about customers views and preferences, goals economic and financial status. Moreover, they will liaise with the IT department to come up with a website that will be sued to market the new product. The website will inform customers on the benefits of the product, the places where to purchase the product as well as the prices and discounts that will be provided for the product. In addition, clients can post the ir comments, recommendations as well as the challenges they have faced while using the product. Moreover some of the marketing promotions that will be used will include above the line and below the promotion. This includes the posters, newsletters, billboards, coverage on radio and television. The new product division will mostly use above the line advertisement for the purpose of reaching a massive group of people. The new product division will have an effective communication plan that will ensure effective communication both internally and externally. The new product division plans to have access to the agenda of the critical meetings by involving the senior executives to deliver on the presentations in regards to the new product division to get insights and feedback from them. The new product division also plans to have proper management by planning campaigns and tracking results and success. This will include monitoring performance of the new product