On Beginning And End of The World
Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Ali Khosravi, a researcher in the field of religion, discusses the worldview, the philosophy of spring, resurrection after death, and the usual question on the beginning and end of the world. Here is a summary of his first session:
One of the questions that every human, either believer or unbeliever, tries to answer is about the start and end of the world. We may ask: “Where have I come from? What was the reason? And Where am I heading to?”
Individuals who fail to answer this question have described the world as an old book that has lost its first and last page; this means that neither the name of the author nor the end of the story is available.
One of the main missions of divine prophets was to answer these questions and the Quran also focuses on this topic to explain the source and destination of humans. However, neither prophets nor the Quran engages in philosophy to answer the questions. The Holy Quran has answered them using tangible and clear explanations. Verses 7 and 8 of Surah Qaf reads: “We spread out the earth and set upon it firm mountains, and We cause every delightful thing to grow in it. We spread out the earth and set upon it firm mountains, and We cause every delightful thing to grow in it.” The verses name two reasons for the growth of plants: awakening and remembrance.
The next verse of the Surah reads: “We sent down blessed water from the sky with which We caused gardens and the grains of harvest to grow.” So these verses explain the process of growth. And in verse 11, it is mentioned that “as a provision for the worshipers; thereby We revived a land that was dead. Such shall be the emerging.”
These show that there is no need for philosophical discussions; one needs to have a deeper look into the spring so as to believe in God and answer questions about the Hereafter.
