Two clear goals of be’that

 

1. Calling on people to develop faith in God

There were two clear goals behind be’that of divine prophets. One goal was to bring about spiritual transformation in order to attract hearts to Allah the Exalted. This is the first point – namely, the issue of religious faith, attention to the Creator or what is referred to as divine remembrance in many Quranic ayahs. The most important thing that Allah the Exalted bestowed on humanity through be’that was divine remembrance, helping people become aware of spirituality. This is the first step and as long as this step has not been taken, none of the goals behind the sending of different prophets will be fulfilled.

“You can only warn him who follows the reminder.” (1) Those who pay attention to the divine reminder can be warned, reformed, guided and led towards perfection and struggle for social goals. This is the first step. When human beings disregard spirituality, all the doors to reform and improvement will be slammed in their faces.

Take a look at the conditions of the materialistic world. Today the key to all kinds of reform and happiness is to awaken human beings, warn them and remind them to seek the purpose of creation by going beyond these materialistic manifestations – namely, food, sleep, human passions, power, greed for wealth and other such things. Failing to pay attention to the true nature of creation is the root of all corruption. This is the true meaning of human life and the secret behind it: paying attention to the Origin and divine obligations, waiting for divine inspirations, waiting to receive orders from the hidden world. This is the nature of the issue, which has been referred to in the Holy Quran as faith in the unseen.

“Those who believe in the unseen…”(2 )Avoidance of being immersed in materialistic manifestations of life and avoidance of seeing life as limited to eating, sleep, human passions and tendencies, power and other such things: these are the primary blessings of sending prophets and the first goal of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). The primary goal of divine prophets was to warn human beings and to develop religious faith in them, faith in the unseen.

2. Building a healthy and just society

The second goal that the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) was pursuing from the beginning was to create a healthy and appropriate environment for human beings to live in. His goal was to build a world in which there is no oppression, a world in which the rights of the weak are not trampled upon by powerful people, a world in which the weak do not suffer from complete failure and defeat, a world in which the law of the jungle is not practiced – namely, the same thing that has been referred to in the Holy Quran, Islamic narrations and other religious sources as justice and equity, which are the humanity’s greatest wish. From the beginning of the history of mankind – namely, from the time when human beings developed an identity, started thinking and established order in their life – up until today, human beings havecherished the wish of establishing justice in the world.

Some people are shouting slogans in support of peace. Of course, peace is a good thing, but it is good as long as it is based on justice. Many people choose to fight in order to achieve justice. They fight for the sake of justice. Therefore, it is obvious that justice is more important than peace. And this is the truth.

The absence of justice would give rise to the same events that happened in the most hideous eras in human history, and today similar events are witnessed in different parts of the world. All the afflictions that you witness in different communities originate from oppression and injustice. This might not be visible if we only consider the surface of things, but if we go beyond the surface, we will see the truth.

If you see children starving to death in a corner of the world, on the surface, the problem is that there has been a drought due to low rainfall. However, the truth is something else. The truth is that there is injustice. If justice had been established in that society and in all human communities, human beings could have built such living conditions that their children would never suffer from such afflictions thanks to administration of justice and life would never become so hideous and painful. It is because of injustice that humanity has been suffering from these maladies and afflictions.

The primary goals of all divine prophets are to administer justice and warn people of divine chastisement. These two goals are the primary goals. Of course, warning people of divine chastisement is more important than the other goal. It is the root and the essence. If there is negligence and lack of vigilance, no achievements will be made and justice will not be established. Therefore, the systems and individuals that were claiming to promote social justice, were unable to present their people with anything like justice. They gave their people other things though. They gave their people space science. They built intercontinental missiles for them. However, they failed to establish social justice. Social justice will only be established in the shade of reforming mankind and in the shade of attention to Allah the Exalted and divine remembrance. These two goals were what the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) was after and he managed to achieve these goals, although the scope of his success was limited.

He built a society which enjoyed awareness and the highest degree of social justice. Of course, it is possible that some people were still exposed to injustice in certain parts of his society, but this does not mean there was no social justice. In a society in which laws and government are based on justice, in a society in which the ruler is a just ruler, in a society in which the intention is to administer justice, there is general progress towards social justice. It may take such a society a long time to reach the end of this path and establish social justice, but it is only a matter of time that justice is established. The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) established social justice. He did not tolerate even the slightest injustice. He put forth a model. Of course, his teachings revealed their effects in Islamic communities even after he had passed away. And during the time of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), pure justice was witnessed in the personality of the holy and great leader of the world of Islam.

These are the two characteristics of be’that. When we celebrate be’that, the purpose is to revive these characteristics. The purpose of celebration is to keep alive the memory of personalities, paths and events in order to learn lessons from them. 

1. Sura al-Yasin, Ayah 11

2. Sura al-Baqara, Ayah 3

Reference:Lessons from the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) A selection of statements by Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei on the personality and be’that of the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.)