What Is the Necessity of Having a Role Model to Achieve Similarity?
Throughout our lives, we define various goals for ourselves and naturally strive to achieve them through specific methods and role models. However, our most important duty in life is to achieve the purpose of our creation. In fact, even if we fulfill all our minor and major desires, yet do not come closer to the main purpose of our creation, which is to become similar to Allah, we have not made any real progress.
As we mentioned earlier, Allah is the Infinite Existence and the Absolute Perfection that surrounds us and is present in everything. Now the question arises: How can we, with our limited material bodies, become like an Infinite Existence? How is infinity even defined? What do we mean by infinite knowledge, infinite beneficence, or infinite generosity? Do we, as human beings, have the ability to reach such a status? How has our Master Planner and Creator paved the way for us to achieve the purpose of our creation?
To become like God, we must feel a sense of compatibility and harmony with Him; however, with a material body, we are incapable of connecting with Him. God is an Infinite Existence, and without manifestation, He remains unfamiliar to us. Becoming similar to Allah and achieving the purpose of creation requires certain preliminaries, some of which we intend to mention in this lesson.
The Necessity and Need for A Role Model
We are faced with a completely engineered system in the world of creation. God has created the human being structurally in complete similarity and compatibility with Himself. The human is a comprehensive being who potentially possesses all the names and attributes of God. However, actualizing these names and attributes is not a simple task. In fact, we know that certain attributes exist in us, and to become like Allah and achieve the purpose of creation, we must actualize them. But what is Allah, what are these attributes, and how can we actualize them? These are the questions to which we must find appropriate answers in order to reach our goal.
Imagine a person entering a workshop and being told that he has the ability to produce a certain piece, but he is not told how to achieve this ability or what steps and actions are required to produce the piece. Can we expect a suitable output from them in this case? Naturally, when we are not aware of the process and do not know how to utilize our abilities to achieve the goal, we will not succeed. In fact, we need a role model to achieve our goal. Similarly, in achieving the purpose of creation and becoming similar to Allah, we must first have a precise definition of Allah and the actualization of His names and attributes. In the next stage, we must also have a role model to achieve this goal.
God’s mercy provides both the purpose and the means to achieve it. Therefore, before our creation, He created a role model for us to acquire His names and attributes. This perfect role model possesses all the names and attributes of God in actuality, and the only difference is that he is not self-sufficient. That is, God has created a being completely similar to Himself in terms of names and attributes and given it a human form. This perfect role model is called Allah’s deputy or the most perfect example (Mathal A’la), meaning the best role model.
A Perfect Example of Allah
Just as we are unable to see energy and we recognize it through its manifestations, we also cannot comprehend the Infinite Existence. Although we connect with God through the supra-rational faculty, we are still confined and limited by matter. We can only see the manifestations of the Infinite Being, and Allah becomes recognizable to us when He manifests Himself in something. That is, we can know Allah to the extent that He reveals Himself to us. As we mentioned in previous lessons, the world of creation is full of created beings, each manifesting the names and attributes of God to the extent of their capacity. A stone manifests the names of God to the extent of its inanimate qualities, a flower to the extent of its vegetative qualities, and an animal, due to having higher level of existence, manifests more attributes such as management, kindness, power, etc. However, the case of the human is different from all other created beings. Our capacity to manifest the names of God is not limited, and since we are a comprehensive being having fitrah or the supra-rational dimension, we have the ability to manifest the names of God limitlessly.
Depending on the degree of similarity we have with Allah, we reflect His attributes within ourselves. Naturally, to succeed in this manifestation and achieve this goal, we need a perfect role model. Seeing the beauty and delicacy of a flower, the majesty and grandeur of a rock, or the kindness of a deer toward its fawns, although inspiring, is not enough. We need a role model of our own kind to become similar Allah. A role model that, on the one hand, is not limited and is a perfect example of divine names and attributes, and on the other hand, has a material and human form like us. Therefore, God, our Master Planner and Creator, introduces us the best role model and the most perfect example of Himself in the form of a human, whom we call the perfect human being, Allah’s deputy on earth, or the most perfect example. The perfect human being is our role model to achieve the purpose of our creation. Through this individual, we witness the perfect and most comprehensive embodiment of God’s names and attributes in human form.
The Importance of Identifying a Proper Role Model
Thus, God has given us this role model to achieve our goal. Understanding the purpose of our creation, emulating this role model becomes paramount in our striving to reflect God’s attributes. However, completing all these steps depends on knowing our true self and getting familiar with the dimensions of our existence. If we have not achieved human balance, we neither recognize the purpose of our creation nor feel the necessity of having a role model to achieve this purpose. Without a role model, God has no external manifestation for us, and since we do not know God, we cannot establish a connection with Him. In fact, because we do not have a human manifestation for God’s attributes, i.e., the Infinite Existence or Absolute Perfection, God is nothing more than an illusion for us, dependent on our interpretation of His names and attributes.
If we are not careful in recognizing a role model to achieve the purpose of our creation, we will face problems and may fail to reach this purpose. In truth, by choosing a role model, we set our boundary for reaching our goals, and naturally, a role model that possesses limited perfections cannot lead us to our intended result. A role model that reflects incomplete manifestations and limited worldly perfections may occupy us for a few days and give us the illusion of bliss and success. However, since they cannot satisfy our desire for infinity, they will confuse us. An actor who is captivated by the lower beloveds of his existence, a pop star who sees his bliss in the massive crowd of his concerts, and a player whose entire concern is to play for a famous club team can be considered as role models, but not for someone who wants to become similar to Allah. These role models distance us from the purpose of our creation, trapping us in the lower dimensions of our existence. As human beings, we deserve a role model that Allah has described as the most perfect example and has the ability to lead us to Allah Himself.
In this lesson, we stated that, as human beings, we do not have the ability to connect with the Absolute Infinite and we can know Allah only through His manifestations. Our existential structure potentially has the greatest similarity and compatibility with Allah. However, to become similar to Allah and achieve the purpose of our creation, we need a role model to acquire these names and attributes. A role model that is the most complete and comprehensive example of God’s names and attributes, and Allah calls him the most perfect example or the best role model. In fact, choosing any role model other than the most perfect example to reach Allah creates a distance between us and the purpose of our creation.
How committed are you in choosing a role model to achieve the purpose of your creation? Have you chosen the best model, the most perfect example to become similar to Allah?