INAMULLAH MASROOR, QADIAN
If the ultimate purpose of our existence, as discussed here, is to absorb the sibghah—the colour of Allah—a crucial question naturally arises: where do we look to find it?
If a person is told to adopt the colour of God without being given a clear model, they will inevitably try to paint this divine picture using the limited palette of their own imagination, intellect, and personal abilities. But human perception is inherently flawed. If we rely solely on our own understanding, we risk projecting our mortal weaknesses, biases, and emotional shadows onto the Divine.
This is precisely why humanity so often goes astray, losing sight of the true face of God. It is also the profound reason why Allah the Almighty strictly forbids shirk (associating partners with Him). Worshipping false deities or self-made concepts of God is not just an affront to His Oneness; it is deeply harmful to the human soul. When we try to mimic a distorted image of God, we end up cultivating qualities within ourselves that completely misalign with His true perfection.
The appointed vicegerents
Allah the Almighty, in His infinite wisdom, knew that for humanity to truly grasp His attributes, He needed to manifest Himself in a way we could comprehend. Hence, he did not leave us to wander in the dark. Instead, He appointed perfect human models, as the Holy Quran declares regarding the creation of Adam:
“I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth.”[1]
Following Adam, Allah sent a lineage of Prophets as spiritual guides for various nations. These chosen individuals were not ordinary human beings; they were the ones who had absorbed the colour of Allah more profoundly than anyone else. They became the living, breathing manifestations of Divine attributes.
Ultimately, as the zenith of this spiritual evolution and the perfect embodiment of this divine model, Allah sent the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa.
To understand this, we must realise that a true Prophet acts as a Khalifa (a substitute or true image) of the Divine. When it is said that God created man in His own image,[2] it refers to this very spiritual resemblance. A Prophet is a spotless mirror. When God Almighty desires to reveal His hidden countenance to the world, He raises a Prophet. Through this pure mirror, the world is finally able to behold the face of God.
The rain of revelation and the well of reason
There is a common misconception that one can reach God through intellect alone. While a person of pure nature can observe the perfect order of the heavens and the earth and conclude that there ought to be a Creator, there is a vast gulf between realising that a Creator ‘ought to exist’ and knowing with absolute certainty that ‘He truly does exist’.
This is a phenomenon we frequently witness today. Many highly educated individuals, attempting to navigate the mysteries of the universe purely through intellectual contemplation, ultimately fall into the abyss of atheism. Strangely, they expect to recognise the creator of the universe using reason alone, while the faculty of reasoning itself relies on external inputs such as data and experimentation to discern realities even about the physical world.
Hence, although the grand order and intricate balance of the universe clearly point towards an Intelligent Designer, when the limited minds of philosophers fail to grasp the wisdom or purpose behind certain aspects of creation, they hastily conclude that the universe is a pointless accident.
In doing so, however, they forget a fundamental philosophical truth: our ignorance regarding the purpose of something does not mean that the thing itself is purposeless. Thus, one cannot survive the storm of doubts while sailing solely in the fragile ark of philosophical reasoning.
The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, illustrated this point beautifully through the analogy of water. Beneath the surface of the earth, there is subterranean water, which represents our human reason and intellect. However, the presence and vitality of this underground water depend entirely on the rain that descends from the sky, representing Divine revelation and prophethood. When there is a long drought, the underground wells begin to dry up and become polluted. But when the heavenly rain pours down, the subterranean waters surge and well up.[3]
Similarly, just as our physical eyes possess the faculty of sight but remain entirely blind without the light of the sun, our intellect remains in darkness without the sun of prophethood.
The bridge between heaven and earth
We must humbly acknowledge our nature. God Almighty resides in the highest station of absolute holiness and purity, while human beings are inherently weak, vulnerable to the onslaughts of the ego, and frequently plunged into darkness. Due to this lack of direct affinity, an average person cannot safely attain divine cognition on their own.
We need a perfect model and guide.
The prophets serve as this vital bridge. Since they possess a pristine nature that has absorbed the highest divine qualities, they can draw the grace of God towards themselves. And because they simultaneously possess the most perfect human qualities and overflowing sympathy for mankind, they can translate and convey that heavenly grace to the earth below.[4]
They are the earthly vessels for heavenly light.
True Tawhid: A delight of the heart
Understanding this fundamentally changes our definition of Tawhid (the Oneness of God). Some mistakenly believe that merely acknowledging God is One is enough for salvation. But as the Promised Messiahas profoundly noted, even Satan knows that God is One.
This clearly shows that mere belief is not enough. True Tauhid requires two things:
- Absolute conviction in the Being and Oneness of God.
- A love for Him so perfect and overwhelming that obedience to Him becomes the ultimate delight of one’s heart—a love that obliterates all other worldly attachments.
This elevated state of absolute certainty and overpowering love is completely unattainable without traversing the bridge of connection—the perfect manifestation of which was our lord and master, the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa.
Becoming mirrors in our own lives
When we recognise the Holy Prophetsa as the ultimate mirror of the Divine, our own path becomes brilliantly clear. We are no longer guessing what the colour of God might be; we have it perfectly preserved in his blessed life, his gentle manners, and his pure character.
As human beings striving for spiritual elevation, we each hold a crucial position in this spiritual ecosystem. Whether in our homes, our workplaces, or our communities, the colours we adopt are the colours that naturally bleed into our surroundings and influence the next generation. When a person dyes their heart in the colour of Allah—by studying the life of the Holy Prophetsa and mirroring his patience, his mercy, and his devotion—they transform their environment into a sanctuary of divine light.
We become the smaller mirrors reflecting the Great Mirror. By absorbing the warmth and light of prophethood, we ensure that the subterranean water within our own hearts—and the hearts of those around us—never runs dry, guiding ourselves and humanity safely towards the ultimate embrace of God’s love.
Inamullah is a graduate of Jamia Ahmadiyya Qadian, the Ahmadiyya Institute of Languages and Theology. He currently serves in the national publications department of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
END NOTES
[1] Holy Quran 2:31
[2] Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Birr was-Silah wal-Adab (The Book of Virtue, Manners and Kinship)
[3] Haqiqatul Wahi (), pp. 133–134
[4] Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, in his book Ismat-e-Ahmadiyya (The Honour of Prophets), elaborates on this in detail, explaining the role of prophets within the Divine scheme established for the guidance of mankind.
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