Episode 1 | Insaan ki Kahani S01 [Extended Version] | Man, Universe and the Choice | Abu Yahya

The greatest quest of humanity and human knowledge is to understand its origin and end. Human beings want to know whether their essence is only animalistic or spirituality is also a part of their existence. Does a human have a creator and owner, or is he a random creation of blind and deaf forces of nature?

Has he been left alone and helpless in the search for good and evil, and truth and falsehood in this Universe, or has an arrangement for his guidance also been made? After the closure of the door of prophethood, what arrangement has been made to convey the truth of concealed realities like God and the Hereafter to humans? Will those who spread corruption in the World ever be caught, or have they been set free for rebellion?

If demons exist in this World, what is their reality and nature? In this era of denial of God, the search for answers to these questions has become more critical than in every other era. In the Human Story, we will search for the answers to such questions.

The Human Story is not just a story; it is that journey into our past in search of the truth about us that will also introduce every one of us to our future We had presented this trust before the earth, the heavens and the mountains but they had declined and became scared of it, but human beings bore it. In reality, they are very unjust and ones who are overwhelmed with emotions. Man cannot see the other shore of the ocean with his eyes.

The same is the case with this limitless Universe, no edge of which is known to the humans. The Earth, which we consider the second edge of the sky, is nothing more in this Universe than a grain among billions or trillions of particles of sand on a shore. Even the sun, 1.

3 million times larger than the Earth, does not hold any significance more than an ordinary particle of sand in this vast and expansive Universe. If we travelled at the speed of light, approximately one billion kilometres per hour, it would take us 94 billion years to travel from one end of the known Universe to the other. According to recent astronomical estimates, our Universe comprises 100 to 200 billion galaxies, each containing billions of stars, and each star is located billions of miles away from the other.

In this unimaginably vast and expansive Universe, this Earth is the only known place where life flourishes with all its beauty and diversity. From the invisible bacteria to plants draping the Earth with greenery, this realm hosts millions of species of life. From thousands of species of birds soaring through the air to hundreds of thousands of creatures dwelling on the land and in the sea, a diverse world of animals is present here.

The human being is also among the 8. 7 million species of life found on this Earth who, in terms of body, is similar to other species, but in terms of consciousness, he is entirely different and highly elevated. The emergence of man on Earth occurred much later than that of other species, but soon, he became the ruler of the Earth.

Humans have made extraordinary progress in scientific knowledge in the past few centuries. Because of that progress, today, humans fly in the air faster than birds, move through water swifter than fish, and traverse the land more quickly than any other creature. After conquering the Earth, this human being, due to science, is now striving to soar above the Earth and attempting to set foot on other celestial bodies of the Universe.

Invoking the name of science, many people today tell us that there is no God, no creator of this Universe and human beings. They say that the Universe, Galaxy, our Milky Way, our solar system, this planet Earth, and the 8. 7 million species of life found here are all the result of mere coincidences.

The astounding laws governing this Universe that give rise to the series of meaningful cause-and-effect relationships are just a coincidence. Surpassing it all, the existence of eight billion individuals of the human species on this Earth is also the result of a coincidence, and the outcome of this coincidence is the annihilating death. And if that is correct, nothing more disappointing can be found in this World.

While the man’s body indeed dies, his consciousness has not been created to die, and it does not accept death in any form. This claim of denying God is not made by the universally accepted scientific knowledge. Science tells us a lot about the vastness of the Universe, its operating laws and forces.

However, whether there is a creator of this Universe or otherwise, whether humans can be reborn after death, science does not answer such questions. These matters do not fall within its purview. Denial of God based on science, if not a deception, is definitely a misguided perception.

Atheism doesn’t have its own intellectual or philosophical foundations; they are merely some influence of Science. The influences of Science are that it has explained every phenomenon of the universe; therefore, now we don’t need any god, and this is the biggest impact of Science. So-and-so happens in such a way, hence, there is no need for God God is not felt anywhere because God has given such an automated system to the universe that it’s not necessary for Him to be seen anywhere because the truth is that our test is ongoing while living behind the curtain of the unseen, for that, It was necessary for the automation to be fine-tuned.

For this reason, God is not seen. In this series titled ‘The Human Story’, we will look at life and the Universe from the perspective of its creator. In the light of the Glorious Quran, we will present answers to the fundamental human questions in religious, or, in correct terms, as presented by Islam and its representative book, the Glorious Quran.

It claims to be the words of the Creator of the Universe and free from any alteration. Since the Quran has presented its arguments based on evidence, we will delve into those arguments in detail it brings forward in its favour. The Glorious Quran also introduces us to our past and future.

From a modern perspective, it can be said that the Glorious Quran is a time machine with whose help we will embark on a journey to our past and future in this series named ‘The Human Story’. This journey will traverse the pages of history, the verses of the Quran, the vast expanses of the Universe, and the stories of the prophets and messengers. In this journey, we will see the relationship between humans, the Universe, and the Creator of the Universe.

What was the past of humans, and what will be their future? In this journey, we will look at human history from the perspective of the Creator. For that reason, those groups of human beings will be mainly discussed where the Messengers of God brought His message and whose stories are narrated in the Glorious Quran.

Those were the nations where the struggle between good and evil continued in plenary form. At the outset of this journey, I will take you to the past when, within the context of my person, ‘The Human Story’ commenced. This story began In the 1980s when on our country’s only TV channel, PTV the renowned astrophysicist Carl Sagan’s globally famous documentary ‘Cosmos’ was airing weekly I used to watch this documentary eagerly and with great interest.

Carl Sagan was an agnostic whose viewpoint was that there was no evidence in the Universe to prove the existence of God. He introduced the Universe without a God, raising countless questions in my young and impressionable mind. Those questions led me to the borders of Agnosticism and Atheism.

If it weren’t for the Quran, those very ideologies would have been my destination. Fortunately, I was a habitual reader from my childhood. If I couldn’t find something new, I would start re-reading a book I had already read dozens of times.

The yearning to read the Quran developed in me by reading the prophets’ stories narrated in it, This book introduced me to the real concept of God, a God who is alive, everlasting, listening and knowing. That Listener held the finger of a young man and made him capable of, while standing on the threshold of old age, telling others what the Universe is saying in its silent language, the Quran is stating the same in clear terms. At the beginning of ‘The Human Story’, it is essential to clarify that you will find many things strange in it.

But the question is, isn’t the World we exist in inherently strange from the very beginning? I am speaking, and my words, reaching your mind through your ears, are creating meanings. Isn’t it strange?

We eat food. This food, after digestion, becomes a part of the body. In other words, food becomes a human being.

Isn’t it strange? Until some time ago, none of us existed. Then, we all came into existence through the union of our parents.

Isn’t it strange? “These and tens of thousands of similar things in this world are very strange and astonishing, but since they happen daily, they don’t look strange to us. ” If humans were born from the branches of a tree instead of a mother, it would look strange to us.

If we could hear someone without him speaking, it would seem strange to us. If we only look at food and it fulfils our nutritional needs, it would seem strange to us. But this astonishing World of ours doesn’t seem strange to us, whereas, upon reflection, everything in this World is extremely astonishing and, in its essence, a miracle.

A knowledgeable person has expressed this matter, saying there are two levels of living life. One in which nothing seems to be a miracle. The other in which everything appears to be a miracle.

The most astonishing thing in ‘The Human Story’ is the Quran. This book descended in a desolate, uncivilised desert region of Arabia, where the inhabitants had no status in the World. At a time when a handful of people who believed in the divine nature of this book were engulfed in a storm of opposition, they were promised in this book that they would be given dominion over the Earth.

It is as if today, in an underdeveloped and weak country in Africa, a religious book was to promise to its followers, dominion over the Earth, merely on the basis of faith and righteous deeds, nobody would believe it. But what is even more astonishing is that the promise made by this book to its followers was fulfilled within just a few years. The believers first conquered the Arabian Peninsula and then became the greatest power in the World.

Their powerful adversaries were annihilated. A nation that neither had a leader who could unite them nor were their geographical conditions conducive, nor did their tribal system allow it, they had only a religious leadership system due to the Holy Kaaba. For that nation, God Almighty’s foretelling that He would accomplish this task, there is no doubt it is a great miracle.

God has also said in Surah Al-Anbiya that we revealed to David (peace be upon him) that our servants will be the inheritors of this land. God’s promise with those among you who have professed faith and done righteous deeds is that He shall definitely grant them authority in this land the way He had granted it to those before them The Glorious Quran said [reciting a verse of the Qur'an] “We sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a messenger so that he dominates this religion over all other religions. And this prophecy is mentioned explicitly in the Sahih of Bukhari and Muslim as well.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that soon the Roman Empire would end, and after that, there would be no Caesar until the Day of Judgment. Soon, the Persian Empire would fall, and there would be no Kasra either. Time has indeed seen that the prophecy of the Prophet (peace be upon him) came true.

“Not only that, the One who had revealed the Glorious Quran, at that very time when all the opponents were hellbent upon eliminating the call of this book gave His decision in this way: Undoubtedly, We Ourselves have sent down this reminder and only We shall protect it An astonishing aspect of the Quran is that from Al-Hamd to Wan-Naas, every letter is the same. What some scholars did is that they took manuscripts of the last fourteen centuries and proved that the Quranic text existing from day one remains the same until the end. There is no discrepancy whatsoever in this text, not even a slight variation.

Meaning that during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), if any word of the Glorious Quran was written deviating from the rules of standard script of that time, even that has not been changed. Yes, It happened that dots and diacritical marks were added later in the Quran, but the text of the Quran is exactly the same, letter by letter. That itself is quite astonishing, and it seems as if God has preserved it in some creative manner.

No one dares to tamper with it in any way. O Prophet! whatever has been revealed to you from your Lord, communicate it to them the way it should be Allah will protect you from these people It is the tone of God.

Humans cannot speak In this tone. If they try to do so, time will prove them liars. But these words of God, Who had made these claims, are not only preserved word for word to this day, but they also made its believers the rulers of the World according to the promise.

We will have in-depth conversations about it in the coming episodes of ‘The Human Story’. The aim of mentioning it now is to indicate that whatever we will narrate in ‘The Human Story” with the help of the Quran may seem strange to you, but do not consider it fiction at all. They are the words of God that have always stood the test of time.

The beginning of this human story starts with the Ardh ul Amanah (presentation of trust) By the presentation of trust, we mean the occasion when Almighty God presented His creative plan to all creatures. God’s creative plan was to grant His authority and power in a limited domain and as a trust to a creature temporarily, and while remaining hidden, He would test them during this period. Those who will fulfil the requirements of servitude during this period will be rightful heirs to the eternal kingship, and anyone who displays arrogance and negligence after receiving this temporary trust of authority and power will face the worst end.

Considering this outcome, all creatures were scared to undertake this test except for humans, who, with hope for the eternal kingship of Paradise, came forward and accepted the test. We had presented this trust before the earth, the heavens and the mountains but they had declined and became scared of it but human beings bore it. In reality, they are very unjust and ones who are overwhelmed with emotions.

The most crucial aspect of this incident, as stated in the Quran, is that the authority and power are exclusively for God Almighty, who has granted them to the humans in trust The event of marriage is the most significant incident of human society. It is a complete expression of how humans exercise their authority. Establishing the relationship of husband and wife, humans decide that they will not go beyond this relationship to satisfy their instinctual desires.

Thus, by exercising their free will, humans impose a restraint on their desires and emotions. They can also go against this arrangement by using their free will if they wish. This autonomy that humans exercise in every aspect of life is the most distinctive characteristic of humans in this material universe.

In this World, the sun, moon, stars, our Earth and all creatures found here live under the compulsion of the laws of nature. Humans, too, are compelled by some aspects of these laws. However, humans have the power of choice over a vast sphere.

This choice is not available to any other creature in this Universe. Angels can only do as much as God has given them the authority. They cannot add or subtract from it.

But what has come for us “that is, the capacity to recognise the evil and the good, has been given to us [reciting a verse of the Qur'an] “We have made the path of guidance clear, whether you adopt the manner of ingratitude or the manner of gratitude, the choice has been given in this world. ” If this choice was with anyone in the universe, it was with God. After that, if this choice has been given to anyone, it is to humans.

Although we are also helpless within our boundaries, in the given circumstances. . .

No matter how much I expand, I cannot get out of my skin. Our instincts force us to strive to obtain sustenance, satisfy instinctual desires, make efforts for the other necessities of survival, and fulfil our desires. However, in this struggle of life, whether we opt for justice, benevolence, and righteousness or choose the path of oppression, injustice, and wrongdoing.

it depends on us Taking this vast Universe as the grazing ground of our needs and desires, whether we roam, feed, reproduce like animals and die, or live a life of servitude, making it a table set by the hand of the Lord. The choice is ours, and this very choice is the central idea of our story. A human being has two aspects: one is his animalistic existence, as the Quran has described, just as other creatures come into existence in this world, so does he.

Then there is his personality. So, it is the real personality of man which has been given the awareness of worship. Thus, it is the story of the relationship between the worshipper and the worshipped.

In this sense, you can say that it is the story of man. The second stage of this story, as described in the Glorious Quran, is the phase of the collective creation of all humans from the beginning to the end. According to the Quran, God Almighty created all humans together in the initial creation, then made them witnesses over themselves and asked them, ‘Am I not your Lord?

’ In one voice, they all responded, "Yes, indeed, You are our Lord. " “The Human Story” is precisely the story of the prophets and messengers, in which they continuously present the voice of nature as a living reality. We have started “The Human Story” today, but it is a very long story.

. . It will go through a lot of stages.

To see those stages, understand them and know their reality, please don’t forget to watch the next episodes of “The Human Story. May God be your Guardian.