Will you give information about man being superior to all creatures/created beings?

Is man the greatest being that was created and that will be created in the universe? That is, will man always be the best?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Allah created man in the perfect form, gave him superiority over all creatures and made him the vicegerent of the universe. Man needs to maintain this superior characteristic by belief and worshipping. Otherwise, he will lose this vicegerency by falling to the rank of asfal as-safilin (the lowest of the low) and will be lower than animals as the Quran puts it. Belief elevates man to a rank higher than angels but unbelief takes him down to the lowest of the low, to the bottom of Hell. 

As a matter of fact, Allah uses the phrase "ahsan at-taqwim (best of the molds)" for man. That the phrase "the best" is used for man means there is nothing better than him.

What does “man being created in the best of moulds” mentioned in the Quran mean?

Stone and soil. Neither nose nor thorn will grow in one of them. The other is a candidate for yielding fruit, becoming man.

Stone can neither go down nor go up in terms of value and honor. However, soil is not like that. If vegetables and fruits grow in it and if they become building blocks in human body, soil attains the highest rank called “ala al-illiyyin (the highest of the high)”.

There is also the other side of the coin. Thorns, snakes, scorpions can also come out of soil as a result of different phases. Thus, the superior talent goes down to the lowest of the low. Stone remains in the peak compared to it.

The Lord of the Realms states the following:

“We have indeed created man in the best of moulds.” (at-Tin, 95/4)

And man keeps the seeds of so many beauties with this superior creation. He is a candidate for understanding, believing, doing deeds, loving, showing compassion and being enlightened. Prophethood emerges from this lofty nature. Saints are the fruits of this nature. Scholars, pious, righteous and generous people, just rulers are all different fruits of this lofty nature at different phases.   

“Allah hath purchased of the Believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of Paradise).” When the verse above is interpreted in Risale-i Nur Collection, an example is given and the following message is included in the example:

“As for the machinery and the tools in the workshop, they will be used in my name and at my workbench. But the price and the fee for their use shall be increased a thousandfold.” (Sözler (Words))

In a talk, I asked my friends about the price of soil and water and I could not get an answer. When I asked them about the price of bananas, they told me a high price. When soil and water enter a tree, which is a factory of Allah, they come out as bananas and have a high value. Similarly, we give grass to a living factory called cow and we get meat and milk. Sugar beet comes out as sugar from the factory and pollens become honey in the hive.

If man takes lessons from endless paintings of teaching around him and puts his soul and wealth under the command of his Lord, he will attain that rank called the highest of the high and get the honor of becoming a person of Paradise.

When we say soul, we understand man's personal being and when we say wealth, we understand the things entrusted to his personal being to use. In other words, “soul” represents the internal boons granted to man and “wealth” represents the external boons. Both of them are tools of testing that can elevate man to the highest of the high or that can reduce him to the lowest of the low.

Acting upon the fact that the verse starts with soul, let us deal with our soul a bit. The human mind is suitable for being used in anything from physics and chemistry, trade and agriculture to gambling and robbing. Some of them elevate him while others lower him.  

Man's heart is like an ocean. It is open to so many positive and negative things from belief and unbelief to justice and cruelty, modesty and pride, obedience and disobedience, love and hatred and pardoning and revenge. The heart has the biggest share in man's elevation to the highest of the high or falling into the lowest of the low.

The faculties and feelings related to the heart are more than the organs of the body. They either elevate man to high ranks or make him fall into pits.

Let us start with love. With this feeling, man loves either his Lord and Creator or his soul and interest. The former is elevation and the latter is decline.

Another one is “the feeling of anxiety”.  Man becomes worried about material and worldly problems and desolates his soul because of them. Or, the anxiety of the journey of this world ending in Hell makes him work hard and pray. The former is the highest of the high and the latter is the lowest of the low.  

Our five senses should also be evaluated like this. Man can do good deeds or commit sins with them. Good deeds will lead him to the highest ranks and sins to the worst tortures.

The following statement in Risale-i Nur Collection gives a great lesson of reality: “Unbelief destroys human nature, and transforms it from diamonds into coal.” That is, man was created with a nature of diamond expressed as ahsan at-taqwim. If he leaves the line of Allah's consent and true path, he is punished and thrown into the lowest of the low. This falling is symbolized as coal. According to the statements of scientists, the building blocks of diamond and coal are the same; only the form of crystallization is different. Two different natures occur from this difference. Fruits that are opposite to each other can emerge from the same human nature like different words that are written from the same letters: believer-unbeliever, righteous-sinful, just-cruel, modest-conceited, etc.

According to this example,

•Ahsan at-taqwim is “the state of being created with the nature and ability to write the best.”

•Ala al-illiyyin is “the rank of those who can succeed it.”

•Asfal as-safilin is “the big fall and decline of those who write in a wrong way.”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) says, “The world is the field of the hereafter.” Then, man needs to attain the honor of “ala al-illiyyin” in this world even if like a seed so that this manifestation will be apparent in the hereafter as that lofty rank. Similarly, man will deserve “asfal as-safilin” with the sins he commits so that this deserving will cause that horrible torture.

To sum up, both lofty and vile men grow up in this world. Everybody either attains bliss or falls into torture in the hereafter based on their deeds.

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