(April 9, 2015 at 6:51 pm)abaris Wrote: Doesn't it strike you as the perfect example of a man made god for desert dwellers? I mean, that's what it is if you chip away at the spiritual woo. Water is a rare commodity in the region where this god has it's origins. So what?
I think it's to remind about purity and the true nature of blessings. A lot of people don't see the purity from the uncleanness. And higher blessings, and their reality is important.
Therefore it's been used as a metaphor.
From Misbahal Shariah:
The Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali) said, 'Love of Allah is a fire which does not pass by anything without burning it up; the light of Allah does not come over something without illuminating it.
The skies of Allah do not cause a cloud to appear without it covering whatever is beneath it; the wind of Allah does not blow on something without it moving. Allah's water gives life to everything, and from Allah's earth everything grows. Whoever loves Allah is given every possession and authority.'
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The hadiths say the first thing created was the intellect. Another says "water". Another says "light".
The reason for these parables, in my opinion, is so we remember a higher reality we are linked, the origin of blessings, the nature of purity.
