随着道德自主的观念在当今时代广为流传，人们常常要求给出一个理性的解释：为什么一个人不能仅仅“做一个好人”，而无需信仰和经典所载的道德？诚然，慈悲、公正等人文美德本身值得称赞，部分源于天性，并能在今世招致神的恩赐。然而，就后世的救赎资格这一更宏大的图景而言，在发现神的启示之后接受它，是使一个人的善行在神面前获得认可的必要条件。善行取决于一个人的存在、善良的意图，以及使这些意图得以实现的各种能力与资源（体力、财富等）。

With the notion of moral autonomy being widespread in our era, people often demand a rational explanation for why someone cannot “just be a good person” without faith and scriptural morality. Certainly, humanistic virtues such as compassion and justice are independently praiseworthy, partially inborn, and can invite God’s blessings in this life. However, in the grander scheme of salvific eligibility in the hereafter, accepting God’s message—upon discovering it—is necessary for validating one’s goodness before God. Being good is contingent upon one’s existence, good intentions, and the various faculties and resources (strength, wealth, etc.) by which a person enacts these intentions.

既然所有这些品质和特性都是真主赐予的,那么否认真主,就会使这些善行在后世无法获得回报,因为从本质上说,它就成了一种被剽窃的善。我们世人看到最出色的研究时,自然会心生敬佩与赞叹,但一旦发现那其实是他人的成果,而这个欺诈者却刻意隐瞒了别人的贡献,这种敬佩便迅速转为厌恶。人们不仅视剽窃为可耻,更认为它应当受到谴责。

Since all these qualities and characteristics are endowed by God, rejecting God would render this good unrewardable in the afterlife, for it would then be—in essence—a plagiarized goodness. We as people rightfully view the most impressive research with awe and admiration, but that sentiment quickly transforms into disgust upon realizing it was actually the work of another whose contribution this fraudulent person deliberately hid. People do not just see plagiarism as disgraceful, but rather as condemnable.

另一个理由是，信仰使者与成为一个好人密不可分，因为只有使者才能通过从真主所获得的启示，彻底界定什么是善。例如，道德哲学家们始终无法就如何运用广受认可的"不伤害"原则达成一致，原因在于具体情境的复杂多样。

Another reason why believing in the messengers is inseparable from being a good person is that only the messengers can thoroughly define good, through the inspiration they receive from God. Moral philosophers, for instance, have never been able to agree on how to apply the widely accepted principle of “do no harm” because of the complexity of varying contexts.

即使“己所不欲，勿施于人”的“黄金法则”在理论上几乎为所有人所接受，但在实践中要在相互竞争的美德之间找到恰当的平衡，并非易事。亚里士多德曾就这一颇具挑战性的问题加以论述，强调应在道德行为的两种过度倾向之间寻求“中道”。历史也表明，即便是怀有善意、受过良好教育的人，也常常依据一些具有破坏性的原则生活，而这些原则所造成的伤害，就像癌症一样，有时会长期隐而不现，直到无可挽回。这些人或许真诚地追求“行善”和“不伤害任何人”，却未察觉自己的观念给自身和社会带来了恶果与苦难。

Even with the “golden rule” of treating others as you would like to be treated, though it is accepted by nearly everyone in theory, striking the perfect balance between competing virtues is not always easy in practice. Aristotle famously discussed this challenging need to find the “golden mean” between two poles of excess in moral behavior. History also attests that people— even with good intentions and advanced education—often live their lives with principles that are destructive and, like cancer, the damage caused can sometimes remain hidden until it is irreparable. Such people may have genuinely sought “being good,” and “not hurting anyone,” while oblivious to the evil and hardship their ideas inflicted against themselves and society.

简而言之,“不伤害”的原则总有被主观道德牺牲的风险。正因如此,真主派遣了最后的使者穆罕默德ﷺ来完整地界定善,保护人类免受短视、我们都会经历的社会熏陶所带来的麻木,以及随之而来的认知扭曲。真主说:{你们当知道,安拉的使者在你们中间。假若他在许多事情上顺从你们,你们必定陷于困难。但安拉使你们爱好信仰,并使它在你们心中美好;使你们厌恶不信、罪恶和悖逆。这些人才是正路上的人。}21

In a word, the “do no harm” rule always risks being sacrificed at the altar of subjective morality. For this reason, God sent His final messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم to fully define goodness, protecting humanity against shortsightedness, the desensitization we all experience from social conditioning, and the perversions of our perceptions that often follow. Allah says, And know that among you is the Messenger of Allah. If he were to obey you in much of the matter, you would be in difficulty, but Allah has endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has made hateful to you disbelief, defiance, and disobedience. Those are the [rightly] guided.21

Tawḥīd（纯正的一神论），即将独属于真主的一切专一地归于祂，是至高无上的善，而没有使者，这一切也无从实现。没有先知和使者，人类便无法认识真主，无法知晓祂的美丽与伟大，无法知晓通往祂喜悦的道路，无法知晓祂的应许与警告，也无法践行祂出于仁爱为造物的福祉而制定的命令性旨意。试想，在真主派遣努哈（Noah）之前世界的惨淡景象，或耶稣基督之后、先知穆罕默德ﷺ降临之前不久，黑暗笼罩人类的情形，便能理解人类在历史的每一个转折点上对先知身份的道德需要。

Tawḥīd (pure monotheism), which is to single God out in everything unique to Him, is the ultimate supreme good, and this would also be impossible without the messengers. Humanity cannot know God, nor know His beauty and grandeur, nor know the path to His pleasure, nor know His promises and threats, nor embody His prescriptive will which He lovingly ordained for the betterment of His creation, without the prophets and messengers. Consider the dismal state of the world before God sent Noah ,22 or the darkness that smothered humanity after Jesus Christ  and shortly before the advent of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, to understand humanity’s moral need for prophethood at every junction of human history.