Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
THE PHILOSOPHY OF UNITY
(8)Unity of Truth:
God has stated the basic Truth in His Revealed Guidance, and has invited
His vicegerents, the human beings, to experience the Truth through their
observation. Truth does not have different facets; it is one-sided. But its
observation through the finitude of human senses and reason gives only partial
views which relate to infinitesimally small portions of the whole and are, in
the very nature of the case, discrete. However, even the minute and partial
views, if interpreted in the scientific spirit, i.e., objectively and without
the distortion of the image through the intrusion of subjectivity, are bound to
corroborate the Revealed Truth. In other words, true Religion and true
Scientific Approach to Truth stand in the relation of unity.
(9)Unity of Religion:
The Holy Qur’an teaches that, God being One and humanity being one,
Divine Guidance in terms of Religion has not been confined to any particular
chosen race. Rather, entire humanity has been blessed with it during the course
of human history (13:7; etc). Nor could it be different for different
communities. This gives the principle of unity in respect of Divine Revelation.
Also, this teaching provides the venue of appeal to the religions of the world
for casting off the shells of later accretions, perversions and distortions
brought into existence by human ignorance, ingenuity, or vested interests, and
returning to the original Message in the light of reason and with the
assistance of the Qur’anic Revelation,—finally bringing about the unification
of religions in the Divine Truth and paving the way to the unity of mankind.
(10)Unity of ‘Love’ and ‘Law’:
‘Love’ functions as the ‘soul’ and ‘Law’ functions as the ‘body’ of the
human code of Conduct; and, in the Qur’anic view, genuine flowering of the
human personality is possible only when ‘Love’ and ‘Law’ function in organic
unity in the life of a person.
(11)Unity of Mankind:
Coming to human beings: God, the One, has created them all; and He
originated the existence of the human species on the earth through one original
pair of man and woman. This gives us the Qur’anic principle of the Unity of
Mankind, in which all prejudices of race, colour, caste and sex are obliterated
and the only principle of distinction in respect of status is achievement in
terms of spiritual and moral character and knowledge. As regards respect for
human dignity, it is, in the Qur’anic view, the birthright of every human
being.
(12)Principle of Unity in respect of the
Sexes:
Although man and woman are different in respect of some of their
functions, and consequently in some of their organs, they have emerged,
according to the Holy Qur’an,from a
single primeval Self. In their basic human nature and status, therefore, they
are united in the bond of humanity:—they are one and the same, and even in
their functions they stand out as complimentaries and not as the negation of
one another. Consequently both possess, equal human dignity.
(13)Unity of Human Personality :
With reference to the human personality, the Holy Qur’an emphasises its
organic wholeness. The human being is a unitary being, with the soul, the mind
and the body and their different dimensions of existence and behaviour, forming
an integrated organic Whole—a Unity. This Qur’anic view gives rise to the Qur’anic
ideal of the integration, wherein all the dimensions of human personality: the
physical, the moral, the rational, the aesthetical and the spiritual, have to
be developed comprehensively and harmoniously in order to achieve the Divine
Purpose with regard to human destiny.
It may be emphasised here that, similar to what we have noticed in the
case of the cosmos, the human being also emerges, in theQur’anic view, as a being who is ‘space-less’
and ‘time-less’ in his origin and constitution. Namely, he originated in a
dimension of existence which transcends ‘space’ and ‘time’, or, in other words,
in the transcendental dimension—a dimension akin to the fifth dimension of the
five-dimensional continuum in which we find an electron during its jump from
one orbit to the other. And his essential constitution is in terms of what is
called ‘soul’ in popular language. As for the birth and the death of the human
being on the earth, the Qur’anic view may be stated in scientific terms thus.
In respect of birth : The soul projects itself, under the Will of God, in the
‘dimension of time’, bringing about the existence of the mind, which is
temporal. Then, beyond that, it projects itself into the ‘dimension of space’,
bringing about the existence of the body, which is spatiotemporal. At the time
of death, the soul resumes its purely transcendental state of existence,—of
course, carrying within itself the effects of its earthly career.
(14)Unity in respect of ‘Freedom’ and
‘Determinism’:
According to the Holy Qur’an, man is neither the abject slave of inexhorable
Fate, as the ancient oriental philosophy wouldhave it, nor completely self-determined—the sole maker of his destiny,
as the atheistic existentialism of the modern West teaches. Affirmation of
inexhorable Fate bars the way to all moral struggle,—in fact, to all struggle
for improvement, because every sentiment and every idea and every desire of
every human being is conceived to be predestined. On the other hand, the view
that man is completely free plunges him in the terror and the agony of being
infinitely lonely—and that with all the human weaknesses—in what is regarded as
an alien and hostile world. Both of these views end in the philosophy, of
Pessimism, which is pure poison in relation to human happiness and progress.
The Holy Qur’an steers clear of both the above-mentioned standpoints and
gives us a view whereby it harmonises the concepts of Freedom and Determinism.
It teaches that when God created man, He endowed him with personality as well
as freedom—a freedom which, though not absolute, is, nevertheless, adequate to
human nature. Then it teaches that God has not abandoned man to himself. Man
has been made the vicegerent to function in harmony with God, Who is the real
Architect of man’s destiny. As such, God is man’s constant ‘companion’, and God
and man both participate in the making of man’s destiny. This ‘Mutual
Participation’ forms the medium wherein Freedom and Determinism stand out in
unity.[1]
[1] Cf. The position of
Ahl-as-Sunnah wal-Jami’ah in terms of ‘bain al-Jabr wa al-Ikhtiyar’.
Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
(6) Fundamental Ethical Guide-Lights for
Religious Quest:
Besides the practice of the entire Qur’anic ethico-religious system to
the best of opportunity and ability, the pursuer of Religious Quest has to fix
up some fundamental ethical guide-lights on his spiritual Path. These lights
are enshrined in the concepts of:
Piety,
Love,
Truth,
Justice,
Beauty,
Wisdom,
and
Selflessness.
Piety:
Religious Quest is the quest focused in the direction of the All-Holy.
This fact bestows extra-ordinary importance on Piety (taqwa).But Piety has been conceived in the religious
practice of mankind in two ways, viz., as formal piety and as practical piety.
The Holy Qur’an rejects the former and prescribes the latter (2:177;[1]
etc.).
Practical Piety originates in the consciousness of the tremendous
seriousness of human life and brings forth unflagging moral earnestness; and it
reflects itself in three dimensions, namely:
1.An
ever-deepening Awareness of the Perpetual Presence of God (57:4), Who, besides
His other Attributes, is the ‘Lord of the worlds’ (1:1) and the Judge to Whom
account will have to be rendered on the Day of Judgment (1:3),—an awareness
which is cultivated through constant and meaningful rememberance of God
(3:190-192; etc.) and which compels the pursuer of Religious Quest to act as if
he is under constant judgment of the Divine Judge, Whom he can neither evade
nor deceive.
The motto that emerges in this respect is: “Act always
as if you are standing before the Divine Judge and witnessing Him; or, at
least, that He is witnessing you.” (Cf. Bukhari: Sahih, vol. 1, p.
l2—Kitab-al-Iman).
2.Unswerving
attitute of Goodwill towards all Fellow-beings, because the Holy Will of God is
in harmony only with the good will (2:195; 3:76; etc.).
The motto that emerges in this respect is: “Always so
act that your action is guided only by good-will.” In other words, the
guiding-light is: “Goodwill towards all and ill-will towards none.”
3.Constant
vigilance in respect of making and maintaining one’s self immune from spiritual
and moral evil (59:18); because then alone the human ‘self’ can function as a
receptacle for the Blessings coming from the All-Holy.(Cf. “… and He loves those who practise purity.”
2:222).
The motto that emerges in this respect is: “Always act
with the consciousness that your goal is God.” (53:42; etc). That, it may be
emphasised, demands utmost spiritual and moral refinement.
Love:
Love is basically directed to God (2:165), Who is the Absolute Good. On
the moral plane, it manifests itself in love for the moral good, which projects
itself in two dimensions: (a) love for fellow beings; (b) love for personal
goodness, implying that goodness alone should be permitted to reside in the
human self.Love for the good leads to its appreciation wherever found, even in one’s
enemy.Thus the motto emerges here: “Appreciate the good wherever found, without
any extraneous consideration.” (Cf. 5:8).
Love for the good also leads to the consciousness of the ugliness of
evil, which is the opposite of good. That, in its turn, brings forth hatred for
evil.There, the motto emerges: “Hate evil to the extent of fighting against
it.” (35:6).
But, ‘hate for evil’ viewed in the perspective of ‘love for fellow beings’
leads to the outlook: “Hate evil, but not the evildoer.”[2] In
this outlook, the evil-doer becomes the deserver of sympathy in terms of the
spiritual and moral damage that he does to himself. This aspect of the problem
of evil evokes in the pursuer of Religious Quest the inspiration and the effort
for the spiritual and moral emancipation of the evil-doer,[3] as
opposed to the spirit of hatred. This outlook found its highest expression in
the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!), to which the Holy Qur’an
bears witness thus: “Haply you (O Muhammad!) are going to kill yourself with
grief, sorrowing after them, if they believe not in this Message (thereby
depriving themselves of its blessings)” (17:6).
Itis active sympathy that assumes
the form of forgiveness—even when dealing with an enemy, and of mercy, which
both ought to be practised as the basic principles of conduct (24:22; 41:34-35;
90:17).
Truth:
Truth [4]
implies adherence to Reality. As such, it is the very salt of life, being the
constitutive quality of godliness (3:17; etc.). It is the light which runs
through the cosmos (6:73; etc.). It is the most basic merit with which God has
crowned the Holy Qur’an, the Holy Prophet—in fact, all Divine Messengers—, and
the religion of Islam (2:119; 2:176; 7:43; 48:28; etc.). It is the Attribute of
the Divine Being (31:30; etc.). Hence, Truth should be adhered to and pursued
without mixing it with falsehood in the least (2:42).[5] From
the practical point of view, it should manifest itself in human life in two
dimensions, namely: (a) personal truthfulness in thought, word and deed; (b)
appreciation of truth wherever found.
The motto that emerges here is: “Maintain always the attitude of such
strict devotion to Truth and Reality that nothing, not even the fear of death,
may have any chance of success in enticing you into falsehood and un-reality.”
Justice:
Justice may be defined as ‘giving to everyone his due on the basis of
equity’. The Holy Qur’an views it in terms of absoluteness, namely, as an
imperative which is unconditionally, universally and absolutely binding—binding
on everyone, under all circumstances, and in all situations; the binding
without considerations of sex, caste, tribe, or race; binding without regard to
the distinction of Muslim and non-Muslim, or of the ruler and the ruled, or of
the rich and the poor; binding even if it hurts one’s personal interests
(4:135; 5:9; 6:152; etc.). It is the virtue nearest to the virtue of Piety
(5:9), which is basic to Religious Quest.
In its widest sense, the pursuit of Justice relates to two levels, viz.,
individualistic and collective.
The individualistic level has two dimensions, viz., justice to one’s self
and justice to other individuals. Then, there are two aspects of the pursuit in
each case, viz., positive and negative. Thus, at the individualistic level,
four basic rules of justice emerge in the Qur’anic ethics:
(a) establish
positive devotion to the harmonious development of your personality;
(b) remain
constantly on guard against all negative factors in respect of every aspect of
your personality;
(c) give unstintedly to others what is due to them;
(d)
refrain absolutely from defrauding others in what belongs to them.
At the collective level, justice takes the following four forms, which
have been projected by the Holy Qur’an:[6]
(a)
justice in social relations;
(b) justice in respect of the process and
enforcement of Law;
(c) economic justice; and
(d) political justice.
The
healthy growth of society, which influences the growth of the individual
seriously, demands the enforcement of all these forms of justice.
Accordingly, the Qur’anic motto emerges: “Always adhere to justice in
respect of yourself as well as in the interest of others with absolute
sincerity and in all comprehensiveness.”
Beauty:
The pursuit of spiritual, moral, or any other, Good is good in itself. It
is good intrinsically. But the perfection of form is achieved only when it is
grounded in the simultaneous pursuit of Beauty, which stands for grace, balance
and refinement in conduct. Thus, Beauty forms the structural component in the Qur’anic
term for virtue itself, i.e., al-hasanah (the Good),[7] and
of course it runs through the entire structure of the Qur’anic View of Life.[8]
In the Islamic Religious Quest, the primary emphasis emerges naturally in
respect of adherence to Beauty in the spiritual, moral and mental spheres. But,
what is most remarkable, the physical dimension of life also gets its due to
the full—of course, controlled by spiritual and moral values [9]
and with the emphasis on natural grace as opposed to unbalanced artificiality
and sophistication and vulgar ostentation,—in sharp contrast with the view of
contempt for the physical in the ideal of ‘saintliness’ in other
spiritually-orientated religions, on the one hand, and with the ‘worship’ of
the physical dimension of life in the modern Sensate Culture, on the other.
Here, the motto emerges: “Always and in all things adopt Beauty as the
garb of your behaviour.”
Wisdom:
A human being cannot move forward one step consequentially without
knowledge. Hence, acquisition of knowledge to the maximum of one’s ability and
availability of opportunity, stands forth as the fundamental human obligation,
and this is what the Holy Qur’an has taught.[10]
But, formal knowledge is only information, and does not assist much beyond the
minimum level of human aspirations. Rising higher in terms of Values and Ideals
necessitates the struggle of diving deeper and with intellectual honesty and
sharpness of vision into the System of Meaning which runs through the Reality.
According to the Holy Qur’an, this struggle should be undertaken in terms of
‘Religion’ and ‘Science’ both; and having been undertaken in that comprehensive
manner, it transforms ‘information’ into ‘experience’, and the stage is set for
the pursuit of Wisdom, which progressively discovers unity in diversity and
enables the possessor to distinguish between appearance and reality until he
arrives at the Fundamental Unity pervading the cosmos, which, in its turn,
leads him to the experience of Ultimate Reality (3:190-191). This is the height
of wisdom, about which it has been proclaimed: “… whosoever is vouchsafed
Wisdom he of a surety receives abundant good; and none will (truly) grasp the
Truth (contained in the Divine Message) save the possessors of Wisdom.”
Here, the motto emerges: “Strive for the acquisition of Wisdom, so that
you are able to comprehend the Truth at a level where all doubt ceases.”
Selflessness:
The concept of Selflessness is thoroughly projected in the very term
employed by the Holy Qur’an for him who accepts its guidance, i.e., ‘Muslim’,
which means: ‘the human being who:
(a) accepts the ideal of total surrender to
God; and
(b) pursues that ideal actively’.
He remains a formal Muslim so long
as he does not cross from (a) to (b) (49:14). He starts on the road to be
Muslim in the proper sense when he crosses into (b). He becomes a genuine
Muslim only when he undertakes comprehensively the active pursuit of the ideal
of total surrender to God, which, though it proceeds gradually, definitely
implies the practical affirmation of Faith (Iman) through its translation into
requisite Action (al-‘Amal al-salih), elevating him finally to the rank of the
Mu’min (i.e., the Faithful, or, the Believer in the true sense) (49:15;
etc.).
It implies that the commitment of the ‘genuine Muslim’ is total,
expressed thus in the Qur’anic Covenant of Faith: “Allaah has purchased from
the Believers their persons and in their wealth …” (9:111). This Covenant
enshrines total selflessness for the Believer, which is basically not negative
but positive in as much as it means, in the final analysis, ‘affirmation of the
self’ in God—in Divine Pleasure.
Selflessness being thus a positive state in Islam, adherence to it even
at the basic minimum establishes in the personality of its possessor humility,
sweetness, gentleness, large-heartedness, active sympathy for all
fellow-beings, simplicity in life, unstinted devotion to labour, fortitude,
sincerity and many other virtues.
From the point of view of Religious Quest, selflessness is the very
starting point, being the very basis of Islamic life, subjectively considered.
Hence, the motto emerges: “Always so behave that not the pleasure of your
self but the ‘Pleasure of God’ is the motivating force for your action.”
(7) Ultimate Goal of Religious Quest:
Islam is opposed to the doctrine of the Descent of God in Man. It regards
the belief in Incarnation as both irrational and blasphemous,— irrational,
because it projects the incarnation of the Infinite into the finite, and
blasphemous because it involves an attack on the transcendent Majesty and
Uniqueness of God. The theory of Incarnation finds its rationale actually in
two related dogmas, namely, the dogma of ‘original sin’, which degrades
humanity to the utmost, and the dogma of the physical reality being evil, which
renders the human effort for spiritual evolution in the earthly environment
illusory. Both of these dogmas are very damaging to the ideal of the spiritual
and the moral progress of humanity. They only create despair and skepticism,
except for the unverifiable hope in respect of the next life, and there also
only for those who may develop faith in Irrationalism and compel themselves to
believe in the mysteries of vicarious atonement, or of salvation through
transmigration of souls, etc.
Rejecting the above-mentioned beliefs, the Holy Qur’an affirms the
sinless birth of the human beings and the essential goodness of the world.
Going beyond that, it emphasises the ‘vicegerency of God’ as the status of
humanity, and invites human beings to undertake the pilgrimage of eternity [11]
in terms of dynamic movement towards God (5:35; etc.). Thus it lays down the
doctrine of the ‘Ascent of Man to God’.
The ‘Ascent of Man to God’ consists in a spiritual journey, or, the
Religious Quest. We learn the following from the Holy Qur’an in respect of its
progress and achievement.
The spiritually un-regenerate person stays in a state of spiritual
inertia (6:122). When his heart is opened to the understanding and appreciation
of the ideal of ‘Surrender to God’ (39:22), and he undertakes the Religion
Quest, he is revived spiritually (6:122) and his spiritual nearness to God
increases (96:19); and as it increases, the harmony with the Divine Life
increases; and as that harmony increases, God’s Grace bestows upon him ‘a Light
with which he walks among human beings’ (6:122). Then he continues his
spiritual pilgrimage with the help of that Light, acquiring more and more
holiness in terms of harmony between himself and God (89:28), maturing more and
more in terms of the direct experience of Reality, and acquiring deeper and
deeper Conviction about God (15:99). In this, the pursuer of Religious Quest
attains the realisation of God, on the one hand, and realizes himself in terms
of the vicegerency of God, on the other; whereby he attains the fulfilment of
the highest and the most ultimate yearning of his soul—which constitutes his
essential personality—in the state of Beatitude and Felicity. That is the
highest possible achievement for the human personality, because of the
realisation in it of the ideals of all forms of human consciousness at their
highest.[12]
[1] About this verse a hostile
critic of Islam. Rev. E.M. Wherry, is compelled to remark thus in his
Commentary on the Koran: “This is one of the noblest verses in the Kuran. It
clearly distinguishes between formal and practical piety. Faith in God and benevolence
towards men is clearly set forth as the essence of religion.”
[2]
Hating other persons creates spiritual darkness in the moral agent’s
consciousness.
[3] He alone who, among other
qualities, personifies this outlook in himself, is entitled to act as a
preacher and missionary of religion. according to the Qur’an.
[4] The Qur’an projects the
concept of Truth comprehensively, employing the term al-sidq (truthfulness,
veracity) for the subjective aspect, and the term al-haqq (reality) for the
objective aspect.
[5] When this adherence is
perfect and Truth captures the sub-conscious state of mind thoroughly, the
adherer begins to see true dreams (al-Ru’ya al-Sadiqa) as a manifestation of
al-Bushra (Glad Tidings) promised by God “in the life of the Present and in the
Hereafter” (10:64). It would be a grave mistake to believe that such a state
can be induced merely through ‘spiritual recitations’, which are consequential
in respect of that purpose only when undertaken in conjunction with moral and
spiritual purification and integration of the self.
[6] See vol. 2: “The Structure
of Islamic Society” for details and references.
[7]
Ref: “The Critique and Dynamics of Morals” (Book 2, Part 1).
[8]
See vol. 2: “The Structure of Islamic Society”.
[9] Ref. vol. 1: “Art and
Morality”, and vol. 2: “Duties as Aesthetical Being”.
