SCOPE AND IDEAL OF RELIGION

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

C.   SCOPE:

Coming to Qur’anic Guidance in respect of its Scope: Based, as it is, on the Monistic Principle of Evaluation and the consequent Comprehensive Principle of Integration, it covers, on the indidualistic level, the spiritual, the moral, the intellectual, the aesthetical and the physical dimensions of human personality, and, on the collective level, the social, the economic, the political—in fact, all the dimensions of society,—creating thus a theo-centric individual, a theo-centric social order, a theo-centric culture and a theo-centric civilization.

 

 

D.  IDEAL

Thus, in the concept of Religion which the Holy Qur’an projects, i.e., the concept of the religion of Islam, the following scheme of life emerges. Man’s highest merit—nay, his basic function—is the worship of the One True God, Allaah (51:56). This worship is to be undertaken by him, however, not merely as a creature among creatures but as the Vicegerent of God—as a fully—integrated being committed to a cosmic mission. Namely, he has to realise the principle of integration at its highest, because God’s Personality enshrines the Perfect Ideal of Integration, and he is His vicegerent. As such, his worship should be dynamic, consequential and comprehensive in its nature; which means that it should not be confined only to the act of Prayer but also to: (1) the development of his personality in all dimensions; (2) the establishment of a godly society in which human beings can live a full and integrated life in love, justice and wisdom; and (3) the unravelling of the mysteries of Nature for establishing his status of Vicegerency and for comprehending the majesty and the glory of God.

 

It is in this perspective that the Holy Qur’an makes the pursuit of physical science,—indeed, of all knowledge, and the active struggle for the spiritual and moral emancipation of humanity, and the establishment of social, economic and political justice, acts of worship.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

PRINCIPLE OF INTEGRATION IN RELIGION

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

B. PRINCIPLE OF INTEGRATION

Being theo-centric in its approach and comprehensive in its outlook, as we have already noticed, the mission of the Holy Qur’an is to transform the life of this world with all its dimensions into a life of the ‘Worship of God’ by channelising it into a ‘System of Obedience to God’ (=al-Islam). It does not endorse the dualistic philosophy of “Give unto God what is God’s and unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”, because everything belongs to God and nothing— absolutely nothing — belongs to Caesar,—in fact, to any creature. Indeed, it is the height of irrationality to believe in God, and, at the same time, to deny His status as the Sovereign of the Cosmos, the Fountainhead of all Values, and the Source of all Guidance, in Whom alone the loyalty of every particle of the Cosmos is centred in the very nature of the case; and consequently the loyalty of those creatures on whom He has bestowed free-will, i.e., the human beings, should also be centred in Him and Him alone. And, then, the division of loyalty into parts breeds conflicts, and conflicts breed perversions, and perversions breed neurosis and split-personalities and un-balanced social life. 

 

There can be no two opinions about the fact that it is the principle of integration that ensures power, health and life, while non-integration brings about the very opposite. Also, the higher the integration the higher is the measure of the blessings that are obtained as a result. And the higher the integrating principle in the scale of existence the higher is the integration. Then, the deeper we go into Reality, the higher is the integrating principle that emerges before us. 

 

Islam gives the integrating principle in the One True God, Allaah. Bentham and Mill and the recent pragmatic philosophies give it in the concept of Utilitarianism, which is based on the principle of pure Expediency,—and Expediency is no principle! Hegel and the Hegelians give it in the State deified. The protagonists of nationalism and racialism give it in the Nation deified and the Race deified. The worshippers of the Earth give it in the Motherland or the Fatherland deified. Karl Marx and the Marxists give it in the Economic Force deified. 

 

Islam’s integrating principle is grounded in Total Reality. The other integrating principles are founded on discrete parts of Reality. Islam projects the ‘Principle of principles’, or, the Eternal Principle, which is related to the integration of Reality at all levels, and forms therefore the Comprehensive Principle; others put forward at best a principle which relates to one out of the many dimensions of that infinitessimally-small part of Reality which relates to the material aspect of human existence on earth. Islam’s vision is focussed in absolute depth; the visions of other monistic philosophies are focussed in a narrow view and on tiny patches of what appears to exist on the surface in the immediate physical experience of the human beings. 

 

It is not, however, only the materialistic philosophies that are defective in respect of the principle of integration, but also the spiritually-orientated religions of the world, though the problem exists there in a different dimension. Leaving aside the defects in their conceptions of the Spiritual Value, they do emphasise the value itself as basic to human life. But, then, they do not integrate it with the other values, whereby they land themselves in dualism, leaving all the practical affairs of mankind to human ingenuity. In that compartmentalisation, spiritual considerations recede into the background, or stay merely ritualistically, and religion becomes imbecile in respect of the practical affairs of human life. As a consequence, the representatives of religion either become the tools of the secular exploiting forces—as has happened in a very large measure in human history, or have to engage themselves in a never ending conflict with them.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times