Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
Before closing the
discussion on the spirituo-moral duties, we might discuss the question, which
can possibly arise in certain minds: Are those duties real and meaningful?
At the very outset, the
answer is: They are, because, in the Qur’anic view of the cosmos, the
transcendental plane of existence, or, the Spiritual Realm of the Cosmos, is
not a fantasy, or just a regulative Idea, but a fact—and, for that matter, the
basic fact.
The materialists hold
to a naturalistic view of the universe. The idealists affirm what might be
termed as a psychicalistic view. The Holy Qur’an, in harmony with its
integralistic approach and its philosophy of Unity, affirms the reality of both
the realms of the cosmos, namely: (1) the realm governed by the Natural Law,
or, the Spatio-Temporal level of Reality;—we may also call it the
phenomenological level; and (2) the realm governed by the Metaphysical Law, or,
the Spaceless-Timeless level of Reality. And it integrates both through the
bond of the Unitary Divine Plan and Purpose, which has brought into existence
both of them and maintains them within the framework of Unity.
Without going into the
details of Qur’anic cosmology: God’s relationship with the cosmos as its
Creator emerges in the Qur’an at two levels, i.e., the levels of al-Amr and
al-Khalq,—both established and united under that Attribute of God which relates
to cherishing, nourishing, evolving and perfecting, i.e., al-Rabb: “… Lo! His
is al-Khalq and al-Amr. Blessed is Allah the Rabb of the worlds (i.e., the
entire cosmos).” (7:54).
Thus, the Creation
began with God’s Amr: “The Originator of the heavens and the earth; and
whensoever He decrees an affair (Amr), He only says to it ‘Be’ and it becomes.
(Hence the origination of the cosmos also took place as a result of Allah’s
Command ‘Be’)” (2:117). “His Amr (i.e., law of bringing something into
existence) is that when He intends a thing, He only says to it (by way of
Command, or, Amr): ‘Be’; and it becomes.” (36:82).
Hence, the first stage
in the creation of the cosmos should be affirmed in terms of ‘Becoming’. We may
also call it the stage of subtle existence, intangibility (as opposed to the
tangibility of Matter), and spacelessness-cum-timelessness.
Looking at the process
of creation in the background of the concept of evolution projected explicitly
in the Qur’an, we arrive at the view of evolutionary creation, wherein—like the
evolutionary hypothesis in modern Science—we are led to the affirmation of the
‘Primeval Atom’ as the starting point, which functioned as the nucleus and out
of which grew the entire cosmos through an evolutionary process;—even as we
find it mentioned in the hadith*, wherein
the concept of the ‘First Created Light functioning as Nucleus’ has been
projected.
* In fact, as
“Mercy unto the worlds” (21:107), he has been exalted by God to be the Medium
of His Blessings in an immeasurably wider perspective. The unique position
which he holds among all creatures, has been unambiguously affirmed also in a Hadith reported by the Holy Prophet’s Companion Jabir and upheld as authentic
in Islamic history by eminent authorities, among whom may be mentioned, by way
of example, one of the classical Qur’anic commentators, Allama Alusi (vide his
classical Tafsir, the Ruh al-Ma’ani, vol. 1, p. 51). It is to the effect:
“Jabir (Allah be pleased with him!) reports: I said ‘O Messenger of Allah!
Inform me about the thing which Allah created before all (other) things’. He
replied: ‘Verily, Allah, the Almighty, created before all (other) things the
Light of your Prophet through His Light…” (Quoted on the authority of
muhaddith’ Abd al-Razzaq (the eminent forerunner of Imam Bukhari and author of
Al-Musannaf) by Allama Yusuf b. Ismail al-Nabhani, in Al-Anwar al-Muhammadiyyah
min Mawahib al-Ludunniyah, p. 12, Beirut, 1310 A.H.]. The hadith then proceeds
to inform that the entire universe was created by God from that original
created Light, which the luminaries of Islam have named as the ‘Light of
Muhammad’. It may be pointed out that the statement made on the basis of the
Qur’an on p. 289 (footnote) of the present volume, is corroborated by this hadith. (Relevant discussions in volume 1 in respect of the Holy Prophet’s
personality may also be referred to).
As for the nature of
the evolutionary process, it should be conceived in the very nature of the
case, in terms of progressive decrease in subtle, refinement, intangibility and
qualitative-ness, and progressive increase in respect of concreteness, crystallization,
tangibility and quantitativeness: on the basis of a progressive
crystallization of the process of al-Khalq, which implies the creation of new
objects from the existing materials. In other words, it must have been a
progress towards more and more profound ‘expression’. This is what we
understand from the Qur’an as well as from Science.
Indeed, different
things appear in the Qur’an to have emerged into dynamic existence at different
stages of the evolutionary process. Thus, there existed the Angels, the jinns
and the human beings in that pre-physical, or, transcendental, dimension of existence;
and, among them, the Angels and the jinns were there prior to the existence of
the human beings, as the Holy Qur’an testifies (2:30-34). Then, according to
what we read in the holy book in plain terms, humanity was made to appear
before God in her transcendental, or,
pre-earthly, dimension of existence, to proclaim the Covenant of Monotheism
(7:172),— which means that human beings existed at that stage of Creation.
Similarly, the event of the ‘Covenant of the Prophets’ has been mentioned
therein to have occurred in that stage of Creation (3:81),— which proves the
existence of the Prophets at that stage.
All this means that a
Realm of Created Beings and Things became gradually established in respect of
their essential or ideal nature, even in the first stage of creation. But
evolution was to continue, and has continued, according to God’s Plan. However,
because “Allah has set a measure (or, a scale of growth and maturity—which
enshrines its destiny) for every thing” (65:3), certain things that had emerged
from potentiality into actuality, had to stay in the state they had
acquired:—the Angels, for instance; while others had to continue their
evolutionary journey, finally emerging in the Spatio-Temporal Order of
Existence:—the human beings, for instance.
we are not actually
concerned here with the elaboration of the Qur’anic cosmology. Rather, the
above discussion has been undertaken to emphasize the following facts:
1.
For the formalistic religious outlook, the worldview
consists of certain dogmas, which are there to be believed in dogmatically,
rather than to provide a dynamic, meaningful and comprehensive approach to the
Spiritual Reality. Such an outlook is barren, and the Qur’an does not endorse
it.
2.
The naturalistic outlook confines itself to the
Physical Reality, and it leads, even in the case of a believer in religion, to
a materialistic approach to life and its problems—at least, for all practical
purposes. The Qur’an also affirms the Physical Reality, giving a coherent and
illuminating view of it—a view which is receiving increasing support from the
world of Science as knowledge is advancing. However, it is conjoined therein to
a clear-cut view of the Transcendental Reality—both the views forming thus one
organic Whole.
3.
The Qur’anic view that emerges thereby is an
Integralistic Spiritual View of the Universe, wherein the spiritual, or, the
transcendental, has primacy over the physical, or, the spatio-temporal, and
which provides not merely a formal ground for religious life but a sound vision
as well as philosophy for meaningfully cultivating a life dedicated to God and
directed to the realisation of the ultimate human destiny, which is essentially
spiritual,—that being the mission of Islam.
4.
The essential human personality (al-Ruh), called ‘the
Soul’ in common usage, belongs originally and basically to the Transcendental
Realm of Existence.
The human being
is, therefore, essentially a spiritual being, and should behave as such for his
success.
5.
Not only God, but the entire spiritual world created by
Him, is responsive to human spiritual quest. The spiritual quest, in its turn,
is of vital importance for the human being because of the fact that he is
essentially a spiritual being and, as such, can build up his essential
personality only through exercise in that response.
6.
The spiritual world plays the same role in the
preservation and development of the essential human personality (which has been
already emphasized time and again to be spiritual) as the physical world plays
in respect of the physical aspect of human existence.
There are numerous things in the physical
environment of the human being which contribute to his physical preservation
and development,—they being of different grades, with the Sun at the centre of
the planets fulfilling the most basic role, and the others standing next in
importance in a descending order of merit. Human beings have to remain in a
state of contact and communication with them in order to benefit from them, or,
in other words, to obtain the physical blessings placed in them by God.
Similarly, there are things of different
grades in the spiritual world, or the Transcendental Realm, out of which the
physical world has emerged and through which it is controlled by God. Those
things contribute to the spiritual preservation and development of the human
being,—and, because the spiritual is the essential, to his essential
preservation and development. Among them, the role of the Holy Prophet’s
personality is most basic in respect of a Muslim’s spiritual preservation and
development; while the roles of the Angels and the other spiritual things in
Creation stand thereafter. Contact with the spiritual Blessings placed by God
in the Holy Prophet’s personality is obtained through the imitation of his
Sunnah with the ideal of acquiring greater and greater spiritual and moral
purity, and the exercise in Salat and Salam with intense devotion; while
contact with the Spiritual Blessings placed by God in the Angels is obtained
through leading a life of spiritual and moral purity and recitation of the Qur’an.
Then, just as in the physical world there
are forces of physical destruction, or, forces of physical evil, similarly
there are forces of spiritual destruction, or, forces of spiritual evil, that
influence the spiritual life of human beings. The Qur’an has commanded the
Muslims to avoid the former in the interest of their physical preservation, and
to shun the latter for ensuring their spiritual preservation.
It is to be vehemently emphasized that
Allah—and none else—is the Creator and the Bestower of all Blessings, whether
physical or spiritual. But, His Blessings flow to the human beings, not in a
vacuum, but through the physical and the spiritual objects that He has created
for that purpose.
To confer divinity on any of those
objects, even indirectly, is the worst form of infidelity to God; while to
refuse to benefit from them is the worst form of ungratefulness to Him.
7. Communion with
God, and communication, in terms of the establishment of spiritual contact,
with the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!), with the Angels and with the
spiritual verities in general, emerge, in the final analysis, as active sources
of light and energy for the meaningful pursuit of Religion, in contrast to
adherence to religious verities in lifeless formalism. In consequence, ‘Duties
to the Holy Prophet’ and ‘Duties to the Angels’ assume vital importance for the
spiritual development of a Muslim’s personality.
Finally, we may recall
what Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, the Rumi of the modern age and the greatest
Islamic thinker of the present century of Islamic era, said more than four
decades ago: “Humanity needs three things today—a spiritual interpretation of
the universe, spiritual emancipation of the individual, and basic principles of
a universal import directing the evolution of human society on a spiritual
basis. Modern Europe has, no doubt, built idealistic systems on these lines;
but experience shows that truth revealed through pure reason is incapable of
bringing that fire of living conviction which personal revelation alone can
bring. This is the reason why pure thought has so little influenced men while
religion has always elevated individuals, and transformed whole societies. The
idealism of Europe never became a living factor in her life, and the result is
a perverted ego seeking itself through mutually intolerant democracies whose
sole function is to exploit the poor in the interests of the rich. Believe me,
Europe to-day is the greatest hindrance in the way of man’s ethical
development.”
Unfortunately, the
formalistic religious outlook that has emerged among the Muslims in the present
age of their spiritual, moral and overall degeneration, has been progressively
leading to the unconscious acceptance of the naturalistic and, for all practical
purposes, materialistic, view of the human being as a mere ‘superior animals’,
to the forgetfulness of the fact that he is essentially—i.e., in his origin,
being and destiny—a ‘spiritual being’ whose nature was created by God,
according to the explicit and unambiguous verdict of the Qur’an, in terms of
His vicegerency, through the infusion of what He names as ‘My spirit’ (Ruh)
(15:29; etc.), and to the view of the Angels as mere “forces of Nature”—in the
sense of naturalistic forces. In such a view of the human being and of the
Angels, very naturally the Holy Prophet is also regarded as nothing more than a
‘good man’, a ‘great leader’ and a ‘divine postman’; and any description of the
transcendental dimension of his august personality appears to the upholders of
that view as nothing less than superstition, even though they overthrow in this
process of thinking the spiritual foundations of the Qur’anic world-view which
the profoundest Islamic theological thinkers down to Shah Waliullah took the
greatest pains to preserve during the ages that have elapsed since the Qur’anic
Revelation.
Duties
to Animals, Plants and Things-as Duties to Self:
We may also refer here
to duties towards animals, plants, and things, to which the Holy Qur’an has
referred implicitly, while in the Hadith they have been mentioned explicitly.
They seem to fall under the category of duties to Others. But they are basically
duties to Self in so far as they relate to the maintenance of the purity of our
moral tone. They have, therefore, been dealt with in the Appendix to the
‘Duties to Self’.
Source
to be continued . . . . .
