Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
Chapter 5
ETHICO-RELIGIOUS DYNAMICS
Morality, according to the Holy Qur’an, is conscientious action in accordance with the Moral Law. But conscientious action is not possible without the possession of purity of motive by the moral agent, which, in its turn, necessitates a continuous psychological effort, named in Islamic terminology as tazkiyah:
“By the Soul and the proportion and order given to it; and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;—truly he succeeds (in his spirituo-moral struggle) who subjects it successfully to tazkiyah (or, purifies it), and he fails who corrupts it.” (91:710).
The word tazkiyah means literally the removal of undesirable growths and impurities. As a spirituo-moral term it denotes the self-imposed effort of the moral agent for eradicating those tendencies within the human self which form obstacles in the path of moral development,—the eradication consisting in resolving the conflict between good and evil that rages in the human breast.
This internal conflict is, however, closely influenced by the conflict of good and evil existing in the society.
Thus, the Qur’anic view is that, for the realisation of morality, evil must be subdued and good must be made to prevail at both the levels: the individual and the collective. Namely, it is not only the internal conflict which should be resolved but also the external conflict. This is in keeping with the Qur’anic integralistic outlook as opposed to the ideational outlook of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. Hence we may discuss briefly [1] with the techniques of both.
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1. TECHNIQUE OF RESOLVING THE INTERNAL CONFLICT:
The Holy Qur’an affirms, as we shall notice more fully in the “Metaphysics of Morals”, the existence of two aspects of human nature, namely, al-Nafs al-Ammārah (the Impelling or Carnal Self) [2] and al-Nafs al-Lawwāmah (the Reproaching or Moral Self),[3] and of the conflict between them. Moreover, it affirms that this situation of conflict has to be resolved through discarding the behests of the Carnal Self at the instance of the Moral Self, thereby enabling the self to be transformed into al-Nafs al-Mutma’innah (the Self-at-Peace, or, the Beatified Self).[4] It is through undertaking this process that an individual can avoid neurosis, develop as an integrated personality, and become capable of acting with due respect for the Moral Law.
This leads us to the question: What are the conditions that are required to be fulfilled for bringing about this transformation? Those conditions are:
(1) there must be such a comprehensive and sound Moral Code that may ensure to an individual the moral perfection adequate to human nature;
(2) there must be a Model,[5] or Exemplar, of moral perfection, who may impart the assurance that moral values can be realised and moral norms can be actualised;
(3) Acquisition of tazkiyah should be a historical fact and not a mere theoretical possibility.
The Qur’anic Guidance fulfils all these conditions:
Firstly, it imparts a comprehensive Moral Code, as we shall shortly see in volume 2.
Secondly, it gives a Model of moral perfection in the person of the subject of Qur’anic Revelation, viz., the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!):
“You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah an Excellent Model (i.e., Pattern of Conduct) for him who looks to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.” (33:21).
Thirdly, it affirms the transformation of the human personality through tazkiyah not merely as a possibility but as an established historical fact:
“Assuredly Allah has shown grace to the Believers when He raised up unto them a Messenger from among themselves, who rehearses unto them His Signs, purifies them (of spiritual and moral evils), and teaches them the Scripture and the Wisdom (—thereby imparting comprehensive knowledge [6] of, among other things, the moral dynamics and the moral code); although afore they were in flagrant error.” (3:164).
Coming to the technique of tazkiyah, the Qur’anic Guidance bestows certain powerful feelings that reside in a true Muslim’s soul. They are: intense love for God and fear of the Displeasure of God, on the one hand, and intense love for the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) and absolute loyalty to him, on the other. It is these which, in the emotional life of a Muslim, are meant to subdue the force of feeling associated with Desire (or, the feeling that leads to the defiance of the Moral Law) and make tazkiyah possible.[7] Thus says the Holy Qur’an:
Love for God and Fear of God’s Displeasure:
“… and those who believe are most intense in their love for Allah.” (2: 165).
“O you who believe! fear Allah (in respect of His Displeasure) with fear due to Him, and die not except you be Muslims (i.e., in a state of submission to Allah).” (3:102).
Love and Respect for the Prophet:
“The Prophet is nearer to the Believers than themselves (i.e., entitled to their utmost love and respect).” (30:6).
Love for God is based on:
1. His Absolute Perfection:
“(He is) Allah, the Possessor of Absolute Perfection.” (112:2).
And;
2. His concern for us, as detailed in the discussion on
“God.” Indeed, He is al-Wadūd, “the Loving One.” (85:14).
Love for the Prophet (Peace be on him!) is based on:
1. the grandeur of his spiritual and moral personality:
“And you (O Muhammad!) are (established) on an exalted standard of character.” (68:4).
“O Prophet! We have sent you as … Illuminating Lamp (par excellence—a lamp that illumines for humanity the path of righteousness leading to God).” (33:46).
And;
2. his concern and function for us:
“Assuredly there has come unto you a Messenger from among yourselves: anything that harasses you grieves him: full of concern (is he) for you (in respect of your acquisition of the Good): to the Believers he is most kind and merciful.” (9:128).
“… and he (Muhammad) relieves them of the burdens and the shackles that have been upon them.” (7:157).
- Love for God should express itself basically in following the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) both as Teacher of Godliness and as Model of Human Perfection:
“Say: If you (O Muslims!) love Allah, follow me (practically, as your ideal of human perfection): Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (3:31).
- Love for the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) should express itself in unrestricted and unqualified loyalty to him—a loyalty which should be practical as distinct from being merely emotional:
“But no, by your Lord, they can have no (real) Faith until they make you judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions, accepting them with the fullest submission.” (4:65).
In connection with the function of the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) for his followers, we may also note:
1. it is the spiritual impact of his personality that has been prescribed by God as the most powerful instrument of tazkiyah in the life of a Muslim;
2. the Holy Prophet’s basic function of bringing about tazkiyah in his followers—a function for which his other functions (as Teacher) are a means—transcends the limitations of space and time;
3. the Holy Prophet’s spiritual impact was available not only to the Muslims of the period of his physical existence but has remained available ever since and will remain available upto the Last Day.
These facts are contained in the following Qur’anic verses:
“It is He Who has sent amongst the non-possessors of Revealed Truth* a Messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to purify them, and to instruct them in the Scripture and the Wisdom,—although they had been, before, in manifest error—as well as (to confer those benefits upon) others of them (i.e., of the Believers) who have not yet joined them (but will do so in future upto the Last Day): And He is Exalted in Might, Wise. Such is the Bounty of Allah which He bestows on whom He will (—and He has bestowed it on Muhammad). And Allah is the Lord of Grace Unbounded.” (62:2, 3, 4).
* This should be accepted as the correct connotation of the term ‘al-Ummiyyun’ employed in the Arabic text. No doubt, the word ‘ummi’ stands, amongst its different connotations, for an ‘unlettered’ person also. But to translate ‘al-Ummiyun’ as ‘the unlettered’ creates more difficulties in understanding the Qur’an than it solves,—indeed, irresolvable difficulties. However, once we employ the semantic approach and turn to the Qur’an itself for guidance, the problem of connotation is solved unambiguously and without difficulty. For instance, this term has been used in 3:20 in contradistinction to the category of ‘those who have received the Scripture’. Then, in verses 78 and 79 of sura 2, emerges the emphasis on the ‘non-possession of Revealed Truth’ in spite of the formal possession of a scripture, because there it bears reference to the Jews who are definitely among ‘those who have received the Scripture’. All this means that the term ‘al-Ummiyyun’, as employed in the verse under discussion, should be translated as ‘the non-possessors of the Revealed Truth’. And, might we also say that, although the primary reference is to the Arabs of those days, the secondary reference covers virtually entire humanity, because even those who claimed to possess a Scripture did not possess the Revealed Truth in its unadulterated form. (The view propounded here is supported by the verdict of Abdullah ibn Abbas. —Refer, among others, to Ibn Jarir al-Tabari’s Tafsir, Vol. 2, p. 258).
What is needed most for tazkiyah, therefore, is the cultivation of love and reverence for God and the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) to a point of intensity where it may become possible for the moral agent to absorb the Divine blessings through the Holy Prophet’s spiritual personality, thereby acquiring that spiritual refinement and that moral force which may enable him to overcome all evil propensities and to act according to the highest demands of morality with pleasure and ease.
For this purpose, the Remembrance of God (Zikr-Allah) and offering salāt and salām (i.e., invocation of God’s Blessings and salutation) to the Holy Prophet, the Beloved of God, as often and as much as possible, and with devotion and concentration of thought, form a basic practice, as enjoined by the Holy Qur’an (33:41,56).
Now, development of intimate and living relation with God is fundamental to tazkiyah. But intimacy can be cultivated only through love. Love, in its turn, demands obedience to the beloved without demur. Indeed, the richer the exercise in obedience the greater the stabilisation of love in richness and depth.
However, love originates in appreciation, and appreciation is not possible without knowledge. The Muslim begins his quest for God the Unknown with faith—a faith which, though basically innate, is acquired in its proper dimensions from the Messenger of God, who stands thus as the axis around which the entire structure of the Faith moves. Or, we might say, the Messenger of God is the ‘door’ through which alone the seeker of God can enter upon the Straight Path that leads to God; and this Straight Path, again, is nothing else than what is revealed in the personality of the Messenger of God. Thus the Messenger of God is the unavoidable Medium, the wasilah spoken of in 5:35; while God is the Goal (53:42).
This being so, the exercise in love for and obedience to God begins with the cultivation of love for and obedience to the Messenger of God—the Holy Prophet Muhammad (in whom abide God’s Choicest Blessings!). The Messenger of God being human, no human being can have difficulty in knowing him, which is the pre-requisite for loving him and obeying him.
Now, because the Messenger of God is not merely a wise man and a social reformer, and because the transcendental dimension of his personality—his intensely intimate relation with God—is its most vital aspect, approach with respect of knowing him must of necessity be two-fold, namely: intellectual and spiritual.
In respect of the intellectual approach, again, the avennues are two, viz., the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The Qur’an enshrines his Prophetic Consciousness and is the Mirror of his Personality, as Lady Ayesha, with her extraordinary wisdom and piety, emphasises.[8] The Sunnah, critically assessed, is the human record of his behaviour as the Perfect Man and as the Witness to God and the Vital Proof of God’s existence (33:45).
Both the above sources of knowledge should be constantly studied as a serious exercise, until all the dimensions of the excellence and the greatness of his personality are assimilated in one’s consciousness and they entrench themselves in memory as guiding refulgent stars. Such a knowledge will grow in depth as the study continues, and with that will grow the love which it automatically begets,—and, along with love, will grow the inspiration to imitate him and to obey him without hesitation. Then, because obedience to God consists in obedience to the Messenger of God (4:80), obedience to God will be simultaneously achieved—even though only functionally.
The goal, however, being the establishment of a living, vibrant and dynamic relation with God, Who is transcendent in His Being, a powerful exercise in spiritual approach to, and realisation of, the Holy Prophet’s Personality is also vitally necessary, in order to build up the affinity for the Pursuit of that highest goal, as also to obtain the strength, through the blessings of the spiritual impact of the Holy Prophet’s Personality, for the pilgrimage to God. It is for this end that God has commanded the Muslims, as mentioned above, to engage in salat and salam, wherein the greater the devotion the richer is the spiritual purification, and the richer the spiritual purification the sublimer is the purity of motive in moral action—of course, only when that exercise is combined with conscientious and wholehearted practical devotion to the Holy Prophet as Teacher and as Exemplar.
Cultivation of love for and obedience to the Holy Prophet paves the way for the love of God and obedience to Him. Indeed, love and obedience develop simultaneously in both respects, not only because attention focussed on the Messenger of God gets concurrently fixed up on God, but more so because in the spiritual quest of a Muslim the remembrance of God forms the fundamental exercise with which the exercise of salat and salam is combined as complimentary.
Remembrance of God, as the fundamental exercise, is directed to seeking the Nearness to God (96:19), and cannot therefore be something formal. As such, firstly, it should be undertaken in a state of ‘withdrawal’ (73:8), withdrawing attention from everything else and concentrating it solely on God. Secondly, it should be undertaken abundantly (3:41; 8:45; 33:41; 62:10: etc,)—nay, under all conditions and at all times (3:191). Thirdly, it should be joined to contemplation of the Signs of God which pervade the entire universe (3:191, etc.). Fourthly, it should be combined with a study of Divine Guidance as contained in the Holy Qur’an (38:29), and with a serious exercise in moulding one’s life in accordance with it to the fullest extent possible, (2:206; etc.). Fifthly, this entire exercise should proceed, most conscientiously as well as most intelligently (7:205; etc.), in order that the practical results and the tangible fruits of all this labour of love may be grasped at every step for enabling the pilgrim of eternity to undertake his spiritual flights and moral development at higher and higher levels with the attainment of ever-increasing refinement of the soul, on the one hand, and purity of will for moral action, on the other.
Indeed, this intellectual-cum-spiritual struggle in the domain of tazkiyah continues in the life of the conscientious struggling Muslim, until he becomes capable of establishing a living and abiding Communion with God, thereby attaining finally the realisation of God to an extent that establishes him firmly in submission to the Divine Will (which is the very meaning of the word ‘Islam’) and bestows upon him purity of motive in moral life, with perfection adequate to human nature,—even as we are told in the Qur’an:
“O you who believe! If you keep your duty to Allah, He will grant you a Criterion (for judging by its light the rightness and wrongness of motives), will rid you of your evil propensities and deeds, and will bestow on you forgiveness (in respect of your natural shortcomings and past sins): For Allah is the Lord of Grace Unbounded.” (8:9).
It should be noted here that, because Islam is not just Moralism, moral purification is only the immediate goal, while spiritual purification the ultimate goal, for which the former forms the organically-necessary basis. Spiritual purification or refinement, again, is not an end-in-itself but only a means to the development of the transcendental dimension of Personality.[9] It is this activisation which leads through tazkiyah to ‘holiness’, and ‘holiness’ is the distinctive quest of religion as opposed to the quests of philosophy and the physical sciences—nay, even of the normative and the social sciences, as we have already noticed in our discussion on the Religious Quest. The acquisition of ‘holiness’, in its turn, brings the seeker of God, at different levels of attainment, progressively nearer and nearer to God, the All-Holy, in respect of earning His Pleasure,— which is the highest ideal in Islam:
“But the greatest (achievement) is the Good Pleasure of Allah: That is the Felicity Supreme.” (9:72).
“But ah! O you the Soul-at-peace, return to your Lord wellpleased (yourself) and well-pleasing unto Him! Enter you, then, among My Devotees! Yes, enter you My Heaven!” (89:27-30).
Thus, the fact cannot be over-emphasised that Faith in God is meant in the Holy Qur’an to be lived and not merely to be held, and it is impossible to live it without passing through the rigorous discipline of tazkiyah.
And it is not only Faith in God but also Faith in the Messenger of God which should be lived, and lived dynamically; because it is the Messenger of God who has been appointed by God as the Divine Instrument of tazkiyah for all time (62:2-4; etc.).
There are some for whom, because of superficiality of thought or because of some temperamental prejudice, the reality of all that is nonphysical or metaphysical is, for all practical purposes, nothing more than that of a ‘regulative idea’ with which human beings are not practically concerned. Such an outlook gives birth to a virtually materialistic view of religion with all the inherent contradiction. In such a view, the religious verities become restricted and confined to a formal belief (‘aqida), on which Dialectical Theology thrives with all its barrenness, to the detriment of a consequential and dynamic faith (Iman).
It is in the above perspective that the question emerges: God is Eternal, Ever-Living and Omnipresent; hence communion with Him is possible. But the Messenger of God was a human being who died long ago. How can communication and establishment of intimate spiritual relation with him be possible?
The Qur’anic answer to this misgiving is very clear and unambiguous. Firstly, the human personality is not annihilated at death; it is only transferred from one level of existence to another with its Identity intact,—the life after death being a new life. Secondly, the levels of existence after death are qualitatively different in the case of each category of human beings, including the Muslims. Thus, about the martyrs it has been said:
“And call not those who are slain in the way of Allah ‘dead’. Nay, they are alive; only you perceive not.” (2:54).
And again:
“Think not of those who are slain in the way of Allah, as dead. Nay, they are living. With their Lord they have provision: Jubilant (are they) because of that which Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not joined them but are left behind: that there shall no fear come upon them, neither shall they grieve. They rejoice because of favour from Allah and kindness, and that Allah wastes not the wage of the Believers” (3:169-171).
Here the qualitative distinction between the life of the ordinary Muslim and the life of the martyr, after death, is very clear. The martyr’s life after death is not just life, but it is a full life of enjoyment and activity and of attachment to those Muslims whom he has left behind in their earthly existence.
Now, who are these martyrs that have been spoken of? They are the spiritual children of the Messenger of God,—and, in that respect, they are not in the highest category, but are next in rank to those others who acquire the status of siddiq. The status of the life-after death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!), who is not only superior to his followers but, as the Leader of all the Messengers of God (3:81), is supreme in entire Creation, should be in all justice accepted as immeasurable,—not to speak of accepting him as the Living Spiritual Medium for the Blessings of God that relate to the transcendental dimension of human personality.
The fact is that the goal of Islamic life is the establishment of a ‘fellowship’ of unique type at the transcendental plane, right here on earth, which is possible only if activity at the transcendental level of existence is absolutely real and genuine. The Holy Qur’an affirms the acquisition of that fellowship thus :
“Those who submit to Allah and the Messenger (establishing harmony with them), they are (blessed) with (the spiritual fellowship of) the Prophets, the Intensely Truthful and Sincere (Servants of Allah), the Martyrs (who are Witnesses to Allah), and the Possessors of Sound Godliness in general. Ah! What a beautiful Fellowship! Such is the Bounty of Allah, and Allah suffices as Knower (and because He affirms it, the factual character of that fellowship should not be questioned by anyone).” (4:69).
That fellowship is spiritual fellowship—fellowship in the transcendental dimension of existence. It is a living and consequential fellowship, and not a mere idea. It is a dynamic fellowship, like that of the sun, the moon and the earth, wherein the sun is the source of light and life created by God for everything existing on the earth and elsewhere, and the moon is the reflector of sun’s light and energy for the earthly creatures and other things. Then, just as water always flows through a channel from the higher to the lower level, spiritual blessings also flow similarly on the invisible transcendental beam. To receive them, however, it is necessary to rise to the spiritual level where fellowship becomes possible with the spiritual luminaries, among whom the greatest and the central luminary is Muhammad, the Beloved of God par excellence in whom God’s Choicest Blessings abide in abounding measure.[10]
Indeed, just as iron is transformed into a magnet in its fellowship with the magnet, and just as a perfumeless thing becomes perfumed simply through fellowship with the perfume embodied in a rose or a jasmine, so does the pursuer of tazkiyah acquire holiness at higher and higher levels in the fellowship of those on whom God has bestowed holiness.
One further important problem may also be examined here. The question may be raised: If tazkiyah involves such a high-level and rigorous discipline, together with an intellectual effort, how is it possible for the common man and woman to acquire the purity of motive demanded by the Qur’an?
The answer is: The Islamic society has been conceived to be composed of individuals who are dedicated to the ideal of being spiritually progressive, morally integrated, the intellectually awakened and economically and politically, emancipated. This ideal is to be pursued by the Islamic community on a collective scale, with fanatical enthusiasm and rigorous discipline. Such a process imparts the impact of the virtues of better-talented individuals to those of lesser calibre through contagion of personality. This is the law of social psychology which has always governed all ideological societies, whether theistic or atheistic, including the early Islamic society and the present-day idealistic Communist society of China.
The fact is that there are natural gradations in respect of calibre and achievement in every society. All human beings are not gifted with every quality in equal measure. Hence what really counts is the spritual, moral and intellectual achievements of those who can rise above the common level in any measure. The ideal is basically pursued in all its dimensions by them alone. And this brings us to the problem of Islamic leadership.
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Tazkiyah and Islamic Leadership:
The foundations of Islamic society are basically ethico-religious. Hence, anyone who honestly comes forward to lead the Muslims to the Goal prescribed for them in the Holy Qur’an should possess a personality refulgent in its spiritual, moral and intellectual dimensions.[11] This is the verdict of the Qur’an, and this is the verdict of Islamic history.
But how can such a personality be built up? By mere emotionalism? By mere mysticism? By mere intellectualism? By mere ritualism? By mere formal puritanism? By mere externalism and legalism? By mere ritualistic missionary-ism? By mere political agitationism in the name of Islam? No. A thousand times, No!
The only alchemy which can transform the human personality into ‘pure gold’ is the alchemy of the rigorous discipline of tazkiyah, with its rigours enhanced in the measure of the height of achievement desired. This is what has been taught and demonstrated by the Holy Prophet (in whom abide God’s choicest Blessings!), and this is what has been practised throughout Islamic history by those who had truly grasped the dynamics of leadership in Islam and were consequently able to achieve historic success. One such personality was Saiyyid Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani of Baghdad, the Ghaus al-A‘zam (Grand Master) of the Qadiriyyah Spiritual Discipline, who built up, with the spiritual dynamism of his personality and without any political power, the forces that crushed the menace of the Assassins for good, on the one hand, and the might of the Crusaders’ barbaric hordes entrenched in Palestine at that time, on the other.
The Holy Prophet was born as Messenger of God, having been ordained by God as such at the dawn of Creation (3:81). Hence, he needed no spiritual exercise for earning that office. But we find him withdrawing from the life of the world to the Cave of Hira, in the stark solitude of wilderness, for fifteen years before he proclaimed his divine mission. Then, throughout his ministry, his exercise in the transcendental dimension with its spending of nights in prayers and the days in fasting and prayers both, in the midst of handling the multifarious duties relating to the most glorious and comprehensive revolution of human history; with its majestic austerity enshrining extreme selflessness; with its flowering in the moral domain at the highest level; and with the flood of multi-dimensional blessings for humanity surging from his august personality—that exercise is the most conspicuous trait of his character. In that he established the Sunnah for every future Islamic leader.
There were in history many of his followers who realised the obligatoriness of this Sunnah, in opposition to other leaders whose personal limitations kept them away. One of the glorious products of this Sunnah was the great Saiyyid Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, to whom we have referred. It is recorded in history that, in imitation of the Holy Prophet’s exercise of retreat to Hira, he was accustomed to retreat to the forest every evening during the course of his formal education, and after the completion of that education be withdrew to the wilderness and stayed there in solitude for many years in total devotion to God, any finally acquiring through an extremely rigorous discipline that high level of tazkiyah which not only elevated him to great eminence in godliness but enabled him to change the course of history.
The history of Islam is studded with a host of other spiritual luminaries, commonly called Sufis, on whom the rigorous discipline of tazkiyah bestowed greatness in their achievements for the cause of humanity. Among them was Khwaja Mu‘in al-Din of Sanjar (later of Ajmer) who, alone with his spiritual dynamism and without any army or political thrust, pitched the banner of Islam in the heart of an inimical and alien population, changing the course of history in the South-Asian sub-continent permanently. Among them was Shaykh al Islam Abdullah al-Ansari of Herat who fought with his spiritual armour alone against the corruptions of the tyrants and brought them down to their knees with masculine grace. Among them were the Sufis of the Naqshbandiyya Order who, under the most adverse circumstances when the prestige of the Muslims was at its lowest ebb, conquered, without any material means and purely through the power of their spiritual personalities, the hearts of the haughty enemies of Islam who had destroyed the political power of the Muslims under Halaku Khan—defeating at the same time the Buddhist and the Christian religious forces that were fully entrenched in the field. And, among them were a host of others who, through their tazkiyah and in contradistinction to those Muslim religious leaders who were devoid of tazkiyah, acquired the glorious distinction of becoming the sole pioneers in respect of the most difficult task of converting vast and widespread human communities to Islam.
Alas, the Islamic leaders of today have turned their backs on tazkiyah, with the result that they cannot benefit even the Muslims, not to speak of humanity at large. And the world of Islam presents a scene of unspeakable mass destruction of Islamic values, with the forces of the newfangled secular ‘isms’ pouncing upon the Muslim communities like vultures.
The world of Islam will have to revive the pursuit of comprehensive tazkiyah in accordance with the norms and principles laid down in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, in order that genuine Islamic leadership of the Muhammadan Pattern emerges on a high level and in a large measure and acts fruitfully for the fulfilment of the mission of Islam.
As matters stand in respect of the Muslim religious leadership of the present bay, neither those who are popularly known as Sufis nor those who have become anti-Tasawwuf, and neither the political agitators among the ‘Ulama nor the professional preachers and writers among them, seem to possess any chances of achieving success in defeating the forces of evil that sway the world.
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[1] Elaborate treatment necessitates a separate monograph, which the present author intends to present later.
[2] 12:53.
[3] 75:2
[4] 79:27.
[5] Professor Muir head observes: “As Professor Mackenzie puts it, ‘For the communication of the art of conduct example is better than precept, and experience is better than either; so that even if it were the business of ethics to lay down precepts, these precepts would still not suffice for instruction in the art of life’.” (The Elements of Ethics, p. 28).
According to Prof. William Lillie: “ … the example of good men’s lives and the training of practical experience are likely to be more effective influence in producing good conduct.” (Introduction to Ethics, p. 20).
[6] 16:89.
[7] The view that tazkiyah can be brought about through the Consciousness of Law seems to be untenable, because an abstract law or idea can never be so effective in moulding the human personality as the impact of another personality. Thus, the cultivation of love for the Holy Prophet (in whom God’s Blessings abide!) assumes supreme importance.
[8] She says: “The character of the Prophet (in whom Allah’s Blessings
and His Peace abide!) is (enshrined in) the Qur’an. (Mishkat al-Masabih, Bab
al-Witr, al-Fasl al-Awwal, p.111; Cf. Muslim: Sahih)
[9] We may recall here what we have already recorded in our discussion relating to the “Unity of Human Personality” in chapter 6 of Part 4. The Quranic concept of human personality includes three dimensions: the physical, the psychical, and the transcendental. The physical is spatio-temporal; the psychical is temporal; and the transcendental is spaceless and timeless, or, beyond space and time. It is the transcendental dimension which forms the channel of Communion with God, on the one hand, and the substratum of human personality on the other,—substratum for the progressive emergence out of it of the temporal and the spatio-temporal dimensions of personality at the beginning of earthly career, and substratum for the survival of personality with the self-same Identity after the earthly death.
[10] The Holy Quran, (108:1)
[11] Let it be noted that these three dimensions are so essential for leadership that they bear reference not only to God-affirming societies but also to Godless societies, such as the Communist, where an effort is made to forge an idealism—even though with materialistic bias. Under that idealism emerges a ‘cult of the spirit’ and a moral discipline of a certain type suited to the requirements of the ideology.
Again. rigorous discipline for Communist leadership, and even for the rank and file, is a vital element in Communist idealism.
And it is all this, more than anything else, which has bestowed success on Communist revolutions.
to be continued . . . . .
Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times
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