Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
Part 2. DUTIES AS PHYSICAL BEING
Exposition
1.
Duties of Omission (or, Duties of Respect for the Self ).
END: Natural Self-Preservation ─ as the Holy
Qur’an commands:
“… and make not your own hands contribute
to (your) destruction …” (2:195).
(1)All things which harm physical health, prohibited:
“O mankind! eat of
whatsoever is on the earth, lawful and wholesome, and follow not the footsteps
of Satan (by using unlawfully-acquired and unclean and unwholesome foods).
Lo! he is to you an avowed enemy”. (2:168).
(2)Self-stupefaction, gluttony and intoxication,
prohibited:
“O you who believe! Make not unlawful the
good things (whether they be foods or drinks or any other lawful pleasures)
which Allah has made lawful for you, nor transgress (in respect of your
physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social health by making lawful for
yourselves harmful foods, drinks, etc.); verily Allah loves not the
transgressors.” (5:87).
“…
and eat and drink, but be not immoderate and intemperate: verily He loves not
those who are immoderate and intemperate.” (7:31).
“Eat of the good things We have
provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein, lest My wrath
should justly descend on you; and those on whom descends My wrath do perish
indeed.” (20:81).
“O you who believe! Intoxicants
and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and divination by arrows, (all these) are
an abomination, —of Satan’s handiwork: shun such (abomination), therefore, that
you may prosper.” (5:93).
(3)Considering lawful pleasures relating to natural
appetites as illegitimate, prohibited:
“O you who believe! Make not
unlawful (for yourselves) the good things (relating to lawful pleasures) which
Allah has made lawful for you …” (5:87).
(4)Abusing or damaging any limb of one’s body, including
Castration, prohibited:
The Holy Qur’an says: “… and defraud not your trust…” (8:27).
The various limbs of
the body, and the talents of a Muslim, are the “property” of God and he
possesses them in “trust” for Him. A Muslim should not, therefore, abuse or
damage any limb of his body.
(5)Committing suicide prohibited:
“And kill not (or, destroy not)
yourselves; verily Allah is unto you ever Merciful.” (4:29).
(2)
Duties of Commission: (or, Duties of Love for the Self).
END: Happiness of the moral
agent through the maintenance and promotion of his physical well-being:
(1)Proper
satisfaction of natural appetites enjoined:
(a)Satisfaction of Hunger and Thirst:
“… and eat and drink, but be not
immoderate and intemperate…” (7:31).
“They ask you (O Muhammad!) what is lawful
to them (as food). Say: Lawful unto you are all things good and pure.” (5:5).
(b)Satisfaction of sexual appetite: Satisfaction of sexual
appetite has been permitted by the Holy Qur’an through lawful marriage only,
and marriage has been enjoined:
“Marry those among you who are single.” (24:32).
A very important point
should be noted here. Although the union of man and woman in marriage involves
the satisfaction of sexual appetite, it is not, in the view of the Qur’an, the
end of marriage,—the end being spiritual companionship and mutual love, to
which the sexual union itself should contribute, but which is marked off
distinctly from mere sexual pleasure. The Holy Qur’an says
“And among His signs is this, that
He created for you mates from yourselves, that you might obtain tranquility and
solace in them, and He has ordained between you love and mercy. Verily in that
are signs for those who reflect.” (30:21).
(c)Rest and sleep
“It is of His Mercy that He has made
for you Night and Day, that therein (i.e., in the night) you may enjoy rest,
and that you may seek of His Grace (during the day);—and in order that you may
be grateful (to Him).” (38:73).
(2)Physical cleanliness enjoined:
“… then purify (yourselves) (with physical
cleanliness)…”(5:6).
“Allah intends not to lay upon you a
hardship, but intends to purify you (with physical cleanliness) and to complete
His favor to you, that you may be grateful (for His bounties).” (5:6).
“… and He sent down water upon you
from heaven that He might cleanse you thereby and remove from you the stain of
Satan (—dirt being physically a symbol of evil)…” (8:11).
“Verily Allah loves those who turn
to him constantly, and He loves those who practice cleanliness (in body, mind
and spirit).’’ (2:222).
“And Allah loves those who always keep
themselves clean.” (9:108).
(3)Physical
development enjoined:
“Against them (i.e., the enemies of
Islam, or, the forces of evil) prepare your Power (as individuals and as a
community) to the utmost of your capacity…” (8:60).
Development of power by
an individual includes the building up of a powerful physique. Hence, the
command for the physical development of the individual is contained in the
above comprehensive verse. This fact is corroborated by a Hadith of the Holy
Prophet (Peace be on him), reported by Muslim in his sahih in the following
words:
“A physically-strong
Believer is better and more loved by Allah than a physically-weak Believer. And
there is good in either of them. Be enthusiastic for everything which brings
you good, and seek therein Divine Help, and do not lose heart in your endeavor…”
(Kitab al-Qadr).
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 ofrighteousness 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 behindin 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.
g
[1] Elaborate treatment necessitates a separate monograph, which the
present author intends to present later.
[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 tolay 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).
[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.
[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.
