 |
This is a problem in itself, is
this a relationship of two strangers with one another or even the relation of a
prisoner with jail, a bird with its cage, and Joseph with the well? Someone may say that being born is
being put in a prison, a cage or a well. If so, then this relationship is one
of two opposites, and man' s endeavour must be only to set himself free from
this prison and cage. But in Islam, the relation of man
with nature resembles that of a farmer with the farm, of a merchant with the
market, and of a devotee with the temple. For a farmer, land is not the goal
but the means. His home is elsewhere but he uses the land to secure livelihood
and the means of comfort and happiness, He ploughs it, scatters seeds, weeds
it, harvests it, etc. The world is the farm of the hereafter, and this land
should not be taken by a farmer for his permanent home. For a merchant, a
market is a place of work in which he uses his capital and efforts to gain
profit. This is how man should view the world. Someone came to Imam Ali and began
blaming the world since he had heard that the Imam did the same. He did not
know that Ali (as) reproached the worship of the world, which is contrary to
the worship of God and truth, and negation of all human values. Ali was angry
at this and said: "O the reproaching man, O you who are deceived, the
world has not deceived you, but you have deceived yourself."[11]
As an example, I may say that an
old woman deceives a young man with her make-up, and her false teeth and hair.
The youth realizes suddenly that he has been deceived. Or maybe the old woman
comes forward and, admitting her deficiencies makes an offer for marriage. In
that case, the woman has not deceived him; rather the young man has deceived
himself, Imam Ali (as) says: "The world
has not hidden anything from you to deceive you. Did the world deceive you on
the day you buried your father? The world says: "I am what you see, and I have no
stability, discern me the way as I am. Why do you suppose me to be what you
wish, not what I really am?" So, the world deceives no one. Let us see
whether the world has betrayed you or vice versa. It is you who follow your
carnal desires." Then, Ali added: "The world is the trade market of
saints, and the mosque of God's friends." The idea that the world is a prison
or a cage is based on a psychological view that had been prevalent in "And certainly We created man
of an extract of clay; then We made him a small life-germ in a firm resting
place; then We made the life-germ a clot, then We made the clot a lump of
flesh, then We made (in) the lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones
with flesh, then We caused it to grow into another creation" (Sura al-Mu'minun,23:12-14). The last sentence shows that man
was made into something else, which is the spirit, and this spirit is produced
from matter. Therefore, it has not been perfected elsewhere in order to be put
in a cage here. Man lives in nature, which is like a mother's lap for him, and
it is here that he undergoes evolution and perfection. Islam says; if you do
not rise higher from this natural position, you will remain here in the lowest
of the low, and in hell hereafter. The Qur’an says: "What is the terrible
calamity! And what will make you comprehend what the terrible calamity is? The
day on which men shall be as scattered moths, and the mountains shall be as
loosened wool, then as for him whose measure of good deeds is heavy, he shall
live a pleasant life. And as for him whose measure of good deeds is light, his
abode shall be the abyss. And what will make you know what it is? A burning
fire!' (Sura al-Qari’ah, 101:1-11). Therefore, in anthropology of Islam
and in the knowledge of the world, man has not been a ready-made bird which has
flown in a holy space and then put in a cage, to make it necessary for him to
break the cage. If you admit that the world of spirit has priority over the
world of matter, and it is a beam illuminating this world from another world,
then you cannot believe that spirit has been elsewhere in a perfect form and
then brought here to be imprisoned. Such an idea is Indian and Platonic. Plato of Greece believed that the
spirit was created in another world and was then brought here for some reason
and put into confinement, to be released later and return. But Islam does not
have such a belief. We do not mean that all the
Gnostics have erred so much in this connection. They have not ignored the
significance of society or nature, and as the Qur’an has placed
nature and men side by side, they, too, believe that nature is a mirror of God
and His beauty. Shabestari, in his poetic
masterpiece, speaks thus of humanity: "In the name of Him who taught
life the skill of thought, and illuminated it with the light of the heart, By His grace both worlds were brightened,
and by His favor Adam's earth was a garden" And he goes on to say: "For him whose life appears
with glory, The whole world is the book of God almighty." If we place the Qur’an on one side
and Gnosticism on the other, and pay attention to the Qur'an’s regard for
nature, we realize that it pays more attention to nature without denying its
attention to the self and mind in any form. Thus, the perfect man of the
Qur’an, besides his inclination to intellect and heart, has also an inclination
to nature. Another question is that of self-renunciation. Gnosticism respects
the heart but scorns the self and believes in its abandonment. This, in itself,
is right and Islam accepts it. But there are two types of self in Islam, one of
which is negated and the other is revived by Islam, This is like a
friend and an enemy placed side by side while our target of shooting is the
enemy in which case we must aim very carefully not to mistakenly hit the
friend. That self which is to be crushed is meanness and vileness, and the
other self, which must be preserved, is the source of all human values. The miracle of Islam lies in the
fact that these two selves are so exactly distinguished that there is no room
for error. In gnosticism there is sometimes a distinction between the two, but
more often the friend is shot instead of the enemy, that is, instead of killing
that self, the man and his heart are killed, Such an attitude, on account of
the sweetness of the language of literature and its wider influence among people,
has had a deep effect on the destiny of our society, and a perfect man, for
most people, is the figure introduced by Gnostics. Therefore, a further
explanation is necessary to illustrate this subject. An important issue in the Gnostic
school, in connection with a perfect man, is the relation of man with his self,
a problem that is also Islamic in nature, Both Gnostics and Sufis as well as
Islamic teachings are in favor of combating selfishness and carnal desires, But
the fact is that this jihad against the self is an Islamic view which they
adopted. Sa'di says "You are a fellow-lodger of your own enemy, Why do you
bother about fighting strangers" This idea is also found in the
utterance of the holy Prophet, saying: "Your most dangerous enemy is your
own self, who is between your two sides. In his "Golestan", Sa’di
speaks of a mystic who was asked the meaning of the above utterance of the
Prophet and he answered: "If you treat an enemy kindly and offer him what
he desires, he will become a friend but the more kindly you treat the self, the
greater will be its enmity towards you." And this self is selfishness. One kind and degree of selfishness
is to make oneself the axis of everything, and perform all acts for oneself,
for one’s livelihood, one's clothing and dwelling. To this extent, this
selfishness is not vice or sickness, nor is it a value. The Qur'an believes in man's
position to be higher than that of an animal, and in a way of the same level
and still in another below that of an animal Thus, there are three types of
human acts: 1) Moral, which is above animal
level, 2) Immoral, which is at the level
of animals. 3) Anti-moral, which is below
animal level. If someone thinks only of himself,
like an animal or a bird, this is neither moral nor immoral But sometimes in
thinking of oneself only, one catches a mental disease, and his humanity is
placed at the service of his animal nature, leading to suicide Greed is such a
disease which knows no limit, and when there is the possibility of benevolence
and generosity, one is inclined to meanness and miserliness which is another
disease in itself. The Qur'an says: "…….Whoever is preserved from
the niggardliness of his soul, these it is that are the successful ones." (Sura
al-Hashr, 59:6). In such a case only his mental
sickness rules over him, not his intellect, thought and resolution. For, if his
intellect ruled him, he would know how to spend according to where his true
interest, pleasure and happiness lie. But his niggardliness hinders him and
lowers him below the animal level to make his conduct anti-moral, and these are
not the only diseases that afflict a human being. There are many more
complicated ones which are called complexes, such as envy, where one forgets to
seek one's own happiness, and only longs for the misery and misfortune of
others. His own joy and happiness are for
him trifling as compared with his desire for the unhappiness of others. Such a
state does not exist in any other animal except man. Pride is another disease
which develops in a person in such a way that he himself is not aware of it.
Sometimes the self deceives someone in a very strange way. As the Qur’an says: "He said: Nay, your souls have
made a matter light for you, so patience is good; may be Allah will bring them
all together to me; surely He is the Knowing, the wise:' (Sura Yusuf, 12: 83). Delusion is a very subtle
psychological point which is mentioned in the Qur'an, showing that one may be
deceived by one's own self, by adorning that false desire in such a way that
one believes it to be the genuine thing. Today, psychology has derived very
delicate and minute conclusions in this respect to show that man sometimes goes
mad without any bodily or nervous defect but only by some internal upheaval of
the mind caused in turn by some great suffering, In such a case, one says
farewell to one's intellect in order to relieve one's great sorrow, So, a poet
says: "Every sober one in the world has a sorrow. Then, go mad, O heart,
for, it is a wonderful state:' This self-deception is an important
psychological problem, And it is surprising that a thousand years ago such
problems were minutely analyzed, the problems which are, in this century,
subjects of careful study, even though the Qur'an is the source of all this knowledge.
Sometimes, certain vices so penetrate the human mind that the person himself is
unaware of them, and only under certain conditions, these vices rise from the
depth to reveal themselves to their owner, who is greatly amazed at having
possessed them at all. Sometimes a person is sure of having a clear heart
without envy and rancor towards anyone, and then suddenly he finds himself in
the clutches of these vices. Rumi, compares this to a snake
frozen in the winter, with no movement and no apparent sign of being dangerous,
so that a child may play with it, and when it gets warmed up by the sun, its
true nature suddenly reveals itself. He gives another example of these hidden
and dormant inclinations in the following poem: "Desires are like sleeping
dogs, possessing both inherent good and evil. When there is no power they are
dormant, looking like pieces of lifeless wood. But the moment a carrion is seen
there, The call of greed awakens and when an ass is found dead in that street,
hundreds of sleeping dogs will become awaken. The greed which had so far hidden
itself, rushes out galloping at full speed, As if every hair of the
dog turns into a tooth, And the tail wagging in cunning and craft. In this body
of ours are sleeping a hundred such dogs, and they are dormant for lack of
prey." So far, these matters are true and
are supported by the Qur’an saying that they must be fought against. The
following verses refer to these points: "Then as for him who is
inordinate, and prefers the life of this world, then surely the hell, that is
the abode. And as for him who fears to stand in the presence of his Lord and
forbids the soul from low desires, then surely the garden - that is the abode.(Sura
an-Nazi’at, 79: 37- 41); "Have you then considered
him who takes his low desire for his God" (Sura al-Jathiya, 45:23); "And I do not declare myself
free, most surely (man’s) self is wont to command (him to do)
evil."(Sura Yusuf", 12: 53). This is what Yusuf says meaning
that he cannot trust the self and its desires. It is the quality of a believer
not to rely on his self lest it would be inclined to evil and wickedness. Islam emphasizes combat (jihad)
against self. A number of the Prophet’s companions, upon returning from battle,
went in a group to him, and he said to them: "Praised be those who have
returned from the lesser Jihad, but their greater Jihad is still to come,"
They asked what the greater jihad was, and he answered: "Jihad
against the self."[12]
In the Gnostic school. however,
this greater jihad with the self reaches a point which is not acceptable to
Islam, one of whose stages is rigorous self-mortification. Islam attributes a
right to one's body, and the Prophet strongly opposes those who give themselves
such severe physical discipline. The combat with the self (Jihad al-nafs) is of
two kinds: 1) Mortifying the body rigorously
by giving it little food and sleep. 2) Combating the mind and spirit by
acting contrary to its wishes. This may be right to some extent,
but there are matters which do not correspond with Islam and with the idea of a
perfect man. One example of this is the way adopted by some Sufis,
called "the reproaching way", which is the opposite of the
hypocritical way, a hypocrite has an evil mind but pretends to be good, whereas
a reproachful one is a good person, but pretends to be wicked so that the
people would not consider him good. He says: "I act thus to kill
the self which desires to win honour and popularity", Islam rejects this
view and action, and says: "A believer has no right to dishonor and
disgrace himself". It says: "If you are not good, do not pretend to
be good, nor resort to a false pretence of wickedness, for, both conducts are
false". The reason for employing the language of debauchery and dissoluteness
in Gnostic literature is this same pretence to wickedness. We see many examples
of this in the poems of Hafiz, the poet, even though he says: "O heart, let me guide you
towards salvation, Show no pride in debauchery, nor pretend to be devout."
Anyhow, the way of reproaching
oneself is a type of Sufi combat with the self, which is unacceptable in
Islam. There are, of course, other Sufis, like Khaja Abd’ul-lah Ansari,
who are not followers of this way. Sometimes in the Sufi school, this
self-jihad leads to meanness, in order to tame and to make abject that self,
which is left undefended where its honour should be protected. Sometimes, the
follower, in serving the leader, is forced to perform very humble tasks, which
are below human dignity, such as gathering animal residue etc. Ibn-Abel-Hadid quotes Ibrahim
Adham, who was one of the Gnostic elders, as saying that he had never felt such
joy as on the following three occasions: 1) I was ill in a mosque and I
could not rise. The sexton came and forced everyone to get up, but as I was
unable to do so, he got hold of my leg and dragged me like a corpse and threw
me out. I felt very happy on seeing the self so miserably humbled. 2) We were on a ship where a clown
was amusing people with his tricks and making them laugh. He began telling a
story about pulling the beard of a pagan, and looking around him he noticed me.
He came forward and while pulling my beard said: "Like this!"
Everyone laughed and I felt joyful that he had humbled this self of mine. 3) It was winter and I came out of
a lodge and looking at my pelisse I found it so full of lice that I could
hardly see the fur in it, I felt happy to be able to bear this and humiliate
the self. Another Sufi says: "I
was invited to a house one evening to break my fast in the month of Ramadhan,
When I knocked, he did not let me in. I was invited once more and again the
host refused me admission. This was repeated and at last the would-be host
said: "What an amazing fellow you are. I have refused you admission so
many times and yet you keep on coming" The Sufi said: "Yes, a
dog behaves in the same way!" Islam does not permit such insults
to one's personality. Thus, there are two things to be considered in
self-discipline according to Islam: self-mortification to a degree, and
self-respect to another degree. The self may thus have a sublime side and a low
side, and the latter must be checked when it goes to excess. Philosophers think that the ego of
a person is his spirit, and psychoanalysts believe that the ego has a conscious
side and an unconscious side, which form the main part of the ego.
Psychoanalysts have explicitly contradicted the philosophers' idea that the ego
is the spirit. They say that the real ego is much deeper than that, and the
real ego discovers itself only when it discovers God. The Qur'an says: "And be not like those who
forsook Allah, So the lie made them forsake their own souls these it is that
are the transgressors." (Sura al-Hashr, 59:19). Mohyedin Arabi, who is the father
of Islamic Gnosticism and many Gnostics, both Iranians and Arabs, are his
pupils, severely scorns philosophers like Avicenna. The Qur'an says: "Say: The losers surely are
those who shall have lost themselves…" (Sura az-Zumar, 39:15). The spirit of devotion and the
reality of devotion, which is to pay attention to God, is to discover one’s
true self. At the same time, we find little of this belief in Gnosticism that
it is through self-respect and on its basis that a man attains high ranks. In
this way they have received little inspiration from Islamic teachings. The
Qur'an says: "…And to Allah belongs the
might and to His Apostle and to the believers…" (Sura al-Munafiqun, 63:
8). The Prophet has said: "1f you
are in need, do not beg for it in abjectness to anyone, ask for it in
self-respect". Imam Ali says: "It is death to be vanquished in life,
and it is life to die victoriously."[13] Imam Hussein says[14]:
"It is better to die in honour than to live in abjection." He said:
"Ibn-Ziad, this ignoble son of an ignoble man has asked me to choose
between abjectness and the sword. How can we submit to abjectness? Neither God
nor the Prophet, nor believers permit us to do so. Virtuous parents have
brought us up. I shall never offer my hand of abjectness to you and not act
like slaves or submit." Another school of thought is the
school of power in which perfection is the equivalent of ability, and defect is
equal to weakness. Even good and bad are measured by the same criterion, namely
power meaning good, and inability meaning bad. The German philosopher, Nietzche,
went mad at the end of his life, but in my opinion he showed signs of madness
even from the beginning. He introduced the principle of power in ethics. There
were two philosophers before him, namely the Frenchman Descartes and the
Englishman Bacon, both of whom offered views about science which overhauled
previous theories and led to great progress in science and to the theory on
human domination over nature and, at the same time, caused human corruption. Before these two philosophers,
religion and philosophy used science in the service of truth, not in the
service of power, and for this reason, science possessed some sanctity above
human interests and material things. Knowledge was generally compared with
wealth, and given superiority over wealth. This is what Imam Ali says in NahiulBalagha.
A teacher had a sacred rank, and Imam Ali said: "He who teaches
me a word makes me his servant."[15]
The Qur'an says: "We said to the angels: Make
obeisance to Adam….." (Sura al-Baqara, 2:34). And the reason given was that Adam
knew what the angels did not, thus showing the sanctity of knowledge. Bacon’s
view was that knowledge is not an amusement, but should serve mankind and
enable him to dominate nature. Thus, the heavenly nature of knowledge was
turned into an earthly one, and the course of research was changed into that of
discovery of the secrets of nature, in order to provide man with facilities. In one respect this attitude
rendered a great service to mankind, but at the same time knowledge lost its
sanctity. The students of theological colleges, who pursue their studies on the
old system of education, observe certain rites in connection with attending
religious classes which show that the sanctity and exalted position of knowledge
is still important, and a pupil feels deep respect for his teacher. For them, studying is not for
securing wealth, and a teacher considers it below his dignity to turn himself
into a wage earner. But in modern education which is
the continuation of Bacon's views and those who preach the same ideas, studying
is a preliminary step for living under its specific system, that is, to equip
oneself as an engineer or merchant or even a teacher etc. to gain as much money
as possible for a comfortable life Such students are even inclined to abuse
their professors behind their backs. Following Bacon's idea that
knowledge means power, everything became dependent on power and in the service
of the powerful. Learned men and scientists are the slaves of others, whether
it is in the imperialist or socialist camp, it makes no difference. The world
is managed by power, not by science and scientists. Every invention and
discovery is placed at the service of force, first for wicked purposes, and if
there are of no use militarily, then such types of knowledge are employed for
other services. The way followed by Bacon was bound
to end into what Nietzche declared and what Machiavelli believed, to which was
added Materialists used the evolutionary
theory of For him, affection, benevolence and
service are not morality, and it is these that have caused disasters and
hindered man's evolution towards becoming superman. He is wholly opposed to
Socrates and Christ, for, Socrates has supported virtue, kindness and justice,
and Christ has gone even further and preached love and charity. These are,
according to him, weaknesses, which hinder man's perfection. Furuqi in his book "The Course
of Philosophy in Some say it would have been better
not to have been born at all, but man thinks: Now that he is born, he must get
as much out of the world as he can, even if it is by means of cruelty, deceit
and conflict. Everything which opposes this goal such as truth, kindness and
virtue, is bad. Nietzche's writings are intended partly to destroy the moral
principles of the past, and partly to substitute what he considers as desirable
and laudable for them. He thinks it wrong to suppose all
people and nations to be equal in their rights, and that such a view is
contrary to human progress. There should always exist two groups of superiors
and inferiors, and honour and privilege belong to superiors who are the
ultimate goal of existence, while inferiors are used as tools and means by the
superiors for attaining their aims. Human progress depends on superiors who are
few in number, and the majority is at their service. Society and civilization
are formed for that noble group, contrary to what is supposed that the
superiors are at the service of inferiors. Superiors must be nourished in order
to become supermen and rise to the height of progress. Inferiors are like
quadrupeds that must carry load for the superiors.[16] This attitude is quite the reverse
of what Sa'di, the poet, says: "The sheep are not for the
shepherd, rather, the shepherd is meant to serve them," Western men of learning have a
theory of racial improvement which is developed by Alexis Karl in his book
"Man, an Unknown Creature" where he says that the weak should not be
given the right of reproduction. According to Nietzche, the moral principles
observed hitherto have been framed in the interests of the majority, namely
inferiors, and these principles must give way to those which favour the
superiors. Goodness, honesty and beauty are not genuine and real matters. What
is real is that everyone desires power. He believes that religions have
betrayed humanity since they have preached justice and protection of the weak.
When there was no religion and the law of the jungle reigned supreme, it was
much better, since the strong destroyed the weak. The world was, at first, in favour
of the strong, and the weak were their slaves. But as the former were in the
minority, the latter resorted to the trick of propagating the idea of
benevolence, kindness, modesty, justice etc. as something good and beautiful in
order to make the weak appreciate the power of the strong, and be liberated
from them and thus religion was used as a means of attaining their goal, But this is quite opposed to what
Karl Marx believes. He says religion was invented by the strong against the
weak, whereas Nietzche says that it was invented by the weak. According to the former, Christian
ethics are the morals of servitude, which has ruined the ethics of lordship.
The talk of brotherhood and equality, love of peace, and observance of the
rights of women and workers which have become prevalent today, originated from
that source and are all deceit and trickery, and the cause of poverty, weakness
and decadence. These must be replaced by the principles of lordly life. The
thought of God and the hereafter must be abandoned, and kindness and sympathy
must be put aside. Kindness means weakness, and
humility and obedience mean baseness, and patience and forgiveness show lack of
resolution. Manliness is the thing to adopt, since the goal is to become a
superman, who is above good and bad and is a man of willpower. In When we are influenced by such
thoughts, we are really led astray, Are the misdeeds of Nietzche says: Why should one kill
the self? The self should be nourished. Why should one love others? One should
love oneself. Let the weak alone be destroyed and thus diminish the pains of
this world. A superman is strong and lives strongly, to fulfil his desires,
similar to a lord and master who removes every obstacle in his way and fears no
danger and war. He then turns to women and says: It is futile to talk of the
equality of man and woman or the observance of women’s rights. The main thing
is a man, who is a fighter and a woman is for his amusement, and for bearing
children. This, then, is for them the criterion of a perfect man, At the opposite pole is a school
which favours weakness, and considers goodness in being weak. Christianity
belongs to such a school which preaches about turning the other cheek after one
side of it is slapped. What does Islam preach, power or
weakness or neither? In one sense it favours power, not of the type of
Nietzche, but a power that is the source of exalted human qualities, from which
comes kindness, pity, compassion and charity. In this sense, the Qur'an speaks
so much of power that no other religion emphasizes it to its adherents. Will Dormant, in the first volume
of his History of Civilization, speaking of Islamic civilization, says:
"No religion has invited people to strength and power as Islam has ".
The Qur'an says: "O Yahya! Take hold of the
Book with strength….' (Sura Maryam, 19: 12). Elsewhere, speaking of the strength
of believers, it says: "And how many a prophet has
fought with whom were many worshippers of the Lord; so they did not become
weak-hearted." (Sura Ali-Imran, 3:146). In another place, the Qur'an says: "Surely Allah loves those who
fight in His way in ranks as if they were a firm and compact wall," (Sura
as-Saff, 61: 4). And also it says: "…and those with him are firm
of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves..." (Sura
al-Fath, 48: 29). Islam approves of having power to
the extent of allowing no one to oppress us. The Qur'an says in connection with
fighting an enemy: "And prepare against them what
force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of
Allah and your enemy." (Sura al-Anfal", 8: 60). And again: "And fight in the way of Allah
with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits. Surely Allah does
not love those who exceed the limits"(Sura al-Baqara, 2:190). It is thus recommended that if the
enemy puts down his weapon and surrenders, fighting should cease against him.
There should be no aggression against women and old men and children, or those
who have left the battlefield. There are also traditions beside the Verses of
the Qur'an. For example, the Prophet says: "Two things are unworthy in a
believer: to be avaricious and to be cowardly." In his prayer, the Prophet
said: "0 God, I take refuge unto you against two things: avarice and
cowardice," Imam Ali says: "A believer's spirit is firmer and
stronger than grind-stone."[17]
Imam Sadiq says in Safinat-ul-Bihar":
"God has given a believer the choice in everything except one thing,
and that is, to make himself abject. A believer is always dear, and higher than
a mountain, for, a mountain can be hewed with a pickaxe, but a believer's
spirit cannot in any way be cut into pieces',' Imam Baqir says[18]:
"God has given a believer three gifts: 1) Respect in this world and the hereafter.
2) Salvation in both worlds: 3) Fear in the heart of oppressors.
There are also traditions about
sense of honour, The Prophet has said: 'Abraham had a sense of honour, but
God's is the greatest.' Mussolini, the Italian dictator,
once said; "He who has iron, has bread." (By iron meaning weapon and
strength.) Iqbal Lahori changed the above remark into the following: "He
who is iron, has bread," Imam Ali says: "One can never win his right
except by endeavor, and an abject person can never check oppression except by
effort."[19] Westerners say: "A right must
be secured", But the question is whether it must be secured or must be
granted." Christianity is based on giving a right, and there is no need to
rise in order to secure it, Islam says that it is both securable and grantable.
He who has usurped a right must prepare to give it back, and he, whose right
has been usurped, too, must rise to recover it. Imam Ali (as) in "Nahjul-Balagha"
in his letter to Malik Al-Ashtar quotes the Prophet as saying: "No
people rise to the level of sanctity unless the weak stand up against the
strong without a stammer"[20]
. No society is Islamic unless it rises to secure its right. The Prophet possessed both physical
and spiritual strength. In the book "Muhammad, a Prophet to know
Afresh", two points are clearly explained: 1) The prophet was politically and
socially placed in a situation in which he had no hope from any quarter, but he
never despaired and always stood steadfast. His spiritual strength during those
twenty-three years was astounding. Hassan ibn Sabet, an Arab poet, says of him
in a poem: "He has many aspirations the greatest of which has no limit,
and the smallest is greater than the world." 2) Physically, the Prophet was
strong and very brave, so much so that Imam Ali says: "In difficult
conditions, we all sought his protection". He always lauded strength and
courage, and thus these qualities stand side by side with other human values in
Islam, Nietzche has taken only one value, namely power and strength, as the
criterion of perfection, and other values are disregarded, while in Islam many
values are collectively the sign of human perfection. In the former school,
power is the equivalent of right and justice, and weakness is wrong and means
defeat, There are two errors in the
philosophy of that school; firstly, it ignores all human values but one. In the
case of God, too, might and strength are not His only attributes; there are
also many others to show His perfection. The second error is in the definition
of power itself, and that is, only one type of power which is animal strength,
either a physical one or his carnal desires, to satisfy which one should
suppose that one can oppress others by making use of his strength. There is a story narrated about the
Prophet in this connection. He was passing through a street in Here, the Prophet is speaking about
the power of resolution, and that is different from physical power, which is
common between man and animals. In Islamic ethics and Gnostic literature, this
resolution is considered as a power above physical strength, which conquers
carnal desires. Sadi says in a poem: "Bring sweetness to another
mouth when you can, It is not manliness to deal a blow on another's
mouth." Rumi says: "Who is a man at the time of
wrath and passion? I am looking for such a man in every street" To be able to control oneself in
anger and lust is a power. Of course, sometimes what is really weakness is
mistaken for power, and that is why moralists say that sentiments must be
combined with wisdom and faith, in order to possess value. Sa’di, speaking about this, says in a poem: "To show pity to a
sharp-toothed tiger, is to show cruelty to the sheep." Such pity is really doing an injustice
to the weak and the oppressed. There is a verse in the Qur'an
saying that if a married man commits adultery, his punishment is death, and a
married woman committing adultery must be put also be put to death, in the
presence of believers. If the feeling of compassion is roused in such a case
among bystanders, the Qur’an says: "…and let not pity for them
detain you in the matter of obedience to Allah…" (Sura an-Noor, 24:2). For, in this case high divine and
human interests are at stake, and compassion here means injustice to society. Today, it is often said that
execution is meaning-less and inhuman. Their argument is that a criminal should
be reformed. Reform is all right, but it should come prior to crime. Many
societies lack the power of education, whereas means of corruption are
plentiful, If the punishment by death is abolished, the potential
criminal who is not reformed, will become most active. He is encouraged to
commit more crime, either to avenge his being ignored, or hoping to receive the
education in prison, of which society had deprived him before. Others are against cutting off a
thief's hand. But you can see how numerous are the cases of theft even leading
to crimes simply because the punishment for it is too light or even ignored. The pilgrims, who visited So, we realize that the school of
might has neither known other human values, nor recognized power or might
itself, Power means assisting others, Imam Ali (as) says to his two sons,
Hassan (as) and Husayn (as): "Let your strength be used in aiding the
oppressed and in fighting the oppressor."[21]
Rancor, envy, malice and all these
vices have their root in weakness. He who is vengeful and suffers from sadism
is not strong, but very weak. A strong person is rarely envious or vengeful. A remark is narrated from Imam Husayn
saying: "Power removes rancor". This is opposed to the idea that
weakness causes rancor. Another sentence is quoted from Imam Ali about slander,
which is noteworthy. He was asked what kind of people loved slander and he
answered: "The weak, it is the utmost effort of the weak." A strong
person has no need of it. He also attributes adultery to weakness, for, a
person, with a sense of honour, does not resort to it. Islam does not approve of weakness,
but at the same time does not consider strength as the only criterion of
perfection. Moreover strength is of a greater variety and degree in Islam that
is ignored in some other schools of thought. The conclusion is in favor of
society. Sympathy is not weakness, but is benevolence and charity. Another school of thought, mostly
prevalent in "Devotion is nothing but
serving people And not by rosary, prayer carpet and cassock." His remark is obviously levelled at
the Sufis who know nothing of benevolence. Others refer to the same idea by
saying: "You may drink or burn a
pulpit, but abstain from hurting people." In this school, there is only one
value and that is benevolence, and only one vice and that is to hurt people.
The Qur’an recommends benevolence, but does not confine perfection to it. It
says: "Surely Allah enjoins the
doing of justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the
kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you
that you may be mindful" (Sura an-Nahl', 16: 90). Generosity is a Qur'anic principle,
meaning to give priority to others to benefit from what is yours and you need
it yourself. The Qur’an speaks about the Ansar (Prophet's helpers) who
preferred the Emigrants to themselves: "…and prefer (them) before
themselves, though poverty may afflict them…” (Sura al-Hashr, 59:9). and: "And they give food out of
love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive. We only feed you for
Allah’s sake; we desire from you neither reward nor thanks"(Sura al-Insan,
76: 8- 9). This Verse refers to the time when
Ali's children had observed fast, and in the evening when the time came to
break the fast, an orphan came to their door, and they offered him the barley
bread they had baked, leaving nothing for themselves. This is an example of the
self-sacrifice and generosity, which has always been emphasized in Islam. A nobleman of the pagan tribes came
to the Prophet and saw him with one of his children on his knees and kissing
and caressing him. He said to the Prophet: "I have ten sons and
I have never kissed any of them even once" The Prophet became uneasy and
angrily said: "He who has no compassion towards others, will not receive
any compassion from God. What can I do for you if God has removed kindness from
your heart" Imam Ali himself is a model of kindness and commiseration. We stated before that cruelty is in
the depth of the Western spirit, This fact is admitted by the Westerners
themselves, and they consider indulgence, charity and affection to be Oriental
qualities, even such affections as fatherly, motherly, sisterly and brotherly
ones. That is why Easterners declare the Westerner to be dry and without
sentiments even though they have social justice. A friend narrates that he was ill
and had gone to They came to my friend's table and
talked about their son studying in another country. But my friend’s son found
out that they had lied and they had no son. Those two had agreed thirty years
before to live together, on the condition that if they found each other
compatible, they would marry. And yet they had not bothered to get legally
married after all that time. This is a typical Western attitude. The late Mohagheghi has narrated a
story about his visit to But it must be remembered that not
all affections are true in nature; they are rather a kind of selfishness for,
affection means forsaking one's own legitimate right in favor of someone else.
Such a person must abstain from transgressing on the rights of others and
respect those rights, and then secure his own right and use it in favor of
another. Gathering wealth by illegal means and then spending some of it for
someone else's sake is neither generosity, nor social benevolence. This is for
the sake of winning a good reputation. Another example is to claim
hospitality and to receive people at various times and thereby force the wife
to work like a slave. Imam Ali always co-operated with Fatimah in household
affairs and was ever fair and helpful. It is related of the great
religious authority, Haj Mirza Muhammad Taqi Shirazi that he never gave orders
to anyone. Once he was ill, and his meal was brought and left near the door. He
could not get up to carry it, and at the same time he abstained from calling
someone to bring it to him, some hours after they found the food cold and in
the same place. A story is told about some
companions of the Prophet in the Battle of Multeh, which is truly amazing. A
number of the wounded were lying on the ground and were groaning with thirst. A
man carried a pot of water to them. When he offered it to one of them the
latter pointed to another and said that he was in greater need of water, and
the second man pointed to a third one for water to be taken to him, When the
water-carrier approached the third man, he found him dead. So he returned to
the second man, but he, too, was dead, and when he came to the first man he,
too, had died. This is self-sacrifice and giving priority to others before
oneself, is one of the greatest of human values. |
