Value Systems - Part 2
This underlying Unity of existence becomes manifest again when the universe is wound up, or when the seeker surrenders wholly to Allah:-
"Everything will pass away. There remains but the countenance of thy Lord of Might and Glory." 55:26-27
It is Allah we must seek both in the external world and within. The signs of Allah are to be found in both places :-
"We shall show them Our portents on the horizons and within themselves until it be manifest unto them that it is the Truth. Does not thy Lord suffice since He is Witness over all things." 41:53
"We verily created man and We know what his soul whispers to him, and We are nearer to him than his life artery." 50:16
Islam does not, therefore, ignore this world:-
"But of mankind is he who says: Our lord! Give unto us in this world, and he has no portion in the Hereafter. And of them is also he who says: Our Lord! Give unto us in the world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and guard us from the doom of Fire. For them there is in store a goodly portion out of that which they have earned. Allah is swift at Reckoning." 2:200-201 See also 7:156
Note that the first person simply wants things in this world whether or not they are good, while the second wants only the good both here and in the hereafter. Indeed, man has a function in this world:-
"Thus Allah makes clear His revelations unto you that haply you may be guided, and there may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency. Such are they who are successful." 3:103-104
"Woeful indeed will be the lodging of the arrogant. For those who do good in this world there is good reward and the home of the Hereafter will be better. Pleasant indeed will be the home of those who ward off evil." 16:29-30
The religious practices may be regarded as techniques for obtaining certain effects:-
"And when My servants question thee concerning Me, then surely I am nigh. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he cries unto Me. So let them hear My call and let them trust in Me in order that you may be led right." 2:186
Withdrawal from the world is not allowed. The world itself contains everything for the development of man.
"But monasticism they invented - We ordained it not for them - only seeking Allah's pleasure, and they observed it not with right observance." 57:27
"And surely We will try you with something of fear and hunger and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the steadfast who say when misfortune strikes them: Lo! We are Allah's and lo! Unto Him are we returning." 2:155-156
"Deemed you that you would enter Paradise while yet Allah has not determined those of you who really strive, nor those of you who are steadfast?" 3:142
The Islamic attitude can be seen further from the following: -
"O you who believe! Forbid not the good things that Allah has made lawful for you, and transgress not. Lo! Allah loves not transgressors." 5:87
"O you who believe! Squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity, but spend it in trade by mutual consent and kill not one another. Lo! Allah is ever Merciful unto you. Whosoever does that through aggression and injustice, We shall cast him into the fire, and that is ever easy for Allah. If you avoid the great things which are forbidden you, We will remit from you your evil deeds and make you enter at a noble gate. And covet not a thing in which Allah has made some of you excel over others. Unto men a fortune from that which they have earned, and unto women a fortune from that which they have earned, Envy not one another but ask Allah of His bounty. Lo! Allah is ever Knower of all things." 4:29-32
"Ye desire the lure of this world and Allah desires for you the hereafter, and Allah is Mighty, Wise." 8:67
"Say: The comfort of this world is scant; the Hereafter will be better for him who wards off evil, and you will not be wronged the down upon a date-stone." 4:77
"System (in this world) have passed away before you. Do but travel in the land and see the nature of the consequences for those who did deny (the messengers)." 3:137
"Allah desires for you ease; He desires not hardship." 2:185
"Allah asks naught of any soul save that which He has given it. Allah will vouchsafe, after hardship, ease." 65:7
"And whomsoever it is Allah's will to guide, He expands his bosom unto the Surrender (al-Islam)" 6:126
It is not the case, therefore, that Islam wishes to suppress the lower impulses, but it wants to channel them. These impulses were created for a purpose. Sexuality, for instance, meant for reproduction and mutual comfort and pleasure, is not repressed but channelled into constructive directions within the family. It should produce love and unity. It causes a community to become a network in which each marriage is the knot. The case is similarly with the desire for goods and pleasure. Restraint is to be practised. Channelling is achieved by associating the fulfilment of an impulse with spiritual goals. The reward is with Allah. Pride is replaced with the desire to replace or expand one's ego to include Allah and the Ummah (the Islamic community). Indeed, all impulses are regarded as arising from a natural inbuilt source and are God given. But it is when they have been channelled wrongly and accidentally by a chaotic purposeless social system that they become evil. This occurs because the mind forms attachments or addictions to them and they imprison and limit the soul - they become gods. It is a form of idolatry.
"Have you seen him who chooses for his god his own desire (or lust)? Would you then be guardian over him? Or deem you that most of them hear or understand? They are but as cattle - nay, but they are further astray." 25:43-44
The fact is that such persons have no control over themselves. It is they who are being controlled by others or the environment through the reigns of their desires. The result is that mankind is to that extent a victim of forces over which they have no control. Though they may themselves have created their political, economic systems and other institutions, these, now continue to function according to their own momentum, and like Frankenstein's monster make their creators into victims.
The dichotomy between mind and matter as found in the West is probably due to the dominance of the organised Christian Church after the Roman Emperor, Constantine made Christianity into the official religion of the Roman Empire. It took upon itself the sole right to speak for God, interpret the Scriptures and control affairs. This power it guarded jealously. All so-called heresies were, therefore, suppressed and persecuted. The rise of Islam threatened this power and caused the Church to mount crusades against it. But as all actions have reactions, this clash brought ideological impulses from Islam into Europe where it caused the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Reformation. The Secular powers, Political, Commercial and Cultural, including those of the newly emerging Sciences became more powerful and clashed with the authority of the weakening Church. A tacit compromise was, therefore, made:- The secular systems were to confine their attention to this world and, therefore, to the material, visible and factual, while the Church would retain its power to deal with the other-worldly, the spiritual and with morality and the value system. Thus a separation of Religion and State was also eventually achieved.
The result of this dichotomy was that all the secular systems, - Political, Business, Commercial, Economic, and even the Arts and Sciences - operate without any morality or consideration of motives, purposes and value systems. But religion tends to ignore facts, knowledge, technology and the environmental, social and psychological consequences of the development of technology, organisation and commerce. Since each of these aspects nevertheless affects the other, there is a self-contradiction involved in both.
Another result, within the society and its politics, is the class system, or rather its perpetuation, the division into an upper ruling class and a lower working class. This derives from Roman times and beyond, where political systems were based on slavery. It created the division between intellectual and physical work, and a psychological division between the intellectual faculty and the physical one for action. It creates those who think but cannot do, and those who can do but not think. There is a separation between theory and practice. Even the individual is split and can think one thing but do another, and he can feel still something else. This division itself has isolated a third factor that used to be a bridge between them, namely, the emotions and feelings and motives connected with them. These, being neglected, remain undeveloped and play no role in the organised secular world. Therefore, human motivations remain primitive while their knowledge and abilities make progress. This increasingly unbalanced state also continues to create increasing instability and psychological, social and environmental problems.
It is artists and entertainers who take up the emotional life of the community but these are often depraved and spread their depravity. Neurosis, psychosis and psychopathy are increasing as well as organic diseases and other malfunctions. Administrators, Managers, Counsellors, Social workers, Psychiatrists, and Agony Aunts are required in increasing numbers to deal with these. It is, therefore, not surprising that when the Roman Empire based on slavery and naive ideas of Justice brought cruelty and much suffering that Jesus should have come with the religion of Love as a counterbalance.
Unfortunately, the tendency of the human mind to ignore reality and to rationalise and attribute good motives to itself, slowed down the spread of this spiritual impulse and produced cruelty of its own. It made people pliable and exploitable by those who wished to dominate, control and exploit and Christianity was adopted by the Roman Empire for that reason. It also distorted it into mere sentimentality and, often, hysteria. An emphasis on reality, truth and knowledge was also necessary. A balanced state requires Compassion as well as Justice and Truth - a higher Unity.
Islam does not admit any such dichotomy or triads, though they may be conveniences of thought. It presents us with a fully unified, all comprehensive self-consistent system of life. This is achieved by centring it on Allah, the source of all things. The logic behind this is fairly simple. Since nothing that is isolated can have any effects on other things, it cannot be known by them or affect them. All existing things must interact to form a single system. To the extent to which things are disintegrated they will come into conflict or contradiction with each other. This destroys them or causes tensions (felt as suffering by beings). There is, therefore, a tendency towards an ideal state of order, a state of equilibrium.
It will, therefore, not be surprising that the Islamic idea on Politics, Economics, Science and Art are also different from that of the West. It is incompatible with Western systems because it recognises:- Divine Law as supreme; subordinates all actions and interactions and freedoms to an objective value system which is not based on human whim, expediency or the outcome of power struggles; regards ownership as a trust; bans usury on which Capitalism depends; requires all transactions to be carried out as partnerships or contracts and by mutual and equitable consent. It combines individualism with collectivism, rights with duty, authority with individual freedom in the notion of responsibility. Islam creates inner psychological unity rather than imposed organisational unity by equalising people and giving them a common goal and increasing understanding. It envisages a fluid, spiritual or organic system rather than a rigid mechanistic or formal one. The purpose of all things including Science, Art, Politics and Economics is to facilitate both human and environmental welfare and development.
The difference between the Islamic (IVS) and the Western (WVS) value Systems can be summarised as follows:- For Islam Spiritual and Psychological development is the primary aim. In effect this means the development of consciousness, conscience and will. The Social system must be arranged to serve the Spiritual System. The Economic System must be arranged to serve the Social System. The Western system is the reverse of this. The spiritual welfare is sacrificed to the social system, which is sacrificed to the economic system. It is supposed that this serves human selfishness. In fact, however, there is no physical self, but the body which dies. This idea of self is an illusion. The real Self cannot be other than that which makes us conscious and able. We cannot really be said to exist if we cannot affirm "I am", " I intend", "I do". The development of this capacity is certainly the way of coming into existence.
"Is he who was dead and We have quickened him (given him life), and made for him a light, wherein walks amongst men, like him whose likeness is one walking in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge? Thus is their conduct made seemly to the disbelievers." 6:123
It is because of the failure to recognise this fact, and the realisation that Islamic values are opposed to the Secular that those who sought to acquire, retain or increase personal wealth, power and pleasure were always opposed to Islam from the very beginning. Their strivings often succeeded in getting the upper hand externally in the world. But they were not able to destroy completely the inner faith, where of course lies the loyalty which constitutes the kingdom of God on earth. Nor do these ambitions render them immortal because they die and lose all they have acquired, though they realise it not.
There is once again a concerted effort, but this time a more powerful world wide one, to discredit and disable Islam. Satan, as predicted, is getting desperate. But spiritual evolution will inevitably continue because the degenerative forces are also self-destructive. The purposes of Allah cannot be flouted. But it is up to people whether they align themselves with the objective world process, the purposes of Allah or not.
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