One thing that
came out of the French Revolution and gained great popularity in the West is
the slogan "Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood". But these notions have
seldom if ever been examined closely and properly understood or intelligently
applied, and remain little more than slogans. In the West, especially the U.S.A
the emphasis is on freedom at the expense of the other two, and under communism
the emphasis was on equality at the expense of the other two. The principle of
brotherhood is not applied unless nationalism is understood in this way.
The Islamic
equivalent of these notions can be found in the following verse:-
"Verily, Allah commands
justice, benevolence, and liberality to kindred, and He forbids all shameful
deeds (lewdness, abomination, perversity) and wickedness (wrong, injustice,
oppression, rebellion); He exhorts you that haply ye may be mindful."
16:90
Here, though
kinship may be taken as equivalent to brotherhood, it is distinguished from
benevolence because it refers to a true relationship and therefore, to truth in
general. There should be no obstruction in the flow of resources (materials,
energy or information) between things that are naturally linked and have a
fundamental identity. We could read this verse as advocating "Justice,
Compassion, and Truth". These are the attributes of the Creator and His
commands and this gives them their justification. They have a far wider
significance than the French principles. They refer to all aspects of life, not
just the political. They also refer not only to what people may demand for
themselves, but also to their duty. Obviously, one cannot exist without the
other especially in a community based on free association that is not dominated
and controlled by another class, race or nation. The slogans of the French
revolution are a protest against such domination. However, it is not difficult
to see that Islam also contains these French principles as the following quotations
show:-
"O Mankind! Be careful of your
duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its
mate and from them twain has spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be
careful of your duty towards Allah in Whom you claim your rights of one
another, and towards the wombs that bare you. Lo! Allah has been a watcher over
you." 4:1 and 39:6
"There is no compulsion in
religion..." 2:256
"Persecution is worse than
killing...." 2:217
"And whoever defends himself
after he has suffered wrong - for such there is no blame. Blame is only against
those who oppress mankind, and wrongfully rebel in the earth." 42:41-42
"The believers are naught else
than brothers. Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty
to Allah that ye may haply obtain mercy." 49:10
"And those who answer the call
of their Lord and establish worship, and whose affairs are a matter of
consultation and who spend of what We have bestowed on them ( for others
)" 42:38
"O ye who believe! be ye
steadfast in justice, witnesses for Allah, though it be against yourselves, or
your parents, or your kindred, be it rich or poor, for Allah is nearer akin
than either. Follow not, then, lusts, so as to act unjustly (or with bias); but
if ye swerve or turn aside, Allah is well Aware of what you do." 4:135
The notion of
Justice removes the confusion about what is meant by equality. Obviously people
are not factually equal in size, strength, talents, the power of their
faculties, knowledge, virtue, the amount of efforts they make or in terms of
any characteristic that can be mentioned. Nor does equality mean similarity.
Though people have fundamentally the same characteristics and faculties, people
differ in the amount and strength to which they have them. One person may be
superior to another in one respect but inferior to him in another.
Circumstances also dictate which talents will be more or less useful. Justice
implies that the measuring device we use to measure things is the same for all.
People are equal before the Laws of nature and should be so before the laws
operating in human communities. But they are not equal within the Law. We
cannot measure one thing in terms of inches and another in terms of centimetres
and then expect to compare them. Justice means that we treat all things
similarly and dissimilarly in proportion to their similarity and dissimilarity.
The ability to
do Justice or to be Benevolent and to act according to Truth depends ultimately
on whether we have inner and outer freedom to do so. It is, therefore,
necessary to examine this concept in more detail. There appears to be a great
vagueness, confusion or downright superstition connected with the notion of
freedom. Many Americans and their admirers believe that this notion was
invented and implemented by Americans. The word "freedom" is used as
if it is a synonym for "good" or "virtue". Freedom is often
mistaken for license or self-indulgence.
In fact, since
we are discussing ethics, the "good" is the fundamental notion and we
have to determine whether "freedom" is good or not and under what
circumstances. It cannot itself be good, but good or evil according to how it
is used. No nation in the world, no matter how much they worship freedom,
allows complete freedom. It has laws regulating affairs and Laws exist to
restrict. No nation allows murder, theft, injury.
Absolute Freedom
is only possible for God, the Absolute. All other things, being limited and
relative, are restricted. They are restricted by the nature of the materials
they consist of, their structure and by the laws and forces operating in them.
Human beings are both enabled and restricted by the their genetic inheritance
and their experiences, and their capacity to make efforts which is restricted
by the formation of habits, addictions and obsessions and the conditioning
influence of the society and culture in which they are brought up. It is,
however, a basic fact about human beings, and probably about all things that
they strive to freedom in order to fulfil themselves. This self-fulfilment is
the real goal and freedom is a means to it. Restriction is universally
disliked, used as punishment (prisons), and sets up an opposite force, reaction
and rebellion. Restriction can , therefore, only be tolerated, if it can be
demonstrated that its imposition will produce greater benefits, and this may
interpreted as increasing freedom by counteracting other restricting factors.
All objects,
systems or organisms must be regarded as having two aspects, an inner which
causes them to behave according to their own internal organisation, and an
outer aspect, by reason of which they interact with, and are dependant on, a
greater system which also has its own organisation. It is a mistake to suppose
that any object is completely inert. There are different degrees of activity,
and the interaction depends on both the interacting objects and the whole of
which they are parts. There is, therefore, no absolute freedom. Freedom for a
system to behave according to its own nature depends on its adjustment to the
greater system.
The word
"freedom" has no meaning except in relation to its opposite,
"restriction". A thing left to itself in complete isolation may be
said to be absolutely free, but then there is nothing with respect to which it
has freedom - i.e. there is no relative freedom. Before creation there was only
Allah i.e. Absolute freedom. It is, therefore, probably correct to say (a) that
freedom is the original state to which all things strive to return; (b) that
freedom can only be attained by self-fulfilment which is the same thing as the
fulfilment of the function by reason of which they arose; (c) that a thing is
describable by characteristics which constitute a limit to their freedom. This
is also encapsulated in the Islamic Law that everything is allowed which is not
expressly forbidden. The reverse that nothing is allowed unless permitted is
not true.
Human Freedom is
limited by:-
(a) The laws and
processes of nature, The possibilities or impossibilities contained in their
situation.
(b) The inner
physiological and psychological organisation and their limitations.
(c) The
cultural, social and environmental conditioning they have undergone.
(d) The forces,
impressions, information coming from their social and material environment.
(e) The effects
and restrictions produced by other things in the environment, structures,
people, organisations and their rules.
(f) The
obligations and duties which a situation demands. If a person does not fulfil
these he will reap the lawful consequences. In this respect all human beings
are equal. Everyone is subject to precisely the same laws.
(g) The level of
functioning - mechanical reaction; automatisms and habit; the capacity for, the
desire to, and the direction of, reasoning; insight and inspiration.
There are three
factors involved in Freedom:- (a) an inner desire, (b) the availability of the
thing desired, and (c) the capability of reconciling these two. Freedom has no
meaning if there is no desire and no ability to fulfil it. Freedom can,
therefore, be obtained in three ways:- (a) By removing or modifying the desire;
(b) by increasing the availability of what is desired; and (c) by developing
the knowledge, skills and means to obtain desires. Freedom can be restricted by
the reverse process. One person can be happy with little and another can be
miserable with much. One can take pleasure in doing what is good and another
can be suffering because he cannot do what is evil. Education brings freedom
both by increasing the ability to fulfil desires and by modifying desires so
that they are more objective.
Human freedom,
therefore, depends on three factors:- material (environmental and economic),
social (political and cultural), and psychological (awareness, knowledge,
self-knowledge, ability, self-control, motivation, desire). Social conditions
affect both the inner and outer conditions. There is cultural pressure that
forms desires and values, cooperation in obtaining fulfilment of these desires,
and in changing the environment. A person, P1, conditioned in one way by one culture,
C1 will find their own culture quite natural but another culture, C2,
oppressive or abhorrent. But the person, P2, bought up in C2 may find the
reverse. Controversies of this kind tend to be futile since anyone can be
brought up to accept different things as normal.
Freedom is of
three kinds:- 'freedom of', 'freedom to do something', 'freedom from
something'. In general when people are inter-dependant the freedom of some
means restriction for others. The fulfilment of one desire means sacrifice of
another.
Freedom may be
restricted by:-
(a) Restraints (when
a person is prevented from doing something).
(b) Coercion (when
he is forced to do something).
(c) Violation (as
when something is done to someone).
(d) Deprivation
(removal of something which a person needs).
(e) Conditions
such as apathy and indifference, deception, incitement, provocation,
conditioning, perversion, lack of knowledge, capability and motivation.
There is
environmental, economic, social, political, cultural, psychological,
metaphysical freedom. As the communists have rightly pointed out, political
freedom has little meaning to those who do not have the means. The rich man has
greater freedom than the poor man, the educated than the uneducated, the
physically or mentally healthy than the ill, the capable and unconditioned than
the incapable and conditioned.
1. Metaphysical.
The notion of Free Will. Freedom is seen as meaning that a person's thought,
feelings and actions are undetermined by an external or internal cause. But if
this is so then it has no purpose or reason. If it is uncaused it is completely
arbitrary and related to nothing. It can only cause disorder. Human beings are
not and cannot be free in this sense. There are, what are known as random
events, some at the Quantum level. These are events for which we do not know
any causes or which we cannot calculate and predict. These are also attributed
to Allah. Obviously, we have no control over these either. Human beings
dependant on (a) their own inherent nature, (b) on each other commercially,
politically and culturally and (c) on the environment, its character and
resources - light, heat, other radiation, materials, energy, information. The
ideas and teachings that affect a person and determine his choices are, themselves,
causes. They get an input, they process this, and produce an output. This
constitutes an input for the environment which also processes it and produces
an output, which may become an input for man. Their actions affect their
environment, and their environment affects them. What they receive depends on
their action, and their action depends on what they receive. And both depend on
how they process the material, which depends on their nature, circumstances and
efforts. Nothing can be obtained without some kind of payment. Thus privileges
received depend on obligations discharged.
Though there is
no Free Will, there is both freedom and will. Freedom implies that there are
alternatives, though each requires a cause. Consider a bowl containing a
marble. This marble has the potentiality of moving in a number of different
directions and patterns, but the path it actually takes depends on the nature
of the cause. Will implies that the whole controls the part. When we lift our
arms, then it is perfectly possible to describe this movement by the laws of
physics, chemistry, biology and psychology. But the fact remains that we have
moved it for our own purposes. In the same way, the community as a whole may
determine the actions of the individual, and the actions of the community may
be determined by still higher forces coming from the biosphere, the planet, the
Cosmos and ultimately Allah.
2. Freedom to do
as one desires or likes. This definition also has problems:-
(a) Desires
often conflict with one another within oneself. The fulfilment of one is the
frustration of another.
(b) There is
outer conflict since the fulfilment of the desires of one person may be
obtained at the expense of frustration in another
(c) He who
desires to eat an apple when none are available is not free to do so. But if a
pear is available then he merely needs to change his desire for a pear and he
is free. It is not necessarily the case that fulfilment depends on outer
conditions.
(d) People can
be conditioned by the environment and the culture to desire or not to desire
certain things. They have a value system. There are a great number of acquired
tastes.
(e) People may
desire to harm others - they may want to rob, kill, injure and enjoy torturing.
This is not allowed by any society.
(f) A desire,
moreover, may conflict with what a person needs and is good for him. The harm
he does himself is certainly not desired, but abhorred. He may have habits and
cravings such as for sweets and alcohol that will harm him. Freedom may,
therefore, be obtained not only by fulfilling a desire but also by changing the
desire or the circumstances in which the desire and its fulfilment arise.
(g) A person
might want to gain some greater or more permanent good such as an education by
which he can get a better job or control his life better. In order to get this
he has to make sacrifices and undergo a discipline. This kind of
self-restriction is regarded as a virtue, while the inability to make
sacrifices or stick to a discipline is a vice.
(h) Co-operation
and organisation are undertaken for the good of the community as a whole, but
this involves restricting each individual. The benefits must be greater than
the sacrifice.
3. Freedom is
often seen as meaning the increase in the number of possible alternative
actions, the number of alternative situations and the ability to make
appropriate choices between them. If Freedom has meaning only with respect to a
desire, then given the correct situation appropriate to an inner condition, the
desire is fulfilled. All other alternatives are redundant. Animals have few
desires and exist in situations where they can fulfil them. But if conditions
change they cannot fulfil them. It all depends on their adaptability or
versatility. This is much greater in human beings. Greater variety of external
situations may be required in a community because the variation between people
is great, and each requires different situations to fulfil desires. Inner
versatility may be required because (a) environmental conditions are constantly
changing, (b) human beings have to change conditions (c) and they have to deal
with or migrate to an increasing number of new conditions. This may be because
of the pressure of an expanding population or the social pressures for progress
or increasing awareness of responsibilities. All this requires adaptation and
depends on inner psychological factors.
4. The Political
idea of 'freedom' is the right to self-determination, without interference from
the State, dictators, power groups or other people. It is generally understood
as the right of the citizen to act according to his own desires, right or
wrong, This is, however, never achieved and cannot be wholly achieved. States
always pass laws that restrict or compel people. They also affect the material
and economic conditions and exert psychological effects by the control of
information and use of propaganda. In fact, nations are becoming increasingly
more organized in an increasing number of the various aspects of life, and this
means that there is an increasing number of laws, rules and regulations. As
building and ownership of land proceeds there is increasing loss of the freedom
of movement. Organization is hierarchical so that there is increase in power at
the top at the expense of power at the bottom. But the power at the top must
also be curbed. People are being controlled not only physically, but also in
mind and spirit (in consciousness and perception, conscience, motives and in
will). Civilization appears to mean increasing manipulation, regimentation,
indoctrination and conditioning of people. The organism revolts against these
restrictions and this manifests itself in licentiousness, loss of
self-discipline, self-indulgence in sensuality, materialism, whims and in
frivolous, purposeless and erratic appetites and in impulsive, obsessional and
hysterical behaviour. Freedom is an ideal to be aimed at as far as possible
rather than an actual state. Some systems are better than others in this
respect.
The Communists,
on the other hand, define freedom from the economic point of view. The poor and
the economically oppressed, they point out, have no freedom. Freedom, however,
is restricted also by other material conditions. The conditions in a hot
desert, rain forests, and the icy poles, for instance, exert their own
pressures and compulsions. So do the factory environments and the cities. You
cannot get from one place to another without taking complicated routes,
avoiding buildings, obeying traffic signals and tolerating the noise and
congestion. It is also restricted by mental conditioning either deliberately by
states and interest groups through propaganda, advertisement, and publicity
techniques or by social and cultural pressures. Methods of deliberately
manipulating information by selection, suppression, distortion, invention,
biased interpretation, reorganisation, changing contexts, exaggeration,
reduction and simplification are also used. All these restrict
self-determination.
However,
self-determination ought to mean that a person himself assesses the external
situation, his inner needs and abilities, himself decides how he can relate the
two, acts accordingly and takes the responsibility for the consequences. He,
therefore, has the duty to acquire the information and skills and to change the
circumstances. Islam also requires this kind of freedom:-
"O ye who believe! Ye have
charge of your own souls." 5:105
5. The state of
desirelessness and absence of all inner and outer compulsions. A man may go the
mountain top and feel this complete freedom. A state of ecstasy is associated
with it. This is why some drugs are used and techniques have been invented to
reproduce these feelings. The fulfilment of a need also produces this joy. It
cannot be denied that all human actions, whether spiritual, social or material
have exactly the same purpose, to attain this state of freedom and happiness.
Some try to do this in the material world through possessions, technology and
organisation; some through cultural means, the sciences, arts and
entertainment, and others through drugs or techniques such as meditation.
However, the feeling is brief since man is only a part of the world, dependant
on it, and has a function with respect to it. It is not possible to attain a
permanent state until the function is fulfilled and external, social and
internal harmony is achieved permanently. Things in the world keep changing and
a person also keeps changing by the very fact that he is alive. Desires are
often misinterpreted, so that the desire pursued is not necessarily the one
that will lead to happiness. When false goals are pursued or needs are
misinterpreted then the result is frustration, which causes an increase in the
desire to fulfil them. But again, having misinterpreted the need frustration
increases. We get a vicious circle, which creates an obsession as well as
exhaustion and, because the need has not been fulfilled, malfunctions,
degeneration, and disease. Correct awareness is required. A desire may also be
simply an inner compulsion or automatism which is not freedom and both its
operation and its fulfilment produce suffering.
6. A state of
identification. Human beings are made for action. If they do not act they
deteriorate. They can do what is good or what is bad. If they do not like what
is good and are compelled to do so then this is felt as a restriction of
freedom. If, however, they desire and like to do what is good then they enjoy
it and there is no restriction of freedom. A scientist or artist who loves his
work does not find it irksome. It is often thought that evil exists because it
is enjoyable while the good is difficult because it is not. But this can be
reversed by the cultivation of correct attitudes. This is precisely the
function of religions. The fact is that the Universe and human nature have a
certain structure such that certain actions will harm or benefit man. Freedom
ultimately can only mean the ability to fulfil oneself. The point of interest
is not so much that desires exist and that their fulfilment creates pleasure
and happiness, but what and why they do so. It has a purpose. The purpose of
the pleasure associated with eating and sex is to maintain life and reproduce.
It is not the pleasure but these purposes that are important and the pleasure
is a side effect.
Since man is
interdependent with the environment this requires three things:- Correct (a)
environmental conditions (b) social conditions. (c) inner conditions. The inner
conditions consist of (i) knowing what is beneficial, (ii) having the inner
motivation and desires to obtain it, (iii) having the ability and skills. Thus
oppression, in Islam, refers only to social conditions that prevent a person
from fulfilling himself. This may consist of coercion; restriction of action,
speech and social intercourse; mental conditioning; the withdrawal or
distortion of information, materials and other means. The duty to improve the
inner conditions will of themselves lead to the improvement of the outer
material conditions.
"Allah changes not the
condition of a folk until they first change what is in their hearts."
13:11
No matter how
the political or material conditions are changed, people will change them
according to their own nature. They change the outer conditions according to
(a) how they interpret events (b) by their behaviour and actions and (c) much
more directly by the kind of substances and radiation they absorb, transform
and emit.
7. Psychological
freedom. This is of greatest importance as the social and environmental
freedoms depend on it. Apathy, stupidity and cowardice produce social slavery.
The greatest source of disability is inner compulsions, obsessions, addictions,
antipathies, phobias, fantasies, self-deception, rationalisations, hypocrisy,
repression, reductionism, exaggeration, projection, introjection, displacement,
identification, distortion, mechanicalness, habituation, conditioning,
fixations, complexes, gullibility, cynicism, compensations, and disintegration
and so on. Islam is concerned primarily with freedom and power at this level.
The other kinds of freedom are a means to this end. Human beings can obtain
freedom from these by identification with Allah. Surrender to Allah is wholly
liberating since it means detachment from everything else.
In order to
fulfil human potentialities and purpose three things are necessary:- freedom,
discipline and guidance. Freedom and power are related terms, and both are
judged by the purpose. But the word 'power' is ambiguous. It could mean
personal power e.g. abilities or social power, that is power over others, or
power over things in the material environment. They are not the same, though
the one may facilitate the other. Power over others may, for instance, be
derived from organisation, wealth or prestige, rather than from ability. Power
to manipulate material things depends on means (e.g. possession of wealth), on
social power through organisation, on technology, on knowledge, and ultimately
on power over ones own faculties. The possession of these is regarded as
bestowing equivalent responsibilities on the owner. Needless to say Islam is
interested in the development of personal powers. Social power is
self-contradictory since the increase in the power of one person is
proportional to the loss of power in others. It may well be the case that the
concentration of power in the hands of the few highly able men produces greater
benefits, but not necessarily so. It may be used to do evil, or it may obstruct
the development of powers in others. Thus, though Islam recognises the
existence of, and the benefits of social power, these are regarded as gifts of
Allah, which bestow responsibility. A person has power within a community
because of that community and should use it to benefit that community.
Hierarchies, of course, exist also among animals. They exist because this
bestows an evolutional function.
Freedom is
necessary for the individual, not only to fulfil his needs - and who else can
know them better or has more interest in them, or can control them, than the
individual himself - but also in order to fulfil his potentialities. It is also
socially desirable since the achievements of the individual benefit the rest of
society both directly and through encouragement. However, it must not be
mistaken for license. Freedom carries a risk. It can be used for both good and
evil. The evil is the payment for the privilege. But if the evil increases,
measures have to be taken by the society, the greater system, to reduce it
through external means; that is, through laws, organisation and various forms
of coercion. Freedom is thereby reduced. It is, therefore, clear that Freedom
can only be maintained where there is also self-discipline. We only have a
choice between three alternatives:-
1. Chaos and
suffering, 2. External Coercion either by the State or Foreign domination, and
3. Self-discipline.
Freedom may be
classified as that of action, movement, choice, speech, thought, discussion,
association and gathering, organisation, consultation, making transaction and
agreements, seeking to fulfil ones needs, defence of ones interests, seeking knowledge
and cultivating ones abilities, utilising ones talents, creativity, initiative
and enterprise. These can, however, be used for beneficial or harmful purposes
and the later are forbidden. As long as an individual is isolated this freedom
can neither be curtailed nor presents any problems. It is only because people
are inter-dependant that the question of rights and duties has arisen, and
these two are inter-connected. The question of freedom has become a problem
particularly because of the unjust distribution of power and wealth that also
leads to unjust distribution of information. and this depends on the way the
society is organised. We say unjust, not unequal. This is because different
people have naturally different capacities to generate it and to use it
usefully. In a political system organised on Islamic principles there should be
no such problem. The fact that all the States in Muslim countries are
tyrannical to various degrees merely shows how far the Muslims have strayed
away from their true path.
Islam did
tolerate slavery because it was a fact of the time and because it was a way of
dealing with prisoners of war. If the enemy was the aggressor (and Islam does
not allow aggression but self-defence) then it was a way of making the enemy pay
for their aggression and the destruction they did as well as a deterrent. Note,
however, that a Muslim is called "a slave of Allah" and is not to be
a slave of anyone else.
Islam requires
the freeing of slaves, though they should not be suddenly released to fend for
themselves without means and without considering the economic consequences as
was done in the USA.
Slaves were released under Islam and attained high ranks. The Quran has the
following to say about slaves:-
"Righteousness is not that ye turn your
faces towards the East or the West, but it is righteousness to believe in
Allah, and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers, and
to spend of your wealth for love of Him, for your kindred, and orphans, and the
needy, and the wayfarer, for those who ask, and to ransom those in
captivity.........." 2:177
"And what will explain to thee the ascent?
It is freeing captives (prisoners, slaves)..."90:12-13
"And serve Allah; associate nothing with
Him; show kindness to parents, and to kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and
to the neighbour who is a kin, and the neighbour who is a stranger, and the
fellow traveller, and the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess
(slaves). Verily, Allah loves not him who is proud and boastful..." 4:36
"It is not for a believer to kill a
believer save by mistake; and whosoever kills a believer by mistake then let
him free a believing slave and compensation must be paid to his people, unless
they remit it as charity. But if he be from a tribe hostile to you and yet a
believer, then let him free a believing slave. And if he comes from a people
betwixt whom and you there is an alliance, then let the compensation be paid to
his folk and let him also free a believing slave. But he who cannot find the means,
then let him fast for two consecutive months - a penance this from Allah, for
Allah is Knower, Wise." 4:92
"Allah will not take you to task for the
unintentional (or futile) word in your oaths (or promises), but He will take
you task for oaths ye swear in earnest. The expiation thereof is to feed ten
poor men with the average food ye feed your families with, or to clothe them,
or to free a slave..." 5:89
"And let those who cannot find a match
keep chaste until Allah gives them means from His grace. And if any of your
slaves asks for a Deed in writing (an agreement to purchase their freedom),
write it for them if ye know any good in them; yea, give them something
yourselves from out of the wealth Allah has given you. But force not your slave
girls to prostitution when they desire chastity, in order to make a gain in
goods of this world. But if any one compels them, then, after they are
compelled, verily, Allah will be to them (the slave girls) Forgiving,
Merciful...." 24:33
"But if those who divorce their wives by
Zihar and then wish to recall what they said, they should free a captive
(slave) before they touch each other; to this are you admonished to conform;
and Allah is Aware of what you do." 58:3
However, as
indicated above, there are many kinds of slavery. Slavery is a much wider
subject than is normally discussed, has many subtle but much more insidious and
dangerous forms and is much more widespread than is commonly realized.
It can be shown
that that far from having been abolished a much more virulent form of this
disease is overtaking the world, spreading from the West. Egotism, ambition and
materialism, Slavery of Type A, are causing psychologically, socially and
physiologically destructive rivalries and struggles for wealth, power and prestige.
But these propagate and are propagated by social conditioning, Slavery of Type
B, through the media of communication by advertisement, shop displays,
publicity agents, radio television, magazines, various game shows and
competitions, in short by the whole culture. The ambition so created lead
further to borrowing money and life long slavery to finance companies. This is
Slavery of Type C.
In order to
repay these people, the borrowers must earn money by selling themselves to the
large industrial and commercial corporations. These not only own and dictate
their time and actions, but also their thoughts, motives, interactions, ranks
and their values and conscience as well. It is the Companies that create the
personality and the image it projects. They increasingly dictate what clothes
and uniforms the employees will wear, what friends they have, who they marry,
what kind of houses they have, where they go on holidays, what kinds of sloganised
thoughts they have, and how they conduct themselves. They employee is
increasingly regimented, trained into robotic behaviour deprived of his
individuality and made to conform to a standard with exclusive loyalty to a
company or firm all for the sake of increase in profits. We now have Slavery of
Type D. The work people do is not determined by themselves as to suitability or
health, but by instruction from a source remote from the work place which has
little knowledge of the situation. Stresses and strains, therefore, increase
causing all kinds of psychological, psycho-somatic and organic diseases, and by
debilitating the immune system, all kinds of infectious diseases. Attempts are
made to cure these with drugs which suppress the symptoms leaving the causes to
make things worse. We have Slavery of Type E. These stresses lead to the desire
for ever more bizarre forms of psychological release and entertainment. We get
Slavery of Type F.
These
requirements for entertainment and pleasure, as well as those for counteracting
disease, and for paying back debts, add to the costs of living. This together
with the original materialism and desire to outdo the neighbours ensures the
long hours of work needed to earn a sufficient income. But these long hours of
work and the need for outside entertainment tend to destroy domestic life where
love, security and significance are found and relaxation and recuperation could
take place. This adds to the tension that requires the entertainment and the
desire for goods as a substitute for love, significance and security, thereby
creating a vicious circle, a prison in which people become trapped. We have
Slavery of Type G. It is not possible to escape the system because any
non-conformity leads to dismissal and unemployment. The employees must please
and obey their superiors because their fate is in their hands. They could be
dismissed and find no other employment because other employers demand a good
report from previous employers. We have Slavery of Type H.
All this is made
unprecedentally much more dangerous than in the past because people are not
only unaware of their slavery and so do not do anything to counteract it, but
most accept it as normal and even like their slavery. And the masters are in no
better position. They have been equally conditioned and because they owe their
position to the system, often having risen in the ranks through the system,
they wish to maintain it. We now have Slavery of Type I. The System maintains
itself and controls affairs using human beings as agents. Human beings have no
control over it.
May be that
if Islam grows sufficiently strong it can change all this.