Inner Voice

Inner Voice75%

Inner Voice Author:
Publisher: www.alhassanain.org/english
Category: Fundamentals Of Religion
ISBN: 978-1519224347

Inner Voice
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Inner Voice

Inner Voice

Author:
Publisher: www.alhassanain.org/english
ISBN: 978-1519224347
English

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

Chapter 38: On Greed

“And when they are told, ‘Spend ye of (the bounties) with which God has provided you, the unbelievers say to those who believe: ‘Shall we then feed those whom, God would have fed Himself if He had so willed? You are in nothing but manifest Error:” (Qur’an, 36:47).

Greed is the rather fundamental evil. All these litigation, all these dis-putes, all these conflicts, are nothing but a manifestation of greed. Greed, basically a personal evil, has gradually been extended to national, and then international, affairs. These wars, whether hot or cold; these races of armament; these international intrigues; these power blocks, what is their real reason? An uncontrollable greed to dominate the world!

Islam trains a man to subdue his greed to the greater benefit of man-kind. It has forbidden “interest” and thus abolished the system of earn-ing money from money. Islamic society cannot tolerate an economic sys-tem based upon taking and giving interest. If you have money to spare, give it without any worldly motive, just for the sake of pleasing Allah by helping his creatures. Do not follow those unbelievers who refused to help poor on the pre text that God could have given them wealth, had He wanted so. They have been condemned in the verse quoted above. Do not take a share in that condemnation by acting like them!

Alms and Zakaat are another method of subduing the undesirable greed. Ameer-ul-Momeneen Ali bin Abi Talib has said: “O son of Adam. Whatever thou earneth above thy needs, thou art just its treasurer for others”. The world will become a paradise, if mankind heeds to this eth-ical code and changes its attitude accordingly. Also he has said: “Whatever poverty and distress in this world, is owing to the greed of rich men who do not comply with the rules laid down by Islam about their financial obligations”.

Division of inheritance is another method by which Islam compels Muslims to distribute the wealth accumulated during a lifetime. The Qur’an lays down the detailed rules of its distribution among heirs. But it does not become silent after this. It says that if any poor person is present, give something to him also.

The Holy Prophet has said: “Allah says, ‘The poor are my dependants, the rich my agents; if my agents will not give to my dependents their due I shall put them in Hell and I shall not care for them”.

Let us root out the ‘greed’ from our hearts. Only then this would will be a place to live upon.

Chapter 39: On Envy

“Do they envy people for what God hath given them of His bounty”? (Qur’an Chapter 4: verse 54).

Envy is the third basic evil; and itself is a product of pride, greed and anger. It is the most foolish of all evils. Every evil has some attraction to catch the eyes of mankind, except envy. It has no immediate or long-term benefit, no comfort, no sweetness. On the contrary, an envious man burns his own heart, wastes his own time thinking why God has given such bounties to my neighbor, and keeps awake the whole night imagin-ing that neighbor as ruined. But all this wishful thinking affects nobody but his own psychology and health. It is a fire which burns the fire-maker only.

The inner layers of envy are worth studying. Why a man indulges in this most futile exercise? Does he think that God should consult him be-fore bestowing His grace upon someone else? Does he imagine that he is a partner of God, and that nothing, especially no good, should happen on the Earth without his consent? If not so, then why so much heart-burning on the decisions of God? On the other hand, does he think that God’s grace is a limited quantity which must be taken away from one to give to another. If not so, then why envy your relatives or friends? Why not ask God to bestow His grace upon you also as He has done with them?

Envy ruined Satan when he began burning his heart on the status of Adam. It destroyed Cain when he became envious of his own brother Abel. Therefore, the Holy Prophet has said: “Envy eats away the good deeds as fire eats away the wood”.

Islam has prescribed a medicine for this spiritual sickness: love. It shows the way towards the Love of God through the love of His creatures. The best person in the eyes of God is that who is the best for the creatures of God.

It also emphasizes that the real grace and bounty is not that of this world. The bounty and grace in the life-hereafter is the real one. There-fore, you should not make the comforts of this would ultimate goal of your life. Your aim must be the ‘Eternal Grace of God’. That grace cannot be obtained by envy; it may be obtained by love. Love of God, love of His Prophet, love of the family of the prophet, love of your parents and your relatives, love of your neighbors, love of your brothers in religion, love of your fellow human beings - these are some aspects of love which are stressed by Islam, to make a man free from envy and spite. Let the ‘love’ conquer ‘envy’, and be a real Muslim.

Chapter 40: Most Dangerous Disease

Satisfaction with one’s spiritual performance is one of the most danger-ous diseases of soul. What are the symptoms of this disease? The patient has a feeling that he has got the monopoly of the spiritual perfection and no one else is worthy of the mercy of God. According to his thinking, whatever is done by him is always correct and justified; and whatever is done by others is always based on wrong motive and, therefore, wrong.

For example: if he remains aloof from public, it is because he likes to avoid the chances of sin and mistake. If other are aloof, it is because they are proud. If he mixes with the people, it is because he loves the children of God. If others mix with the masses, it is because they want to ensure their political future. If he berates a man, it is because it is his divine duty to point out that man’s mistakes to him. If others do the same, it is be-cause they are prejudiced against that man. If he commits a mistake, it is because to err is human. If others commit the same sin, it is because they are ignorant and irreligious. If he sleeps, it is because the body needs some rest. If others sleep, it is because they are lazy.

When a soul is caught in this invisible snare of Satan, only the Mercy of Allah can save it from eternal disgrace.

Chapter 41: On Extravagancy

“Verily, God is not pleased with the extravagants”. (Qur’an 7:31).

There is a marriage in the neighborhood. The parties belong to middle class. They cannot afford a big feast; they cannot afford the pomp and show. But oh, the strange twists of “inferiority complex”! They want to appear more prosperous than they are. Their trend of thought “What will ‘the people’ say if we did not do this, or did not do that? The ‘name of the family’ should not be allowed to be tarnished by our poverty”. And so, to ‘save the name of the family’, the poor people spend more than they can afford reasonably.

It is just one example. This evil is not limited to the special functions only. In fact, it has become the accepted norm of life in these days. Cars are purchased - on hire-purchase, of course - where a cycle would serve the same purpose. Nylon and silk is used when the cotton clothes may prove more comfortable. Watches are worn by people who have all the time in the world at their disposal. Typewriters are considered a neces-sity for a man who writes no more than two letters in a week. These ex-amples are not imaginary.

And what is the result of this spending beyond limit? The first thing is that God is displeased. And his displeasure manifests itself in many ways. Usually there is no money when it is needed most: rent of the house becomes overdue, prompting the landlord o serve notice of evic-tion; family grocer grumbles that his bills are not paid in time, so he will not give any thing except by cash; the doctor gently reminds that his ac-counts must be settled without delay. And so on. But there is no money to meet these demands. It has already been over-spent on ‘face-saving items’.

There is only one remedy: Think twice before spending money. There is a test to decide, whether the thing you intend to purchase is actually a ‘necessity’. Is your work suffering without it? Are you experiencing actu-al difficulty without it? If so, go ahead and take it. If not, forget it.

Chapter 42: Generosity and Miserliness

“And spend in the way of Allah and put not yourselves into destruction by your own hands”. (Qur’an, 2:192).

Not spending in the way of Allah, i.e., being miser is, according to the Qur’an, tantamount to self-destruction. There are four types of people so far as generosity is concerned:-

1. First come those who ignore their own needs and comforts and spend whatever they have to help others. This is the highest stage of human generosity, which reflects the divine virtue: God needs nothing and sustains every creature.

2. Then are those who spend to satisfy their own needs as well as to help others. They are ‘beloved of Allah’, and may be sure of His Grace in both worlds.

A Muslim is exhorted to reach at least this standard, if not the first one.

3. Now we leave the boundary of generosity and come to those whose only ambition is to satisfy their own desires without caring about the plight of others. They are ‘enemies of God’; they feel no compassion for others, how can they expect any mercy on the Day of Judgment!

4. But the worst kind of niggards are those who do not spend even for their own necessities. Such people neither deserve nor get any love from anyone. As Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq explained, “such persons practice misery as a safeguard against some imagined future adversity. It is ironic to see them inflicting upon themselves by their own hands the same hardships which they are guarding against. What a fool he is? He collects the money by hook or crook, lives in a wretched condition, earns the displeasure of God, is despised by his fellows; and when he dies, the heirs spend that ill-gotten money extravagantly in pursuit of their sinful ambitions. The miser does not get any benefit from his wealth and earns the condemnation of God for his miserliness..and, as if that was not enough, gets his share in the punishment of the heirs also”.

Chapter 43: Islamic Generosity

“Be generous as Allah is generous to thee” (Qur’an:Chapter 28 Verse 77)

It is the foundation of Islamic generosity. Allah gave us every thing, right from our very existence up to the highest place of honor in His presence in the life hereafter. Our natural instinct demands that we should express our gratitude towards Him - in words as well as in ac-tions. Prayers prescribed by religion serve the purpose of saying ‘Thank you’ to Him? The verse of Qur’an quoted above shows us the way. It is by services of humanity that we can show our gratitude towards Allah.

Naturally, it follows that, when we help any person, we should not do it in expectation of any return or any thanks from the beneficiary. On the contrary, we must be thankful to him that by accepting our help, he gave us a chance to demonstrate our gratitude to our Creator. Virtue is its own reward because it satisfies our natural urge to manifest our thank-fulness towards Allah.

This, according to Islam, must be our attitude when we are helping others. But what is our obligation when we are on the receiving end of the aid? Islam teaches us that we must be thankful, in the first place, to Allah; because He is the actual source of help. And then we should be thankful to that man whom Allah made His agent in that help. Thus all persons who were instrumental in that help must be thanked sincerely. The Holy Prophet has said: “He who did not thank people, did not thank Allah.”

A recent incident has reminded me how far the world is vet from real religion tenets. In last few days, there was much hue and cry about Na-tional Service. Had our society been based upon above mentioned mutu-al respect and co-operation, as taught by religion, such things would have been impossible. The nation would have helped the students without any expectation of repayment in any form. But the students, on the other hand, would have insisted that they should be given a chance to prove their appreciation of, and gratitude towards, nation for the help given in time of need. How inspiring would have it been to see the na-tion, poor as it is, giving education to its youth, without feeling the ne-cessity of reminding him of his obligations; and then to see that youth, not shouting against the representatives of nation, but insisting that he, on his own accord, would serve the nation on a nominal pay and donate the balance to nation, not for two years only but so long as the full ex-penses incurred during his education are not reimbursed.

Let us pray a time comes when this vision remains a vision no longer; when not the conflict of interests, as taught by materialism, but sincere co-operation, as taught by religion, becomes the basis of society.

Chapter 44: True Charity

“And whatever you give, verify God knows it well”. (Qur’an: 3:92).

Charity is no just doling out some cash or material to a needy person. It involves far deeper feeling and far more subtle psychological attitude. Sincerity of purpose is the soul of charity. Unfortunately charity has be-come one of the most misunderstood virtues in our time. Industrial pro-gress and commercial environment of modern society has degraded charity into a medium of business propaganda. How many times do we see an advertisement for a charitable cause which ends with line “space kindly donated by M/s. xyz”?

According to Islam, a charity must be only for the sake of God, without any shade of worldly motive. Islam condemns “those who spend their wealth to show to the people” (Qur’an, 2:264).

Such baseless charity has been described to be “like a hard barren rook on which is a little soil; on it falls heavy rain and leaves it just a bare stone” (Qur’an, 2:264).

The second condition to remember is that a charity must be of such a thing which we have earned lawfully. Qur’an says: “Give of the good things which you have honorably earned”. Mass psychology may have an awe for the tactics of Robin Hood: but religion cannot glorify or en-dorse such methods. It follows that only such charity is real charity in Islamic language. A handful of rice given with our own free will for God is more valuable in Islam than a shipload given under compulsion or for worldly motives.

And what can be given in charity. Qur’an says:

“Never shall you attain righteousness unless you give freely of that which you love”. (Qur’an, 3: 92).

So this is the test of the real charity: Do you give something that you value greatly? If you give you life for a cause, that is the greatest gift you can offer. Next in degree are your personal efforts, your talents, your skill, and your learning. Then come the charities involving your earn-ings, your property and your possessions. There are other aspects of charity in which you sacrifice the well-being of your near and dear ones, or your near and dear ones, or your position, or reputation.

Whatever the form of your charity, it is the unselfishness which God demands; and whatever you give verily God knows it well.

Chapter 45: Both Worlds

“Our Lord! Give us good in this world, and good in the hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the fire”. (Qur’an 11:20).

Our life in this world has a direct bearing upon our life hereafter (Akherat). The Holy Prophet (S.A.) has said: “This world is the farm field of the life hereafter”. The ultimate purpose of farming is the harvest. Any nobody can expect any harvest if he has neglected the farming. Like-wise the main aim of our life in this world is to be prepared for the blessings, in the life hereafter. There may be toils and hard times during the period when a farmer is engaged in cultivation. But, the joyful expectation of the golden harvest overcomes every sorrow. Likewise, there may be af-flictions and hardships in our life in this world; but the pleasant waiting for the life hereafter helps a Muslim to bear all difficulties with content.

We are not encouraged to put aside the responsibilities of this world if we are to obtain the benefits of the life hereafter. It will be just like neg-lecting the farm and hoping that the harvests will be good. In fact, our worth cannot be put to test if we leave this world and its complications. The Holly Prophet (S.A.) has said: “He is not from me who leaves this world for Akherat, nor he who leaves Akherat for this world”. Both should be given due attention. That is why Allah commands those who seek the blessings of Allah in this world as well as in the life here after.

Good neighbors, faithful family, obedient children, just livelihood - these are some examples of the blessings of the God in this world. These blessings help us to perform our duties towards Allah, towards His creatures, and towards ourselves. Thus these blessing become instru-mental in seeking the blessing of Allah in Akherat (life hereafter). Paradise is just one of the blessing of Akherat. The most im-portant thing, in the eyes of Islam, is ‘the pleasure of God’. Qur’an says:

“And the pleasure of Allah is the greatest (bliss)” (Qur’an 9:72).

Chapter 46: Love of This World

“It has been made to seem attractively fair in the eyes of men the love of desire for women, and sons and the hoarded treasures of gold and silver, and horses branded (for blood and excellence) and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land; such are the possession of this world’s life; while in nearness to God is the best of the goals”. (Qur’an, 3:14).

The word, used in this verse are to be carefully noted. Mark the words ‘love of desire’, which refers to the mad passion to own things for the sake of owning them.

Things necessary for life must be owned, and it has never been con-demned in Islam. As another verse of the Qur’an says: “Say, Who hath forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of God which He hath produced for His servants, and the things clean and pure for sustenance?”

In fact what is undesirable is the mad attachment of human beings to the material things which makes them slaves of luxury and which makes parting with them painful. When a man reaches that stage, his whole be-ing revolves around materialism and he forgets God and His love. Islam does not demand total annihilation of emotions in man; it demands that the man should keep the emotions duly subjugated to the higher aims of the moral and ethical perfection.

Actually it is far more difficult to control passion rather than annihilate it. One has to own the good things which are necessary and comforting for his life; but at the same time, he should be free from unnecessary at-tachment to them; so that when a demand is made to part with them in,

the higher causes of religion or human compassion, he parts with them without any hesitation.

As a Muslim saint said to one of his disciple, “Son, if you want to be a fly, be a fly which sits on sugar; but, for God’s sake, don’t by a fly which sits on honey. Because, a fly sitting on sugar leaves it the moment it wants; but a fly which sits on honey becomes imprisoned in it, unable to leave it and dies miserably”.

Chapter 47: Humility

“And the servants of Most Gracious God are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant people address them, they say: ‘Peace’. (Qur’an; 25:63).

This verse of the Holy Book shows the best way to deal with such stubborn fools who thrive on their ignorance. The true believers are to ignore them.

The same idea has been stressed upon in another verse: “And when they hear vain talk, they turn away there from and say ‘To us our deeds, and to you your deeds; peace be to you, we seek not the ignorants” (28:55).

The men of low society can never forgive any slight - real or imagin-ary. But a really big man can afford to ignore his detractors. In fact, it is not weakness; it is the sign of great strength.

And as the true faith is the greatest power, the believer can easily ig-nore the invective of unbelievers.

The ignorant unbelievers want to involve the believers in their illogical arguments; the believers should refuse to be dragged in such vain talks, saying that we do not want to have any connection with ignorant per-sons. After all, it is not possible to rectify each and every absurdity in this vast world.

The ideal discussion is that which is held with an intention to reach at the truth, without prejudice and without conceit. Such a dialogue is wel-come in Islam. But if a stubborn ignorant tries to drag a believer in base-less arguments, not to seek the truth, but to show how wise he is, the Qur’an advises to ignore him completely.

Chapter 48: Amr-Bil-Maaroof

“And from among you there should be a group who invite good and en-join what is right and forbid the wrong; and they only shall be successful. (Qur’an; 3:103).

Exhorting others to be virtuous is one of the most important duties of a Muslim. A society can progress in right direction so long as there are people in it who know the right path and who are willing to show it to others. Otherwise, the whole caravan may perish in a beastly jungle of anarchy and infidelity.

But before enjoining others to do good and resist from evil, one should himself adhere to the tenets of religion faithfully. Otherwise, the Qur’an will ask: “Why do you speak of a thing which you yourself do it not” So this duty of inviting others to righteousness compels a man to be right-eous himself.

And how that exhortation is to be carried out Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Call unto the way of the Lord with wisdom and kind preaching; and argue with them in the best manner”. (16:25).

This was the method used by the Holy Prophet of Islam and his true followers to spread the message of Islam and to teach people the real sig-nificance of religion.

An interesting story is told of an old man in Medina who was engaged in ablution (Wudhu) for his prayer. Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (A.S.) (the grandsons of the Holy Prophet, (S.A) and of tender age at that time) realized that the man does not know the correct method of ablu-tion. They wanted to correct him; but at the same time did not like to offend his feelings. So they approached him and told: “We are two brothers and we want you to be the judge between us as whose ablution is correct”. When the old man agreed, the children proceeded to perform their ablution, in the most perfect way. The old man was watching them intently. He had to: he was to judge. Soon it dawned upon him that the children, in their kind and gentle manner, were teaching him. He ex-claimed: “You both are correct. It was I who was wrong”.

The old man learnt his lesson. But this episode will continue to show the preachers also how to preach.

Chapter 49: The Best ‘Jihad’

“The best ‘Jihad’ (religious war) is to say the truth in the presence of a tyrant ruler”. (The Holy Prophet)

The condition of a society can easily be judged by the attitude of its members towards each other. If the members care enough for each other to exhort each other to act righteously, the society is healthy. When the attitude changes to that of “Why should I bother?” the society begins its funeral march. As the society shuts its eyes from the individual’s behavi-or, the bad elements gradually become bold. Then comes a time when they start glorifying their evil action.

For this purpose, high-sounding phrases are coined. Nakedness is called ‘natural condition’. Lie becomes ‘political talk’, brothels are labeled ‘night dubs’, gambling dens are named, ‘recreation centers, for-nication becomes ‘indiscretion’, and hijacking and kidnapping political necessities.

Was is waged to ‘stop the wars’, bombs are dropped on civilians to ‘save their lives’. Countries are attacked to ‘save their freedom’, hateful methods are used to ‘create a harmonious society”

It was to avoid this type of situation that “enjoining what is good and forbidding what is wrong” has been emphasized in Islam. It is the corner stone of Shariah which strengthens the whole structure of religion.

Chapter 50: Chaos in World

“Chaos has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned; that God may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from evil): (Qur’an: Chapter 30, verse 41).

Chaos in social system, chaos in political life, chaos in law and order, chaos in the moral and ethical values - in short, there is chaos every-where; and God says that it has appeared as a result of man’s own misbehavior.

This world of ours is full of contradictions. Our actions contradict our words; our aims are believed by our ways and means; our language says we are Muslims, our deed shows us to be pagan. We spend countless months and years in disarmament conferences; and spend countless mil-lions and billions on armament race. We invent more effective medicines to prolong the life of man; and then invent more effective bombs to end his life immediately. We could not make this earth place worth living in, but we want to reach to moon to make it inhabitable. We send good-will missions to other countries, for the purpose of spying on hem.

We declare that liquor is the cause of a large proportion of the motor accidents, yet we have done nothing to confiscate the licenses of the drinking people. We say that drunkenness is the-enemy of nation, it is a cause of the wastage of so much money and so much man -power, that it ruins the health and family life of so many people; therefore, we appeal to them to refrain from this bad habit; then we allow beverage compan-ies to function in our land and propagate the so-called ‘virtues” of their wine among the ignorant people.

Our hypocrisy has brought chaos on this earth; we have been left by God to taste the fruit of some of our deeds. This chaos is not going to be removed unless we change our behavior, unless we abide fully with the code of conduct sent by God for us through his Prophet.

Chapter 51: Decaying Society

“(The hypocrites) enjoin evil and forbid what is good;. They have for-gotten God; so God is punishing them of This forgetfulness”. (Qur’an,

9:67).

Today, at the risk of being branded as ‘out-of-date’, I want to comment upon this materially developed and spiritually decayed civilization of our time. A civilization in course of time reaches its highest peak; and then its glory turns into vain glory; it becomes drunk of its power and achievements. And then it goes down the path of decay; and, finally, to death.

The modern civilization which is continuously ‘enjoining evil’ has, ac-cording to my thinking, long served its usefulness and now it is heading towards self-destruction - with rocket-speed.

Today the scientists are steadily pushing mankind towards its extinc-tion. Their energies are enslaved by their bosses to invent more and more lethal weapons. They are trying to preserve wild-life - and kill human-beings.

And there is tendency on the part of the ignorant minds to accept every trash as a God-sent revelation - provided it comes from a man who has a string of letters after his name.

Result? Every kind of vice has been glorified and accepted into that so-ciety. Adultery is preached to be a healthy thing for a marriage; persons of same sex enter into ‘matrimony’ with an encouraging nod from the ‘priest’; pre-marital sexual relation have been accepted as the norm of the day; gambling is practiced in places of worship: people are led to believed that drinking liquor is a pre-requisite of ‘being civilized’. And religion has ceased to lead the people; it is being led by the masses. All these symptoms point to the advanced stage of deterioration of our civilization.

Chapter 52: On Modestry

“Islam is naked; modesty is its garment”. (Holy Prophet S.A.)

Modesty is a virtue for men and women both, though it is more com-mendable in women. But in our days, thanks to the modern civilization, man appears to be more modest than the woman.

This industrial age has turned woman into a piece of merchandise. No advertisement is eye-catching unless it has a woman’s body in it exposed to me various degrees of nudity. Films and television are a flop unless they have sex-appeal, and plenty of it. Magazine and books flourish on the lustful desire of man, by providing a lot of erotic material in written words and painted photos. Hotels and restaurants, gone-by days, used to boast of their excellent food and superb service. Now they arrange dances and strip-tease performances to satisfy the customers. Commer-cial firms expressly say that their receptionists must have a “presentable appearance”. Even in political life a modest wife is considered a liability!

Woman has been selling her body since time immemorial. But never before was shamelessness given the glittering table of “art”. Never be-fore was immodesty the accepted norm of life. It is in this age that wo-man has lost her sense of self -respect. There was a time when she was a coveted prize, to be pursued by man. Now she has put herself in show window. No more is she a hidden treasure to be discovered by her right-ful husband. She is now a piece of beauty to be seen, selected and ad-mired at every shop.

And this hoax has been given a blinding name: “Freedom of woman”. But, as I see, it is man, not woman, who has made himself free to exploit the woman in every conceivable manner. Now in the name of freedom,

she has been persuaded to discard all “Superfluous cloth” and appear in public in bikini only, thus providing the man a chance to feast his eyes.

In the last century, when the Westerners penetrated in the heart of Africa they found some tribes who were roaming naked. Those pion-eers of “civilization” forced the tribes to wear clothes. Now those advoc-ates of “civilization” are themselves discarding the clothes. One often wonders if the “primitive tribes” of last century were not more civilized than the rest of the world. After all, it is rest of the world which is now imitating the ways of that “so-called primitive society”.

Chapter 53: On Polygamy

The Government’s proposals for an uniform law of marriage have star-ted a debate which is likely to continue for some time. Prominent among the subjects of debate, is “polygamy vs. monogamy”. Without going into detail, I want to give here two quotations from two Westerners who have put the whole question in its perspective.

J.E. Glare McFarlane says: “Whether the question is considered so-cially, ethically or religiously, it can be demonstrated that polygamy is not contrary to the highest standards of civilization The suggestion offers a practical remedy for the problem of the destitute and unwanted female; the alternative is continual and increased prostitution, concubin-age and distressing spinsterhood”. (The Case For Polygamy, Longdon, P.30).

Mrs. Annie Besant wrote in ‘The Life And Teachings of Muhammad:-You can find others stating that the religion (Islam) is evil because it sanctions a limited polygamy. But you do not hear as a rule the criticism which I spoke out one day in a London hall I pointed out to them that monogamy with a blended mass of prostitution was a hypocrisy and more degrading than a limited polygamy. Naturally a statement like that gives offence, but it has to be made, because it must be remembered that the law of Islam in relation to women was until lately, when parts of it have been imitated in England, the most just law, as far as women are concerned, to be found in the world. Dealing with property, dealing with rights of succession and so on, dealing with cases of divorce, it was far beyond the law of the West in the respect which was paid to the rights of women. Those things are forgotten while people are hypnotized by the words monogamy and polygamy and do not look at what lies behind it in the West - the frightful degradation of women who are thrown into the street when their first protectors, weary of them, no longer give them any assistance”.

These remarks are worth remembering in Tanzania where only 95 men are available for every 100 women. What will be the position of those five per cent ‘extra’ women (it comes to more than three hundred thou-sand souls) if the society decides to discourage polygamy?

Chapter 54: Dignity of Labour

Note: This article was published on 30.4.1967.

Tomorrow all nations will be observing Labour Day, to remind them-selves that a laborer deserves to be respected because he earns his bread by his sweat. The example set by the religious leaders of Islam have es-tablished the dignity of labor beyond any doubt.

Holy Prophet (S.A.) himself worked for Khadija for years. When the Prophet’s mosque at Madina was being built, the Holy Prophet particip-ated fully in every work. He carried the stones, mixed the mortar, built the walls. In journeys, the Holy Prophet insisted to share in all the works involved in camping: He pitched the tent, picked wood for fire, carried water etc. In short he never considered any lawful work as beneath his dignity.

People often came to Hazrat Ali (A.S.) to solve their religious problems and found him working as a laborer in farms of other people. He never felt any embarrassment, because dignity of labor was an established way of Muslim life.

And here are two episodes from the life of Fatima, (A.S.) the daughter of the Holy Prophet (S.A.). Once she was given some wool to spin and some barley as its wages. The work was to be completed in three days; so she divided the wool and the barley in three parts each. First, she spun one-third of the wool, and only then used one-third of the barley for her bread. He same routine was repeated the second and the third days.

The lesson to be learnt here is this Fatima (A.S.) could have reversed the procedure, using barley first, and spinning the wool afterwards, be-cause there was no condition attached; but she did not use the wages before finishing the work of the day. In simple words, looking forward to the unearned wages is not liked in Islam.

This was Fatima’s (A.S.) way of life as a worker. Now let me describe her attitude as an employer. Fizza was her servant. When she came to work for Fatima (A.S.) the Holy Prophet (S.A.) told his daughter: “Fatima, (A.S.) one day Fizza shall do all the domestic work while you would rest; next day you will do all the work, while Fizza would rest; because she is as much a human being as you are”.

This mutual regard between an employer and his employee is a beacon to guide this troubled world where the employer and the work-ers both want to exploit and deceive one another.

Chapter 55: Lawful Earning

“Eat of what is on earth lawful and good, and do not follow the foot-steps of Satan”. (Qur’an 2:168).

Using only what is lawful and good, and abstaining from unlawful (Haram) and bad things, are among the basic principles of Islamic code of life.

In Islam, even a lawful thing becomes unlawful if it is obtained by un-lawful or foul means. There is no denying that lawful methods, seem sometimes, to be slow; and people, who want to be rich overnight, resort to unlawful means. But, when all is said and done, such tactics do not be-nefit the offender very much.

Sometime ago a test was held in which one motorist was asked to reach a certain place as soon as possible without any regard to the traffic rules, while another was to reach there after obeying all road signs and traffic signals. The first driver violated red lights twice, nearly knocked down a pedestrian, entered a one-way road from wrong direction, just managing to avoid a serious accident, and reached the destination - 30 seconds before the second motorist. What a gain after all those dangers.

More to the point is the following episode. Hazrat Ali (A.S.) once came to a mosque where he wanted to pray. He asked a man standing nearby to guard his horse. When he came out, he had a dirham in his hand which he wanted to give that man as a reward. But he was nowhere to be seen. Hazrat Ali (A.S.) came to the horse and found that its rein was missing. He gave someone the same dirham to buy another rein.

The man went to the market, saw a man selling a used rein, and bought it for one dirham. When Hazrat Ali (A.S.) looked at it he found that it was his own rein which the supposed “guard” had stolen. He said that he had intended to give the “guard” the same, dirham as a reward, which would have been perfectly lawful for him; but his impatience turned him into a thief, and he got nothing except the same dirham. His dishonesty did not increase his wealth at all, and made him a - criminal into the bargain.

Chapter 56: On Obligations

“O ye who believe! Fulfill all obligations”, (Qur’an, Chapter V; Verse 1).

The Verse is admirable for its comprehensiveness and clarity. The word used here is ‘Uqud’. Its literal meaning: ‘Bondages’. This world is used in the Islamic language, for every kind of obligation. And by using it God has reminded mankind that every promise, agreement and under-taking is a kind of bondage from which man cannot free himself except by its fulfillment. That is why we find in the Islamic traditions that “Man is a slave of his promise”.

Obligations can be of various kinds. There are some involuntary oblig-ations: Obligation towards God: obligations towards our fellow human beings, towards our family, towards our neighbors, towards our friends and our enemies. We have no option but to fulfill them. There are other obligations which we impose upon ourselves - between employer and employee, ruler and ruled. There are obligations between trading part-ners. A nation concludes a treaty with another nation. All such obliga-tions are self-imposed.

Islam had laid down, in clear words, all the obligations and responsib-ilities which a man has to face with in his life. And it has put, real em-phasis on the spoken word. It knows that written documents are nothing but a symbol to convey the message of the spoken words. If a man can-not be trusted about his spoken agreement, he cannot be trusted at all. It is a sign of decay in our society that the real thing (spoken word) has ceased to have any importance. Everybody insists on writing. And once man reaches this stage, even the written documents and agreements be-come worthless. In our present society agreements are made to be broken; treaties are concluded with an eye on the loopholes which may provide escape in future.

The first victim is not the party wronged; it is the morality of mankind which suffers the mortal blow.

Chapter 57: Be Kind to Parents

“The Lord has commanded that ye worship none but Him, and that ye show kindness unto your parents (Qur’an, 17:23).

The spiritual and moral duties are Laid down side by side here. We are to worship none but Allah, because none is worthy of being wor-shipped but Allah. Then we are told to be kind to the parents. The ‘ayat’ goes on to say: whether any or both of them attain old age with thee, wherefore, say not unto them ‘Oh’; neither reproach them; and lower un-to them the wing of humility out of compassion, and say thou: “O” my Lord, Have mercy on them as they cherished me in my childhood”.

The metaphor brings to our mind the picture of a high flying bird which lowers her wing out of tenderness to her off spring. There is a double aptness:-

When the parents were strong and the child helpless, parental affec-tion was showered on the child: now that the parents are weak and help-less and the child has grown up o a strong man, can he do less than be-stow similar tender care to the parents?

But more to the point are the words ‘humility’ and ‘compassion’. The child must approach the parents with gentleness, humility and love: for, does not parental love remind him of the great love with which cherishes His creatures? There is something here more than simple human gratit-ude. It goes up into the highest spiritual regions.

Note that we are asked to honor our father and mother upon so high and lofty grounds. In the first place, not merely respect, but cherishing kindness and humility to parents are recommended. In the second place,

this command is bracketed with the command to worship the only True God; parental love should be a mirror to the divine love. Nothing that we can do will ever really compensate for that which we have received from them.

Chapter 58: Duty Towards Parents

“And be thankful to Me and to thy parents” (Qur’an 31:14).

Obedience, kindness and thankfulness to the parents are amongst the most important commandments of Islam. Allah is the Creator; he is the Helper; he provides us with the sustenance. But he has made the parents the means of that creation, help and sustenance. No wonder, in three places- in Qur’an, the commandment of obedience and thankfulness to the parents has been mentioned next to the commandment of worship-ping Allah alone.

Obedience to the parents is not in conflict with obedience to God, be-cause it is based upon the command of God. The help obtained from the parents is not against asking help from God alone, because God has made them his agents. Thanking the parents is not against thanking God, because God has ordered us to thank them; and, now, if we refuse to thank them, if will be a revolt against God. That is why Imam Ali Al-Raza (A.S.) told: “God has joined the orders of thanking him and thank-ing one’s parents in one ayat. If a man thanks God, but does not thank his parents, his thanks to God also will not be accepted”.

The Holy Prophet was preparing to meet an enemy of Islam in a war. A young man came and asked permission to join in the militia. The Prophet (S.A.) allowed. Then during the conversation, the young man said: ‘I have old-aged parents who think that my presence gives them satisfaction and content, and, they do not like this journey of mine’. The Holy Prophet (S.A.) at once told him to stay at home with his parents, saying: “The satisfaction which your parents derive from your presence one day and night is better for you than the fighting in the way of God for one whole year”.

Chapter 59: Duty Towards Neighbors

“And (be good) to the neighbor who is your relative and to the neighbor who is not a relative ..” (Qur’an, 4:36).

Islam has great respect for the mutual rights and duties of the neigh-bors. The Holy Prophet (S.A.) has said: “Gabriel always used to advise me to be generous with the neighbors, till I thought that Allah was going to include the neighbors among the heirs of Muslim”.

The rights of neighborhood are not meant for Muslim neighbors only. Of course, a Muslim neighbor has one more claim upon us - that of Islamic brotherhood; but so far as the rights of neighborship and con-cerned, all are equal. Explaining it, the Holy Prophet (S.A.) said: “Neighbors are of three kinds:

that one who has one right upon you;

that who has got two rights upon you; and that one who has got three rights upon you.

“The neighbor having three rights upon you is the one who is also a Muslim and a relative. The neighbor having two rights is the one who is either a non-Muslim relative or a non-relative Muslim.

“The neighbor having one right is the one who is neither a Muslim nor a relative. Still he has got all the claims of neighborhood-rights upon you”.

Here are some more traditions which show the Islamic love towards the neighbors:-

The Holy Prophet (S.A.) has said: “That man is not from me who sleeps contentedly while his neighbor sleeps hungry”

Imam Zainul-Abedeen (A.S.) (son of Imam Husain) (A.S.) has said: “These are your duties towards your neighbor: Protect his interests when he is absent; show him respect when he is present; help him when he is inflicted with any injustice. Do not remain on look-out to detect his faults; and if, by any chance, you happen to know any undesirable thing about him, hide it from others; and, at the same time, try to desist him from improper habits, if there is any chance that he will listen to you. Never leave him alone in any calamity. Forgive him, if he has done any wrong. In short live with him a noble life, based on the highest Islamic ethical code”.

Now, let us ask our self a very significant question; “Are we a good neighbor".

Human Love

Similar to what we saw earlier in the case of Divine love, human love for God, for His creation, for good deeds, and for each other plays a crucial role in the Islamic world-view, especially in theology, mysticism and ethics. Indeed, love for the truths embodied in the religion builds up the faith. For Muslim theologians, and indeed inspired by the Qur'an, although faith is based on knowledge of the religious facts, it is not reducible to that knowledge. There might be people who have knowledge of the religious facts and are confident about them but still do not commit themselves to any faith. The faith and belief only come when a person voluntarily commits himself to acceptance of articles of faith and does not refuse to follow them. In other words, the faith is there only when one loves the religious beliefs and not just when one comes to know them. The Qur'an says:

And they denied them (Divine signs or miracles) unjustly and proudly while their soul had been certain about it. (27:14)

The prototype example of those who know very well but refuse to practice what they have known is Iblis, the great Satan. According to Islamic sources, Iblis does whatever he does out of arrogance and selfishness, not out of ignorance.

Thus, a person becomes faithful and a believer only when he has respect and love for certain facts i.e. articles of faith. We read in a famous hadith that the Prophet Muhammad asked his companions of "the firmest handhold of faith". They suggested different things like prayer and hajj. When they could not give the appropriate answer the Prophet said:

The firmest handhold of faith is to love for the sake of God and to hate for the sake of God, to befriend God's friends and to renounce His enemies.1

The same idea is emphasised by Imams of the Household of the Prophet. For example, Fudayl ibn Yasar, a disciple, asked Imam Sadiq whether love and hatred derive from faith. Imam replied: "Is faith anything but love and hate?"2 The same hadith is narrated from Imam Baqir. It is also narrated that Imam Baqir said: "The faith is love and love is the faith."3

Love and Hate

An overall study of the Qur'an and narrations (hadiths) shows that in the Islamic view love either in its Divine form or in Human form, belongs only to the precious and valuable things as far as they are so. The result is firstly that the degrees of the love that different things deserve or receive differ according to their merits, and secondly that anything which is in conflict with those precious and valuable things or prevents their realisation should be hated. For example, if justice is to be loved injustice should be hated. Or if a person who tells the truth is to be loved a person who lies should be hated. Of course, in respect to their other characters and deeds, the situation might be different. A single person might be loved or praised for something and at the same time he might be hated or blamed for the other.

In comparison with some other faiths, one aspect of love in Islam is that it is usually considered along with `hate (of the evil) for the sake of God'. One has to love for the sake of God and hate for the sake of God. There is a tendency among some people to think that there should be no hate at all. These people assume that excellence and nobility of character and "being sociable" consist of having all men one's friends. Certainly Islam recommends Muslims to love people and optimise compassionate and sincere relationship with them, even if they do not believe in Islam or in God. However, it is not feasible for a person who has principles in his life and has devoted his life to realise sacred values to be indifferent to evil and oppressive deeds of wrongdoers and make friendship with everybody. Such a person certainly will have some enemies, whether we wish or not. There are always good people in the society and bad people. There are fair people and despotic people. Good and bad are two opposite poles. Attraction towards the good is not possible without repulsion from the bad.

When two human beings attract each other and their hearts wish for them to be friends and companions one with the other we should look for a reason for that. The reason is nothing other than similarity and resemblance. Unless there is a similarity between these two persons, they cannot attract one another and move towards friendship with each other. Rumi in his Mathnavi mentions two fine stories that illustrate this fact. One story is that once a very wise and well-known Greek physician asked his disciples for some medicine for himself.

His disciples were shocked. They said: "O, Master! This medicine is for the treatment of madness, but you are the wisest person that we know." The master replied: " On my way to here, I met a mad person. When he saw me he stopped and smiled. Now, I am afraid that he must have found some similarity between me and himself; otherwise he would not have enjoyed looking at me." The other story relates to another wise man that saw a raven who had formed an affection for a stork. They perched together and flew together! The wise man could not understand how two birds of two different species that had no similarity either in shape or in colour with each other could be friends. He went close and discovered that both of them had only one leg.

That wise man said: "I saw companionship

Between a raven and a stock

Amazed I was, and examined their condition

To see what sign of commonality I could find.So up I crept, and, to and behold!

I saw that both of them were lame. "

In Islam, there has been much emphasis on the necessity of promoting brotherhood and friendship with the people of faith and the people of good will and at the same time combating against the evil, corruption and the oppressors. Of course, in Islam love is universal and the Prophet of Islam was not sent, "save as a mercy unto all beings" (The Qur'an 21: 107).

Therefore, even fighting against those who do wrongs and injustice should be out of love. It is an act of genuine love for mankind as a whole and even, say, for a murderer such as Hitler to fight against him, to punish him and, if needed, to destroy him. Otherwise, he would do more crimes and would degrade himself more and more and would suffer much more sever punishments in this world and hereafter. There is a beautiful story that once an oppressing ruler asked a pious person to pray for him. In response, that pious person asked God not to let him live anymore. That oppressor was shocked and said: " I asked you to pray for me and not against me!" He replied: " This is exactly what I did. It is much better for you and, of course, for the people as well that your life becomes shorter. You will then have less chance to add to your crimes and people will have more chance to rest."

A rational and intelligent love is the one that involves the good and interest of the mankind and not a limited number of people. One can do many things to bring good to individuals or groups which bring evil to society or mankind as a whole. For example, if a judge releases a guilty criminal he might have done something good to that person, but a great harm has been inflicted upon the society and the ideal of justice. One should not let his affections hide the truth. If our beloved child needs injection or operation we should not let our love and passions for him to prevent us from doing so.

Love and Reason

According to Islam, love has to be enlightened. A sacred love is the love which is realistic and insightful. It has been a common theme in moral advises by great Muslim preachers and Sufi masters that one should not let one's love for something or some person make him negligent of the whole truth. The reason for this emphasise is that love naturally tends to make the lover "blind and deaf'. If you love some one it is very unlikelyto have an impartial view of it, unless the love is directed by the reason. This is why even Sufi Muslims try not to be overwhelmed by love. Siraj ed-Din writes:

The Sufi has no choice but to be vigilant, observant, and discerning, to put everything in its rightful place, and to give everything its due ... It is in virtue of this perspective that Sufism is a way of knowledge rather than a way of love. As such it tends to repudiate partialities which the perspective of love necessarily condones and even encourages.4

Human Love for God

According to Islam, the minimum expectation from believers is that God should have the first place in their heart, in the sense that no other love may override one's love for God; God should be the highest and foremost object of love. The Qur'an says:

Say: If your father or your sons or your brethren or your wives or your kinsfolk or the property you have acquired or the commerce you fear may slacken or the dwellings which you love­ if these are dearer to you than God and His Apostle and striving in His way, then wait till God brings about His command; God does not guide the transgressing people. (9:24)

This verse clearly indicates that one's love for God has to be superior to one's love for whatever else that one may come to love in one's life. This superiority shows itself when the love for God and for His religion comes in conflict with one's love for one's personal belongings. In this case, a believer should be able to sacrifice his personal favourite things for the sake of God. For example, if God asks us to give our lives to protect innocent lives or our territorial integrity or the like, we should not let our love for the easy life or being with the family and so on prevent us from striving in His way.

Therefore, a believer is not the person who just loves God. A believer is the person whose love for God is the highest and strongest love he has. Elsewhere, the Qur'an says:

Yet there are some people who adopt rivals instead of God, whom they love just as they (should) love God. Those who believe are firmer in their love of God (2:165)

Why should one love God? According to Islam, one reason for loving God lies in the fact that God is the most precious, the most perfect and the most beautiful being, that a man can ever conceive and therefore, man out of his nature that aspires to values, beauty and perfection loves God.

Many Islamic scholars, especially mystics have asserted that everybody feels in his heart a great love for God the Almighty without necessarily being aware of it. They argue that even unbelievers who are just after secular aims or ideals love and worship what they take to be the ultimate good. For example, those who want to possess power want to have the ultimate power. They will never be satisfied by becoming a mayor or even president. Even if they could control the whole globe they would think about controlling other planets. Nothing in the world can set their hearts at rest. As soon as people reach what they had set up as their ideals, they realise that it is not sufficient and they will seek for more. Islamic mystics, such as Ibn Arabi inspired by the Qur'an believe that the reason behind this phenomenon is that everybody in fact is seeking towards the ultimate good, that is, God. The Qur'an says: "O man! Surely you strive (to attain) to your Lord, a hard striving until you meet Him." (84:6). However, the fact is that many people make a mistake in recognising what is the highest good. Some might take money as the highest good or, in other words, as their god.

Others might take political power as their god, and so on. The Qur'an says: "Have you seen him who takes his low desires for his god?" (25:43; 45:23)

If it happens that they reach what they have set up as their ideal their innate love for God, the highest good will remain unresponsive and so they will feel unhappy and frustrated. Ibn Arabi says:

"Nothing other than God has been ever loved. It is God who has manifested Himself in whatever is beloved for the eyes of those who love. There is no being except that it loves. Thus, the whole universe loves and is loved and all these go back to Him just as nothing has ever been worshipped other than Him, since whatever a servant (of God) has ever worshipped has been because of wrong imagination of deity in it; otherwise it would have never been worshipped. God, the most High, says (in the Qur'an): `and your Lord has commanded not to worship but Him.'(17:23) This is the case with love as well. No one has ever loved anything other than his Creator. However, He, the most High has hidden Himself from them under the love for Zaynab, Su'ad, Hind. Layla, dunya (this world), money, social position and all other beloved subjects in the universe.5

Ibn Arabi adds that: "mystics have never heard any poem or praise or the like but about Him (and they saw Him) beyond veils."6

The other reason for loving God is to reciprocate His love and blessings. There is a rich literature in Islamic sources on different aspects and manifestations of God's love and favour for all human beings, including, in a sense, wrongdoers arid those who disbelieve in Him. Human beings love whoever does good to them, and they appreciate such favour and benevolence and feel obliged to be thankful. The Prophet said:

Love God because He has done good to you and He has bestowed favours upon you.7

According to Islamic narrations, God said to both Moses and David: "Love me and endear Me to my people."8 . Then in response to their question how to endear Him to the people, God said: "Remind them about My favours and bounties, for they do not recall My favours without the feeling of gratitude."9

In a mystic prayer, known as the Whispered of the Thankful, Imam Sajjad says:

My God, The uninterrupted flow of Thy graciousness has distracted me from thanking Thee!

The flood of Thy bounty has rendered me incapable of counting Thy praises!

The succession of Thy kind acts has diverted me from mentioning Thee in laudation!

The continuous rush of Thy benefits has thwarted me from spreading the news of Thy gentle favours!

Then he adds:

My God, My thanksgiving is small before Thy great boons, and my praise and news spreading shrink beside Thy generosity toward me!

Thy favours have wrapped me in the robes of the lights of faith, and the gentlenesses of Thy goodness have let down over me delicate curtains of might!

Thy kindnesses have collared me with collars not to be moved and adorned me with neck-rings not to be broken!

Thy boons are abundant-my tongue is too weak to count them!

Thy favours are many my understanding falls short of grasping them, not to speak of exhausting them!

So how can I achieve thanksgiving?10

A believer who has started his spiritual journey towards God first comes to recognise God's blessings upon him in providing him with lots of supports and helps that enabled him to act. Having continued his journey and been equipped with a mystical view of the world, he will realise that every good thing, indeed, comes from God himself. We read in the Qur'an: "Whatever benefit comes to you (O man!), it is from God, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself" (4:79) There is no reason to think otherwise. The reason for inflicting unjust suffering can be one of these things or a combination of them:

Lack of power: A person who oppresses others may do so because he wants to gain something from it, or because he cannot prevent himself from doing something harmful to others.

Lack of knowledge: A person may even have good intention of benevolence, but due to lack of information or making wrong conclusions may do something that harms the recipient.

Hatred and malevolence: A person may be able to do good deeds and may also know how to do it, but he still fails to do so, because he is not kind enough to do so, or even more, because he hates the recipient and want to satisfy his anger and wrath by inflicting pain on the recipient.

Muslim thinkers argue that God never does something unjust or harmful to His servants, since there is none of the above reasons for being otherwise: He is the all-Powerful, the all-Knowing and the all-Merciful.

Thus, the picture of God in Islam is the picture of one who is love, the all-Merciful, the all­Compassionate and the all-Benevolent, one who loves His creatures more than they may ever love Him or themselves, one whose anger and wrath is out of love and preceded by love. There seems to be no difference among Muslims in believing in God who is love, though they might vary in amount of emphasise that they put on this aspect of Islamic worldview compared to others. In general, it might be said that Muslim mystics and Sufis are more concerned with this aspect of Islam than Muslim Philosophers, and Muslim philosophers in turn are more concerned than theologians. But as I mentioned earlier there is no disagreement on viewing God as who is love, the all-Merciful and the all-Compassionate. We read in the Qur'an that in response to Moses' request for the good life in this world and hereafter, God said: "(As for) My chastisement, I will afflict with it whom I please, and My mercy encompass all things." (7:56) We find in the Qur'an that a group of angels who bear the Divine Throne pray: "Our Lord! Thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge, therefore forgive those who repent and follow Thy way and save them from the punishment of Hell." (40:7)

Although God's love for His servants is not arbitrary and depends on their merits, His love for wrongdoers and who have turned their back to Him is so great that it highly surpasses their expectation. The emphasis on this aspect of Divine love constitutes a considerable part of Islamic literature, including Quranic verses, ahadith and even poems. For example, we read in the Qur'an:

Say: O my servants! Who have acted extravagantly against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of God; Surely God forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (39:53)

The idea of repentance is one of the key concepts in this regard. In many verses of the Qur'an, God speaks of the constant possibility of repenting and returning to Him, He is the Forgiving. He says:

But whoever repents after his iniquity and reforms (himself), then surely God will return to him (mercifully); surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. (5:39).

The Qur'an also refers to the fact that God not only forgives those who seek forgiveness, but also He may change their wrong deeds to good deeds. On those who repent and believe and do good deeds, the Qur'an says:"... these are they of whom God changes the evil deeds to good ones; and God is Forgiving, Merciful." (25:70).

It is interesting that in the Qur'an, God is introduced not as the one who just accepts the repentance of his servants and returns to them when they return to him. Indeed, it is God Himself that first attends to His servants who have broken in a way or another their servitude relationship with God, but still have love for goodness and truths in their hearts (i.e. their hearts are not sealed). God returns to such servants and then they repent and return to Him, and then God returns to them to forgive them. Therefore, as S.H. Tabatabai, the author of Al-Mizan in 20 volumes, notifies, every repentance and return of a wrongdoer servant is surrounded by two returns of God: the first return that gives that person the ability for voluntary repentance and the second return which is His forgiveness after the person has repented. The fact is clearly suggested by the Qur'an:

... they knew it for certain that there was no refuge from God but in Him; then He turned to them (mercifully) that they might turn (to Him); Surely God is the oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful. (9:118)

According to Islamic mysticism, one's knowledge of God as the most beautiful and perfect being and the source of all good things that one has and successively one's love for God who is love and mercy gets so strong and encompassing that it will occupy all one's heart. At the same time, knowledge of one's weakness and deficiencies in front of God gets so intensive and deep that finally he will feel emptiness and nothingness. As such a person loses his sense of I­ness and becomes selfless, he will be identifiable with every type of goodness. From nothingness, one reaches the position of everythingness. He will feel no limitation or restriction. In a well-known hadith, we read that

Servitude to God is a substance, whose essence is lordship.11

A pure servant of God whose will is melt into His will be able to bring about extraordinary deeds.

Sheikh Mahmud Shabistari in his Sa'adat ­Nameh has a beautiful description of what he takes to be different stages of the spiritual journey towards God. He says:

The service and worship of God

Is a dictate of the Merciful

To every creature: man and jinn alike.

And yet this order takes to task

The most elect-as God has said:

"I did not create the jinn and men for aught

but they should worship Me." (the Qur'an, 51:56)

Through worship man is brought to prayer;

From prayer to mystic thought, and then from though

The flame of gnosis leaps, until he sees

The truth with contemplation's inner eye.

Such wisdom comes from altruistic love (or kindness):

The latter is its fruit, the first the bough.

At last comes Love which ousts all else:

Love undoes all sense of `two';

Love makes all One,

Until no `mine'

Nor `thine'

Remain.12

Suhrawardi in his On the Reality of Love elaborates his view on the spiritual journey. He believes that this journey and its states and stations arise from virtue (husn), love (miter) and reflective sadness (huzn). He relates virtue to the knowledge of God and love to the knowledge of self. Sadness is the outcome of the knowledge of what was not and then was.

Suhrawardi believes that knowledge of the self leads to the discovery that the self is divine and this results in loving God and having Sufi experiences. It is indeed a Qur'anic idea which is clearly and greatly emphasised by ahadith that there is a necessary relation between knowing one's self and knowing one's Lord. For example, the Prophet Muhammad said: "Whoever knows himself has known his Lord."13 Suhrawardi believes that sadness is caused by reflection on the created order which signifies separation of man and his departure from his original abode.14

According to Islam, love for God is very active and manifests itself in all aspects of one's life. It shapes all one's love and hatred. It also shapes one's behaviour with others and with one's self. In the well-known hadith of nawafil (meaning non­compulsory good deeds) we read:

Nothing makes My servants closer to Me compared to the performance of obligatory deeds, wajibat. My servant constantly gets close to me by nawafil till I love him. When I love him, then I shall be his ears with which he listens, his eyes with which he sees, his tongue with which he speaks, and his hands with which he holds: if he calls Me, I shall answer him, and if he asks Me, I shall give him.15

A sincere lover has no power to disobey the beloved person or to refuse his wishes. Imam Jafar al-Sadiq said: "Do you disobey God and pretend you love Him? This is amazing. If you were true you would have obeyed Him, for the lover is submissive before the one whom he loves".16 We read in the Qur'an:

O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion, then God will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, they shall strive hard in God's way and shall not fear the censure of any censurer. (5:54)

The history of Islam is full of memories of those who embodied a sincere and overwhelming love for God and His religion. One of those who full-heatedly devoted himself to Islam was Bilal al ­Habashi, a black slave. The pagans of Quraysh in Mecca subjected him to torture asking him to mention names of their idols express his belief in them and disbelieve in Islam. They tormented him under the burning sun by laying him on scorching stones and putting heavy rocks on his chest. Abu Bakr, a rich companion of the Prophet, was passing by when he heard the cry of Bilal. He went close and advised him to hide his belief, but Bilal was not prepared to do so; since "love was ever rebellious and deadly". Illustrating the event, Rumi says:

Bilal was devoting his body to the thorns

His master was flogging him by way of correction,

(Saying:) "Why dost thou celebrate Ahmad (the other name of the Prophet)?

Wicked slave, thou disbelievest in my religion! "

He was beating him in the sun with thorns

(While) he cried vauntingly "One!"

Till when Siddiq (Abu Bakr) was passing in that neighbourhood,

Those cries of "One!" reached his ears.

Afterwards he saw him in private and admonished him:

Keep thy belief hidden.

He (God) knows (all) secrets: conceal thy desire. "

He (Bilal) said: "I repent before thee, O prince. "

There was much repenting of this sort,

(Till) at last he became quit of repenting,

And proclaimed and yielded up his body to tribulation,

Crying: "O Muhammad! O enemy of vows and repentance! D thou with whom my body and all my veins are filled!

How should there be room therein for repentance?

Henceforth I will banish repentance from this heart.

How should 1 repent of the life everlasting?"

Love is the All-subduer, and I am subdued by Love:

By Love's blindness I have been made bright like the sun.

O fierce wind, before Thee I am a straw:

How can I know where I shall fall?

Whether I am Bilad or the new moon,

1 am running on and following the course of Thy sun.

What has the moon to do with stoutness or thinness?

She runs at the heels of the sun, like a shadow.

The lovers have fallen into a fierce-torrent:

They have set their hearts on the ordinance of Love.

(They are) like the millstone turning round and round

Day and night and moaning incessantly.17

Human love for fellow humans

A believer who loves God is expected to love His people and be kind to them. Of course, those whose evil character surpasses this factor are excluded. The Prophet said:

O servant of God, let your love and hate be for the sake of God, because no one can attain to the wilayah (guardianship) of God without that, and no one shall find the taste of faith without that, though his prayers and fast be great in number.18

If one's love and hate are to be only for the sake of, it would be impossible not to love His people.

On the necessity of love for people, we see that the Qur'an praises those members of the Household of the Prophet who fasted three days and gave everyday the only little food that they had at home successively to a poor, an orphan, and a captive: "And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive. [They tell them:]we only feed you for God's sake: we desire from you neither reward nor thanks."(76:8 & 9)

There is a well-known hadith narrated in different sources that the Prophet said: "People are all God's family, so the dearest people to Him are those who benefit His family the most."19

According to a hadith and similar to what is mentioned in the New Testament (Matt. 25:31-46), on the Day of Judgement God will ask some people why they would not have visited Him when He was sick, why they would not have fed Him when He was hungry and why they would not have given water to Him when He was thirsty. Those people will ask: How could these have happened, while you are the Lord of all the world? Then God will. reply: So and so was sick and you did not visit him, so and so was hungry and you did not feed him and so and so was thirsty and you did not give water to him. Did not you know that if you did so you would find Me with him?20

Notes

1. al-Kulayni, 1397 A.H., Kitab al-Iman wal-Kufr, "Bab al-Hubb fi Allah wal-Bughd fi Allah", no. 6, p.126.

2. Ibid., no. 5 , p. 125.

3. Al-Majlisi, 1983, Kitab al-Iman wal-Kufr, "Bab al­Hubb fi Allah wal-Bughd fi Allah", lxvi, p. 238.

4. Siraj ed-Din, 1989, p. 234

5. Ibn Arabi, 1994, Vol. 2., p.326

6. Ibid.

7. al-­Daylami, 1370 A.H., p.226; my translation

8. al-Majlisi, 1983, Vo1.8, p.351 & Vol. 14, p. 38; my translation

9. Ibid.

10. Chittick, 1987, pp. 242 & 243

11. Mizan al ­Hikmah, Vol. 6, p. 13, no. 11317

12. Cited from Beyond Faith & Infidelity: The Sufi Poetry and Teachings of Mahmud Shabistari by L. Lewisohn, 1995, pp.231& 232.

13. For a discussion on self-knowledge (ma'rifat al-nafs), See Shomali, 1996.

14. For a discussion on his view in this regard see Suhrawardi and the School of Illumination by Mehdi Amin Razavi, 1997, especially p.680.

15. al ­Kulayni, 1397 A.H., Vol. 4.`p. 54; Arabic

16. Cited from Mutahhari, 1985, Ch. 6.

17. Mathnawi, Book 1, translated by Nicholson.

18. (Majlisi, 1983, Vol. 27, p. 54)

19. Hemyari, 1417 A.H., p.56

20. For example, see al-Hilli, 1982, p. 374.

Conclusion

Thus, in Islam love plays an essential role in ethics, mysticism, theology and even philosophy. To draw an Islamic picture of the world, including the story of the creation of the universe and mankind and then god's treatment of humanity one always needs to invoke the notion of love. God Himself is love and has created the world out of love.

He treats human beings with love. Faith also starts with love, an overwhelming love for certain truths and is required to flourish by the nourishment of this love to the extent that one's love for God fills all parts of one's heart and directs all aspects of one's life. One's love for God can increase only when one reduces one's selfishness and if one can ultimately get rid of selfishness and I-ness one will be a perfect man whose will and pleasure would be the will and pleasure of God.

Love for God and freedom from selfishness can be secured at first by sacrifice and losing one's desires for the sake of God, and His people and then by having no desire other than what He desires and no will other than His. Then, of course, there will be no sacrifice and no pain. Ethical rules are guidelines of this path of love, enlightened and oriented by teachings of the intellect and prophets.

Selected Bibliography

1- al-Daylami (1370 A.H.), Irshad al-Qulub (Najaf. al-Matba'at al 'ilmeyyah)

2- al-Ghazzali (1988), AI-Iqtisad fi al-I'tiqad (Beirut: Darul Kutub al-'ilmeyyah)

3- al-Kulayni, M.(1397 A.H.), Usul al Kafi (Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah)

4- al-Majlisi M. (1983), Bihar al-Anwar (Beirut: al-Wafa)

5- al-Shahrestani (1395 A.H.), AI-Milal wal-Nihal, (Beirut: Darul Ma'rifah)

6- al-Shirazi, Sadr ud-din (1378 A.H.), A1 Asfar al Aqliyah, (Qum: Mostafavi)

7- Avicenna (1375 A.H.), Al-Isharat (Qum: al ­Nashr al-Balaghah)

8- _______ (1956), AI-Ilahiyyat al-Shifa (Cairo: Al-Matba'atul Amireyyah)

9- Chittick, W. C. (1987), The Psalms of Islam, English translation from AI-Sahifat AI-Kamilat Al-Sajjadiyya by Imam Zayn al-Abidin Ali ibn al-Husayn, (Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The Muhammadi Trust)

10- Fakhry, M. (1991), Ethical Theories in Islam (Leiden: Tuta Sub Aegide Pallas)

11- Hemyari (1417 A.H.), Qurb al-Isnad (Qum: Muassesat al-Thiqafat al-Islameyyah)

12- Hourani, G.F. (1985), Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics, (Cambridge University)

13- Ibn Arabi (1994), Al-Futuhat al-Makkeyyah (Beirut: Darul Fikr)

14- Lewisohn, L. (1995), Beyond Faith and Infedideity: The Sufi poetry and Teachings of Mahmud Shabistari, (Surrey: Curzon Press)

15- Mutahhari, M. (1985), Polarisation Around the Character of Ali ibn abi Talib (Tehran: world Organisation for Islamic Services, second edition)

16- Nanji, A. (1996), "Islamic Ethics", A Companion to Ethics, edited by Peter Singer (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, First published 1991), pp. 106-120

17- Nasr, S. H. (1989), "God" in Islamic Spirituality, Vol. I (London: SCM Press Ltd.), pp. 311-323

18- Pavlin, J. (1997) "Sunni Kalam and theological controversies" in History of Islamic Philosophy Part 1, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, (London: Routledge), pp. 105­118

19- Razavi, M.A. (1997), Suhrawardi and the School of lllumination (Surrey: Curzon Press)

20- Siraj ed-Din, A. (1989), "The Nature and Origin of Sufism" in Islamic Spirituality, Vol. I (London: SCM Press Ltd.), pp. 223-238.

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Human Love

Similar to what we saw earlier in the case of Divine love, human love for God, for His creation, for good deeds, and for each other plays a crucial role in the Islamic world-view, especially in theology, mysticism and ethics. Indeed, love for the truths embodied in the religion builds up the faith. For Muslim theologians, and indeed inspired by the Qur'an, although faith is based on knowledge of the religious facts, it is not reducible to that knowledge. There might be people who have knowledge of the religious facts and are confident about them but still do not commit themselves to any faith. The faith and belief only come when a person voluntarily commits himself to acceptance of articles of faith and does not refuse to follow them. In other words, the faith is there only when one loves the religious beliefs and not just when one comes to know them. The Qur'an says:

And they denied them (Divine signs or miracles) unjustly and proudly while their soul had been certain about it. (27:14)

The prototype example of those who know very well but refuse to practice what they have known is Iblis, the great Satan. According to Islamic sources, Iblis does whatever he does out of arrogance and selfishness, not out of ignorance.

Thus, a person becomes faithful and a believer only when he has respect and love for certain facts i.e. articles of faith. We read in a famous hadith that the Prophet Muhammad asked his companions of "the firmest handhold of faith". They suggested different things like prayer and hajj. When they could not give the appropriate answer the Prophet said:

The firmest handhold of faith is to love for the sake of God and to hate for the sake of God, to befriend God's friends and to renounce His enemies.1

The same idea is emphasised by Imams of the Household of the Prophet. For example, Fudayl ibn Yasar, a disciple, asked Imam Sadiq whether love and hatred derive from faith. Imam replied: "Is faith anything but love and hate?"2 The same hadith is narrated from Imam Baqir. It is also narrated that Imam Baqir said: "The faith is love and love is the faith."3

Love and Hate

An overall study of the Qur'an and narrations (hadiths) shows that in the Islamic view love either in its Divine form or in Human form, belongs only to the precious and valuable things as far as they are so. The result is firstly that the degrees of the love that different things deserve or receive differ according to their merits, and secondly that anything which is in conflict with those precious and valuable things or prevents their realisation should be hated. For example, if justice is to be loved injustice should be hated. Or if a person who tells the truth is to be loved a person who lies should be hated. Of course, in respect to their other characters and deeds, the situation might be different. A single person might be loved or praised for something and at the same time he might be hated or blamed for the other.

In comparison with some other faiths, one aspect of love in Islam is that it is usually considered along with `hate (of the evil) for the sake of God'. One has to love for the sake of God and hate for the sake of God. There is a tendency among some people to think that there should be no hate at all. These people assume that excellence and nobility of character and "being sociable" consist of having all men one's friends. Certainly Islam recommends Muslims to love people and optimise compassionate and sincere relationship with them, even if they do not believe in Islam or in God. However, it is not feasible for a person who has principles in his life and has devoted his life to realise sacred values to be indifferent to evil and oppressive deeds of wrongdoers and make friendship with everybody. Such a person certainly will have some enemies, whether we wish or not. There are always good people in the society and bad people. There are fair people and despotic people. Good and bad are two opposite poles. Attraction towards the good is not possible without repulsion from the bad.

When two human beings attract each other and their hearts wish for them to be friends and companions one with the other we should look for a reason for that. The reason is nothing other than similarity and resemblance. Unless there is a similarity between these two persons, they cannot attract one another and move towards friendship with each other. Rumi in his Mathnavi mentions two fine stories that illustrate this fact. One story is that once a very wise and well-known Greek physician asked his disciples for some medicine for himself.

His disciples were shocked. They said: "O, Master! This medicine is for the treatment of madness, but you are the wisest person that we know." The master replied: " On my way to here, I met a mad person. When he saw me he stopped and smiled. Now, I am afraid that he must have found some similarity between me and himself; otherwise he would not have enjoyed looking at me." The other story relates to another wise man that saw a raven who had formed an affection for a stork. They perched together and flew together! The wise man could not understand how two birds of two different species that had no similarity either in shape or in colour with each other could be friends. He went close and discovered that both of them had only one leg.

That wise man said: "I saw companionship

Between a raven and a stock

Amazed I was, and examined their condition

To see what sign of commonality I could find.So up I crept, and, to and behold!

I saw that both of them were lame. "

In Islam, there has been much emphasis on the necessity of promoting brotherhood and friendship with the people of faith and the people of good will and at the same time combating against the evil, corruption and the oppressors. Of course, in Islam love is universal and the Prophet of Islam was not sent, "save as a mercy unto all beings" (The Qur'an 21: 107).

Therefore, even fighting against those who do wrongs and injustice should be out of love. It is an act of genuine love for mankind as a whole and even, say, for a murderer such as Hitler to fight against him, to punish him and, if needed, to destroy him. Otherwise, he would do more crimes and would degrade himself more and more and would suffer much more sever punishments in this world and hereafter. There is a beautiful story that once an oppressing ruler asked a pious person to pray for him. In response, that pious person asked God not to let him live anymore. That oppressor was shocked and said: " I asked you to pray for me and not against me!" He replied: " This is exactly what I did. It is much better for you and, of course, for the people as well that your life becomes shorter. You will then have less chance to add to your crimes and people will have more chance to rest."

A rational and intelligent love is the one that involves the good and interest of the mankind and not a limited number of people. One can do many things to bring good to individuals or groups which bring evil to society or mankind as a whole. For example, if a judge releases a guilty criminal he might have done something good to that person, but a great harm has been inflicted upon the society and the ideal of justice. One should not let his affections hide the truth. If our beloved child needs injection or operation we should not let our love and passions for him to prevent us from doing so.

Love and Reason

According to Islam, love has to be enlightened. A sacred love is the love which is realistic and insightful. It has been a common theme in moral advises by great Muslim preachers and Sufi masters that one should not let one's love for something or some person make him negligent of the whole truth. The reason for this emphasise is that love naturally tends to make the lover "blind and deaf'. If you love some one it is very unlikelyto have an impartial view of it, unless the love is directed by the reason. This is why even Sufi Muslims try not to be overwhelmed by love. Siraj ed-Din writes:

The Sufi has no choice but to be vigilant, observant, and discerning, to put everything in its rightful place, and to give everything its due ... It is in virtue of this perspective that Sufism is a way of knowledge rather than a way of love. As such it tends to repudiate partialities which the perspective of love necessarily condones and even encourages.4

Human Love for God

According to Islam, the minimum expectation from believers is that God should have the first place in their heart, in the sense that no other love may override one's love for God; God should be the highest and foremost object of love. The Qur'an says:

Say: If your father or your sons or your brethren or your wives or your kinsfolk or the property you have acquired or the commerce you fear may slacken or the dwellings which you love­ if these are dearer to you than God and His Apostle and striving in His way, then wait till God brings about His command; God does not guide the transgressing people. (9:24)

This verse clearly indicates that one's love for God has to be superior to one's love for whatever else that one may come to love in one's life. This superiority shows itself when the love for God and for His religion comes in conflict with one's love for one's personal belongings. In this case, a believer should be able to sacrifice his personal favourite things for the sake of God. For example, if God asks us to give our lives to protect innocent lives or our territorial integrity or the like, we should not let our love for the easy life or being with the family and so on prevent us from striving in His way.

Therefore, a believer is not the person who just loves God. A believer is the person whose love for God is the highest and strongest love he has. Elsewhere, the Qur'an says:

Yet there are some people who adopt rivals instead of God, whom they love just as they (should) love God. Those who believe are firmer in their love of God (2:165)

Why should one love God? According to Islam, one reason for loving God lies in the fact that God is the most precious, the most perfect and the most beautiful being, that a man can ever conceive and therefore, man out of his nature that aspires to values, beauty and perfection loves God.

Many Islamic scholars, especially mystics have asserted that everybody feels in his heart a great love for God the Almighty without necessarily being aware of it. They argue that even unbelievers who are just after secular aims or ideals love and worship what they take to be the ultimate good. For example, those who want to possess power want to have the ultimate power. They will never be satisfied by becoming a mayor or even president. Even if they could control the whole globe they would think about controlling other planets. Nothing in the world can set their hearts at rest. As soon as people reach what they had set up as their ideals, they realise that it is not sufficient and they will seek for more. Islamic mystics, such as Ibn Arabi inspired by the Qur'an believe that the reason behind this phenomenon is that everybody in fact is seeking towards the ultimate good, that is, God. The Qur'an says: "O man! Surely you strive (to attain) to your Lord, a hard striving until you meet Him." (84:6). However, the fact is that many people make a mistake in recognising what is the highest good. Some might take money as the highest good or, in other words, as their god.

Others might take political power as their god, and so on. The Qur'an says: "Have you seen him who takes his low desires for his god?" (25:43; 45:23)

If it happens that they reach what they have set up as their ideal their innate love for God, the highest good will remain unresponsive and so they will feel unhappy and frustrated. Ibn Arabi says:

"Nothing other than God has been ever loved. It is God who has manifested Himself in whatever is beloved for the eyes of those who love. There is no being except that it loves. Thus, the whole universe loves and is loved and all these go back to Him just as nothing has ever been worshipped other than Him, since whatever a servant (of God) has ever worshipped has been because of wrong imagination of deity in it; otherwise it would have never been worshipped. God, the most High, says (in the Qur'an): `and your Lord has commanded not to worship but Him.'(17:23) This is the case with love as well. No one has ever loved anything other than his Creator. However, He, the most High has hidden Himself from them under the love for Zaynab, Su'ad, Hind. Layla, dunya (this world), money, social position and all other beloved subjects in the universe.5

Ibn Arabi adds that: "mystics have never heard any poem or praise or the like but about Him (and they saw Him) beyond veils."6

The other reason for loving God is to reciprocate His love and blessings. There is a rich literature in Islamic sources on different aspects and manifestations of God's love and favour for all human beings, including, in a sense, wrongdoers arid those who disbelieve in Him. Human beings love whoever does good to them, and they appreciate such favour and benevolence and feel obliged to be thankful. The Prophet said:

Love God because He has done good to you and He has bestowed favours upon you.7

According to Islamic narrations, God said to both Moses and David: "Love me and endear Me to my people."8 . Then in response to their question how to endear Him to the people, God said: "Remind them about My favours and bounties, for they do not recall My favours without the feeling of gratitude."9

In a mystic prayer, known as the Whispered of the Thankful, Imam Sajjad says:

My God, The uninterrupted flow of Thy graciousness has distracted me from thanking Thee!

The flood of Thy bounty has rendered me incapable of counting Thy praises!

The succession of Thy kind acts has diverted me from mentioning Thee in laudation!

The continuous rush of Thy benefits has thwarted me from spreading the news of Thy gentle favours!

Then he adds:

My God, My thanksgiving is small before Thy great boons, and my praise and news spreading shrink beside Thy generosity toward me!

Thy favours have wrapped me in the robes of the lights of faith, and the gentlenesses of Thy goodness have let down over me delicate curtains of might!

Thy kindnesses have collared me with collars not to be moved and adorned me with neck-rings not to be broken!

Thy boons are abundant-my tongue is too weak to count them!

Thy favours are many my understanding falls short of grasping them, not to speak of exhausting them!

So how can I achieve thanksgiving?10

A believer who has started his spiritual journey towards God first comes to recognise God's blessings upon him in providing him with lots of supports and helps that enabled him to act. Having continued his journey and been equipped with a mystical view of the world, he will realise that every good thing, indeed, comes from God himself. We read in the Qur'an: "Whatever benefit comes to you (O man!), it is from God, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself" (4:79) There is no reason to think otherwise. The reason for inflicting unjust suffering can be one of these things or a combination of them:

Lack of power: A person who oppresses others may do so because he wants to gain something from it, or because he cannot prevent himself from doing something harmful to others.

Lack of knowledge: A person may even have good intention of benevolence, but due to lack of information or making wrong conclusions may do something that harms the recipient.

Hatred and malevolence: A person may be able to do good deeds and may also know how to do it, but he still fails to do so, because he is not kind enough to do so, or even more, because he hates the recipient and want to satisfy his anger and wrath by inflicting pain on the recipient.

Muslim thinkers argue that God never does something unjust or harmful to His servants, since there is none of the above reasons for being otherwise: He is the all-Powerful, the all-Knowing and the all-Merciful.

Thus, the picture of God in Islam is the picture of one who is love, the all-Merciful, the all­Compassionate and the all-Benevolent, one who loves His creatures more than they may ever love Him or themselves, one whose anger and wrath is out of love and preceded by love. There seems to be no difference among Muslims in believing in God who is love, though they might vary in amount of emphasise that they put on this aspect of Islamic worldview compared to others. In general, it might be said that Muslim mystics and Sufis are more concerned with this aspect of Islam than Muslim Philosophers, and Muslim philosophers in turn are more concerned than theologians. But as I mentioned earlier there is no disagreement on viewing God as who is love, the all-Merciful and the all-Compassionate. We read in the Qur'an that in response to Moses' request for the good life in this world and hereafter, God said: "(As for) My chastisement, I will afflict with it whom I please, and My mercy encompass all things." (7:56) We find in the Qur'an that a group of angels who bear the Divine Throne pray: "Our Lord! Thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge, therefore forgive those who repent and follow Thy way and save them from the punishment of Hell." (40:7)

Although God's love for His servants is not arbitrary and depends on their merits, His love for wrongdoers and who have turned their back to Him is so great that it highly surpasses their expectation. The emphasis on this aspect of Divine love constitutes a considerable part of Islamic literature, including Quranic verses, ahadith and even poems. For example, we read in the Qur'an:

Say: O my servants! Who have acted extravagantly against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of God; Surely God forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (39:53)

The idea of repentance is one of the key concepts in this regard. In many verses of the Qur'an, God speaks of the constant possibility of repenting and returning to Him, He is the Forgiving. He says:

But whoever repents after his iniquity and reforms (himself), then surely God will return to him (mercifully); surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. (5:39).

The Qur'an also refers to the fact that God not only forgives those who seek forgiveness, but also He may change their wrong deeds to good deeds. On those who repent and believe and do good deeds, the Qur'an says:"... these are they of whom God changes the evil deeds to good ones; and God is Forgiving, Merciful." (25:70).

It is interesting that in the Qur'an, God is introduced not as the one who just accepts the repentance of his servants and returns to them when they return to him. Indeed, it is God Himself that first attends to His servants who have broken in a way or another their servitude relationship with God, but still have love for goodness and truths in their hearts (i.e. their hearts are not sealed). God returns to such servants and then they repent and return to Him, and then God returns to them to forgive them. Therefore, as S.H. Tabatabai, the author of Al-Mizan in 20 volumes, notifies, every repentance and return of a wrongdoer servant is surrounded by two returns of God: the first return that gives that person the ability for voluntary repentance and the second return which is His forgiveness after the person has repented. The fact is clearly suggested by the Qur'an:

... they knew it for certain that there was no refuge from God but in Him; then He turned to them (mercifully) that they might turn (to Him); Surely God is the oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful. (9:118)

According to Islamic mysticism, one's knowledge of God as the most beautiful and perfect being and the source of all good things that one has and successively one's love for God who is love and mercy gets so strong and encompassing that it will occupy all one's heart. At the same time, knowledge of one's weakness and deficiencies in front of God gets so intensive and deep that finally he will feel emptiness and nothingness. As such a person loses his sense of I­ness and becomes selfless, he will be identifiable with every type of goodness. From nothingness, one reaches the position of everythingness. He will feel no limitation or restriction. In a well-known hadith, we read that

Servitude to God is a substance, whose essence is lordship.11

A pure servant of God whose will is melt into His will be able to bring about extraordinary deeds.

Sheikh Mahmud Shabistari in his Sa'adat ­Nameh has a beautiful description of what he takes to be different stages of the spiritual journey towards God. He says:

The service and worship of God

Is a dictate of the Merciful

To every creature: man and jinn alike.

And yet this order takes to task

The most elect-as God has said:

"I did not create the jinn and men for aught

but they should worship Me." (the Qur'an, 51:56)

Through worship man is brought to prayer;

From prayer to mystic thought, and then from though

The flame of gnosis leaps, until he sees

The truth with contemplation's inner eye.

Such wisdom comes from altruistic love (or kindness):

The latter is its fruit, the first the bough.

At last comes Love which ousts all else:

Love undoes all sense of `two';

Love makes all One,

Until no `mine'

Nor `thine'

Remain.12

Suhrawardi in his On the Reality of Love elaborates his view on the spiritual journey. He believes that this journey and its states and stations arise from virtue (husn), love (miter) and reflective sadness (huzn). He relates virtue to the knowledge of God and love to the knowledge of self. Sadness is the outcome of the knowledge of what was not and then was.

Suhrawardi believes that knowledge of the self leads to the discovery that the self is divine and this results in loving God and having Sufi experiences. It is indeed a Qur'anic idea which is clearly and greatly emphasised by ahadith that there is a necessary relation between knowing one's self and knowing one's Lord. For example, the Prophet Muhammad said: "Whoever knows himself has known his Lord."13 Suhrawardi believes that sadness is caused by reflection on the created order which signifies separation of man and his departure from his original abode.14

According to Islam, love for God is very active and manifests itself in all aspects of one's life. It shapes all one's love and hatred. It also shapes one's behaviour with others and with one's self. In the well-known hadith of nawafil (meaning non­compulsory good deeds) we read:

Nothing makes My servants closer to Me compared to the performance of obligatory deeds, wajibat. My servant constantly gets close to me by nawafil till I love him. When I love him, then I shall be his ears with which he listens, his eyes with which he sees, his tongue with which he speaks, and his hands with which he holds: if he calls Me, I shall answer him, and if he asks Me, I shall give him.15

A sincere lover has no power to disobey the beloved person or to refuse his wishes. Imam Jafar al-Sadiq said: "Do you disobey God and pretend you love Him? This is amazing. If you were true you would have obeyed Him, for the lover is submissive before the one whom he loves".16 We read in the Qur'an:

O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion, then God will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, they shall strive hard in God's way and shall not fear the censure of any censurer. (5:54)

The history of Islam is full of memories of those who embodied a sincere and overwhelming love for God and His religion. One of those who full-heatedly devoted himself to Islam was Bilal al ­Habashi, a black slave. The pagans of Quraysh in Mecca subjected him to torture asking him to mention names of their idols express his belief in them and disbelieve in Islam. They tormented him under the burning sun by laying him on scorching stones and putting heavy rocks on his chest. Abu Bakr, a rich companion of the Prophet, was passing by when he heard the cry of Bilal. He went close and advised him to hide his belief, but Bilal was not prepared to do so; since "love was ever rebellious and deadly". Illustrating the event, Rumi says:

Bilal was devoting his body to the thorns

His master was flogging him by way of correction,

(Saying:) "Why dost thou celebrate Ahmad (the other name of the Prophet)?

Wicked slave, thou disbelievest in my religion! "

He was beating him in the sun with thorns

(While) he cried vauntingly "One!"

Till when Siddiq (Abu Bakr) was passing in that neighbourhood,

Those cries of "One!" reached his ears.

Afterwards he saw him in private and admonished him:

Keep thy belief hidden.

He (God) knows (all) secrets: conceal thy desire. "

He (Bilal) said: "I repent before thee, O prince. "

There was much repenting of this sort,

(Till) at last he became quit of repenting,

And proclaimed and yielded up his body to tribulation,

Crying: "O Muhammad! O enemy of vows and repentance! D thou with whom my body and all my veins are filled!

How should there be room therein for repentance?

Henceforth I will banish repentance from this heart.

How should 1 repent of the life everlasting?"

Love is the All-subduer, and I am subdued by Love:

By Love's blindness I have been made bright like the sun.

O fierce wind, before Thee I am a straw:

How can I know where I shall fall?

Whether I am Bilad or the new moon,

1 am running on and following the course of Thy sun.

What has the moon to do with stoutness or thinness?

She runs at the heels of the sun, like a shadow.

The lovers have fallen into a fierce-torrent:

They have set their hearts on the ordinance of Love.

(They are) like the millstone turning round and round

Day and night and moaning incessantly.17

Human love for fellow humans

A believer who loves God is expected to love His people and be kind to them. Of course, those whose evil character surpasses this factor are excluded. The Prophet said:

O servant of God, let your love and hate be for the sake of God, because no one can attain to the wilayah (guardianship) of God without that, and no one shall find the taste of faith without that, though his prayers and fast be great in number.18

If one's love and hate are to be only for the sake of, it would be impossible not to love His people.

On the necessity of love for people, we see that the Qur'an praises those members of the Household of the Prophet who fasted three days and gave everyday the only little food that they had at home successively to a poor, an orphan, and a captive: "And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive. [They tell them:]we only feed you for God's sake: we desire from you neither reward nor thanks."(76:8 & 9)

There is a well-known hadith narrated in different sources that the Prophet said: "People are all God's family, so the dearest people to Him are those who benefit His family the most."19

According to a hadith and similar to what is mentioned in the New Testament (Matt. 25:31-46), on the Day of Judgement God will ask some people why they would not have visited Him when He was sick, why they would not have fed Him when He was hungry and why they would not have given water to Him when He was thirsty. Those people will ask: How could these have happened, while you are the Lord of all the world? Then God will. reply: So and so was sick and you did not visit him, so and so was hungry and you did not feed him and so and so was thirsty and you did not give water to him. Did not you know that if you did so you would find Me with him?20

Notes

1. al-Kulayni, 1397 A.H., Kitab al-Iman wal-Kufr, "Bab al-Hubb fi Allah wal-Bughd fi Allah", no. 6, p.126.

2. Ibid., no. 5 , p. 125.

3. Al-Majlisi, 1983, Kitab al-Iman wal-Kufr, "Bab al­Hubb fi Allah wal-Bughd fi Allah", lxvi, p. 238.

4. Siraj ed-Din, 1989, p. 234

5. Ibn Arabi, 1994, Vol. 2., p.326

6. Ibid.

7. al-­Daylami, 1370 A.H., p.226; my translation

8. al-Majlisi, 1983, Vo1.8, p.351 & Vol. 14, p. 38; my translation

9. Ibid.

10. Chittick, 1987, pp. 242 & 243

11. Mizan al ­Hikmah, Vol. 6, p. 13, no. 11317

12. Cited from Beyond Faith & Infidelity: The Sufi Poetry and Teachings of Mahmud Shabistari by L. Lewisohn, 1995, pp.231& 232.

13. For a discussion on self-knowledge (ma'rifat al-nafs), See Shomali, 1996.

14. For a discussion on his view in this regard see Suhrawardi and the School of Illumination by Mehdi Amin Razavi, 1997, especially p.680.

15. al ­Kulayni, 1397 A.H., Vol. 4.`p. 54; Arabic

16. Cited from Mutahhari, 1985, Ch. 6.

17. Mathnawi, Book 1, translated by Nicholson.

18. (Majlisi, 1983, Vol. 27, p. 54)

19. Hemyari, 1417 A.H., p.56

20. For example, see al-Hilli, 1982, p. 374.

Conclusion

Thus, in Islam love plays an essential role in ethics, mysticism, theology and even philosophy. To draw an Islamic picture of the world, including the story of the creation of the universe and mankind and then god's treatment of humanity one always needs to invoke the notion of love. God Himself is love and has created the world out of love.

He treats human beings with love. Faith also starts with love, an overwhelming love for certain truths and is required to flourish by the nourishment of this love to the extent that one's love for God fills all parts of one's heart and directs all aspects of one's life. One's love for God can increase only when one reduces one's selfishness and if one can ultimately get rid of selfishness and I-ness one will be a perfect man whose will and pleasure would be the will and pleasure of God.

Love for God and freedom from selfishness can be secured at first by sacrifice and losing one's desires for the sake of God, and His people and then by having no desire other than what He desires and no will other than His. Then, of course, there will be no sacrifice and no pain. Ethical rules are guidelines of this path of love, enlightened and oriented by teachings of the intellect and prophets.

Selected Bibliography

1- al-Daylami (1370 A.H.), Irshad al-Qulub (Najaf. al-Matba'at al 'ilmeyyah)

2- al-Ghazzali (1988), AI-Iqtisad fi al-I'tiqad (Beirut: Darul Kutub al-'ilmeyyah)

3- al-Kulayni, M.(1397 A.H.), Usul al Kafi (Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah)

4- al-Majlisi M. (1983), Bihar al-Anwar (Beirut: al-Wafa)

5- al-Shahrestani (1395 A.H.), AI-Milal wal-Nihal, (Beirut: Darul Ma'rifah)

6- al-Shirazi, Sadr ud-din (1378 A.H.), A1 Asfar al Aqliyah, (Qum: Mostafavi)

7- Avicenna (1375 A.H.), Al-Isharat (Qum: al ­Nashr al-Balaghah)

8- _______ (1956), AI-Ilahiyyat al-Shifa (Cairo: Al-Matba'atul Amireyyah)

9- Chittick, W. C. (1987), The Psalms of Islam, English translation from AI-Sahifat AI-Kamilat Al-Sajjadiyya by Imam Zayn al-Abidin Ali ibn al-Husayn, (Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The Muhammadi Trust)

10- Fakhry, M. (1991), Ethical Theories in Islam (Leiden: Tuta Sub Aegide Pallas)

11- Hemyari (1417 A.H.), Qurb al-Isnad (Qum: Muassesat al-Thiqafat al-Islameyyah)

12- Hourani, G.F. (1985), Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics, (Cambridge University)

13- Ibn Arabi (1994), Al-Futuhat al-Makkeyyah (Beirut: Darul Fikr)

14- Lewisohn, L. (1995), Beyond Faith and Infedideity: The Sufi poetry and Teachings of Mahmud Shabistari, (Surrey: Curzon Press)

15- Mutahhari, M. (1985), Polarisation Around the Character of Ali ibn abi Talib (Tehran: world Organisation for Islamic Services, second edition)

16- Nanji, A. (1996), "Islamic Ethics", A Companion to Ethics, edited by Peter Singer (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, First published 1991), pp. 106-120

17- Nasr, S. H. (1989), "God" in Islamic Spirituality, Vol. I (London: SCM Press Ltd.), pp. 311-323

18- Pavlin, J. (1997) "Sunni Kalam and theological controversies" in History of Islamic Philosophy Part 1, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, (London: Routledge), pp. 105­118

19- Razavi, M.A. (1997), Suhrawardi and the School of lllumination (Surrey: Curzon Press)

20- Siraj ed-Din, A. (1989), "The Nature and Origin of Sufism" in Islamic Spirituality, Vol. I (London: SCM Press Ltd.), pp. 223-238.

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