Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic 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".