Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Islam and The Social Problem

The Accurate Analysis of The Problem

In order to reach the first circle in analyzing the social problem, we have to question that materialistic individualistic interest established by the capitalist system as a criterion, a pretext, a goal and an objective and ask: “What is the idea which made such a criterion seem to be correct according to the democratic capitalist mentality which inspired it?” This very idea is the real basis of the social tribulation and the failure of democratic capitalism in bringing about man's happiness and safeguarding his dignity. If we can abolish such an idea, we will put a definite end to all conspiracies against social welfare and intrigues against the society's rights and accurate freedom and be successful in utilizing the private ownership for humanity's good, upliftment and advancement in the industrial spheres and production fields.

So, what is this idea?

This idea is summarized according to the limited materialistic interpretation of life on which the West has erected the colossal monument of capitalism. If every member of the society believes that his only field in this great universe is his personal materi­alistic life, believing also in his freedom in using and utilizing this life, and that he can gain nothing from this life except the pleasure made available to him through materialism, adding these materialistic creeds to his egoism, which is essentially inherent within him..., then he will choose the path of materialists and execute all of their methods, unless a mighty power deprives him of his freedom and stops him.

Egoism is the instinct more general or ancient than any other we have come to know. All other instincts are its own branches and divisions, including the instinct of survival. Man's love for his own self, which means his love for pleasure and happiness for his own person, and his hatred of pain and suffering, is the motive which pushes him to make a living and provide himself with his nutritious and materialistic needs. Therefore, he may put an end to his own life by committing suicide if he finds out that the pain of dying is easier than tolerating the pains of which his life is full.

The natural reality, that is, that which hides behind every human life, directing it with its fingers, is egoism which we call “loving pleasure and hating pain”. Man cannot be required to willingly tolerate the bitterness of pain without enjoying some pleasure simply in order that others may get their own plea­sure and felicity except when he is robbed of his humanity and is given a new nature which neither loves pleasure nor hates pain.

Even the marvellous norms of self-denial, which we see in mankind and about which we hear throughout history, are, in fact, subject to the same principal motivating power: egoism. Man may be influenced by his son or friend, and he may sacrifice himself for the sake of some ideals and principles, but he would never per­form such heroism unless he derives a particular pleasure from it and a benefit which exceeds the loss he suffers by preferring his son's or friend's benefit to that of his own, or by sacrificing himself for the sake of a principle in which he believes.

Thus can we interpret the general behaviour of man, in the spheres of egoism and sacrifice alike. Man has an inherent readiness to enjoy different things: materialistic, like enjoying eating, drinking, sexual pleasures, etc., or non-materialistic, like behavioural and emotional pleasures, that is, enjoying ethical principles and a spiritual companion, or a particular faith, when man finds such principles or that companion or this faith to be part of his own entity.

This readiness which prepares man to enjoy such different sorts of pleasures differs in degrees among individuals and varies in effectiveness accord­ing to the variations in man's circumstances, natural elements and the upbringing which influences him. When we find out that such readiness matures na­turally in man, such as his readiness to enjoy sex, for example, we find out that the other kinds of readi­ness may not appear during one's lifetime, and that they remain waiting for the natural elements to help them mature and blossom.

Behind all such readi­ness is the egoistic instinct which outlines man's behaviour according to the degree of maturity of such readiness; it pushes a person to prefer one kind of food to another when he is hungry, and it pushes some other person to even give his own food to others. This is so because the first person's readiness to enjoy the ethical and emotional principles which pushes him to self-denial is hidden: The auxiliary elements of upbringing have neither centralized nor matured such readiness. The other person has won such sort of upbringing; therefore, he enjoys ethical and emotional principles, sacrificing his own self for their achievement.

When we want to make a change in someone's behaviour, we have to change his concept of pleasure and benefit, including the suggested behaviour in the general framework of the egoistic instinct.

If the egoistic instinct occupies such a position in man's world, and the “self” means nothing but a limited materialistic energy, and pleasure is nothing but whatever fun and felicity materialism brings, it would be natural for man then to feel that his sphere of gaining is limited, his scope is short, and his objective in it is to get an amount of materialistic pleasure. The way to get that is, of course, confined to life's vein: wealth, which opens the door to man to achieve all of his purposes and desires. This is the natural sequence of materialistic reasoning which leads to a complete capitalist men­tality.

Can you see if the problem can be totally solved if we refuse the principle of private ownership, while maintaining such materialistic concepts of life as those thinkers have tried? Can society be saved from the tragedy of such principles by only abolishing private ownership so that it would gain a guarantee for its happiness and stability? The only guarantee for man's happiness and stability depends to a large extent on ensuring that those charged with respon­sibility will not deviate from their scopes and reform plans in the field of action and execution.

Such res­ponsible persons are supposed to embrace the same purely materialistic concepts of life on which capi­talism stands. The only difference is that they have shaped such concepts in new philosophical structures. Reason would suppose that the personal interest quite often stands in the face of the common interest, and that the individual has to choose between either a loss and a pain which he endures for the sake of others, or a gain and pleasure which he enjoys at their own expense. So, what guarantees the nation and its rights, the doctrine and its objectives, will have during such critical moments through which the rulers go?

The indiv­idual interest is not represented in private ownership only, so that we would rule out our supposition to abolish the principle of private ownership; rather, it is represented in many different manners and forms. A proof for that is the treason of many past rulers discovered today by the advocates of communism who have revealed how those rulers deviated from the same principles which they had professed to adopt.

The wealth controlled by the capitalist group, under the shade of absolute economic and individual liberties, dealing with it according to its materialistic mentality, is given, when the state nationalizes all sorts of wealth and abolishes private ownership, to the state apparatus itself which is composed of a group controlled by the same materialistic concepts of life which oblige them to give priority to their own individualistic interests, according to the egoistic instinct, refusing that man should give up his pleasure and interest without a compensation. So long as the materialistic interest is the dominating power, accord­ing to the materialistic concepts of life, new fields for struggle and competition will be reserved, and the society will be exposed to different dangers and exploitation.

Danger to humanity is all hidden within such materialistic concepts and whatever goals and deeds stem from them. Unifying capitalist norms of wealth, the small or the big, into one huge wealth to be taken care of by the state, without any new development of the human intellect, does not curb such a danger; rather, it turns the entire nation into labourers working for one company, tying their life and prestige to the promoters and owners of that company.

Yes, this “company” differs from the capitalist company: The owners of the capitalist company are the ones who own its profits, spending them according to their own inclinations, while the owners of the other company do not possess any of that, as the system assumes. But the fields of individualistic interest are still open, and the materialistic concept of life, the one that makes such an interest a goal and a justification, still remains

How to Solve the Problem

The world has two ways to avoid the danger and establish the pillars of a stable society:

One is this: Mankind has to be changed, or a new nature be created within him that would make him sacrifice his personal interests and limited materialistic achievements for the sake of the society and its interests, in spite of his own belief that there are no principles except those materialistic ones, and no gains except those of this limited life.

This could be accomplished if egoism were uprooted from his nature's essence and substituted with love for the group; therefore, man will be born not loving his own self except as being part of the society, feeling no pleasure for his own happiness and benefits ex­cept as they represent part of the general happiness and common interest. The “instinct” of loving the group will then guarantee its running after its own interests and the achievement of its own ob­jectives in a mechanical manner and mode.

The other, the one the advocates of communism dream of bringing into man's future, promising the world that they would create it anew, a creation which would make it move mechanically to serve the group and its interests, is this: So that such a great feat is accomplished, we have to trust the world leadership to them, just as the patient is entrusted to the surgeon for surgery in order to chop off his bad parts and adjust the crooked ones. Nobody knows how long such a surgical operation, which puts man at the mercy of the surgeon, will last.

Man's sub­mission to that is but the greatest proof of the extent of injustice which he has suffered in the democratic capital­ist system which has deceived him with the alleged “freedoms”, robbing him finally of even his own dignity, sucking his blood in order to present him as an easy drink to the pampered group represented by the rulers. The idea of such an opinion which advocates treating the problem by “modernizing” man and creating him anew, hinges on the Marxist interpretation of egoism.

Marxism believes that self-love (egoism) is neither a natural inclination nor an in­stinctive phenomenon within man's entity but a result of the social condition which is based on private ownership, for the social status of private ownership is what formulates the spiritual and in­nate composition of man, creating in the individual his own love for his personal interests and individual benefits.

If a revolution occurs in the bases on which the social structure stands, and general ownership and socialism substitute private owner­ship, then the revolution will be reflected in all cor­ners of the society and in the inner context of man; so much so that his personal feelings will change to common feelings, and his love for his own interests and individualistic benefits will change to loving the common interest and benefit, according to the equi­librium law between the status of Islamic ownership and the totality of the overall phenomenon according to which they condition themselves.

In fact, this Marxist interpretation of egoism judges the relationship between the self's reality (the egoistic instinct) and the social circumstances in an upside-down manner. Otherwise, how can we believe that the personal motive is the outcome of private ownership and all the class contradictions resulting from it?

If man did not have, before hand, the personal motive, he would not have caused such contradictions, nor could he have thought of private ownership and personal monopoly. Why should man monopolize the system's achievements, placing it in such a way that protects his own inter­ests at the expense of others, if he does not feel the personal motive within the depths of his own self?

The fact is that the social appearances of egoism in the economic and political field are but the result of the personal motive, of the egoistic instinct. This motive is deeper than it is in man's entity; therefore, it cannot vanish, nor can its roots be pulled out by simply removing such effects, for an operation like this is not more than substituting effects for others different than the first in shape or appearance yet similar to them in essence and reality.

Add to this, if we interpret the personal motive (the egoistic instinct) subjectively, as a reflection of the phenomenon of individualism within the social system, such as the phenomenon of private owner­ship, as Marxism has done, would this not mean that the personal motive will lose its subjective and causing factor from the social system by abolishing private ownership because, although it is a phenomenon of an individualistic nature, it still is not unique in kind, as there is, for example, the phenomenon of private management which is kept even by the socialist sys­tem?

Although it abolishes private ownership of the means of production, the socialist system does not abolish the private management by the ruling ap­paratus which practices proletariat dictatorship and monopolizes the supervision over all means of pro­duction and their management. It is not logical to manage the means of production at the moment of their nationalization by a social common manage­ment of all the individuals of the society.

The social­ist system, then, maintains distinguished individual­istic phenomena, and it is natural that such phe­nomena maintain the personal motive, continuously reflecting it in the inner context of man, just as the phenomenon of private ownership used to do.

Thus do we come to know the value of the first way to solve the problem: the communist way which regards abolishing the legislation of private ownership, wiping it out of the law, as the only guarantee to solve the problem and “modernize” man. As regarding the other way, which is stated above, it is the one followed by Islam because of its belief that the only solution to the problem is to develop man's materialistic concept of life.

It has not started with abolishing the concept of private ownership; rather, it assaulted the materialistic concept of life and put for life a new concept, basing on it a system in which the individual is not treated as a machine in the social apparatus, nor is the society a group ready to serve the individual.

Rather, it has given each his rights, and has guaranteed the individual his dignity, spiritual and materialistic. Islam has placed its hand on the real cause of sickness in the democratic social system, and whatever systems branch from it, wiping them out in a manner which harmonizes with the human nature.

The basic hinging point to what the human life has suffered different sorts of miseries and calamities is the materialistic outlook of life which may be summed up thus: the supposition that only man's life on earth is worthy of all consideration. It establishes the indiv­idualistic interest as the criterion to each action and activity.

According to Islam, democratic capitalism is a system doomed to collapse and will certainly fail not because of the allegations of the advocates of communist economy, the self-contradictions of capitalism and the elements of destruction carried inherently by private ownership, for Islam differs in its logical approach, political economy and social philosophy from the concepts of such allegations and their argumentative manner, as I have clarified in my works Falsafatuna (Our Philosophy) and Iqtisaduna (Our Economy), and it guarantees the position of private ownership within a social framework, one free of such alleged contradictions.

The reason for the failure and aggravating situ­ation with which democratic capitalism is afflicted, according to Islam, is rendered to the purely materialistic concepts of democratic capitalism which cannot make people happy in a system that learns its essence from it, deriving its general outlines from its es­sence and direction.

There has to be, thereupon, some other source, other than the materialistic ideas about the universe, from which the social system quenches its thirst, and there has to be an accurate political awareness stemming out of true concepts of life, adopting the greatest of man's issues, attempting to achieve it on the basis of such concepts and studying the world affairs from that angle. When such political aware­ness matures in the world, wiping away any other political awareness, the world will then be able to enter a new life shining with light, full of happiness. This deep political awareness is the true message of Islam in the world, and such a delivering message is, indeed, the eternal message of Islam which has derived its social system, which differs from all the systems we have so far explicated, from a new intel­lectual base for life and the universe.

Through such an intellectual base, Islam has defined the proper outlook of man at his life. It has made him believe that his life stems from the principle of absolute perfection, that it is but a prep­aration for a world free of toil and suffering, hence providing him with a new ethical criterion in his steps and stages. This criterion is: the pleasure of Allah Almighty. Not everything the individual interest imposes is permissible, yet everything causing an individual loss is prohibited and undesirable.

Rather, the goal which Islam has drawn for mankind in his life is Divine Pleasure, and the ethical criterion through which all deeds are weighed is the amount one is able to obtain of such a sacred goal. The straight man is that who achieves such a goal. The complete Islamic character is the one which has made all of its various paces along the guidance of such goal and the light of such criterion and within its general framework.

This change in the ethical concepts, criteria and objectives does not mean changing the human nature and creating it anew, as the communist idea meant. Egoism, that is, man's love for his own self and for the achievement of his personal desires, is natural in mankind, and we do not know of any research in any experimental field which is more clear than that of humanity in its long history which proves the “self” of egoism.

If egoism had not been natural and inherent within man, early man would not have rushed, before forming his social entity, to achieve his needs and defend himself against the dangers and try in his primitive ways through which he protected his life and maintained his existence to get what he de­sired and in the end enter the social life and assimilate in relations with others for the purpose of achieving such needs and avoiding such dangers. Since egoism occupies such a position in the human nature, any definite solution to the great human problem must be based on belief in such a reality. If it is based on the idea of developing or overcoming it, then it will be an idealistic solution which does not have a place in the reality of the practical life man has been leading.

The Religious Message

Here, religion performs its great message the burdens of which no one else can bear, nor its constructive goals and wise objectives can be achieved, except on its bases and principles. It combines the ethical criteria put by man with the egoistic instinct centred with­in his nature. In other words, religion unites the instinctive criteria of working and living; that is, egoism, and the criterion which ought to be the basis for working and living, in order to guarantee (for mankind) happiness, prosperity and justice.

The instinctive criterion demands that man must give preference to his own personal interests over those of the society and the factors which maintain its unity; and the criterion which must preside and prevail is that in the estimation of which all interests equate, and according to the concepts of which all individual and social principles strike a balance. How is it possible, then, to coordinate both criteria and unite both balances so that the human nature might return in the individual to be a factor of goodness and happiness for everyone, after it had been for a long time a factor that caused tragedies which developed selfishness, as it pleases?

The coordination and unification occur in a manner guaranteed by religion for the strayed hu­manity, and this has two styles: The first style is to concentrate on the realistic interpretation of life, propagating its comprehension in its accurate hue, as introductory prelude to an everlasting life in which man achieves an amount of happiness which depends on his endeavour during this limited life in the hope to achieve the Pleasure of Allah.

The ethical criterion, that is, achieving Allah's Pleasure, while winning its great social objectives, simultaneously ensures the achievement of the individual interest. Religion, therefore, leads man to partici­pate in the construction of a happy society and the maintenance of its just issues which, all in all, achieve the Pleasure of Allah Almighty, for that is included in the estimation of his personal gain, so long as every deed and activity in this field will be quite handsomely rewarded.

The society's issue is also the individual's, according to the precepts and concepts of religion regarding life and its comprehension. Such a style of coordination cannot be achieved under the shade of a materialistic comprehension of life, for the ma­terialistic comprehension of life makes man naturally looking at none but his present scope and limited lifespan, contrarily to the realistic interpretation of life presented by Islam. The latter expands man's scope, imposing on him a deeper outlook at his own interests and benefits, turning a quick loss into a real gain within such a deep sight, and the quick gain is turned in the end into a real loss:

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَسَاء فَعَلَيْهَا

Whoever does a good deed, it is for his own self, and whoever does wrong, it is against his own self. (Qur'an, 41:46).

وَمَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ يُرْزَقُونَ فِيهَا بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

And whoever, male or female, does a good deed, while truly believing, shall certainly en­ter Paradise in which he will be sustained without a limit. (Qur'an, 40:40).

يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ النَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِّيُرَوْا أَعْمَالَهُمْ، فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ، وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ

On that Day (of Judgement) shall people be presented in numerous numbers in order to be shown their deeds; whoever does good even the weight of an atom shall receive its reward, and whoever does wrong even the weight of an atom shall receive its punishment. (Qur'an, 99:6-8).

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ لاَ يُصِيبُهُمْ ظَمَأٌ وَلاَ نَصَبٌ وَلاَ مَخْمَصَةٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلاَ يَطَؤُونَ مَوْطِئًا يَغِيظُ الْكُفَّارَ وَلاَ يَنَالُونَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّ نَّيْلاً إِلاَّ كُتِبَ لَهُم بِهِ عَمَلٌ صَالِحٌ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ، وَلاَ يُنفِقُونَ نَفَقَةً صَغِيرَةً وَلاَ كَبِيرَةً وَلاَ يَقْطَعُونَ وَادِيًا إِلاَّ كُتِبَ لَهُمْ لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

[This is so] because thirst does not afflict them nor fatigue nor hunger in God’s way, nor do they tread a path which enrages the infidels, nor do they receive from the enemy (any injury) but on account of its being reckoned to their credit as a deed of righteousness. Indeed God does not allow the reward of those who do good to go in vain. Nor do they spend anything (in the way of God), be it small or big, nor do they cut across a valley, except that it is recorded to their credit so that God may reward them with better than what they were doing. (Qur’an, 9:120 - 121).

These are but some magnificent portraits our religion presents as an example for the first style, the one it follows for the purpose of coordinating both criteria and the unification of both balances, joining the per­sonal motives with the ways of goodness in life and developing the individual’s interest in a manner that would make him believe that his personal interests and the general matter-of-fact interest, as outlined by Islam, are inter-related.1

As regarding the other method followed by relig­ion to incorporate the personal motive with the society’s prin­ciples or interests, it is to guarantee to nourish man spiritually and help the growth of humane feelings and ethical inclinations within him. Within the human nature, as we have pointed out before, there are energies and capabilities of different inclinations. Some of them are materialistic the appetites of which open naturally, such as the appetite for food, drink and sex, while others are intellectual inclinations which blossom and grow through culti­vation and care.

Therefore, it is natural for man, if left for himself, to be controlled by the materialistic inclinations, for these blossom naturally, while the intellectual inclinations and their innate readiness remain veiled within the soul. Religion, believing in an infallible leadership supported by God, entrusts the task of cultivating humanity and nurturing the intellectual inclinations therein to this leadership and its branches, creating thereby a group of righteous emotions and feelings, and man starts loving the ethi­cal principles and ideals which religion brings him up to respect and to die for, and it removes from his path all obstacles composed of his own interests and benefits.

This does not mean that egoism is obliterated from the human nature. Rather, it means that the action geared towards the achievement of such principles and ideals is a complete execution of the will of ego­ism, for the principles, because of religious upbring­ing, become loved by man as means of deriving a “special” pleasure from them.

These, then, are the two ways from which results the joining of the ethical issue to the personal matter. One of them may be summarized thus: providing a realistic interpretation of an everlasting life not for the purpose of man turning away from this life, nor is it for his submission to injustice and acceptance of iniquity. Not at all; it is for the sake of checking man through the accurate ethical criterion provided by that interpretation with sufficient assurance.

The other way may be summarized thus: The ethical education resulting in various feelings and emotions within man which guarantee the implementation of the ethical criterion according to the inspiration of the soul. The spiritual comprehension and ethical edu­cation of the soul, according to the Message of Islam, are the coordinating factors in treating the deeper cause behind the human tragedy. Let us describe the comprehension of life as a prelude for a perpetual one, according to the spiri­tual comprehension of life, and let us describe the emotions and feelings, nurtured by the ethical edu­cation, as “the ethical feelings of life”.

The spiritual comprehension of life and the ethical feeling thereof are the two bases on which the new ethical criterion put by Islam for humanity stands, and this (criterion) is: achieving the Pleasure of Allah. This Pleasure, the one put forth by Islam as a general criterion for life, is the one which leads the boat towards the shores of righteousness, goodness and justice. The basic characteristic in the Islamic system is represented through its erection on a spiritual comprehension of life and an ethical feeling thereof, and the wide line in this system is: the regard for both individual and society, and ensuring the equi­librium between the individual and the social life: The individual is not the central base in the legis­lation and government, nor is the big social being the only thing the State looks at or for whose sake it legislates.

Every social system which does not stem out of this comprehension and feeling is either a system which follows the individual in his egoistic inclination, thus exposing the social life to the most severe consequences and dire perils, or it is a system which suppresses the individual's instincts and paralyzes in him his own nature for the sake of “protecting” the society and its interests, hence an everlasting bitter struggle starts between the system and its legislations, and the individuals and their inclinations.

Nay! The social existence of the system will always be exposed to failure at the hands of its own promoters, as long as they, too, have their own personal inclinations and instincts, and so long as these instincts find, through suppressing the other “individualistic” instincts and taking charge of strict leadership, a wide scope and a field unmatchable for setting out and utilization.

Both spiritual comprehension of life and the ethical feeling thereof do not only result in a com­plete system of life in which there is high regard for each component of the society, each individual will be granted his liberty which has been cultivated by that comprehension and feeling and which the State re­stricts when there is any deviation from it. I say: Every doctrine which does not produce for mankind this sort of system can never be other than cooling the air off and alleviating woes rather than providing a remedy and a definite eradication of social desires and vices.

The intact social structure is erected on none other than a spiritual comprehension of life and an ethical feeling thereof, one from which both a system is set forth to fill life with the spirit of this feeling and the essence of that comprehension. This is Islam in the most precise and wonderful expression: a spiritual and ethical doctrine from which springs a perfect system for mankind which portrays the clearly marked scope, determining his goal to be even higher than that scope, acquainting him with his achievements there from.

As for its abolishment of the spiritual compre­hension of life, stripping man of his ethical feeling thereof, considering the ethical concepts as pure whims created by the materialistic interests, and that only the economic factor is the criterion for all values and ethics, hoping from all of this to achieve man's happiness and social stability..., this, indeed, is but a hope, a desire, which can never be achieved until man­kind is turned into a mechanical apparatus organized by few mechanical engineers.

Basing man on the basis of that spiritual comprehension of life and the ethical feeling thereof is not a hard or impossible task, for religions during man's history have performed their great message in this respect, and all what the world today contains of spiritual values, ethical awareness, virtuous feelings and emotions do not have an explanation more clear and logical in their pillars and bases other than the great endeavours undertaken by religions to culti­vate humanity and its natural motives and whatever required for living and working.

Islam has carried the torch of bursting light after mankind had reached a certain degree of awareness. It preached the spiritual and ethical base on the widest scales and furthermost scopes, raising thereupon the banner of humanity. It established an intel­lectual State which ruled the world for a quarter of a century, aiming at the unity of all mankind into one intellectual base which portrays the mode and man­ner of life. The Islamic State, therefore, has two functions: One is to lift mankind through the intel­lectual base, stamping his inclination and feelings with its stamp. The other is watching him externally and bringing him back to the base if he practically deviates from it.

Therefore, the political awareness of Islam is not only an awareness of the structural aspect of the social life, but it also is a profound political awareness which stems from an entirely complete outlook towards life, the cosmos, sociology, politics, economics and ethics.

This inclusive outlook is the complete Islamic awareness. Any other sort of political awareness can either be a superficial political awareness which does not look at the world except from a particular angle without basing its concepts except on one particular hinging point. Or it may be a political aware­ness which studies the world from the purely materi­alistic angle which provides mankind with feuds and sufferings of all various shapes and hues.

Note

1. Refer to Iqtisaduna, p.307.

Table of Contents

Dedication 19

The Publisher’s preface 20

Introduction 21

(1) 21

(2) 21

(3) 21

(4) 22

(5) 22

(6) 22

(7) 23

(8) 23

(9) 23

(10) 24

(11) 24

(12) 24

(13) 25

(14) 25

(15) 26

(16) 26

(17) 26

(18) 27

(19) 27

Mecca the honored town 28

Other names of Mecca 28

1. Ummol Qura (mother of villages) 28

2. Al-Balad al-Ameen (the safe country) 28

3. Becca 28

4. The Inviolable House 28

Its locality 29

Mecca is the most beloved place to the Prophet 29

The Prophet glorifies the Kaaba 29

The Prophet puts the Rock in its place 30

The first who lived in Mecca 30

The cultural life 31

Dar an-Nadwa 31

Hilf al-Fudhool (alliance of virtues) 31

The religious life 31

Who denied the idols 32

1. Umru’ ul-Qayss 32

2. Ghawi bin Abdul Uzza 32

3. Zayd bin Umar 32

4. A nomad man 32

5. Khuza’a bin Abd 32

6. Abdurrahman 32

The belief of the Hashemites 33

The Prophet destroys the idols 33

The economic life 33

The social life 34

The Hashemites 34

The Umayyads 34

Great personalities and glories 36

Hashim 36

Abdul Muttalib 37

Abdul Muttalib’s faith 37

Entrusting the hospitality of the pilgrims to him 37

Restoring the well of Zamzam 38

Abdul Muttalib’s vision 38

Abdul Muttalib’s vow 39

His care for the Prophet 39

Towards the High Companion 40

Fatherhood, motherhood, and a shine 41

The father: Abdullah 41

To the heavens 41

The mother: Aaminah 41

Aaminah’s vision 42

The shining of light 42

His name 43

Signs and miracles 43

The Jews’ fear 43

His wet-nurses 43

With his foster-sisters 44

A rejected narration 44

His nursemaid 45

The death of Aaminah 45

A rejected narration 45

Abdul Muttalib’s death 46

Under Abu Talib’s care 46

The care of Abu Talib’s wife to Muhammad 46

With his uncle to Sham 47

With a priest 47

The battle of al-Fijar 48

Grazing of sheep 48

Disdaining from playing 49

Placing the Black Rock in its place 49

Trading with the capitals of Khadijah 49

His marriage to Khadijah 50

The Prophet adopts Ali 51

His characteristics 52

Willpower 52

High morality 52

A word by Imam Ali 53

Forbearance 54

Generosity 56

Modesty 57

Asceticism 58

Turning to Allah 59

His prayer 59

a. assigning the time of prayer 59

b. the caller (mu’azzin) 59

c. His care for congregational prayer 59

d. Regulating the rows of Muslims 60

e. His much praying 60

f. His weeping in his prayers 60

Coyness 60

Remembrance of Allah 61

His weeps when certain verses are recited before him 61

Compassion and mercifulness 61

Loyalty 62

Courage 63

The love to the poor 63

Disdaining of haughtiness 64

Patience 64

Justice 64

Cleanness 65

His fondness of perfumes 65

Sense of humor 65

Eloquence and rhetoric 66

Gravity 66

Prudent policy 66

In the cave of Hara’ 68

The revelation 68

With Khadijah 69

Khadijah and Ali’s faith 69

The Prophet’s prayer in the Kaaba 70

Circumambulating the Kaaba 70

Secret invitation 71

Publicity of the mission 72

Worry of Quraysh 72

Severe procedures 73

Mocking 73

Inciting the children to harm the Prophet 73

Accusing the Prophet of madness 73

1. Al-Waleed bin al-Mughirah 73

2. Al-Aas bin Wa’il 74

3. Al-Aswad bin Abd Yaghuth 74

4. Al-Harith 74

5. Al-Aswad bin al-Harith 74

1. Abu Jahl 74

2. Abu Lahab (the Prophet’s uncle) 75

3. Uqbah bin Abi Ma’eet 75

4. Al-Hakam bin Abil-Aas 75

5. Umayyah bin Khalaf 76

Accusing the Prophet of magic 76

Preventing praisers from coming to him 76

Preventing people from embracing Islam 76

Persecuting the believers 77

The Prophet asks Muslims to be steadfast 78

Abu Talib protects the Prophet 78

Quraysh ask Abu Talib to deliver them the Prophet 79

Abu Talib orders Ja’far to follow the Prophet 79

By Allah I won’t fail the Prophet 80

Abu Talib invites an-Najashi to Islam 80

Hamza becomes a Muslim 80

The first emigration to Abyssinia 81

The second emigration of Muslims 83

Umar turns a Muslim 83

Quraysh negotiates with the Prophet 84

As-Sahifah (document) 85

In the Shi’b (defile) of Abu Talib 86

The Prophet and the tribes 87

The Prophet’s supplication 88

The Night Journey and the Ascension 88

The Ascension 89

With the Exalted Creator 89

The goals of the Ascension 90

The influence of the Ascension in Mecca 90

The Ascension: spiritual or bodily? 91

Arguments 91

Farid Wajdi’s opinion 92

The year of sorrow: Abu Talib’s death 93

Abu Talib’s will 93

To immortality 94

Khadijah’s death 95

The gifts of Allah on her 96

To the Paradise 96

The first homage of al-Aqabah 97

Sending Mus’ab a deputy to Medina 97

The second homage of al-Aqabah 98

The Prophet meets with the Ansar 98

Fear of Quraysh 100

Muslims’ emigration to Medina 100

The Muhajireen in the hospitality of the Ansar 101

The method of the mission in Mecca 101

1. wisdom and good preaching 101

2. good saying 101

3. leniency and mercy 101

4. repelling evil with what is best 101

5. patience 102

6. warning the unbelievers against Allah’s punishment 102

7. giving good tidings to the believers to be in the Paradise 102

The invitation to Allah 102

The existence of Allah 103

The oneness of Allah 104

The power of Allah 104

The knowledge of Allah 104

The legislation of wudu’ and prayer 105

The kiblah 105

The Prophet’s miracles in Mecca 105

1. The Holy Qur'an 105

2. The miracle of the Tree 106

3. The split of the moon 107

The Meccan Suras 107

The Prophet’s emigration to Yathrib 108

Worry of Quraysh 108

The Prophet leaves Mecca 109

Imam Ali sleeps in the Prophet’s bed 109

The Prophet with Suraqah 110

Yathrib receives the Prophet 111

“The dawn has come to us 111

The population of Yathrib 112

Friday Prayer 112

The building of the mosque 113

The Prophet’s achievements in Medina 114

Brotherhood among Muslims 114

Building the Islamic civilization 114

Liberation of woman 114

Equality 115

1. Social equality 115

2. Equality before the law 116

3. equality in taxes 117

4. equality in employment 118

Individual responsibility 118

Annulling the racial segregation 118

The Islamic brotherhood 118

1. Mercifulness and sympathy 119

2. The spread of greeting 119

3. Mutual visiting 119

4. Satisfying the needs of people 119

5. Helping a Muslim 120

Factors of separation 120

1. Mocking and insulting each other 120

2. Backbiting 120

3. Talebearing 121

4. Irrelation 121

5. Non-cooperation 121

6. Harming and insulting 122

7. Frightening and terrorizing 122

8. Revilement 122

9. Watching of others’ slips and defects 122

10. Degrading a Muslim 123

11. Priding on lineages 123

Lights from the Islamic civilization 123

Freedom 123

1. The freedom of religion 123

2. The freedom of thought 124

3. Civil freedom 125

Governors and officials 125

The task of governors 125

The Prophet’s covenant to governors 126

The Prophet’s covenant to Mu’ath 126

Deposing of governors 127

The salaries of officials 128

The Prophet’s deputies 128

1. To Khosrau 129

2. To Caesar 129

3. To al-Muqawqas 131

Al-Muqawqas with a delegation from Thaqif 132

4. To Negus 133

5. To the King of Ghassan 134

6. To the king of Yamama 134

7. To the kings of Oman 135

8. To the people of Hajar 135

9. To al-Munthir bin al-Harith 135

His letters to the notables 136

Aktham bin Sayfi 136

Ziyad bin Jumhoor 136

The delegations to the Prophet 137

Education 138

Education of women 139

The house of hospitality 139

The Islamic economy 140

1. The encouraging of agriculture 140

2. The encouraging of labor 140

3. The forbidding of usury 140

4. The prohibition of cheating 141

5. The prohibition of monopoly 141

6. The watch of the market 141

7. Taxes 141

8. The zakat of monies 141

9. The Khums 141

10. The government’s responsibility 142

The change of the qibla to the Kaaba 142

The Prophet consults with his companions 142

The Prophet’s scribes 142

The Prophet’s seal 143

The political document 143

Examples from the Prophet’s supplications 147

The importance of Du’a (supplication) 147

The benefits of Du’a 147

Those whose du’a is responded to 147

1. The wronged 147

2. The father’s supplication for his children 148

3. One’s prayer for his brother 148

4. The prayer of one who is far away for another who is far away 148

5. The prayer of an afflicted believer 148

6. The supplication at affection 148

7. The supplication of one who is done good to 148

8. The Muslim’s prayer for his Muslim brother 148

9. Answered supplications 148

10. Supplications that are not rejected 149

Supplications that are not responded to 149

The best of du’as 149

1. Abundance of livelihood at old-age 149

2. The fear of Allah 149

3. Gratefulness and patience 149

4. Doing good 149

5. Bliss in this life 149

6. Good end 149

7. Protection 149

8. Resurrection with the poor 150

9. Reconciliation 150

10. Sound faith and life 150

11. Help at dying 150

12. Forgiveness 150

13. Best qualities 150

14. Fear of Allah 150

15. Seeking soundness 150

16. More knowledge 151

17. Good qualities 151

18. Faith 151

19. Blessing of morning 151

20. The fear of Allah 151

21. Good deeds 151

22. The increase in good 151

23. Self-control 151

24. Guardians of Muslims 151

25. Seeking goodness 151

26. Soundness against diseases 151

27. Safety from bad qualities 152

29. A cunning friend 152

30. Knowledge and labor 152

31. Debt 152

32. Enticement 152

33. Abomination 152

34. Bad day 152

35. At travel 152

Supplications the Prophet taught to Ali 152

Fourth supplication 155

Supplications the Prophet taught to Fatima 157

First supplication 157

Educational recommendations 160

The Prophet’s recommendations to Imam Ali 160

The Prophet’s recommendation to Fatima 162

The Prophet’s recommendation to Qays 163

The Prophet’s recommendation to Ibn Mas’ud 163

The Prophet’s recommendation to Abu Tharr 173

Another recommendation to Abu Tharr 183

The Prophet’s recommendation to Mu’ath bin Jabal 183

His recommendation to Salman al-Farisi 184

His recommendation to al-Fadhl bin al-Abbas 184

A recommendation to Khalid bin Zayd 184

His recommendation to Harmalah 184

His recommendation to Abu Umayyah 185

His recommendation to some man 185

His recommendation to another man 185

His recommendations to some other men 186

Preachments and advices 188

1. Warning against the love of this life 188

2. Good deed 188

3. Noble attributes 188

4. Fancy and wishes 189

5. The most afflicted people 189

6. The deeds that take to the Paradise and to the Fire 189

7. After this life is either the Paradise or the Fire 189

8. Devotedness to Allah 189

9. Remembering death 190

10. With death 190

11. Hastening to goodness 190

12. This life is of crookedness 190

13. The love of this life 191

14. Consolement and preachment 191

15. Desertion of the life 191

16. With the angel of death 192

From the Prophet’s sermons 193

1. His speech in Mecca 193

2. His speech in Medina 193

3. The Friday Sermon in Medina 193

4. His speech in al-Khayf 194

5. His speech on warning against this life 195

6. His speech in the Farwell Hajj 195

7. His speech in the Ghadeer of Khum 196

8. His speech on receiving the month of Ramadan 197

9. His speech in his last illness 199

Wonderful maxims and teachings 200

Good morals 200

Gaiety 200

Reason 200

Foolishness 201

Knowledge 201

The reward of scholars 202

The punishment of scholars who quit their knowledge 202

The nation’s rightness is by its scholars and leaders 202

Jurisprudents are trustees of the messengers 202

Learning knowledge 202

The death of a scholar 203

Knowledge is a treasure 203

The fatwa with no knowledge 203

Knowledge for pride 203

Teaching kindly 203

Dispraising of ignorance 203

Thinking deeply on affairs 204

Kinship and pardon 204

Praising of benevolence 204

Virtues 204

Generosity 205

Doing good 205

Charity 205

Bad and prohibited features 205

Hypocrisy 205

Treason 205

Betrayal of trust 205

False testimony 206

Oppression 206

Rejoicing at others’ distress 206

Haughtiness 206

Talebearing 206

Envy 206

Evil plotting 207

Lying 207

Stinginess 207

Pride 207

Injustice 207

Impudence 207

Double-faced 208

Uncertainty 208

Supporting of falsehood 208

Praising the disobedient 208

Terrifying a Muslim 208

Praiseworthy attributes 208

Five qualities 208

Four qualities 208

Satisfaction 208

Economics 209

Obedience of Allah 209

Seeking forgiveness 209

The inviolability of a believer 209

Pardoning 209

Hating the sinners 209

The most beloved people to the Prophet 209

Wisdom 210

Reciting the Qur'an 210

Leniency 210

The advantage of fasting 210

Prayer 210

Comfort in food 210

Economic in food 210

Honoring old people 210

Trust of meetings 211

Consultation 211

Unity 211

The jihad for the sake of Allah 211

Short maxims 212

The battle of Badr 233

The trade of Abu Sufyan 233

The march of Muslims 233

The battle 236

The results of battle 237

1. The prevalence of Islam 237

2. The fear of Quraysh 237

3. The sorrow of Quraysh 237

4. The delight of Muslims 238

The battle of Uhud 239

The leadership of Abu Sufyan 239

The Prophet consults with his companions 239

The war 240

The Prophet and his companions 241

The murder of Hamza 241

The Prophet’s sorrow 241

The martyrdom of Mus’ab 242

The rout of the polytheists 242

The defeat of Muslims 242

The struggle of Umm Imarah 243

Villains try to kill the Prophet 244

Danger surrounds the Prophet 244

1. Anas bin an-Nadhr 245

2. Thabit bin ad-Dahdaha 245

3. Abu Dujanah 245

4. Ziyad bin Imarah 246

5. Abu Talha 246

6. Amr bin al-Jamuh 246

8. Aasim bin Umar bin Qatadah 246

9. Al-Usayrim 247

10. Mukhayreeq 247

The end of the war 247

The Prophet marches with his army to fight Abu Sufyan 248

The results of the battle of Uhud 248

1. The joy of Quraysh 248

2. The delight of the polytheists and the Jews 249

3. Deeming Muslims weak 249

The event of al-Khandaq (trench) 250

The role of the Jews 250

Digging the trench 250

The Prophet with Nu’aym 251

The crossing of the trench 252

Bani Quraydhah and the conquest of Khaybar 254

The march of the Muslim army 254

The delegation of Abu Lubabah 255

The arbitration of Sa’d 255

The conquest of Khaybar 255

A poisoned ewe 257

The faith of al-Hajjaj bin Ilat 257

Expeditions 259

The expeditions 259

1. The expedition against the Banu Sulaym 259

2. The expedition of as-Suwayq 259

4. The expedition of Buwat 259

5. The expedition of al-Asheera (the tribe) 260

6. The expedition of the Bani Qaynuqa’ 260

7. The expedition of Qarqarat al-Kudr 261

8. The expedition of Thee Amarr 261

10. The expedition of Dawmat al-Jandal 262

11. The expedition of the Bani al-Mustaliq 262

12. The expedition of Mu’tah 263

13. The expedition of Wadi al-Qura (the valley of villages) 264

14. The conquest of Mecca 264

The truce of al-Hudaybiyyah 264

The Prophet determines to conquer Mecca 265

The Prophet’s favor to Abu Sufyan 267

The Prophet enters Mecca 268

The Prophet’s sermon 269

Men and women’s homage to the Prophet 270

15. The expedition of Hunayn 271

The defeat of the polytheists 271

16. The expedition of at-Ta’if 273

17. The expedition of Tabuk 273

Imam Ali and the Sura of Bara’ah 275

Imam Ali and the conquest of Yemen 276

The battles and the expeditions of the Prophet 276

The battalions 277

1. The battalion of Zayd bin Haritha 277

2. The battalion of Khalid 277

3. The battalion of Abdullah bin Rawaha 278

4. The battalion of Basheer bin Sa’d 278

5. The battalion of Abu Hadrad 278

6. The battalion of Amr bin al-Aas 278

7. The battalion of Zayd bin Harithah 279

The signs of the departure 280

The farewell Hajj 281

The conference of Ghadeer Khum 282

The homage to Imam Ali 283

The Prophet and the caliphate 284

The Prophet chooses Ali for the caliphate 284

The immortal disaster 288

The army of Usamah 288

The calamity of Thursday 289

Fatima’s distress 291

The Prophet recommends of his family 292

The Prophet’s recommendation about his two grandsons 292

To the High Paradise 292

Preparing the holy corpse for burial 293

The prayer over the holy corpse 294

The burial 294

Endnotes 296

Introduction 296

Mecca the honored town 296

Great personalities and glories 296

Fatherhood, motherhood, and a shine 297

His characteristics 298

In the cave of Hara’ 300

Publicity of the mission 300

The Prophet’s emigration to Yathrib 303

Examples from the Prophet’s supplications 306

Educational recommendations 308

Preachments and advices 310

From the Prophet’s sermons 310

Wonderful maxims and teachings 311

Short maxims 313

The battle of Badr 313

The battle of Uhud 313

The event of al-Khandaq (trench) 314

Bani Quraydhah and the conquest of Khaybar 314

Expeditions 315

The battalions 316

The signs of the departure 316

The immortal disaster 316