Читать книгу Islamic Civilization - Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi - Страница 12
Оглавление1 The Islamic Concept of Temporal Life
From the very beginning, man has had great misconceptions about his place in life, and the mistaken notions that have emerged from this state persist to the present. When man is in the ascendant, he considers himself as the highest creature on earth; delusions of pride, arrogance and rebellion fill his mind. He does not deem any power to be his equal. In the words of the Qur’ān, he proclaims: “Who is greater than us in strength?” [Fuṣṣilat 41: 15], and “I am the supreme deity” [al-Nāziʿāt 79: 24].
It is on such occasions that man discards all notions of responsibility and accountability to a higher authority and incarnates himself as a god of evil and injustice spreading inequity and wickedness. When, on the other hand, he is inclined towards debasing his status, he regards himself as the lowest of the lowly. He prostrates himself in front of trees, rocks, mountains, animals, wind and fire, clouds and thunder, sun, moon and stars, and, indeed, before any object that to his mind has the least power to affect him negatively or beneficially. In fact, he has no hesitation in submitting to human beings like himself, making them supernatural deities.
Rejecting these two extreme positions, Islam presents man in his true status. At various points, the Qur’ān presents this real human state in the following words:
So let man consider of what he was created. He was created of a gushing fluid, emanating from between the loins and the ribs.
[al-Ṭāriq 86: 5-7]
Does man not see that We created him of a sperm-drop, and lo! he is flagrantly contentious. He strikes for Us a similitude and forgot his own creation.
[Yā Sīn 36: 77-78]
He originated the creation of man from clay, then made his progeny from the extract of a mean fluid, then He duly proportioned him, and breathed into him of His spirit.
[al-Sajdah 32:7-9]
It is surely We Who created you from dust, then from a drop of sperm, then from a clot of blood, then from a little lump of flesh, some of it shapely and other shapeless. (We are rehearsing this) that We may make the reality clear to you. We cause (the drop of sperm) that We please to remain in the wombs till an appointed time. We bring you forth as infants (and nurture you) that you may come of age. Among you is he that dies (at a young age) and he who is kept back to the most abject age so that after once having known, he reaches a stage when he knows nothing.
[al-Ḥajj 22: 5]
O man! What has deceived you about your generous Lord? Who created you, shaped you, and made you well-proportioned, and set you in whatever form He pleased?
[al-Infiṭār 82: 6-8]
Allah has brought you forth from your mothers’ wombs when you knew nothing, and then gave you hearing, and sight and thinking hearts so that you may give thanks.
[al-Naḥl 16: 78]
Did you ever consider the sperm that you emit? Do you create a child out of it, or are We its Creators? It is We Who ordained death upon you and We are not to be frustrated. Had We so wished, nothing could have hindered Us from replacing you by others like yourselves, or transforming you into beings you know nothing about. You are well aware of the first creation; then, do you learn no lesson from it? Have you considered the seeds you till? Is it you or We Who make them grow? If We so wished, We could have reduced your harvest to rubble, and you would have been left wonderstruck to exclaim: “We have been penalised; nay; we have been undone!” Did you cast a good look at the water that you drink? Is it you who brought it down from the clouds or is it We Who brought it down? If We had so pleased, We could have made it bitter. So why would you not give thanks? Did you consider the fire which you kindle? Did you make its tree grow or was it We Who made it grow? We made it a reminder and a provision for the needy. Glorify, then, (O Prophet), the name of your Great Lord.
[al-Wāqiʿah 56: 58-74]
When a calamity befalls you on the sea, all those whom you invoke forsake you except Him. But when He delivers you safely to the shore you turn away from Him, for man is indeed most thankless. Do you, then, feel secure against His causing you to be swallowed up by a tract of the earth, or letting loose a deadly whirlwind charged with stones towards you, and there you will find none to protect you? Or do you feel secure that He will not cause you to revert to the sea, and let a tempest loose upon you and then drown you for your ingratitude whereupon you will find none even to inquire of Us what happened to you?
[Banī Isrā’īl 17: 67-69]
All these verses address and negate the twin issues of human pride and arrogance. Man’s attention is invited (in a mocking way) to his true state: ‘Look at yourself, created out of a totally inconsequential drop issuing forth from a rather unbecoming aperture into another vessel considered unspeakable (in polite conversation) wherein it undergoes so many unsightly transformations only to emerge as a messy piece of meat. It is only God’s power that enables life to enter this fistful of meat lest it passes out in this incomplete and insignificant state. It is by His Divine Power that God bestows life to this mass of cells, creates in it a mind with intellect and senses and equips it with the tools and forces essential for worldly life’
It is in this rather unbecoming manner that man comes into this world. The initial state of this being is that of a totally helpless and dependent infant without any ability even to carry out essential tasks. God Almighty arranges for his upbringing in a way that he grows, becomes strong and acquires mastery over the affairs of life. Then, slowly but surely, comes about a decline in the powers as youth turns into old age, so much so that a time comes when the same feebleness that characterized the early years returns. The energies dissipate and the forces degenerate, mental sharpness begins to fail and the once formidable knowledge starts diminishing. Finally the light goes away from the ‘flickering candle of life’. Thus man departs for the grave, bereft of all material possessions, relatives and friends.
At no point during his rather brief existence is man fully capable of ensuring the continuation of his lease on life. There is a Power, higher than man, which keeps him alive – and which can force him to depart from the world at a time of Its own choosing. Indeed, throughout the period that man is alive, his life is bound by the strict laws of nature and requirements of (at appropriate levels) air, water, food, light, and temperature. The earthly produce, natural resources, and environmental conditions on which he is dependent do not submit to his absolute control; neither does he bring them into existence nor do they take orders from him.
And when the forces of nature begin to act against man, how powerless does he seem? A blast of wind can decimate his settlements, a tidal wave of water washes away all his significance, and a few tremors of the earth unite him with the dust. Irrespective of the tools with which he arms himself, notwithstanding the techniques that he devises from his knowledge (which also is not of his own creation), whatever be the inventions that his intellect (which again is not of his own acquisition) enables him to come up with, all seem insignificant in the face of nature’s adverse forces. How imprudent – even ludicrous – is it of man to act arrogantly (on the basis of his trivial abilities and inventions) becoming haughty and heartless as he spreads mischief throughout God’s kingdom, raises the banner of rebellion against the Almighty, and sets himself up as a false deity over God’s people?
So much then for battering man’s false pride, which is just a small aspect of the Qur’ān’s challenge. In turn, the Qur’ān also addresses mankind with a message that it should not consider itself as lowly as it occasionally does.
Indeed, We honoured the progeny of Adam, and bore them across land and sea and provided them with good things for their sustenance, and exalted them above many of Our creatures.
[Banī Isrā’īl 17: 70]
Have you not seen how Allah has subjected to you all that is in the earth.
[al-Ḥajj 22: 65]
He created the cattle. They are a source of clothing and food and also a variety of other benefits for you. And you find beauty in them as you drive them to pasture in the morning and as you drive them back home in the evening; and they carry your loads to many a place which you would be unable to reach without much hardship. Surely your Lord is Intensely Loving, Most Merciful. And He created horses and mules and asses for you to ride, and also for your adornment. And He creates many things (for you) that you do not even know about. It rests with Allah alone to show you the Right Way, even when there are many crooked ways. Had He so willed, He would have (perforce) guided you all aright. He it is Who sends down water for you from the sky out of which you drink and out of which grow the plants on which you pasture your cattle, and by virtue of which He causes crops and olives and date-palms and grapes and all kinds of fruit to grow for you. Surely in this there is a great Sign for those who reflect. He has subjected for you the night and the day and the sun and the moon and the stars have also been made subservient by His command. Surely there are Signs in this for those who use their reason. And there are also Signs for those who take heed in the numerous things of various colours that He has created for you on earth. And He it is Who has subjected the sea that you may eat fresh fish from it and bring forth ornaments from it that you can wear. And you see ships ploughing their course through it so that you may go forth seeking His Bounty and be grateful to Him. And He has placed firm mountains on the earth lest it should move away from you, and has made rivers and tracks that you may find your way, and He has set other landmarks in the earth. And by the stars too do people find their way. … For, were you to count the favours of Allah, you will not be able to count them.
[al-Naḥl 16: 5-18]
These verses narrate to us humans the fact that all natural resources on and within the earth, as well as many in the atmosphere, have been subjugated for our benefit and placed at our service – the rivers and seas, the trees and animals, the stars and the moon, the day and night, light and darkness – all have been made of service to man. Human beings enjoy superiority over all of these. They have been bestowed with the greatest honour and dignity and made masters over these.
Why, then, does man bow before such [powerless objects], considering them capable of answering their wants and desires? Why is man afraid of their (supposed) powers, and why does he spread his hands before these material objects, make supplications, and sing songs of praise for their greatness? In this way, by becoming a slave of slaves, man only debases himself and engineers his own fall from grace.
From the foregoing, it is clear that human beings are neither as supreme as they occasionally consider themselves nor so lowly and insignificant as they often make themselves out to be. We, thus, come to the question: ‘What is the true status of human beings in this temporal world?’ Islam’s response to this query is as follows:
Just think when your Lord said to the angels: ‘Lo! I am about to place a Vicegerent on earth,’ they said: ‘Will You place on it one who will spread mischief and shed blood while we celebrate Your glory and extol Your holiness?’ He said: ‘Surely I know what you do not know.’ Then Allah taught Adam the names of all things and presented them to the angels and said: ‘If you are right (that the appointment of a Vicegerent will cause mischief) then tell Me the names of these things.’ They said. ‘Glory to You! We have no knowledge except what You taught us. You, only You, are All-Knowing, All-Wise.’ Then Allah said to Adam: ‘Tell them the names of these things.’ And when he had told them the names of all things, Allah said: ‘Did I not say to you that I know everything about the heavens and the earth which are beyond your range of knowledge and I know all that you disclose and also all that you hide?’ And when We ordered the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam,’ all of them fell prostrate, except Iblīs. He refused, and gloried in his arrogance and became one of the defiers. And We said: ‘O Adam, live in the Garden, you and your wife, and eat abundantly of whatever you wish but do not approach this tree or else you will be counted among the wrong-doers.’ But Satan caused both of them to deflect from obeying Our command by tempting them to the tree and brought them out of the state they were in
[al-Baqarah 2: 30-36]
Recall when your Lord said to the angels: ‘I will indeed bring into being a human being out of dry ringing clay wrought from black mud. When I have completed shaping him and have breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall you down before him in prostration.’ So, the angels – all of them – fell down in prostration, except Iblīs; he refused to join those who prostrated. The Lord inquired: ‘Iblīs! What is the matter with you that you did not join those who prostrated?’ He said: ‘It does not behove of me to prostrate myself before a human being whom You have created out of dry ringing clay wrought from black mud.’ The Lord said: ‘Then get out of here; you are rejected, and there shall be a curse upon you till the Day of Recompense.’
[al-Ḥijr 15: 28-35]
The same subject is addressed by the Qur’ān at numerous places in different ways. The gist of this discourse is that God has made human beings his Vicegerents – in modern parlance, a representative plenipotentiary – and granted them greater knowledge than the angels. It is because of that status that God has given human beings preference over the angels in spite of their constant remembrance of and practice of paying homage to Him. Indeed, God ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before this Divine representative. Having so carried out the Divine command, the angelic assembly accepted man’s newly designated status – all except Satan1 who thus raised the flag of rebellion and refused to bow before the human race.
Indeed, man was nothing but a lump of clay into which a Divine spirit had been blown. It was rather man’s higher state of knowledge that had made him fit for Divine representation on earth. Satan, however, who did not follow all the other angels in submitting to Divine command, and who thereby earned eternal damnation, nonetheless sought and received Divine permission to lead human beings astray from the Divine path [by way of a rhetorical challenge]. Carrying out his evil promise, Satan deceived the first couple and this led to the human expulsion from Paradise. From that day onwards, there has been an unceasing and eternal struggle between human beings and Satan. God has clearly communicated to human beings that they will be saved and led to Paradise if they follow Divine guidance. Yet if they listen to God’s sworn enemy, Satan, their destination will surely be Hell.
From the above discussion we further understand that the human race (both jointly and severally) has been granted the status of God’s caliph. A caliph is the term used for an assistant or ‘a second in command’. Naturally, it goes without saying that it is the responsibility of the immediate subordinate – in modern legal parlance ‘an agent’ – to carry out the commands of the superior or ‘principal’. The representative can neither follow the dictates of someone other than his principal or superior, for that would be insubordination – if not outright rebellion – nor is he authorized to act independently as by way of considering the subjects, servants and slaves of the lord as his own servants and slaves. In the latter situation he would also be considered a rebel and in either case would be liable to punishment.
In this position as the Lord’s representatives, human beings are free to use the Principal’s properties and possessions, rule over His subjects, acquire beneficial servitude from them, and generally manage or organize them, but not in a way that the action is deemed as that of the Principal. Moreover, no human being may act in a manner that can be construed as if he is acting as the agent of someone other than his true Master. Man’s only appropriate manner of action is that of a Divine representative, one who is a custodian of the Lord’s temporal possessions. Accordingly, a human being can be a true, well-liked, and praiseworthy representative only if s/he does not betray any of the trusts placed in herself or himself, follows the given guidelines and does not go beyond any explicit orders. Moreover, the representative should adhere to the set of rules that the Master has laid down in terms of the utilization of His properties and the governance of His subjects. If a representative or agent does not act in a manner that is envisaged in the Principal-Agent relationship, s/he shall cease to be a representative and instead become a rebel, one who far from being appreciated and deemed worthy of reward shall actually be subject to punishment and damnation:
Whoever will follow My guidance need have no fear, nor shall they grieve. But those who refuse to accept this (guidance) and reject Our Signs as false are destined for the Fire where they shall abide forever.
[al-Baqarah 2: 38-39]
Agents or a trustees are neither free to act according to their free will in terms of the principal’s material and human resources, nor are they free of accountability for their actions. In fact, an agent is fully answerable before his principal who may not only seek an explanation from him about any and every one of his actions regarding the utilization of physical assets and treatment of human resources, but may also hold him responsible for any credits or debits in the matters entrusted to him and then reward or punish him accordingly.
The first duty of the subordinate representative is to fully accept the complete sovereignty and superiority of the principal whom s/he represents. If s/he fails to do so, then it is apparent that s/he has not understood the basis of her/his status as a subordinate, nor has s/he been able to internalize the correct conceptual framework of being a trustee, cognizant of the responsibility and accountability that s/he owes to the Trust-giver. Thus, finally s/he would simply render her/himself incapable of carrying out her/his duties in the appropriate way.
First and foremost, it is simply not possible for any human being to adopt an attitude compliant with the mission of upholding a trust without then fully developing and achieving the necessary state of mind required for becoming a trustee. Even if, for argument’s sake, a person claims to have upheld his trusteeship while having declined to accept the master’s dominion, the very fact of refusal is enough to denigrate the value of his actions. If the person has carried out ethically superior actions, whether by following an internal sense of uprightness or through the guidance of any other power source, the reward for the same can only be sought from the force or authority whose orders he has carried out. Such actions cannot earn any reward from a principal who has not been a party to his actions.
As regards his origin, man is a lowly creature. The approbation that he has acquired is merely on account of his having been the recipient of the Divine Spirit blown unto him and his having been granted the status of God’s vicegerency. The preservation of that status is contingent upon his refusal to accept Satan’s guidance for that can only corrupt his spirit and degrade him from the high status of a Divine trustee to one of a renegade who shall once again be reduced to his original lowly state.
While the angelic forces have accepted man’s status as God’s temporal representative, it is the Satanic forces that question this relationship and openly avow to challenge it by making man one of their own: a supporter and an associate. If man were to carry out his duties as God’s representative faithfully and follow Divine guidelines well, the angelic forces would support him. Indeed, he would not find the angels at odds with himself and would be able to defeat Satanic forces with the help of what one may – in the absence of a better term – call the ‘angelic troops’. However, were man to fail in his duties as God’s representative on earth and not follow the given guidelines, he would find himself deprived of the angelic force’s support – simply because by that time he himself would have abandoned his mission. And when man finds himself without the help and support of such other Divine forces, he will be relegated back to the mere lump of clay that he essentially is. In this state he would easily be overcome by Satanic forces. Thereupon, only Satan and his supporters would be his allies and he would be forced to follow them.
By virtue of being God’s vicegerent, man’s status is superior to and above everything else in the universe. Everything in the material world has been made subordinate to him and exists so that he may put these to use according to the manner that his Master has taught. Man submitting to such subordinate entities is, therefore, a matter of disgrace. If he does so, this amounts to subjecting himself to injustice (ẓulm). Moreover, by so doing he voluntarily abdicates from the high status of God’s trusteeship.
There is but one Being whose commands human beings must obey. It is only before this Supreme Being that they may supplicate. Prostrating before this Being and this Being alone is an honour for humankind. Who is this Being? Naturally, the Lord Who is man’s Creator and Master.
No one particular person or group can exclusively claim to be God’s representative. Rather, this honour has been bestowed upon humanity as a whole. By virtue of being God’s trustee, every human being is equal to all others. Thus, it is not becoming of any human being to bow before another, nor is it rightful for any human to demand that another human prostrate in submission before him. The only thing that one human being may demand from another of his kind is the obligation to follows the writ and guidance of their common Lord. In this context, a person who follows the Lord’s writ is superior to the one who does not accept the Divine dictates just as the trustworthy person who fulfills his trusts is better than a person who does not. Yet this superiority cannot be interpreted to mean that the better human being has become or can become the master of the others. The status of true representation and trusteeship is available to every human being in his own personal capacity. This is not a responsibility that may be held collectively. Every individual is personally answerable in respect of his status as God’s representative. Just as no responsibility accrues upon one person for actions of others, no benefit may be reaped by one person on account of someone else’s actions. No human being can allow another to relinquish his responsibilities. Nor can the burden of actions of one person be placed upon another.
For as long as human beings live upon earth and until the time that there remains any connection between what would otherwise be inert masses of clay and the Spirit that God has blown into them, they shall remain God’s trustees and representatives. Man loses the honour of enjoying the stature of temporal high office as soon as the connection between body and spirit is severed. It is, therefore, appropriate that his record from the period that he was a Divine trustee be examined with a view to accounting for the trust with which he was entrusted. It must be investigated as to how successfully he carried out duties assigned to him as a subordinate. If he was guilty of any embezzlement, dishonesty, insubordination, or dereliction of duty he must be punished. On the contrary, if he acted with honesty, devotion, and conduct in becoming a trustee, he should be duly rewarded.
Arising directly from the very conceptual basis of the terms ‘trustee’ and ‘representative’ is an important feature of the relationship between the ‘principal’ and the ‘agent’. The true merit of a representative lies in his making efforts to fully protect and improve the assets of the principal. In fact, as far as possible, the representative should display the same manner of thought and action that the true owner is likely to possess and demonstrate. If a king were to appoint a deputy to look after his subjects, the only befitting manner in which the appointee should discharge his duties would be one that emulates the king’s own conduct. He should keep himself informed of subjects’ welfare and dispense the same thoughtfulness, kindness, protection, justice, and when required disciplining, as done by the king himself. Similarly, he should deal with the king’s properties and affairs with the same wisdom, pragmatism and care as is expected of the king himself.
Thus, when man has been made God’s Vicegerent, this means that man can only do full justice to the duty of guardianship if he treats God’s subjects in the same way as God is expected to. This means that the human representative should look after God’s creatures with the same grace and benevolence as the Lord does – naturally, keeping in view human limitations and the extent of resources that God may have placed at his disposal.
God’s human representatives should display the same mercy and benevolence, dispense the same justice, and act with similar restraint even when manifesting annoyance or letting loose their fury over God’s creatures as God Himself does and can be expected to. In short, those whom God has favoured with power over His subjects should conduct themselves in every act, large and small, with a grace similar to God’s own. This is the wisdom reflected in the Prophet’s saying (ḥadīth): takhallaqū bi akhlāq Allāh (‘Adorn yourselves with the code of conduct laid down by Allah’).
However, this high ethical state can only be achieved if man fully understands the fact that he is not [totally] free to act as he pleases in this world. Rather, he is only a trustee of the true owner, the Lord of the Universes. It is this status of representation that establishes man’s relationship with every single object in this world, even including his own body, and determines the boundaries of that relationship.
Details of all these features of vicegerency occur in the Qur’ān. It is through these passages that every aspect of man’s existence in this temporal world is amply clarified and illuminated.
Man is subordinate, not the master
Regarding man’s status the Qur’ān declares:
For He it is Who has appointed you vicegerent over the earth, and has exalted some of you over others in rank that He may try you in what He has bestowed upon you.
[al-Anʿām 6: 165]
Moses said: ‘Your Lord will soon destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land. Then He will see how you act.’
[al-Aʿrāf 7: 129]
(We said to him): ‘O David, We have appointed you vicegerent on earth. Therefore, rule among people and do not follow (your) desire lest it should lead you astray from Allah’s Path.’ Allah’s severe chastisement awaits those who stray away from Allah’s Path, for they have forgotten the Day of Reckoning.
[Ṣād 38: 26]
Is not Allah the Greatest of all Sovereigns?
[al-Tīn 95: 8]
Judgement lies with Allah alone.
[al-Anʿām 6: 57]
Say: ‘O Allah, Lord of all dominion! You bestow dominion on whomever You please, and take away dominion from whomever You please, and You exalt whom You please, and abase whom You please.’
[Āl ʿImrān 3: 26]
(O people), follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord and follow no masters other than Him.
[al-Aʿrāf 7: 3]
Say: ‘Surely my Prayer, all my acts of worship, and my living and my dying are only for Allah, the Lord of the whole Universe.’
[al-Anʿām 6: 162]
All these verses clearly state that whatever has been placed at man’s disposal for temporal use does not belong to him – including his own body. The real Owner and Ruler is God Almighty. It does not befit man to declare ownership rights over these things and use them as he wishes. His status is that of only a trustee and the extent of his power resides solely in the foundational principle that he must follow God’s guidance fully and use all worldly things according to Divine instructions. Any attempt to exceed Divine limits or follow one’s personal desires or follow the dictates of anyone other than the True Ruler amounts to waywardness and rebellion.
The First Precondition for Temporal Success
The Qur’ān lays down this prerequisite for man’s success:
As for those who believe in falsehood and are engaged in infidelity with Allah, it is they who will be the losers.
[al-ʿAnkabūt 29: 52]
… whoever from amongst you turns away from his religion and dies in the state of unbelief their work will go to waste in this world and in the Next.
[al-Baqarah 2: 217]
The work of he who refuses to follow the Way of faith will go to waste, and he will be among the utter losers in the Hereafter.
[al-Mā’idah 5: 5]
From these verses we see that man’s temporal success – in his status as God’s vicegerent – depends on his fully accepting the ascendancy of the One Entity of which he is the subordinate. Whatsoever action he undertakes in the world must reflect the mindset of God’s representative and trustee. Without this basic premise, whatever he partakes of the world can only be a mutinous act. It is a matter of very basic understanding that even if a rebel who is in unlawful occupation of an area acts in an admirable way, the lawful government would not consider such conduct with approbation. In the eyes of the lawful ruler, a rebel is and always will be a rebel, notwithstanding his good character and disposition or the excellent manner in which he may have managed the affairs of the area under his mutinous control.
Engaging in and dealing with a Temporal Life
The Qur’ān instructs:
O people! Eat of the lawful and pure things in the earth and follow not in the footsteps of Satan. For surely he is your open enemy; he only commands you to do evil and commit acts of indecency and to ascribe to Allah the things concerning which you have no knowledge.
[al-Baqarah 2: 168-169]
Believers! Do not hold as unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful to you, and do not exceed the bounds of right. Allah does not love those who transgress the bounds of right. And partake of the lawful, good things which Allah has provided you as sustenance, and refrain from disobeying Allah in Whom you believe.
[al-Mā’idah 5: 87-88]
Say (O Muḥammad): ‘Who has forbidden the adornment which Allah has brought forth for His creatures or the good things from among the means of sustenance?’
[al-Aʿrāf 7: 32]
He enjoins upon them what is good and forbids them what is evil. He makes the clean things lawful to them and prohibits all corrupt things and removes from them their burdens and the shackles that were upon them.
[al-Aʿrāf 7: 157]
It is no offence for you to seek the bounty of your Lord.
[al-Baqarah 2: 198]
As for monasticism, it is they who invented it; We did not prescribe it for them. They themselves invented it in pursuit of Allah’s good pleasure.
[al-Ḥadīd 57: 27]
And certainly We have created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind; they have hearts with which they fail to understand; and they have eyes with which they fail to see; and they have ears with which they fail to hear. They are like cattle – indeed, even more astray. Such are utterly heedless.
[al-Aʿrāf 7: 179]
All these verses from the Qur’ān show that it is not proper for man to renounce a temporal life, for it is not something to abstain or run away from. The immense blessings and embellishments of worldly matters and businesses are lawful and cannot be self-proscribed or added to a forbidden list. This world has been made for human utilization. Therefore, it is man’s duty to use and use well. However, during this process of consumption, he must make a distinction between good and bad usage, between manners appropriate and inappropriate, between the pure and the impure. For instance, the eyes have been given for vision, the ears for hearing, and the intellect for good judgement. If the individual were to refrain from using his mind or any part of his body, or were to use it improperly, then there would be no difference between him and a lower animal.
The Qur’ān’s directives about leading life are as follows:
Surely Allah’s promise is true. So let the life of this world not beguile you, nor let the Deluder delude you about Allah.
[Luqmān 31: 33]
The wrong-doers kept pursuing the ease and comfort which had been conferred upon them, thus losing themselves in sinfulness.
[Hūd 11: 116]
(O Prophet), propound to them the parable of the present life: it is like the vegetation of the earth which flourished luxuriantly when it mingled with the water that We sent down from the sky, but after that the same vegetation turned into stubble which the winds blew about. Allah alone has the power over all things. Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world. But the deeds of lasting righteousness are the best in the sight of your Lord in reward, and far better a source of hope.
[al-Kahf 18: 45-46]
Believers, let your possessions and your offspring not make you negligent of Allah’s remembrance. For whoever does that, they will be the losers.
[al-Munāfiqūn 63: 9]
It is not your riches nor your children that make you near-stationed to Us, except for him who has faith and acts righteously.
[Saba’ 34: 37]
Know well that the life of this world is merely sport and diversion and adornment and an object of your boasting with one another, and a rivalry in the multiplication of riches and children. Its likeness is that of rain: when it produces vegetation it delights the tillers. But then it withers and you see it turn yellow, and then it crumbles away.
[al-Ḥadīd 57: 20]
What, you build a monument on every hill merely for fun, and erect huge palaces as though you will live forever.
[al-Shuʿarā’ 26: 128-29]
Do you believe that you will be left here to live securely in the present state, amidst gardens and springs, and cornfields and date-palms laden with juicy fruits? You hew dwellings in mountains and exult in that.
[al-Shuʿarā’ 26: 146-49]
Wherever you might be, death will overtake you even though you be in massive towers.
[al-Nisā’ 4: 78]
Every being shall taste death, then it is to Us that you shall be sent back.
[al-ʿAnkabūt 29: 57]
Did you imagine that We created you without any purpose, and that you will not be brought back to Us?”
[al-Mu’minūn 23: 115]
Thus it is clear how the Qur’ān sees the world and states that it has been created for human use – and that it is to be used well. Now, we see the other side of the picture being presented. It is made abundantly clear that man has not been created to be used up and devoured by the world. Indeed, man is not supposed to lose himself in the world. Deceived by the lure of the world, human beings cannot fool themselves into believing that they are here to stay eternally. It must be remembered – and remembered very clearly – that all this material wealth and means of pomp and glory are temporary, fleeting pleasures. Everything must end in ‘death’ and like man himself all matter will be united with the ‘dust’. In this impermanent universe, if anything is to outlive the material milieu it can only be good actions, beauty of heart and soul, and piety of thought and action.
Responsibility and Accountability for Actions
The Qur’ān alerts man thus:
The Hour of Resurrection is coming. I have willed to keep the time of its coming hidden so that everyone may be recompensed in accordance with his effort.
[Ṭā Hā 20: 15]
Will you be recompensed for aught other than what you do?
[al-Naml 27: 90]
And that man shall have nothing but what he has striven for, and that (the result of) his striving shall soon be seen, and that he shall then be fully recompensed, and that the final end is with your Lord.
[al-Najm 53: 39-42]
Whoever lived in this world as blind shall live as blind in the Life to Come; rather, he will be even farther astray than if he were (just) blind.
[Banī Isrā’īl 17: 72]
Whatever good deeds you send forth for your own good, you will find them with Allah. Surely Allah sees all that you do.
[al-Baqarah 2: 110]
And have fear of the Day when you shall return to Allah, and every human being shall be fully repaid for whatever (good or evil) he has done, and none shall be wronged.
[al-Baqarah 2: 281]
The Day is approaching when every soul shall find itself confronted with whatever good it has done and whatever evil it has wrought.
[Āl ʿImrān 3: 30]
The weighing on that Day will be the true weighing: O those whose scales are heavy will prosper, and those whose scales are light will be the losers, for they are the ones who have been iniquitous to Our signs.
[al-Aʿrāf 7: 8-9]
So, whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it; and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it.
[al-Zilzāl 99: 7-8]
Their Lord answered the prayer thus: ‘I will not suffer the work of any of you, whether male or female, to go to waste’
[Āl ʿImrān 3: 195]
And spend of what Allah has granted you by way of sustenance before death should come to any of you and he should say: ‘Lord, why did You not defer my return for a while so that I might give alms and be among the righteous?’ But when a person’s term comes to an end, Allah never grants any respite.
[al-Munāfiqūn 63: 10-11]
Would that you could see the guilty standing before their Lord with their heads downcast, (saying to Him): ‘Our Lord, we have now seen and heard, so send us back (to the world) that we might act righteously. For now we have come to have firm faith.’ ‘… So taste the chastisement on account of your forgetting the encounter of this Day. We, too, have forgotten you. Taste the eternal chastisement as a requital for your misdeeds.’
[al-Sajdah 32: 12 and 14]
Here, through all these verses of the Qur’ān, we are informed that the world is an ‘Abode of Action’. It is a place for making effort and striving. The Ākhirah (literally, ‘Final End’ – metaphorically, the Life to Come) is the Place of Reward and Retribution. It is a house where the fruits of good and evil shall be received. Human beings are free to act in the world until the very last minute of every individual’s passing away. After that time, no one shall ever have the chance of any action. Accordingly, in this period of life, human beings must act after fully realizing that every action of theirs, even the slightest movement, every good deed and every evil act shall have its consequence. People have to be fully convinced that only by virtue of the weight and consequence of their actions shall individuals be rewarded or punished in the life to come; that is, whatsoever any one receives shall be in return for his efforts and actions here. Neither will any good action be lost, nor any punishment be withheld for evil actions.
In order to give further weight to the generic sense of responsibility, it has been underscored that every person is responsible for his own actions. No one shares the responsibility of another person. Nor is any one able to save another from the consequences of his actions.
Believers, take heed as regards your own selves. If you are rightly-guided, the error of he who strays will not harm you.
[al-Mā’idah 5: 105]
Everyone will bear the consequence of what he does, and no one shall bear the burden of another.
[al-Anʿām 6: 164]
On the Day of Resurrection neither your blood-kindred nor your own offspring will avail you. (On that Day) He will separate you. Allah sees all that you do.
[al-Mumtaḥinah 60: 3]
Whenever you did good, it was to your own advantage; and whenever you committed evil, it was to your own disadvantage.
[Banī Isrā’īl 17: 7]
No one can bear another’s burden. If a heavily laden one should call another to carry his load, none of it shall be carried by the other, even though he be a near of kin.
[Fāṭir 35: 18]
O people, fear (the wrath) of your Lord, and dread the Day when no father will stand for his child, nor any child stand for his father.
[Luqmān 31: 33]
He who disbelieves will suffer the consequence of it and he who acts righteously, they will pave the way for their own good.
[al-Rūm 30: 44]
All these verses place the burden of all good and bad actions fully upon each individual human being – acting in his own personal capacity. No hope is held out to the effect that one person will be able to pay any recompense or compensation for another’s shortcomings and mistakes. No quarter is left for any expectation that someone will be able to save himself or herself from the justice due against his crimes by way of any connection with another person. No room is left for any apprehension that someone else’s crimes may have an effect on a person’s good character or that the will of anyone else, other than God, shall have any influence on the acceptability or rejection of our actions.
Just as no one can save the person who places his hand in a fire from being burned, or prevent a person who partakes of honey from tasting its sweetness, no one else can truly share in the pain of the person who has been burnt or really appreciates the taste of honey. Similarly, every individual has a distinct position in terms of the unpleasant consequences of evil actions and the good results of pious acts. Accordingly, in order to properly interact with the world, everyone must be aware of his own individual responsibility. he should live out life in a way that he considers himself or herself to be responsible for his own actions, notwithstanding any and all external influences. He has to consider that the burden of evil actions has to be bone individually, just as the rewards of good actions are also to be enjoyed personally.
From our elucidation of the Islamic view of temporal life that has been presented in the foregoing, all the constituent elements of this picture should now be clear. This is a composite concept. Now, momentarily leaving aside this analytical process, let us see how far the complete picture emerging from the various constituent concepts conforms to our innate nature. Moreover, we also need to see what the status of this worldview is when compared and contrasted with the views of other civilizations and intellectual traditions vis-à-vis temporal life. We will also see how the foundational worldview upon which any civilization is based moulds human thought and action.
The Fiṭrī (Primary and Instinctive) Concept of Life
Now, for a brief time, please empty your mind of all the various concepts that have been presented by different religions regarding the world and temporal life and take a look at the world around you with the eyes of a neutral observer. Contemplate on what your position in this whole setting is, for only then will you be able to see certain things clearly.
You should be able to appreciate that whatever powers you enjoy are all limited. All the senses, upon which all your knowledge is based, do not extend much further than your immediate environment. Your physical body upon which your actions are based has power over very few things in nature. All around you there are numerous things that are larger than your bodies and powers. Compared to these things, your existence appears very flimsy and inconsequential. Few, if any of the immense forces that are in play in this great factory are in your control. You find yourself helpless before these forces. In terms of physical dimensions, man is no more than any other average entity that is dominant over things smaller than itself and overawed by things greater than itself.
Yet, there is one force inside yourselves that elevates you above all these things. It is by virtue of this power that you are able to control all other animals and subdue their physical powers that exceed your own. It is because of this power that you are able to harness numerous resources in your environment and derive appropriate benefit from them. Utilizing this power you are able to discover ever-new treasures and then avail yourself of them in countless new ways. It is on account of this power that you are able to expand your means of accumulating knowledge through which you then gain access to objects that are otherwise beyond the reach of your physical capacities. In short, there is this one force by virtue of which all things in the temporal realm are placed at your disposal and because of which you gain mastery over them.
Moreover, these Divine forces that are otherwise not under your control, generally act in ways that are not detrimental to you, but are rather beneficial to your plans. Air, water, light, heat and numerous other physical forces upon which your life depends are available to serve your interests. All of these exist and operate under a system, the very purpose of which is to serve you. Thus, it could very well be said that these have been subdued for human use.
When you consider the human environment with a deeper, analytical observation, you are able to discern a powerful law, a powerful mechanism in operation. Caught within the confines of this great system are all forms of existence, from the lowest of the low to the most powerful. The survival of the whole universe is contingent upon a strict operation of this system. Yet, there is a great difference between human beings and all other temporal objects. None of these non-human entities possesses the least power to act against the great law (of nature). Human beings, on the other hand, not only have the power to oppose the great natural law but indeed, quite paradoxically, this law itself aids them in their contravention of its stipulations. Of course, every such contravention carries with it certain harmful effects. Never has it been nor will it ever be possible for human beings to escape the detrimental consequences of their contraventions of this natural law.
Within the operative confines of this irrevocable universal law, various expressions of distortion and corruption can be found. The whole universe is undergoing a constant process of creation and destruction. The very same laws under which an object is brought into existence serve as the reason for its decimation and death. No temporal object is safe from this ongoing process of change. Even the things which apparently seem to be safe from this process and manifest a semblance of permanence are subject to movement and transformation and are bound by the laws of creation and obliteration. No other entity in the universe possesses the powers of intellect and enlightenment, or at least we do not have knowledge of such faculties, and hence such entities are neither able to perceive this creation and destruction occurring within themselves nor are they able to feel the pleasure of birth or pain of death. Amongst the animal species, even if there is any experiential discernment of such processes, to the best of our knowledge, its extent is minimal. Human beings, on the other hand, are a creation gifted with intellect and enlightenment. They are able to discern changes taking place within and around themselves and also feel the pain and pleasure of the accompanying transformational processes. Moreover, at times, they are so overcome by the pleasant sensations generated through agreeable affairs that they tend to disregard and neglect the evil that exists all around them and similarly, at times, dreadful experiences lead to such pain that they only see malevolence throughout, forgetting the fact that there also exists much benevolence.
All the same, howsoever contradictory the feelings of pleasure and pain are that one may carry within oneself, and whatsoever may be one’s worldview towards temporal life as a result of the influence of such feelings – either oriented towards expansion or regression – human beings are constrained to deal with the world. They are forced to practically interact with the world and put to use the instinctive forces placed within themselves. The desire to live and go on living has been implanted in the human make up. In order to carry out the dictates of this instinct, the great force of hunger has also been placed deep within their existence; this forces human beings to continuously undertake one productive activity or another. The law of nature dictates the utilization of human energies for the continuation of the species. In order to fulfil this imperative, nature has placed within the human body a force that simply refuses to go away and only departs when it has achieved its purpose: the libido.
Similarly implanted within man’s instinctive make up are other forces that have been so placed as to achieve other objectives. All of these forces act to exact and extract their purposes through coercive means. It now remains for human wisdom to channel the dictates of these forces – through proper means or improper, by way of actions that please the soul or those that offend it. And, it does not end here; ‘Nature’ has also granted human beings the discretion of either acting in the service of these objectives or shunning cooperation with them and acting defiantly. Together with this broad statement of principle, there is another immutable natural law by virtue of which it is beneficial for human beings to act in consonance with natural laws (and not against them). If human beings were to either contravene natural law, or not follow it completely or appropriately, then this would only be detrimental to their own interests.
Conceptions of Temporal Life in other Religious Traditions
When a good-natured and broadminded person casts his eyes on the world, and then analyses his state, all the factors described above will surely come before his vision. However, various human groups have seen this collage from different angles. Often, it has so happened that a group has found only one angle or aspect of reality to be more obvious amongst the various options possible or available. And when that has happened, the holders of that (limited) vision have been known to go on and establish a worldview on the basis of that particular perception without even attempting to examine the various different views possible.
For instance, one group of human beings viewed the human state with its weakness and helplessness and contrasted this to the immense coercive forces of nature. It reached the conclusion that man was a very insignificant being. Naturally, this conclusion was based on the assumption that these beneficial and detrimental forces were autonomous and self-regulating – or at least semi-independent – and not subject to any universal law. This concept so dominated their minds that the alternate worldview wherein man has ascendance over the whole universe disappeared from their scope of possibilities. Thus that group lost sight of the positive aspects of their existence. It allowed the human position of high esteem and superiority to be overcome by this exaggerated, self-professed confession of frailty and feebleness. Various forms of idolatry, including tree-worship, star-worship and veneration of various natural objects and force, are an outcome of this worldview.
Another group viewed the world as a place full of evil and corruption; they concluded that the whole cosmos existed merely to subject human beings to pain and sorrow. According to this group, all the various relationships and interactions of the world existed only to entangle them in webs of difficulty and anguish. And what to say of the human milieu, when the whole cosmos was caught in the grip of misery and death? Spring only came about to be decimated by autumn. The tree of life bore fruit only to cause a momentary halt to the juggernaut of death. The beauty of creation was adorned time and again only because it pleased the god of destruction to play afoul with it, once again.
This worldview naturally led people to lose interest in the temporal world. They saw their deliverance only by way of shunning all their worldly desires, by leaving worldly life altogether and adopting self-denial and asceticism. In so doing, they believed they could undo the machinations of the unjust law of nature, which used human beings merely as an instrument for its self-propagation.
Yet another group saw this world as an abode that provided human beings with (unlimited) means of pleasure and gratification, albeit for a brief time. As sensations of pain and expressions of sorrow made life disagreeable, if men and women were able to deny these feelings then there would be nothing but pleasure on earth. Such people reached the conclusion that this temporal life was all that existed. Accordingly, all the happiness that had to be enjoyed was to be here and now. Nothing would remain after death, neither the earthly abode, nor its means of self-contentment. Thus was born hedonism or the philosophy of pure and unlimited pleasure.
Opposed to this was still another group that considered not only the pleasure and happiness of this world, but worldly life itself, to be a sin. They believed that all material corruptions of the world were a curse for the human soul, which had to be avoided like any other contamination. There was no aspect of good or piety in interacting with the world, participating in its business, or enjoying its pleasures. According to this philosophy, whosoever desired not to receive the blessings of earthly kingdoms ought to dissociate themselves from the world. As for those who wished to enjoy wealth, worldly power and pleasures, they could rest assured that there would be no share for them in the Kingdom of Heaven.
When this group realized that human beings were, by their very innate nature, constrained to interact with the world and to become involved in its various occupations, and also realized that howsoever gratifying the thought of entering the Kingdom of Heaven may be it was still not strong enough to enable them to confront instinctive imperatives, they found a way to bridge this dilemma. They invented a philosophy (of a universal saviour) wherein one man’s atonement relieved all others in the remaining humanity of their personal responsibility with regard to free will and good or bad actions that emanated from it. Whosoever placed his faith upon that one revered person was assured eternal salvation, notwithstanding his own personal actions.
Another group, viewing the comprehensiveness of Natural Law assumed man to be a totally enslaved entity. This group considered the evidence presented by psychology, biology, and even jurisprudence, and reached the conclusion that man was certainly not a free creature. This group felt that human beings certainly did not possess a free personality but rather one that was bound by nature’s laws. They could neither go against this Natural Law nor really contemplate it. In their view, it was neither possible for them to form any independent desires nor could they become powerful enough to carry out any autonomous action. Accordingly, human beings could not be held responsible for any of their actions.
Diametrically opposed to this philosophy was yet another group that considered men and women to not only possess a decisive personality but also believed that they were neither subject to any greater plan nor subordinate to any greater power than their own. Moreover, in terms of their actions, human beings were not answerable to anyone except their conscience and in a collective realm to the man-made laws of the land. They were the owners of the world and all things therein had been subjugated for their benefit. They had the power to use them at will. While there were certain self-imposed limits on both individual and group actions, these had come about to improve the human quality of life and to create a social order in a normative collective sense, the human being was all-powerful. To the proponents of this group (the self-labelled ‘enlightened’), the very concept of being subordinate to any Higher Authority was totally nonsensical.
These are the various concepts held by different religions and philosophical schools of thought vis-à-vis the place of human beings in the universe. Upon some of these foundational human ideologies, civilizations have been raised. The fact that we observe differences amongst civilizations can be attributed to the underlying philosophy and concept of worldly life upon which the structure of each civilization has been raised. It is this worldview that has led to the particular developmental path adopted by each civilization. If we were to take a detailed look at the intricacies of each foundational worldview and how it had led to the development of very different and peculiar civilizations, it would be an interesting discussion. However, such a discussion is not fully relevant to this discourse that aims primarily to highlight the salient features of the Islamic civilization.
Here it only needs to be stated that all these various concepts about worldly life are, quite obviously, the outcome of looking at the temporal realm from specific viewpoints. There is not a single worldview amongst these that has been formed after undertaking a comprehensive cosmic review and making a proper determination about the status of human beings in the cosmos. It is for this reason that, sooner or later, when we change our viewpoint and observe the world from any other angle, every philosophy loses its value. And, finally, when we take another look at these worldviews after undertaking a comprehensive cosmic analysis, the flaws of these theories become very obvious.
The Special Significance of the Islamic View
By now it should be clear that amongst all the various worldviews about life in this world, only the Islamic view is one that conforms to the essence of nature and truth. It is only this view that maintains a balanced relationship between man and the material world. Here we observe that the world is neither something to be abandoned nor one to be abhorred. Conversely, on the other hand, the world is not something for which one should fall head over heels and become lost in its pleasures. The world is neither totally honourable nor totally corrupt. It is neither something to be totally refrained from, nor one in which to be fully engrossed. It is not completely impure and polluted nor all virtuous and untainted.
The relationship between man and this world is neither akin to one that exists between a king and his subjects nor is it one that can be likened to a prisoner’s association with the place of his incarceration. Human beings are neither so insignificant that they should bow before every temporal power nor so powerful that they demand homage from all others. They are neither so helpless that their personal resolve amounts to nothing, nor so potent that only their (personal or group) outlook becomes all encompassing. Neither is man the domineering ruler of the temporal milieu nor a poor slave of millions of authoritative masters. The fact is that man’s real status is one that is finely balanced between the various extremes.
Till this point, nature and our own intelligence are able to guide us. But Islam moves beyond these and provides an authoritative elucidation of the true status of human beings and their relationship with the world. It provides an answer to whether humans should consider the material world to be one that is overriding or one which is subservient.
Islam opens the eyes and minds of men and women by stating that while they are no ordinary creatures: they are none other than viceroys of the Lord of Universes. They are a creation for which all the forces of the world have been made acquiescent. They are the rulers of all and the slave of just one Power. Human beings enjoy a status of reverence over all other creatures. However, the right to this honour is available only and until they themselves are respectful and dutiful to the One Who has given them the status of trusteeship in the world and follow His commands. Human beings have been placed in the world to involve themselves in its affairs. Howsoever they act therein – rightly or wrongly – will lead to consequences which shall only become apparent in the Hereafter. Accordingly, throughout this temporal life, they should be mindful of their personal responsibility and carry with themselves the conscious awareness of their high status of trusteeship every moment. No man or woman may, at any point in time, be forgetful of the fact that he will have to account in full for everything that has been placed in his trust by the Lord of the Universes.
There can be little doubt that the foregoing concept is not present – or at least not in its full form – in the mind of every Muslim. Apart from a specific group of intellectuals, few if any have awareness of the finer points of this concept. Yet, because this concept is so central to the belief system upon which the Islamic civilization is based, Muslims, in spite of having lost a great measure of their true character and original glory, are still not fully bereft of it. Any Muslim who has been brought up in an Islamic cultural environment, howsoever sullied by external influences, continues to hold certain beliefs which include a sense of human self-esteem and an awareness of not submitting to any deity but God, of not being afraid of nor accepting anyone other than Allah as the one True Master, of considering himself or herself as God’s trustee in the world, of regarding the world as a place of cause and the Hereafter as a place of effect, of considering success or failure in the Hereafter to be based upon personal actions and regarding temporal wealth and pleasures to be temporary and the consequences of actions as permanent. These beliefs are very deeply rooted in the Muslim psyche and any seasoned observer should be able to detect the effects of this belief system, no matter how faint and faded they may be, as these effects too are part of the Muslim heart and soul.
Any reader of Islamic history is definitely able to appreciate the fact that as long as the Muslim civilization maintained its true Islamic character, it also remained a purely practical civilization. For its followers, the temporal milieu was the proving field of the Hereafter. For as long as they lived in this world, all of them strived to plant the seeds and till the fields of the crop they desired to harvest in the life to come. Indeed, they attempted to plant as many seeds as possible so as to harvest as rich a yield as possible in the Hereafter. They interacted with the world with such a fine balance – a state exactly halfway between monasticism and hedonism – that even its remotest resemblance was not to be seen in any other civilization.
The ideal of establishing God’s kingdom on earth inspired them to interact fully with the world around them, and yet the restraint of trusteeship and consciousness of personal responsibility prevented them from crossing the bounds of probity. Again, it was this same sense of balance that disallowed pride and vanity from setting up a permanent abode in their personalities. In order to run the affairs of state, they were inclined towards all those actions that were necessary for carrying out temporal affairs, but at the same time they were not disposed towards worldly enjoyment that led to a neglect of their duties. In short, they managed the affairs of the world in a manner that was very much amenable to a permanent residence therein and yet were still able to avoid worldly desires by treating the world as a wayside inn where they had put up merely for a short while.
Later, when Islamic influences waned and Muslims began to be influenced by other civilizations, true Islamic glory was naturally no longer to be seen in their characters. Thereupon, they behaved in ways that were contradictory to the Islamic ideal of temporal life. They drowned themselves in hedonistic amusements and pleasures, constructed grandiose palaces, indulged in music, painting, sculpture and other fine arts, and, on the whole, adopted a way of life that was replete with wastefulness and ostentation which were totally contrary to the Islamic way. In spite of all this, the Islamic concept of the ephemerality of worldly life that had been embedded in their hearts invariably left its mark in some manner or another and at some point in time or another. It was this influence that created within them a distinction when compared to other rulers. A Muslim king2 built a magnificent palace on the banks of the River Jamuna within which he provided every manner of pleasure and amusement that could be imagined at the time. Yet, within the confines of the most enjoyable amusements, he had the following quatrain inscribed on the side farthest to the river – in the direction of the qiblah.
O you whose feet are bound, and whose heart is sealed, Beware! O you whose eyes are sewn up and whose feet are stuck in the mud, Beware!
You intend to go toward the West but you have turned your face toward the East;
O you who have your back toward your destination, Beware!
That palace is certainly not without precedent. Even better royal residences can be found in other countries. Still, there is no example amongst any of the numerous nations of the world of the thought and inspiration represented by the verse and which warns the maker of this earthly paradise to be aware of his real, ultimate destination.
Islamic history is replete with instances in which rulers who, while otherwise reigning like Roman caesars and Persian emperors, displayed unique behaviour at that moment in time when they had vanquished their opponents: instead of proclaiming their greatness, they immediately fell in prostration, submitting in gratitude to God. On many an occasion when the most vicious of rulers, infamous for their murderous ways, attempted to go against the dictates of Islamic Sharīʿah, some God-fearing commoner openly raised his objection in a manner that indeed caused those kings to tremble with the fear of God. At many a time, the most wayward amongst the élite and the worst of powerful evildoers were cautioned by some very ordinary mortal; history is witness that all of a sudden the whole complexion of their lives changed. The hearts of people who were totally obsessed with temporal wealth were suddenly struck with the impermanence of the world and overcome with the thought of rendering account in the Hereafter; they then distributed all they possessed and adopted a simple ideologically-driven lifestyle.
Briefly, in spite of all the non-Islamic influences that have made a place in the lives of Muslims, one can find, at every step, in some form or another, the radiance of Islamic idealism in the national ethos of Muslim groups. Time and again, one truly feels as if a bright light has suddenly been beamed from an unseen source into a very dark milieu.
1 Satan, according to the Qur’ān (18:50), was a jinn, another category of beings specifically mentioned in the Qur’ān as being distinct from humans and angels – Translator.
2 The reference here is to the great Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, and the building referred to is the Red Fort at Delhi – Ed.
