The External Prompter of Good and Evil

The External Prompter of Good and Evil

As explained above from the Qur’anic point of view, the inner denizen of man’s self is an arena of ceaseless struggle between good and evil tendencies. It is this deep-seated moral fact that constitutes the eternal challenge for man and renders his life an unceasing moral struggle. Man is squarely charged with his efforts to overcome evil because he is unique in the order of creation, and has been endowed with the highest faculties of intellect and intuition in order to fulfill his mission as God’s vicegerent on earth.

In addition to the inner impulses mentioned above, man also encounters some external agents and prompters, both on the side of good and of evil. However, the truth that must be appreciated deeply here is that, ultimately, the decisive role in this respect is played by man’s own inner preference and choice. That is to say, the real nucleus of initiation and volition is the subjective-self itself. External forces can only partly instigate and encourage either in the direction of virtue and moral probity or in the direction of sin and immorality. Even Iblees (or Satan), the greatest instigator of evil, has no power to force a man to perform an evil deed. Although Satan waylays man from all sides, his machinations fail against really virtuous persons. To be sure, no man is immune from the Devil’s temptations — not even the prophets — yet it is within the reach of any man of true faith and will to resist and overcome these enticements. Thus the Qur’an states:

Verily, you shall have no power over My servants — unless it be such as are (already) lost in grievous error and follow you of their own will.

(Al-Hijr 15:42)

Behold, he (Satan, the accursed) has no power over those who attained to faith and who put their trust in their Lord.

(Al-Nahl 16:99)

These and some other verses of the Holy Qur’an clearly assert that Satan cannot force men to commit sin, and will address his erstwhile followers on the Day of Judgement thus:

I had no power at all over you; but I called you, and you responded unto me.

(Ibrahim 14:22)

This shows that the real evil emanates from man’s own complex of desires, for Satan makes it clear that it is only by means of suggestions and insinuations (wasawis) that he was able to reach the sinner’s self; and had it not been for an already-existing evil disposition due to lust, anger, superstition or fanciful ideas, these temptations would have had no effect whatsoever. This, in effect, means that Satan never forces, nor can force, anyone to do evil but he only tries to entice or allure his potential victim. His enticement consists in presenting the immediate and superficial gains or pleasures of this worldly life, so that many people fall victim to these temptations, most of them temporarily but many permanently. The latter are termed by the Holy Qur’an the “friends” or the “party” of the Devil. Thus, Iblees is far more cunning and artful than strong, more sly and contriving than forthrightly challenging.

Similarly, on the other side, no preacher or instigator of faith and virtue — not even Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) — could ever convert any person to the right path. And, surely, we cannot possibly imagine a better and more sincere preacher than our beloved Holy Prophet (SAWS). Therefore, we read in the Qur’an:

(O Prophet!) you cannot give guidance to whom you please, but it is Allah who guides whomever He wills; and He is fully aware of all those who would let themselves be guided.

(Al-Qassas 28:56)

According to several authentic traditions, the above verse relates to the Prophet’s inability to induce his dying uncle Abu Talib — whom he loved dearly and who had loved and protected his nephew from the leaders of Quraysh — to renounce the pagan beliefs of his ancestors and to profess faith in God’s unity. The Qur’anic statement” you cannot give guidance to whom you please” has undoubtedly a timeless import as well; it stresses the inadequacy and inability of all human endeavours to “convert” any other person, however loving and loved, to one’s own beliefs, or to prevent him from falling into what one regards as error and sin, unless that person wills to be so guided.

With regard to external tempters and motivators of evil, we all know that they are the friends and progeny of Iblees, from amongst both men and jinns. The Qur’an explicitly states:

Indeed, he (Satan) and his tribe (ilk) see you from where you cannot see them.

(Al-Aaraf 7:27)

A tradition of the Holy Prophet (SAW), reported by Imam Bukhari (RA), also tells us that Satan so vigorously influences a man that he, as it were, penetrates his entire inner being just like blood that circulates in the whole body. In contrast with the all too common knowledge of external agents and motivators of evil, however, what is generally less appreciated is the truth that angels help and provide strength, tenacity and moral firmness to the true believers in this worldly life. Just like the hordes of Satan who, through their beguiling activity, tempt a man towards evil, the pure and holy angels provide inner peace and perseverance to believers in following the straight path of Islam and in the arduous task of establishing the sovereignty of Allah (SWT), i.e., in establishing the socio-political order of Islam. Both Almighty Allah (SWT) and His angels bless and give glad tidings to them, as is borne out by the following verses:

And remember when your Lord commanded the angels: I am with you; so give firmness unto those who have attained to faith (with these words from Me) I shall cast terror into the hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth …

(Al-Anfal 8:12)

(But) behold, as for those who say, “Our Sustainer is Allah” and then stand firm, upon them angels descend (saying): “Fear not and grieve not, but receive the good news of that Paradise which has been promised to you. We are your companions in the life of this world and (will be so) in the life to come.

(Haa Meem Al-Sajda 41:30, 31)

Source:The Objective and Goal of Muhammad (SAW)

To Be Continued ....

Latifa-e-Qalb Heart

Latifa-e-Qalb

In addition to the above mentioned faculties of sight, hearing, reasoning, and moral acumen, Almighty Allah (SWT) has also endowed man with the heart (qalb), i.e., the faculty of contemplative intuition and the seat or organ of numinous apprehension. The heart is indeed ablaze with the light of love and gnosis of Almighty Allah (SWT). It reflects within itself all the transcendental truths and the reality of all true existence.

The heart is, so to say, a microcosmic reality which contains within itself the reflection of the entire super sensible Macrocosm. Whereas latifa-e-nafs has been bestowed with the faculties of receiving and interpreting sense data — which is the foundation of all physical and theoretical sciences — latifa-e-qalb has been given the power of direct perception of spiritual verities. 

Heart, in Qur’anic epistemology, is the seat of the true self or the repository of soul, of which we may be conscious or ignorant, but which is our true existential and intellectual — and therefore universal — center. Knowledge afforded by the heart is qualitatively different from that which is acquired at the level of latifa-i-nafs through external senses and ordinary channels of ratiocination. The heart is, as it were, immersed in the immutability of Being and is, thus, an organ of ilm-i-ladunni, which is knowledge imparted directly by God through intuition and inner perception. 

It is a super sensory organ of cognition in which the knowledge of esoteric truths transpires through tafaqquh, i.e., meditative reflection, where contemplativity is stressed more than the sharpness of intelligence. By bestowing upon man the subtle and luminous cognitive faculty of heart, Almighty Allah (SWT) has conclusively rendered him responsible and accountable for his deeds in the Life-after-death.

Muslim poets in general and the mystic poets of the Indo-Persia in particular have, in their lyrical compositions, lauded the role of the heart in attaining veridical knowledge. They have done so quite rightly, and with hardly any fanciful exaggeration, since the paramount importance of the heart was emphatically pointed out by the Holy Prophet himself (SAW). For instance, according to one of his oft-quoted sayings, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, “Verily, just like pieces of iron which get rusty if water touches them, hearts also become rusty.” Thereupon his Companions asked, “We do polish rusty objects, but how can we polish rusty hearts?” He answered that hearts are polished “through frequent remembering of death and reading of the Holy Qur’an.”

Men who do not use their God-given cognitive faculties can only be called worse than cattle, in as much as animals follow only their instincts and natural urges and are not conscious of either the possibility or the necessity of higher knowledge or moral choice. Animals do see physical objects, but they lack the capacity to perceive them meaningfully as items of articulated and theory-loaded knowledge. If a human being similarly fails to attain the metaphysical knowledge of the Really Real — despite possessing all the faculties to do so — then he is not just like animals, he is worse than them.

… they have hearts with which they fail to grasp the truth, and eyes with which they fail to see, and ears with which they fail to hear. They are like cattle; nay, they are farther astray.

(Al-Aa’raf 7:179)

Though these people apparently have all the faculties of reason and perception, yet they have so deadened them that those faculties do not work in the real sense; as a result they remain misguided throughout their lives and go headlong into Hell.

Source:The Objective and Goal of Muhammad (SAW)

To Be Continued ....

The Internal Strife of Good and Evil-The Basic Grounds for Accountability

The Internal Strife of Good and Evil

Being a composite of baser animal ego (nafs) and the Divine spiritual soul (ruh), man can rightly be characterized as a “microcosm” of the whole being — possessing in, and reflecting from, the innermost recesses of his selfhood both evil tendencies and higher spiritual aspirations. He experiences within himself the lowest drives of evil and vice, as well as the noblest urgings for moral righteousness and spiritual excellence. Man’s inner personality thus is an arena of a long and perpetual pitched battle between the forces of evil and goodness.

The Basic Grounds for Accountability

Almighty Allah (SWT) has not sent man in this world without giving him any capacity and potential to cope with the inner strife of good and evil. On the contrary, man has been endowed with numerous faculties that help him in fighting out the blind and irrational promptings of evil. 

Even the lowest element of his personality — the animal self or Latifa-e-Nafs — is equipped not only with the capacities of sight, hearing, and reasoning, but also with an acute moral sense. There is a world of qualitative difference between the sensory and mental operations of human beings and brute animals. Logical reasoning through induction and deduction, abstractions and thoughtful reflections, as well as metaphysical speculations are only the prerogatives of human beings. Moreover, the human self has been equipped by Allah (SWT) with a moral sense that discriminates between virtue and vice, between moral rectitude and immorality. That is why man’s own inner moral self, or nafs-i-lawwamah in Qur’anic terminology, is the most authentic judge within. Slightest departure from the path of moral rectitude activates this “self-accusing soul” and the pricks of conscience are immediately experienced by the evil-doer. The following verses of the Holy Qur’an categorically state these truths:

Indeed, We created man from a mixed sperm-drop in order to try him, and therefore We made him capable of hearing and seeing.

(Al-Dahr 76:2)

Nay, I call to witness the Day of Resurrection! But nay, I call to witness the accusing voice of man’s own conscience

(Al-Qiyamah 75:1, 2)

And (by the) human self, and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be; then inspired it with its moral failings as well as with its God-consciousness.

(Al-Shams 91:7, 8)

The connotation of the verb sawwa, used in the Arabic text of the last quotation above, is that Almighty Allah (SWT) has endowed the human self with an inner coherence and with qualities consistent with the functions which it is meant to perform, and thus has adapted it a priori to the exigencies of its terrestrial existence. Moreover, Allah (SWT) has implanted a keen moral sense in him; thus, the fact that man is equally liable to rise to great spiritual heights as well as to fall into utter immorality is an essential and primordial characteristic of human nature as such. In other words, it is this inherent dichotomy of tendencies which gives to every right choice a value, and, thus, endows man with moral free-will.

The Holy Qur’an speaks of three types of human self, or three stages or states of the spiritual development: 

• Nafs-e-ammara (Yousuf 12:53) is prone to evil, and, if unchecked and uncontrolled, leads to perdition and eternal damnation; 
• Nafs-e-lawwama (Al-Qiyamah 75:2) which feels conscious of the evil and resists, asks for God’s grace and pardon after repentance and tries to amend;
• Nafs-e-mutma’inna (Al-Fajr 89:27), the highest stage of all, when it achieves full peace and satisfaction in obeying Divine commands. 

According to the Qur’an, a man is always cognizant, because of his inborn moral sense, of the morality or immorality of his actions, irrespective of the rationalizations or excuses that he may offer. Thus, the Qur’an says:

Nay, but man is a witness against himself, even though he may veil himself in excuses.

(Al-Qiyamah 75:14, 15)

On the Day of Judgement, one’s tongue, hands, feet, and skin will bear witness against him as to his actions. It is not what a man will say about himself, or what others say of him, that determines the judgement upon him. It is what he is in himself. His own inner personality will betray him and condemn him.

The above cited Qur’anic verses and the brief explanatory notes make the truth crystal clear that man is not, like animals, merely a sentient or instinctive being; rather, he has been made by the Creator into a full-fledged human person — a human being capable of discerning between right and wrong and thus of choosing his way of life. On the basis of this ingrained moral sense, every human being as such is answerable on the Day of Final Reckoning, and is fully liable to punishment or reward. Every individual will have to account for his own deeds personally, and face the trial and the judgement himself. The Holy Qur’an makes clear this point thus:

(Be conscious, then, of) the Day every human being shall come to plead for himself (alone), and every human being shall be repaid in full for whatever he has done, and none shall be wronged.

(Al-Nahl 16:111)

The Holy Qur’an categorically refutes the Christian doctrine of vicarious redemption as well as the Jewish idea that “the chosen people” — as the Jews consider themselves — would be exempt from punishment on the Day of Judgement. On that day, nobody would be able to help another, nor will there be any possibility of ransom or intercession, as the Qur’an says:

And remain conscious of (the coming of) a Day when no human being shall in the least avail another, nor shall intercession be accepted from any of them, nor ransom taken from them, and none shall be succoured

(Al-Baqara 2:48)

Source:The Objective and Goal of Muhammad (SAW)

To Be Continued ....