Chapter:
- A
Path f Mankind
- A
Unique Path
- An
Easy Path
- An
Effective Path
- The
Potential of Human Nature
- The
Resources of Experience
- Traces
and Effects
- Finally
A
PATH FOR MANKIND
There
is a primary and simple fact about the reli-gion
of Islam and the manner of its operation in the
life of mankind which, for all its simplicity,
is fre-quently forgotten or initially
misunderstood. From forgetting or failing to
comprehend it, there arises a serious error in
examining the religion, both its essential
nature and its historic reality, its present and
its future.
Some
expect Islam, seeing that it is revealed by God,
to operate in human life in a magical,
extra-ordinary and incomprehensible manner. They
expect it to operate without any regard for
human nature, for the innate capacities and
material realities of human life, in varying
stages of human development and environments.
However,
they see that it does not operate in this manner,
that limited human abilities and the material
realities of human existence interact with it.
Some-times, these two factors are clearly
influenced by religion; whereas at other periods
their influence is in a direction contrary to that
of the faith: they strengthen the passions and
desires of people, their weaknesses and
shortcomings, thus preventing them from following
the call of the faith and travelling along its
path.
When
they realize this, they encounter an un-expected
disappointment, and their trust In the seriousness
and reality of the religious way of life is
damaged. They may even be afflicted by doubt con-cerning
religion as such.
Hence
a whole series errors arises from of a single,
fundamental error: misunderstanding this faith of
Islam and its path, or neglect of this primary,
simple truth.
The
faith of Islam is a divinely-ordained path for
human life. Its realization in the life of mankind
depends on the exertions of men themselves, within
the limits of their human capacities and the
material realities of human existence in a given
environment. Working for this aim starts at the
point where man-kind finds itself on being given
the necessary equip-ment, and it continues to the
end of the path within the bounds of human
capacities, insofar as these are put to work.
A
basic characteristic of Islam is this: that it
never forgets for an instant, at any time or
place, the nature of man and the limits of his
capacities, nor does it neglect the material
realities of his existence, Yet, at the same time,
it causes him to attain - as has happened at
various periods in the past and can always happen,
if the necessary efforts are made - a higher point
than that reached by any man-made sys-tem
whatsoever. This is accomplished with ease,
comfort, security and moderation.
All
error arises from misunderstanding or ne-glecting
the nature of this faith, from expecting the
occurrence of miracles of hidden origin, miracles
which will transform the nature of man, pay no
atten-tion to his limited capacities, and have no
regard for the material realities of his
environment.
Is
Islam not revealed by God? And is not God
omnipotent? Why, then, does this faith operate
only within the boundaries of restricted human
abilities? Why should the results of its operation
be affected by human weakness? Why is it not
always triumphant, why are its adherents not
always victorious? Why should its purity, its elan,
on occasion be overcome by weakness, by the
passions, by material realities? Why do the wrong
sometimes triumph over the righteous, the
adherents of this faith?
All
these represent questions and doubts, and all
arise in the first place from misunderstanding or
ne-glect of the primary nature of this faith and
its mode of operation.
Naturally
God is capable of transforming human nature, by
means of the religion of Islam or any other
method. But - may He be exalted! - He has chosen
to create man with his present nature in
accordance with His own wisdom. He has chosen to
make divine guidance the fruit of exertion and
desire for it: "Those who strive on our
account, them will We guide to our paths".
[All phrases in quotation marks are from the
Qur'an, unless other-wise specified.] He chose too
to make human nature operate constantly, without
being effaced or put out of action. "The soul
and that which regulates it. He inspired it with
knowledge of its corruption and its piety. He who
purifies it, prospers; and he who corrupts it,
loses thereby". He chose that His di-vinely
ordained path for human life should be realized
through human exertions, within the limits of
human capacities: "Truly God does not change
the state of a people until they change that which
is within them-selves". "Were God not to
repel some people by means of others, truly the
earth would be corrupted". He has chosen
thereby to raise men to a point of ex-cellence
corresponding to the exertions he has made, the
abilities he has applied, and the patience with
which he has met misfortune for the sake of
realizing this divinely ordained path, of removing
evil from himself and from life around him:
"Did the people imagine that they would say:
we have believed, and they would not be tested? We
have tested those before them, and surely God
knows the truthful and God knows the liars.
None
of God's creation has the right to ask Him -may He
be exalted! - why He has chosen all this and
willed it to be. None of His creation - may He be
exalted! - has the right - since he is not a god,
has no knowledge nor the possibility of knowledge
- to ask concerning the general system of
creation, that sys-tem whose results are in the
nature of every created being.
'Why',
in this connection, is a question asked neither by
a serious believer nor by a serious atheist. The
serious believer will not ask it because he is too
polite towards God - Whose essence, attributes and
qualities he knows - and too well aware of the
limited nature of his human perception which is
not equipped to operate in this realm. The serious
atheist will not ask for he does not recognize the
existence of God at all. Were he to recognize His
divinity, he would know too His glory and the
implications of His di-vinity. "He is not
asked concerning what he does, yet they are so
asked". For He alone is omniscient, aware of
what He does.
This
is a question asked only by the frivolous, neither
a serious believer nor a serious atheist.
Therefore, no attention is to be paid to it, and
it is not to be taken seriously. It is asked by
one ignorant of the nature of divinity and its
attributes. The only way to instruct the ignorant
is not by direct answer, but by expounding to them
the nature and attributes of divinity. Then they
will either recognize and accept them, becoming
believers, or they will deny and re-ject them and
become atheists. The controversy is thereby
concluded, unless dispute arises. And if
controversy turns into dispute, the Muslim is not
permitted to continue with it.
The
conclusion we arrive at in this respect is the
following: that none of God's creation - may He be
exalted! - has the right to ask why He has chosen
to create man with the nature he has; why He has
chosen to make the operation of this nature
permanent and uninterrupted; and why He has chosen
to make the di-vinely ordained path for human life
be realized through human existence, rather than
enforcing it miracu-lously, through obscure,
hidden means.
It
is however the duty of every single one of His
creation to perceive and take notice of these
facts, and to observe them in operation in human
life. He should interpret the facts of human
history in their light, understanding their
historical line of develop-ment on the one hand
and knowing how to confront and influence that
line of development on the other. Fur-ther, he
should live with the wisdom and power of God, and
have the correct attitude towards them.
This
divine path, represented in its final stage by
Islam, as entrusted to Muhammad - may the peace
and blessings of God be upon him! - is not brought
into being in the world, in the realm of humanity,
simply by virtue of its revelation by God It is
not brought into being by being preached and
proclaimed to the people. It is not brought into
being by divine enforcement, in the same way that
God enforces His will in the ordering of the
firmament and the revolu-tion of the planets. It
is brought into being by a group of people
undertaking the task, believing in it com-pletely
and conforming to it as closely as possible,
trying to bring it into being in the hearts and
lives of others too; striving to this end with
all, they possess. They struggle against human
weakness and human passion within themselves, they
struggle against those whom weakness and passion
impel to resist divine guidance. They attain
thereby, in the realization of the divine path, a
point made possible by human nature and permitted
material realities. They begin with man as he
stands and do not neglect his actual state and
demands as he passes through and traverses the
stages of the divinely ordained path. This group
will triumph over their own souls and those of
others at times, and at other times will be routed
by their own souls and those of others, in
accordance with the efforts they expend and the
means they choose for the battle, suitable for the
circumstances and the needs of the age. More
important in determining victory or defeat is
however the degree to which they truly, in
themselves, represent this path, and are able to
give it practical expression in their personal
conduct and behavior.
This
is the nature of the faith of Islam and the mode
of its operation. This is its' plan for action and
its method. This is the truth that God wished to
teach the Muslim community when He said:
"truly God does not change the state of a
people until they change that which is within
themselves"; "were God not to repel some
people by means of others, truly the earth would
be corrupted"; and "those who strive on
Our account, them will We guide to our
paths".
This
is the truth that God wished to teach the Mus-lim
community at the battle of Uhud when it failed to
represent the true nature of the faith in its own
self at certain stages in the battle. It neglected
or forgot the primary truth, imagining that
inevitable victory was a consequence of their
being Muslim. God - may He be exalted! - said to
them: "And when you were afflicted with a
calamity similar to one already ex-perienced, you
said: How is this? Say: it is from
yourselves". He also said to them: "God
made true His promise that you might test them
with His per-mission. Yet you failed and disputed
concerning the matter. You rebelled after He had
shown you what you love. There are those among you
who desire the world, and those too who desire the
hereafter. Then He turned you away from them that
He might test you".
The
Muslim community learned this truth at the battle
of Uhud, not by words of reproach, but through
blood and suffering. It paid a high price: defeat
after victory; loss instead of booty; a wound that
left none unaffected; noble martyrs including
Hamza, the fore-most of all martyrs - may God be
pleased with him! - and worse and more serious
than this for the whole Muslim community, the
wounding of the Prophet of God - the blessings and
peace of God be upon him! -the blow struck at his
noble head, the fracture of a tooth in his mouth.
He fell on his side in the pit which had been dug
by Abu Amr, the evil ally of the Quraysh, as an
ambush for the Muslims, while the polytheists were
chasing him. He was alone with a few of his
companions who were martyred one after the other
while defending him. One of them, Abu Dajana,
shielded him with his back against the arrows of
the polytheists. An arrow hit him in the back but
he did not move until the believers returned from
their route, to receive the hard and bitter
lesson!
It
is thus clear that the realization of the divine
path has been left to human exertions. The fact
that it is brought into being within the limits of
human capacities rectifies the human soul and
reforms human life. We say this not in order to
supply a cause for God's will in determining the
matter as He has, but only in order to point out a
practical obser-vation of the effects of this
working of His will in the life of His
worshippers.
The
truth of the faith is not fully established until
a struggle is undertaken on its behalf among
people. A struggle against their unwillingness and
their re-luctance, a struggle to remove them from
this state to that of Islam and truth. A struggle
by word of mouth, by propagation, by exposition,
by refuting the false and baseless with a
statement of the truth pro-claimed by Islam. A
struggle too physically to re-move obstacles from
the path of right guidance when it is infested by
brute force and open violence. In this struggle
misfortune and suffering will be encoun-tered, and
patience will be necessary. In times of victory
too patience is needed: it is then perhaps more
difficult. Then one becomes steadfast and
un-wavering, pursuing the path of the faith
righteously and unswervingly
This struggle is necessary
on the part of the indi-vidual for he struggles
against himself while strug-gling against other
people, and thereby horizons are opened to him in
the faith which would never be opened to him if he
were to sit immobile and at rest. He perceives
facts concerning people and life which he could
not realize in any other way. His soul, his
feelings, his imagination, his habits, his nature,
his reactions and responses - all are brought to a
point of development which he could not have
attained with-out this hard and bitter experience.
This,
among other matters, is implied in God1s saying:
"Were God not to repel some men by means of
others, truly the earth would be corrupted".
The first to be corrupted are human souls, by
means of stagnation overtaking the spirit,
weakening the will and paralyzing it. Then the
whole of life is subject to stagnation, or is able
to operate only within the sphere of the passions,
as happens to nations afflicted with luxury.
This
too is part of the nature in which God created
man. He caused the well-being of this nature to
re-side in struggling for the establishment of the
divine path for human life1 by means of human
exertion and within the bounds of human
capacities.
Moreover,
this struggle and its accompanying trials is the
practical means for purifying the ranks of the
community - after the initial purification of the
individual soul. - of ridding it of the idle and
the hypocrites, of those of weak heart and weak
charac-ter, of tricksters and deceivers.
This is the truth God wishes
to teach the Muslim community when He exposes it
to trial and testing. It is then that the recesses
of souls become known, and the ranks become
clarified, beneath the hammer of trial, the
hardship of experience and the bitterness of
suffering.
This
is the truth God wished to teach the Muslim
community after the battle of Uhud, when He said
in reply to the Muslims' question of 'How is
this?' "Say: this is from yourselves".
He then continues: "That which befell you on
the day the two groups met was with the permission
of God, that He might know the believers and know
the hypocrites". "God did not place the
believers in the state where you find your-selves
for any purpose but this: that He might
distin-guish the evil from the good"...
"So that God might know the believers and
take martyrs from among you - God does not love
the wrongdoers - so that He might test those who
have believed and annihilate the
unbelievers". All this becomes rooted in
their minds, while at the same time their calamity
was caused by shortcomings in applying the
complete meaning of the faith in their thoughts
and actions during the battle. In the end, it was
of benefit for them, through God's grace and
forgiveness of their fault, and because its
consequences were a lesson for them, and a means
of purifying themselves and their ranks.
With
regard to the true nature of the faith and the
mode of its operation, we must add to the remarks
already made a supplementary observation.
The
fact that the realization of this divinely or-dained
path is left to human efforts, within the limits
of human capacities and of the material realities
of human life at various stages of development and
in various environments, does not imply the final
and definite independence of man in this matter,
or his isolation from the divine will and
planning, the aid and assistance of God. To regard
the matter in this manner would be in fundamental
contradiction with the Islamic way of thought.
We
have already remarked that God Almighty helps the
one who struggles for the sake of right guidance:
"And those who struggle for our sake, We
guide them to Our paths". "God does not
change the state of a people until they change
that which is within them".
These
two quotations indicate to us the relation between
human exertions and the aid dispensed by God to
humanity; by means of this aid, men will attain
the good, the right guidance and the virtue for
which they strive.
It
is ultimately God's will which is decisive, and
without which man by himself will attain nothing.
However, this will aid those who know its method
of operation, request its help and seek to attain
the pleasure of God.
Despite
all this, it is divine predestination which
encompasses human beings and events, and trials,
together with their benefit for the righteous,
take place in accordance with it.
Thus,
after the battle of Uhud God Almighty ex-pounds to
the Muslim community the causes of victory and
defeat, indicating too the divine wisdom behind
trials and both victory and defeat. "God made
true His promise that you test them with His
permission. Yet you failed and disputed concerning
the matter. You rebelled after He had shown you
what you love. There are those among you who
desire the world and those too who desire the
hereafter. Then He turned you away from them that
He might test you". His purpose too was to
demonstrate to them His comprehensive path, and
His absolute will and irresistible power behind
all causes and events. 'If a wound afflicts you,
then people have been afflicted with a wound like
it; we cause such fortune to rotate among the
people. It is too so that God may know those who
believe and take from among you martyrs - God does
not love the wrongdoers - and to purify the
believers and to anni-hilate the
unbelievers".
It is, then, in the last
analysis, the plan, the will, the decree of God,
for the accomplishment of what He intends beyond
causes and events. This is the matter concerning
which none may ask God Almighty, and the greatest
truth of the faith. Unless it be firmly
esta-blished in a soul, the faith of that soul is
not com-plete. This is the supplementary remark we
felt it necessary to add to this chapter.
The
Muslim whose heart knows instinctively the nature
of the faith will find here no contradiction, nor
is there any with the contents of the Book of God.
A
UNIQUE PATH
It
is possible that someone will now say: if Islam,
the divinely ordained path for mankind, cannot be
established in the world and the realm of humanity
other than by human exertion, within the limits of
human capacities and the material realities of
human existence in different environments, what
then dis-tinguishes it from man-made paths,
established by men for themselves, and permitting
them to attain a result in accordance with their
exertions, their capa-cities and circumstances?
why must we try to fulfill that path in
particular, for it needs human effort like any
other path? None of it is fulfilled by means of a
miracle or divine enforcement; it is to be
realized within the life of people, within the
bounds of human nature and their normal capacities
and material circumstances.
First we are obliged to
examine the nature of that path so that we may
ourselves realize what is Islam. The first pillar
of Islam is that we bear witness that there is no
god other than God and that Muhammad is the
Prophet of God. The approximate meaning of bearing
witness that there is no god other than God is
this: God is the exclusive possessor of divinity,
and none of His creation shares in any of the
aspects or properties of divinity. The first
aspect of divinity is absolute rule, whence arises
the right to legislate for His worshippers, to
ordain paths for their lives, to prescribe values
on which their lives should be based. It is not
possible to bear witness that there is no god
other than God without recognizing that God alone
has the right to ordain the path which human life
should follow, and without attempting to establish
that path, and none other, in human life. Anyone
who claims for himself the right to lay down a
path for the life of a group of human beings has
claimed also the right of divinity over them, for
he claims the greatest of all aspects of divinity.
Bearing witness that Muhammad is the Prophet of
God means approxi-mately admitting that this path
has been conveyed to from God; that it is truly
God's path for the life of mankind; and that it is
the only path we are obliged to follow and
implement in human life.
Hence we have a duty to
attempt the realization of this path, so that we
may ourselves realize the attri-bute of Muslim
which we claim. This is possible only through
bearing witness that there is no god but God and
that Muhammad is His Prophet. This profession of
faith is possible only by recognizing God as the
sole possessor of divinity, and alone entitled to
lay down a path for human life. We must attempt
the realization of that path conveyed to us from
God by Muhammad, the peace and blessings of God be
upon him.
We must do so for reasons
connected with the na-ture of that path itself. It
is the only path which rea-lizes the nobility of
man, grants him true freedom and releases him from
slavery. It is the only path which enables him to
liberate himself completely within the limits of
his humanity and his service of God, for service
of God releases man from servitude to others.
There is no other path in the world possessing
this quality. For Islam, by recognizing God
Almighty as the sole possessor of divinity, and
hence as the sole possessor of the right to
legislate for the life of humanity, leaves only
one God and one master for humanity. It prevents
some men from being the gods of others with
legislative and directive rights over them, as a
result of the servitude of those who accord these
gods the aspects of divinity.
The divine path is unique in
this respect. Not ver-bally or supposedly, but in
truth and in fact. There-fore the message of all
the prophets - peace and blessings be upon them -
was that God is the sole possessor of divinity,
and to deny to any of His crea-tion any of the
aspects of deity, even if they be dei-fied and
claim the right to legislate for human life,
supported by those who do not believe in the unity
of God.
God said concerning the
Christians and Jews: "They have taken their
rabbis and priests as lords other than God; also
the Christ, son of Mary. Yet they were ordered to
worship one God only. There is no God other than
He. He is glorified above that which they ascribe
to Him". They were not in reality worshipping
the rabbis and priests; they were only according
to them the right to legislate in addition to God,
to lay down a path for human life. God said
concerning them: "They have taken them as
lords". They have flouted God's command
concerning mono-theism, and attribute partners to
Him.
The traditionists Imam
Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Jarir relate concerning
Udayy ibn Hatim that when he heard the call of the
Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - he
fled to Syria. Before the proclama-tion of Islam
he had accepted Christianity. His sister and a
group of his relatives fell into captivity but his
sister was released by the Prophet - peace and
bless-ings be upon him. She sought out her brother
and aroused his interest in Islam, encouraging him
to go before the Prophet. Udayy came to Medina. He
was one of the chiefs of the Tayy tribe, his
father being the Hatim renowned for his
generosity, so attention was aroused by his
arrival in Medina. As he entered the presence of
the Prophet, wearing a golden cross around his
neck, the Prophet was reciting the verse:
"They have taken their rabbis and priests as
lords besides God". Udayy said: 'They do not
worship them'. The Prophet replied: 'Indeed they
do! The rabbis and priests have made the lawful to
them un-lawful, and the unlawful, lawful. They
have followed them, and this is their worship of
them'.
As Said remarked: 'Ask
advice of men, but com-pare it with the Book of
God'. God Almighty said: "They were ordered
to worship one God only", and if this one God
forbids a thing, it is unlawful; if He per-mits
it, it is lawful; if He legislates concerning a
matter, He should be obeyed; if He commands, His
command should be carried out.
Only Islam restricts its worship to God, since it
regards Him alone as possessing sovereignty and
the right to ordain a path for the life of
mankind. Hence it is only Islam that liberates man
from servitude to other than God, and hence too we
are obliged to at-tempt its implementation, and
that of no other path.
A further reason is that the
divine character of Islam means that it is the
only path free of the results of human desires,
human weaknesses and human self--interest. It is
free from any attempt to gain self-interest by
means of legislating for the benefit of that
individual, his family, class, people or race. The
ordainer of the path of Islam is God Almighty, the
Lord of all mankind. He does not legislate for His
own sake, or for that of one class of mankind in
pre-ference to another, one people in preference
to an-other, or one race in preference to another.
Human legislation, as laid down by a ruling
indi-vidual, family, class, nation or race, cannot
possibly, in the light of human nature, be
unaffected by the de-sires and interests of the
legislator.
When the path ordained by
God is that which rules human life, this defect
disappears, and true, com-plete and comprehensive
justice is obtained, that justice which cannot be
reached by any human, man-made system. There is
nothing in any man-made system which will free it
of the factors of human de-sire, human weakness
and attachment to self-interest in one form or the
other.
There are then lofty divine
instructions for the erection of complete and
comprehensive justice, un-touched by human passion
or considerations of rela-tionship. God said to
the Muslim community: "0 you who believe! Be
upright before God, witnesses to equity. Let not
the hatred of a people inspire you to act with
other than justice. Act justly, for that is closer
to piety. Fear God, for God is aware of what you
do".
It might be asked at this
point: what are the guar-antees that make the
Muslim community establish the justice to which
they are summoned and commanded by God?
The real guarantee of the
entire Islamic program is contained in the
conscience of the individual Mus-lim, and arises
from his faith. Where faith in this religion
exists, there too will be the strongest of
guarantees. The Muslims learn from their religion
that the bases of their existence, their triumph
and power in this world, are all founded on
faithfulness to these instructions. Otherwise
their being is ex-posed to decline, their victory
turns into defeat and they are abased. They hear
God saying to them: "God gives victory to
whom He pleases. Truly God is powerful, mighty.
(He gives victory) to those who, if He gives them
power on earth, establish the prayer, pay the
purifying due, enjoin good and forbid evil. To God
belongs the end of all affairs". They are
con-vinced that God Almighty will pay them no
attention if they deviate from His path.
The Muslim community itself
is the real guarantee for the fulfillment of these
instructions, for it rests on a conviction, and
takes upon itself what God has or-dained for it.
It sees in every neglect or shortcoming the
harbinger of an evil to overtake it, not only the
wrongdoers in its ranks.
So we are obliged to fulfill
this path, to establish that complete and
comprehensive justice which can-not be attained by
any other than this unique path.
A further reason is that
this path alone is free of the results of human
ignorance and human short-comings, as it is free
of the results of human weak-ness. Its ordainer is
the Creator of the human being, and He therefore
knows what is in his interest. He is aware of the
subtleties of his make-up and composi-tion, and
the worldly circumstances that accompany him
throughout his life. When ordaining a path for
man, He takes account of all these factors, which
men, either individually or collectively, in any
age, are incapable of comprehending in their
totality. Certain of these factors require the
accumulation of experience concerning all
manifestations of human life in the past, present
and future - this being im-possible - while others
need awareness of all the de-tails and
circumstances surrounding man, this too being out
of the question. In addition, human per-ception is
unable to form an infallibly correct judg-ment
concerning even the experiences and phenomena of
which it is aware. It is condemned to this
disabi-lity by its partial, non-absolute nature,
and by the influence upon it of passions and
weaknesses. It is therefore unsuited for laying
down a path for human life.
Thus it is that God says:
"Were the truth to fol-low their passions,
the heavens and the earth would be ruined".
Similarly: "We made for you a law, so follow
it, and not the fancies of those who have no
knowledge".
None of the people have
knowledge, that absolute knowledge which is
required for laying down a path human life. They
are equipped with nothing but fan-cies and
ignorance when they undertake the task which is no
concern of theirs and does not properly belong to
them. Their claim to one of the properties of
di-vinity is a great sin, and a great evil.
A further reason for the
implementation of this path is the fact that it
alone erects a system for hu-man life on a
comprehensive view of existence and man's place
therein, and of the true purpose of hu-man
existence - not as it is defined by the ignorance,
weakness and illusion of humanity.
This is the only firm and
healthy basis for the erection of a natural system
of human life. Any sys-tem of human life which
does not rest on the founda-tion of a
comprehensive view of existence is deprived of
natural roots; it is an artificial system that
cannot live long. It is a source of misery for
humanity as long as it exists among them, until
their nature des-troys it and they return to their
natural basis.
This view of existence
contained by the divinely ordained path is the
only correct one. For it pro-ceeds from the
Creator of existence, the Creator of man, who
knows the true nature of existence and man. Any
other view or interpretation of existence and
man's position in it, of the purpose of man's
creation, is a deficient one, for existence is
greater than man, and hence he cannot interpret it
fully. Definition of the purpose of human
existence requires the knowledge of the Creator of
man and of His will in the creation of man. It
further requires immunity from illusion, something
unattainable for man.
If one surveys the efforts
of philosophy to inter-pret human existence, man's
place in it and the pur-pose of human existence,
one encounters an odd as-sortment of answers, some
of them simply ridiculous in their idiocy. One is
surprised that such ideas can have emerged from a
"'philosopher" until one remem-bers that
this philosopher too is a man, equipped only with
the tool of human reason. This is not the realm of
human reason, and the philosophers have strayed
into a region where they have no lamp to guide
them other than that candle granted them by God
for use on different matters and in different
realms - matters wherein the candle may be some
use, a realm where it will shed some light. That
realm is the viceregency of God on earth, in
accordance with the divinely or-dained path,
depending on the grace and assistance of God, as
is understood from a comprehensive inter-pretation
on the basis of which may arise a healthy human
way of thought, and a system of human life with
natural roots.
Hence we are obliged to attempt the realization of
this path in order to establish a system of human
life with natural roots, for there is no other
path which possesses this necessary quality.
A final reason for
attempting the realization of this path is that it
alone is in conformity with the overall plan of
being. Man should not follow a path not In
conformity therewith, since he is obliged to live
with-in its framework, and to cooperate in every
respect with the overall plan of being.
It is only harmony between
the path for human life and that of being that
guarantees for man the coopera-tion of the awesome
forces of nature, and permits him to avoid
conflict with them. If he conflicts with them, he
will be destroyed and annihilated, and he will not
fulfill his duty of viceregency of God on earth,
that duty God has willed for him. If however he
con-forms to the norms of created being, he will
possess knowledge of its secrets and know how to
make use of them in his life. Then fire will not
consume him; in-stead he will use it for cooking,
heating and light.
Human nature conforms
basically to the norms of being when man's way of
life disregards these norms, not only will he come
into conflict with the awesome forces of nature,
but also with his own na-ture. He will be
miserable, bewildered and anxious, living like
present-day man in acute torment, despite all the
triumphs of modern science and all the con-veniences
of material civilization.
Present-day humanity is
afflicted with misery, anxiety, bewilderment and
confusion; it flees from its true self by taking
recourse to opium, hashish and alcohol, to a craze
for speed, to idiotic adventures. All this despite
material prosperity, high productivity and a life
of ease with abundant leisure. In fact, this
emptiness and confusion increase in proportion to
material prosperity and convenience.
This bitter emptiness
pursues man like a fearsome ghost. He flees from
it, but inevitably it overtakes him.
The first impression gained by anyone visiting the
prosperous, wealthy countries of the world -
headed by America and Sweden - is that the people
are fleeing from ghosts pursuing them, fleeing
from their own inner natures. He will quickly
realize that this ma-terial prosperity, sensual
enjoyment and sexual satia-tion lead to a sinking
into the morass of nervous and psychological
disease, sexual perversion, constant anxiety,
illness and lunacy; frequent crime, and the lack
of any human dignity in life.
Humanity has scored great
triumphs, thanks to science, in the field of
medicine and the cure of phys-ical disease. It has
discovered new drugs and means of diagnosis and
treatment; in particular we may mention penicillin
and myosin.
In the sphere of industrial
production too almost miraculous results have been
achieved, and progress and advance are continuing.
Similar achievements in the exploration of space,
in the construction of arti-ficial satellites and
space stations, have been made, and more may be
expected.
But what is the effect of
all this on human life? On the spiritual life of
humanity? Has it found secu-rity? Has it found
peace? By no means! It has found misery anxiety
and fear. No progress has been made in the
formulation of the aims of human life and the
purpose of human existence. when one compares the
concept held by a 'civilized1 man of the purpose
of human existence with the Islamic concept,
present-day civilization appears as a curse
dragging human feelings down into the morass.
For example in America new
gods are worshipped, which are thought to be the
aim of human existence -the god of property, the
god of pleasure, the god of fame, the god of
productivity! Thus it is that in America men
cannot find themselves, for they cannot find the
purpose of their existence. The same is true of
other states of ignorance, where similar gods are
worshipped, and people cannot find the true God.
Therefore we are bound to
attempt the realization of the divinely ordained
path for human life, to turn humanity back towards
its One True God; towards a purpose for existence
worthy of the rank of human being; towards the
norms that embrace all creation including man.
This is the truth
established by the Holy Qur'an. It rejects the
view of those who wish to follow other than the
law of God and the way of life He has ordained.
"Do
they desire other than the way of God, while all
that is in the heavens and earth has submitted
to Him, willingly or unwillingly? And they too
will be brought back before Him."
AN
EASY PATH
It
might then be objected: but humanity will not be
able long to persist on this unique and lofty
path. A group or community, having once
established it for a period, will then abandon it
and humanity will turn to other paths which, while
not causing it to attain the same summits, will
not impose on man the same hard efforts.
At
first sight this objection appears to be valid.
Many writers have attempted to implant this idea
in people's minds, to persuade them that the path
of Is-lam is impractical and unrealistic; too much
for hu-man nature to support for more than a time;
that it is only an idealistic summons to reach
after unattainable horizons. They have had a
cunning aim behind this attempt: to spread despair
at the possibility of recon-structing life in
accordance with the path of Islam, and to
frustrate efforts being made in that direction.
These cunning ones have found in the disorders
that began with the murder of Uthman, the
subsequent con-flict between Ali and Muawiya and
related events a fertile ground for attempting to
prove their vile con-tention, sometimes by
implication and sometimes ex-plicitly, as
circumstances dictate.
They
are unintentionally helped in this aim by those
sincere believers who are disturbed by the fact
that these events should have interrupted the rise
of Islam in that glorious period of history. They
involved too a deviation from the concept of
government that pre-vailed in the time of the
Prophet - may the peace and blessings of God be
upon him! - and his first two successors.
Similarly the conduct of some leaders of the
community thereafter deviated from Islamic norms.
Because of their excessive sensitivity in this
respect, they imagine that all forms of Islamic
ad-vance stopped after the brief period of the
Caliphate. They propound this view with the utmost
sincerity and out of their admiration for the
summit of conduct at-tained by the Prophet and the
Rightly Guided Caliphs.
The
whole matter requires however careful
re-examination, with particular attention to the
human factors involved. The nature of the faith
should be understood, and its method for guiding
the steps of humanity over a long period, in
different environ-ments and circumstances.
First of all, it is not true
that the path of Islam imposes on the soul of man
exertions harder than he is able to bear or to
endure for more than a short time.
It is indeed a sublime path.
But it is at the same time a natural path, and the
capital on which it relies and which it spends is
none other than essential hu-man nature. Its
distinguishing feature is that it knows from the
very beginning how to obtain access to this
capital.
From the outset it is able
to find its way to the hu-man soul. It knows how
it may enter1 and it does so gently. It knows the
strength and capacities of the human soul, and it
never exceeds them. It know8 its needs and
necessities, and responds to them. It knows too
its pure, constructive potentialities, and it puts
them to work for positive ends.
Despite all its sublimity
and loftiness, it is a path essentially for man,
for man living here in this world. It takes into
consideration the nature of man with all its
component parts, and the composition of man also.
When the soul is at one with
its true nature, when its needs and necessities
are fulfilled, when its con-structive capacities
are released, then with ease and without
compulsion it will flow in natural harmony with
life, will ascend to the lofty summit ordained for
it. On its long path to this goal, it will find
ease, security and confidence.
Those who doubt and arouse
doubt concerning the possibility of establishing
the path of Islam are terri-fied by its morality,
by the purity of the moral ele-ment in its
make-up. They are scared by the duties of this
morality, imagining them to be fetters and
obstacles preventing man from striving for what he
de-sires, what his natural instincts impel him
towards.
This
is an illusion arising from a misunderstanding of
the essential nature of the Islamic faith.
The morality of Islam does
not consist of a mere collection of fetters,
obstacles and prohibitions. It is in its essence a
constructive and positive force, a motive force
for continual development and self-realization in
the course of that development. This de-velopment
however is characterized by total purity.
Positiveness
and activity have a moral aspect in the path of
Islam. Idleness and negativism are im-moral, since
they contradict the purpose of human existence, as
conceived of by Islam, namely the vice-regency of
God on earth, and the use of all that God has
subordinated to man for the purposes of
construc-tive activity.
Effort
for the realization ~ the good and the com-bating
of evil is an ethical matter, in which basic
ele-ments of the human personality are released.
In the view of Islam, obedience to God represents
the ethical aspect in a sublime manner.
When
we take the ethical aspects which appear to be
bonds and fetters, we find them in reality to be
as-pects of movement, liberation and vitality.
Let
us take for example self-restraint from
indul-gence of forbidden sexual passion. It
appears to be a bond and an obstacle. But in
reality it represents a liberation from slavery to
these passions, release from servitude to them,
and the exaltation of human will, so that the
indulgence of these passions may be chosen within
the bounds of decency laid down by Is-lam, and
within the sphere of legitimate enjoyment decreed
by God.
Another
example is the ethical injunction to char-ity. It
appears to be a burden on the self, preventing it
from the enjoyment of all it possesses and
influ-encing others thereby. In reality however it
is a re-lease from covetousness and a triumph over
greed, an expansion of consciousness of the public
good, which is not restricted within the framework
of the individual. It is then a release, a
liberation.
We
do not have the space to multiply examples. These
must suffice to give an idea of the true nature of
the moral "bonds" in the Islamic path.
Islam
regards sins and vices as bonds and fetters which
imprison the human soul, weigh it down and drag it
into the abyss. It counts release from the ties of
base desires as true liberation, and its entire
moral system is based on this foundation.
This
is because it regards the basis of human na-ture
as the disposition to good: Man was created in the
fairest of natures. He descends to the lowest
depths whenever he submits to a way of life other
than that ordained by God: "We created man
with the fairest of natures, and then caused him
to descend to the lowest depths, except those who
believe and per-form good works." Therefore,
the way of life con-sonant with man's essential
nature is that which helps him to escape from the
bonds which attach themselves to his virtuous
disposition, and to liberate himself from the
fetters of the passions.
Islam
aspires to lead human society in order to bring
into being circumstances and conditions which will
liberate the individual from perversions that have
latched on to his essential nature; permit the
virtuous and constructive forces within him to
appear and establish their supremacy; and remove
the obstacles which prevent his true nature from
striving towards the good in which it was created.
Those
who imagine that the morality of Islam makes of it
a heavy burden for humanity so as to pre-vent its
realization in their lives, derive this belief
from the tribulations undergone by the individual
Muslim living in a society which is not governed
by Islam. In such circumstances, the morality of
Islam is in reality a heavy burden; it almost
crushes those individuals who live with their pure
Islam in the pol-luted society of ignorance.
This,
however, is not the natural situation fore-seen by
Islam, for it supposes its pure, sublime morality
to be supreme. Islam is a realistic system, and it
therefore supposes that the people who live
according to its path will be living in an
Islamically governed society. In such a society
good, virtue and purity will be well-known and
protected by the leaders of the community. Evil,
vice and impurity will be rejected and banished by
the dominant forces in society.
When
matters are rectified in this manner, the Islamic
way of life becomes an extremely easy one. In
fact, opposition to this way of life on the part
of individuals will become difficult; it will be
difficult for them to indulge in base passions,
and to follow evil and vice. All the forces
dominating society - in addi-tion to the force of
the true nature of man - will stand against them,
and make their divergent path hard and difficult.
Hence
Islam demands that the absolute control of human
society belong to God and the path laid down by
God; it denies this control to any of God1s
creation, and to any path laid down by other than
God. This it would consider complete infidelity
and a clear ascrip-tion of partners to God, for,
as we have already pointed out, Islam insists on
attribution of divinity to God Almighty alone, and
control of human society by His path alone. This
is the direct meaning of bearing witness that
there is none to be worshipped other than God.
Islam
also prescribes the erection of an Islamic society
in the aegis of which the Muslim individual can
live his religion, in accordance with the
charac-ter given him thereby. The Islamic concept
of exist-ence as a whole, and of the aim of human
existence in particular, differs fundamentally
from all man-made imaginings. These picture man in
isolation from the guidance of God in all times
and places. This is a basic difference concerning
which no compromise is possible.
A
specific environment is then indispensable for the
life of this concept, an environment with its own
specific values. This cannot be the environment of
a system based on ignorance of divine guidance. It
will live according to the concept of Islam and
the way of life springing therefrom; it will
breathe naturally in accordance with its own
being, without internal obstacles to slow down or
prevent this growth, and with-out external
obstacles to crush it.
In such an environment the
Muslim individual will live a natural and easy
life, for he will breathe natu-rally, find
assistance in the performance of good deeds, and
experience both inner and social comfort in
following Islamic morality.
Without
this environment the life of the individual
becomes impossible, or at least extremely
difficult. Therefore whoever wishes to be a Muslim
should know that he cannot devote himself to his
practice of Islam except in a Muslim environment
dominated by Islam. He is mistaken if he imagines
that he can realize his Islam as an individual
lost in the midst of a society ignorant of divine
guidance.
The
Islamic path is easy, when one lives in an Is-lamic
environment. It presupposes such an environ-ment
to be indispensable, and all its directives are
based on this foundation.
It
is similarly untrue that it imposes on mankind
more strenuous efforts than are necessary for men
living according to systems emanating from other
than God.
Such
systems - those adopted by mankind in isola-tion
from the guidance of God at any time or place -are
inevitably affected by the results of human
ignor-ance, human weakness and human folly, at the
very best. Hence in whole or in part they will
conflict with human nature, and the soul of
mankind will suf-fer as a result.
They are similarly
characterized by partial cures and solutions for
human problems. They will solve one aspect but
aggravate another, and this as a direct result of
their deficient vision which fails to grasp all
aspects simultaneously. When they cure the new
ill-ness that arose out of their cure of the first
illness, yet another illness will arise, and so on
indefinitely. Study of the changes and stages gone
through by man-made systems bears witness to this.
Without doubt, this imposes on mankind exertions
harder than those involved in that perfect and
comprehensive system which is in accord with
essential human nature, which regards problems
from all their aspects, prescribes for them a
complete and comprehensive solution, and arises
from a complete and comprehensive vision.
Whoever
studies the record of human suffering that has
arisen from man-made systems throughout his-tory,
cannot dare to say that this divinely ordained
path with all its obligations and morality,
imposes on mankind exertions greater than those
imposed by man-made Systems.
The
easiest aspect of this path, which aims to at-tain
a sublime peak, is that it does not ignore the
length of the road, it does not force the pace, it
does not skip stages; the space before it is wide
and exten-sive. It is not contained within the
life-span of an individual, it is not goaded on by
fear of being over-taken by death before the
distant aim is achieved, as are the protagonists
of earthly systems and beliefs. These latter must
complete the task in a single gen-eration, and
violate the tranquility of human nature in order
to leap forward to the realization of a glittering
aim. They have no patience with the tranquil,
natural assured pace. Bloodbaths mark their pro-gress
along their chosen path1 values are destroyed and
standards upset. Finally they themselves are
destroyed beneath the hammerblows of human nature
which their artificial tools are incapable of
resisting.
The
path of Islam is easy and lenient. It encour-ages
human nature to take one direction, discourages it
from taking another direction, and strengthens it
when it weakens. But it never breaks or destroys
it, or attempts to do so. It is patient with it as
the wise and the knowing are patient, like him who
is confident of the realization of the long-term
aim, which cannot be attained in one rush, or even
in two, three, ten, a hundred or a thousand! All
that is demanded is the exertion of effort to
progress along the path.
As
the lofty tree grows after striking its roots deep
in the soil, and its branches reach out and
inter-twine, so too this way of life grows in the
souls and in the world. It expands slowly and
softly, with assur-ance and confidence. Finally it
will be what God has willed it to be.
Islam
sows its seeds and stands guard over them, leaving
them to grow in natural tranquility, and being
assured of the ultimate aim. Whatever slowness or
retreat is observed, this is but in accordance
with human nature. Sometimes plants are covered
over by the sand. are consumed by worms, are burnt
by thirst, are flooded with water, are afflicted
with var-ious catastrophes. But the intelligent
cultivator knows that his plants will survive and
grow, that ul-timately they will surmount all
catastrophes. He does not panic or attempt to
ripen them by unnatural means. Thus too Islam is
characterized by ease, and its obligations sit
light upon the souls of mankind.
We do not need at this point
to speak of the suffer-ings inflicted upon mankind
by the violence of man-made systems and their
protagonists. The wretched-ness it is experiencing
all over the world is enough. Everywhere the
intelligent are raising cries of alarm and
warning.
Finally,
it is not true that this system of Islam did not
survive for long, as some say with cunning and
others with pride! The spiritual, social and
political structure that was erected on the basis
of this sublime, unique system, in the space of a
single century or even half a century, has
continued to resist all the catastrophes that have
beset it, and all the attacks to which it has been
exposed, for more than a thousand years.
These
terrible factors have insistently attacked and
infiltrated its bases, and behind them stand all
the powers of the world of ignorance of divine
guid-ance. They have not been able to destroy it,
but with the passage of time, with concentration
and watchful-ness, with determination and
persistence, they have been gradually eroding it,
and diverting it little by little from its
principles, until eventually it has be-come
weakened and seriously threatened. Nonethe-less,
up to the present they have been unable to dis-tort
its doctrinal foundations, and these doctrines are
available for fresh investigation, to be embraced
by a new generation.
This
is the basic distinction between the divinely
ordained path and manmade paths.
There
is indeed a period of excellence in the his-tory
of this path - and indeed in the history of all
mankind - which is still the sublime summit
towards which necks are craned and gazes directed,
still there in its exalted place.
The period of excellence is
a short one indeed.
It
is not the whole of Islamic history, but a beacon
erected by God so that man might reach up to it
and try to attain it; might renew his hopes of
arriving at the sublime summit by rising in upward
ascent. God assigned to this period its place in
the ascent, the place of a guiding beacon.
The
fact is that this period was not the result of an
unrepeatable miracle; rather it was the fruit of
human exertion made by the first Muslim community.
It can be achieved whenever that exertion is again
made.
But
that exertion undertaken by a select group of
humanity can be a model for many generations of
hu-manity to come, not merely one generation.
Whether or not it will be successful in one
generation or an-other depends on the will of God,
so that the model may take on a realistic form and
encourage its emu-lation. It is then left to
succeeding generations of mankind to attempt again
to attain it. The path continued to play its role,
after that period of excellence, in broad areas of
human life; continued to act upon the ideas, the
history and the situation of mankind for many
centuries; and left many traces on the life of the
whole of humanity. It is precisely this that
enables us to hope that humanity today may again
strive towards the summits.III
AN
EFFECTIVE PATH
This
brilliant illumination achieved a permanent
influence on the life of mankind with its luster
and sublimity, its splendor and perfection. It
left per-manent traces in the history of mankind
as a result of which the present generation of
humanity is better able than all other generations
- after that select group of the first generation
- to strive for the attain-ment of Islam. It is
aided by the legacy bequeathed in ideas, values,
systems, circumstances.
We will try in this chapter
- as briefly as is con-sistent with the nature of
this work - to encompass some of the illuminations
of that bright and unique lamp, not only in the
history of the Islamic commu-nity, but also in the
history of mankind as a whole.
The
period of excellence at the beginning of Islam was
able to create, in the reality of human existence,
a number of ideal personages who were the
represen-tatives of a higher humanity, in a manner
unequalled before or since that time. By
comparison all the figures who arose in paths
other than that of Islam appear as dwarfs, beings
who have not attained full maturity, or at least
not fully rounded beings.
These
ideal personages produced by the divinely ordained
path in that short period were not a few
individuals to be counted on one's fingers, but a
great concourse. The student of the matter wonders
how in all their sublimity and maturity they
attained such numbers, in so short and restricted
a period. He is unable to account for their
appearance on this large scale, at this
exceptional level, with such a variety of models,
unless he relates this unique phenomenon to the
action of that unique path of life - Islam.
It
is important for us to know that those people who
represented a higher humanity, models unique in
their sublimity, by comparison with whom he
figures later centuries appear to be but dwarfs of
deficient beings, who realized the divinely
ordained path in their own lives in this
remarkable manner, were nonetheless human beings,
who had not left the bounds of their nature or
essential disposition, nor sup-pressed any of the
constructive capacities. They did not impose on
themselves exertion beyond their capacities, but
devoted themselves to all human acti-vities, and
enjoyed all the legitimate pleasures which were
allotted to them in their environment and age.
They acted wrongly and correctly, they stumbled
and rose again, they were sometimes beset by human
weakness - like the rest of mankind - and fighting
against it were sometimes triumphant.
It
is highly important to realize this fact. It gives
mankind a strong hope for the resumption of
struggle; it makes it the duty and right of
mankind to strive for that bright and feasible
ideal, and to continue striving. It causes mankind
to gain in self-confidence and to trust in its own
inner nature and hidden potentialities, which
enable it - if the correct path is followed - to
reach that level of higher humanity which It once
at-tained in the course of its history. It did not
attain it by an extraordinary and unrepeatable
miracle. It attained it by means of a path
corresponding to its own nature, one realized by
human efforts and within the bounds of human
capacities.
That
great and exceptional generation arose in the
heart of the poverty-stricken desert, poor in
natural1 economic and scientific resources.
Although this en-vironment was suitable to the
rise of such a gener-ation, humanity, today and
tomorrow, is not inca-pable, either by virtue of
its inner nature or by virtue of its
potentialities, of succeeding once again in its
exertions, providing it takes the divinely
ordained path as its guide.
This
path - despite the deviations, hostility and
attacks it has suffered in the course of time -
conti-nued to produce ideal men, similar to those
of the first brilliant generation, influenced and
moulded by its example. It continued to influence
strongly the life of humanity through those ideal
men, and to affect the course of human history. It
left deep traces and impresses on the nature of
life and the world.
This
path at all times is still capable of producing
such ideal men, so long as serious efforts are
made for applying and fortifying it in life,
irrespective of all opposing factors and all
obstacles in its path.
The
secret hidden within it is its direct coopera-tion
with the essential nature of man, and its exploit-ation
of his potential resources. These resources are
considerable and permanent. When they come into
contact with this path, streams of wealth gush
forth, and the hidden superabundance stands
revealed.
This
ideal period of excellence was able to esta-blish
for human life principles, ideas, values and
criteria which had no precedent in the whole
history of humanity, all of them clear, profound,
comprehensive and vital. None them were
established at any other time in human history, by
any other path or system on earth, with such
clarity, profundity, comprehensiveness and
vitality. Nor - which is the most important - with
such truthfulness, seriousness, sincerity and
profound devotion to truth.
These
principles ideas, values and. criteria em-braced
every sector of human life. They embraced the
human concept of God, and the relation of human-ity
to Him; the human concept of existence, of the
purpose of existence, its general place and
function in the universe.
Consequently,
they dealt too with the concept of the real nature
of the human being, his rights, duties and
obligations; the criteria for judging his life,
activity and rank, on which are based too his
relations with his Sustainer and with his
fellow-beings, his relations with the totality of
creation, with living beings and With objects.
They, dealt too with
political, social and economic rights and duties,
systems, the situations and rela-tionships that
connect together these rights and duties. In
short, all fields of' human life with their
different features and aspects were covered.
On
all of these, this ideal period impressed its own
distinctive nature, its unique divine, stamp.
All
this took place in a local, environment hostile to
these principles and ideas, these values and
criteria, in a worldly atmosphere denying their
very basis, in economic, political and social
circumstances bound by their very nature to cash
with the attitudes in-culcated by Islam and
established for the first time in the actuality of
human life. At the very least they did not favor
the swift movement of Islamic ideals. It relied
for its success above all on the capacities of
human nature for responding to the divinely
ordained path - which profoundly corresponds to
human nature - rather than being overwhelmed by
superficial impressions. It activated this
potential and brought it out from behind the
clouds that were obscuring it. It is indeed a vast
potential, capable - if the correct path for
freeing it from confusion, and sloth exists - of
resisting superficial impressions, which are in
the eyes of some shortsighted people the be-all
and end all of human life. Islam does not ignore
these impressions, nor does it neglect their
effects on human life. But neither does it
surrender to them, regarding them as an
inescapable reality. Instead it has recourse to
the potentialities of human nature, at-tempts to
concentrate and direct them in order to modify
reality, gently and painlessly in the manner of
operation described in the previous chapter. The
result will then be what was attained in the ideal
period: negative local and worldwide circumstances
were combated and transformed into positive
favor-able circumstances. This took place both in
the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
Humanity
today is, in some respects, in a better position
than it was when this divinely ordained path was
first brought. In a short period it has brought
about a great revolution in prosperity and
comfort, is better able to work according to the
path, for rea-sons to be set forth in a future
chapter. Its capacity to endure is greater,
especially since we know that the potential of
human nature, despite the clouds of corruption,
evil and perversion that hang over it, and despite
the material conditions and economic and in-tellectual
factors that threaten to crush it, is able to
arise, collect itself and work. This ability is
rea-lized when the divinely ordained path
releases, con-centrates and directs it, sends it
on the course which is in accord with the
essential nature of man and the essential nature
of creation as willed by God. This potential, in
view of its purity, profundity and vast-ness, is
superior to all other factors which take on the
aspect of "reality". What matter, then,
if today these factors stand opposed to it?
In the eyes of some who do
not know the true nature of this path,
"reality" appears to be something
un-changeable, irreversible and almighty!
This
is a great illusion. The essential nature of the
human being is also a "reality". It is
not in ac-cord with outward reality, since
everywhere it is suffering from it. Whenever the
essential nature of humanity clashes with a
certain circumstance or sys-tem, it is at first
defeated, because behind the cir-cumstance or
system there is a material force which imposes
itself. These is however no doubt that hu-man
nature is stronger and more lasting than any
incidental circumstance, and that it will
inevitably triumph in the end, particularly when
it is directed in a path the nature of which
corresponds to its own nature.
This
has already happened once1 on that day when the
divinely ordained path confronted the
"reality" of the Arabian peninsula, and
the)"reality" of the entire world. It
triumphed brilliantly over that reality,
transformed its intellectual and practical bases
and erected it on new foundations.
This
did not take place through some unique,
unrepeatable miracle. It was achieved - in
accordance with God's everlasting custom - through
human exertion, and within the bounds of human
capacities. This precedent indicates the
possibility of its own repetition.
The
legacy of that brilliant period, the traces it has
left in the life of mankind and the reality of
his-tory, are all favorable factors for a new
struggle.
That
period was able to establish in the life of
mankind practical traditions and realistic
institutions, based on its own principles, ideas,
values and cri-teria, that did not die and
disappear with the end of an era. They extended
like a moving stream impelled to the far corners
of the earth, and consecutive eras and epochs. The
life of all humanity was affected by them, in one
way or another, and they became a re-source for
mankind, to which it had recourse for more than a
thousand years. They affected ideas,
circumstances, traditions, science and economy,
all the spheres of civilization. Their traces
still continue to affect the life of humanity down
to the present, despite all the forces which
