Islam’s ethical science is
studied in three categories, which can be understood only after learning
preliminary subsciences. In this book of ours we shall touch upon three
sections of the entire matter, enlarging only on the first section.
Learning ethical science depends
on one’s desire to do so. Enforcement is inutile. Every optional (ihtiyârî)
action can be achieved in two stages of preliminary knowledge acquisitions.
First, the essence of the matter should be understood. Second, first-hand
knowledge should be acquired as to what will be obtained by doing it. There is
yet a third, in which it has become a popular method to acquire some
preliminary information which will help learn a certain science. We will follow
this method and explain the three branches of the subject in the preface,
attaching two additional sections.
FIRST STAGE: Ethics of Islam is
divided into three categories,
1– The knowledge of ethics, (’ilm al-akhlâq), deals with invariable personal behaviour, which is good or bad,
depending not on whether a person is alone or with others, but on his
character. For example, a person who has a gentle nature, or who is generous,
or who has a sense of shame, is so he is alone as well as when he is with
others. The knowledge of ethics teaches us these personal traits which never
change.
2– The second category of ethics
deals with a person’s behaviour towards his family members in his home. This is
called manners of family management (tadbîr al-manzil).
3– The third category of
knowledge of ethics teaches a person’s social responsibilities, codifies
behavioral principles, and instructs on how to be useful to others. It is
called siyâsat-i-medîna, or social manners.
As is stated in the book Akhlâq-i-Nâsirî, by
Nasîr-ud-dîn Muhammad Tűsî, when a person does something, whether it is good or
evil, it is for a reason. This reason is either something natural, or a
commandment or law. What he does on account of
his
nature is an outcome of his mind, thought and experience. His doings of this
sort do not change with time, nor are they dependable on his social
environment. The second kind of reason, a law or a commandment, either issues
from a common thought shared by a community or by an entire nation, in which
case it is termed a rusűm or an ’âdat (custom); or it
has been posited by a scholarly, authoritative or experienced person, such as a
prophet, a Walî, a monarch, or a dictator. If it
is a commandment of Allâhu ta’âlâ, which is
communicated by prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawât-u-wat-taslîmât’
and explained by Awliyâ or by Islamic scholars, it can be of one of the
following three groups: The first group consists of commandments which are to
be observed by every individual person. They are called ahkâm
(rules), or ’ibâdât (worships). The second group subsumes
social and business transactions such as munâkahât, i.e. matters of
marriage, and mu’âmalât, i.e. matters such as selling and buying.
In the third group are commandments encompassing countries and societies and
pertaining to legal and political matters (hudűd). Science dealing with these
three groups of commandments and rules is termed Fiqh.
Learnings pertaining to matters of fiqh, as well as principles regulating those
matters and their execution, change with time and depend on the country and the
nation wherein they are to be practised. Allâhu ta’âlâ
is the sole authority to dictate the change. The abrogations and changes which Allâhu ta’âlâ made in the past dispensations
throughout history were in this group of commandments. For instance, the time
in which Âdam ‘alaihis-salâm’ lived required a proliferation of mankind. It was
therefore canonically legal and permissible for a man to marry his sister. As
its necessity was obviated with the increase of population in process of time,
so was the canonical law allowing it revoked.
SECOND STAGE: In this section we will
explain the usefulness and application of the knowledge of ethics.
When a person studies his environment, such
as the earth and the skies, or contemplates the balance and order in the
universe, that is, how billions of stars in space continue to move in their
orbits without colliding with one another for centuries, or how the
construction, movement and amount of atmospheric pressure, temperature, air and
water are delicately balanced to allow life to flourish on earth, or when he
observes the delicate
order
in the construction of human beings, animals, plants, inanimate objects, atoms,
cells or, in short, the numerous creatures which are studied in the science
courses taught in high schools and universities, he will feel compelled to
believe in the existence of an all-powerful and all-knowledgeable creator, who
creates all the orderly systems and creatures. A person with intelligence will
understand and appreciate this great, delicate balance and order in the
universe and will readily believe in the existence of Allâhu
ta’âlâ and become a Muslim. When a philosophy professor from Switzerland
who converted to Islam in 1966 was asked by a newsman about his conversion, he
replied: “By studying Islamic books I understood the true (Haqq) way and the
greatness of Islamic scholars. If Islamic religion would be exposed in a
correct manner, everyone in the entire world who has intelligence would accept
it lovingly and willingly.”
When a person becomes a Muslim by studying
nature and himself and then studies the books written by Islamic scholars and
learns the life story and beautiful moral conduct of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’,
his belief will become more firm. Furthermore, by studying the knowledge of
ethics he will understand good and ill temperaments, useful and harmful
matters. By doing good deeds, he will become a mature and valuable human being
in the world. His worldly affairs will be orderly and they will materialize
easily. He will live in comfort and peace. Everyone will love him. Allâhu ta’âlâ will be pleased with him. Also, He will
treat him with compassion and give him many rewards in the Hereafter. We would
like to emphasize once again that a person needs two things in order to attain
happiness. The first of these two is that he should possess the correct
knowledge and belief which can be acquired by learning scientific knowledge and
reading the life story and moral conduct of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. The
second one is that he should be a gentle-natured human being with good
behavior. These things can be acquired by learning the knowledge of “Fiqh” and
“Ethics” and by practicing them. Whoever acquires these two things will attain
the consent and love of Allâhu ta’âlâ because Allâhu ta’âlâ knows everything with His infinite
knowledge. He gave much knowledge to angels and prophets.
Angels and prophets do not possess anything
shameful, faulty or ugly. In contrast, human beings, (with the
exception
of prophets,) have very little knowledge and
their beliefs are either smeared with corrupt habits or stained by ill conduct.
For this reason, human beings are very distant from Allâhu
ta’âlâ, angels and prophets. They are
deprived of the honor of joining them in perfection. If a person fails to
attain the true belief in consequence of his remissness in studying scientific
knowledge and observing nature, which means to lapse into a state of ignorance;
and if he does not invigorate his belief by acquiring genuine knowledge about
Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, he will join those who will abide in eternal
perdition and distress. Conversely, if he accomplishes to attain true belief
and refuses to follow his nafs and obeys the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ and avoids the prohibitions He has
enjoined, then he will not be deprived of the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allâhu ta’âlâ. He will not be deprived of happiness.
The iniquities he has committed may, however, suspend his attainment to the
Mercy of Allâhu ta’âlâ for a while, forcing him
to a brief sojourn in Hell to be scorged in its fire. Eventually, owing to his
belief he will attain the Grace of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Hell fire will cleanse the dirt of his evil deeds and will purify him so that
he will be liable to enter Paradise.
It is apparent that the most
important of all the blessings and comforts is to possess perfect belief.
Everyone should strive to cleanse his heart from wrong beliefs and doubts. If a
person obtains the correct belief and has a good character and does good deeds,
he will resemble supreme spirits such as Prophets, Awliyâ of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and angels. He will be close to them and they will attract him
toward higher ranks in a manner similar to the law of gravitational force. They
will attract him towards upper heights similar to a small pin’s being attracted
by a high electromagnetic force generated by a huge electromagnet or a small
pin’s being attracted by a huge magnet as big as a mountain. Then, he will pass
the “Sirat-Bridge”
with lightening speed and will join the fortunate
people basking in the Gardens of Paradise, enjoying blessings pre-created for
him, for his spiritual heart and soul.
Couplet:
Scholars who practice what they know, will not suffer grievous
punishment,
Attaining the blessings of Jannat, that is the supreme success!
Knowledge of ethics is the
branch teaching the cleanliness
of
spiritual heart (qalb) and soul (rűh). It is similar
to the knowledge of medicine’s being the science of hygiene for the body. Vices
are diseases of the spiritual heart and soul. Evil deeds are symptoms and signs
of these diseases. The knowledge of ethics is a much honored, valuable and
necessary knowledge. Vices infesting the spiritual heart and soul can be weeded
out only with this knowledge. It is this sole knowledge which runs the gamut of
invigorating and healing the spiritual heart and soul with good moral
qualities, embellishing the hearts and souls thereby invigorated and healed
with even more beautiful moral qualities, and establishing a permanent state of
purity in the hearts and souls habituated to an ever-improving acquisition of
better and more refined perfections.
[Spiritual heart and soul are
two distinct entities although they look very much alike. In this book, when
the soul is mentioned alone it should be understood that we mean both of them.]
Does one’s character change? Is
it possible for a human being to give up his character and acquire another one?
There are several differing opinions but they can mainly be categorized in
three groups:
1– Character never changes
because it is an entity a human being is not capable of changing.
2– Character is of two kinds:
the first one is created at birth and cannot be changed. The second one
consists of habits which are acquired later. This acquired character can be
altered or changed.
3– Character in its entirety is
acquired after birth and can be changed by external influences.
The majority of Islamic scholars
are unanimous on the third theory. Divine laws (sharî’ats) which prophets brought prove that this third theory is correct. The
student-training methods instituted by religious scholars and masters of
Tasawwuf function under the light of the third notion.
According to what suitable
nature do human beings come into this world? This is another question so far
unsolved. The opinion of the majority of scholars is that human beings are born
suitable for goodness and making progress. Later, evil habits are adopted in
consequence of indulgence in the desires of the nafs, lexity in learning good morals,
and evil company. It
is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Every individual person is created in a nature suitable for Islam.
Later, however, they are made Christians, Jews or atheists by their parents.”
Couplet:
You are corrupting yourself with your own hand
Although the Creator created you beautifully.
According to some scholars, the
human soul came to this world as an impure entity. The soul itself was clean
but once it united with the body, physical necessities of the body degenerated
it. However, those whom Allâhu ta’âlâ chooses to save and decrees goodness will not remain impure as
they were born; they will return to goodness.
Some other scholars said that
the soul is neither good nor evil from birth. It is in a neutral state. It can
turn either way. A person who learns goodness will attain happiness and
maturity. They said that a person who associates with evil people and learns
vices and ugly things will be a wretched and evil person.
Galen[1] said, “Spiritually,
there are three groups of mankind. The first group are good people, and the
second group are evil ones. In the third group are people who are neither good
nor evil by creation. These people may later join either of the opposite
groups. Few people have a good creation. A good majority of people are evil by
creation and always tend to do evils. The number of people who are good or evil
depending on the people they live among, occupies a medial position between
those of the former two groups.” According to this theory, few people can
change their habits. [Being quite unaware of the heart, Greek philosophers
dealt only with the soul, and some Muslim writers of literature on ethics
followed their example.]
According to the majority of
scholars, everyone’s habits can change. No one’s nature will stay the way it
was created. If natures would not change, the religions communicated by prophets would be futile and
unnecessary. The training and punishment methods established unanimously by
scholars would be absurd. All scholars taught knowledge and manners to their
children and it has always been known that education and training provided
useful results. For these reasons, it is as obvious as the shining sun that
human nature is changeable.
---------------------------------
[1] Claudius Galen [130-200 A.D.], Greek
physician and physiologist.
However, so deeply ingrained are some habits, –in fact, some of
them have become all but an essential ingredient of the soul– , that it is an
extremely difficult task to change or eliminate them. Those habits are mostly
seen on ignorant and wicked people. Changing them requires riyâzat and very
adamant mujâhada. Riyâzat means resistance against the
harmful and iniquitous desires of the nafs, and mujâhada means steadfastness in the useful and graceful behaviour
unpleasant to the nafs. Ignorant and idiotic people adduce the stability of
ingrained traits of character as support for their reluctance to carry on
riyâzat and mujâhada against the nafs, thus trying to rationalize their sloth
in ridding themselves of vices. If we accept their argument and let everybody
follow desires (hawâ) of their nafs and do not punish
the guilty, humanity will be pushed toward iniquities. As a matter of fact, Allâhu ta’âlâ out of compassion for His human
creatures, sent prophets to train people and teach them good and evil natures. He chose
His beloved Messenger, Muhammad
‘alaihis-salâm’, as the greatest of all the teachers. He replaced all the
previous divine laws with his divine law (Sharî’at, religion), i.e., “Sharî’at al-Muhammad.” His
religion became the final religion. Thus, his shining religion included all the
goodnesses and methods of training. Those who have wisdom and can distinguish
good from evil should read the books of ethics which are derived from this
religion and learn it. They should plan their business accordingly so that they
may attain comfort, peace of mind, happiness and salvation in this world and
the next and contribute to the order of family and social life. This is the
most important duty of a human being. Everyone should read and learn this book,
which we have entitled Ethics of Islam attentively
because, with the help of Allâhu ta’âlâ, we have collected the information which will be helpful in the
achievement of this ultimate goal.
THIRD STAGE: We had divided “Ethics of Islam” into
three parts. In order to understand them clearly, we will provide supplementary
information. Every branch of knowledge and science has a number of ancillary
branches. Sometimes all the branches concur on some points. At these points,
all the branches of that science become one. This one point is the topic of
that science. For example, the science of medicine has many branches but every
branch unites at the study of illnesses
and
health of the body and this is the topic of medicine. In order to learn a
science easily, first, we must understand its topic. The topic of the knowledge
of ethics is the human soul. It teaches how to cleanse the evil qualities of
the soul and how to fill it with virtues. First, we should learn about the soul
and then evils and virtues. Imâm ash-Shâfi’î said the following couplet:
I learned vices, not to become an evil one,
who does not know what is vice, will fall into it, know for sure!
We will explain the topic in
three steps in order to recognize the heart and soul as much as possible and
explain its apparent and hidden forces, as well as the things that will cause
its happiness and those which will lead to perdition.
FIRST STEP: WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL HEART
(qalb) AND SOUL (rűh)? Greek philosophers and
their imitators called these two entities nafs-i-nâtiqa, or, in short, nafs. [However,
Imâm ar-Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’, who was a great scholar and a
specialist in the science of “Tasawwuf” and
ethics, said that nafs, soul, and spiritual heart are different entities.] The
eighty-fifth âyat-i-kerîma of Sűra Isrâ of the Qur’ân
al-kerîm purports: “They ask you about the soul ‘rűh.’ Answer them
that the soul is an entity among the other beings that Allâhu ta’âlâ has created.” This âyat-i-kerîma prohibits any attempt to define the soul. As a
matter of fact, most of the shaikhs of the (celebrated path of tasawwuf called)
turuq-i-’aliyya and Islamic scholars avoided talking about the soul. As is
understood from the Qur’ân al-kerîm, what is prohibited to talk about is the essential nature of the
soul, not its properties or qualities. In fact, most scholars explained to
their disciples, as well as to other inquirers of the matter, that the heart
and the soul were not material objects, and that they were (immaterial beings,
which they termed) jawhar-i-basît. It is these two
centers which grasp the information comprehensible to the human reason, and
control and manipulate all the forces and activities within the body. This is
the definition made by the great guides of tasawwuf and by the scholars of (the
science called) Kalâm. [Those who would like detailed information about the
spiritual heart and soul should read the books Awârif-ul-ma’ârif, written by Shaikh Shihâbuddîn ’Umar Suhrawardî (539 [1145
A.D.]-632 [1234], Baghdâd), a scholar in the Shâfi’î Madhhab, and one of the
fortunate people who received fayz from Abdulqâdîr-i-Geylânî, and Maktűbât, by Imâm Rabbânî
Ahmad Fârűqî Serhendî (971 [1563 A.D.], Serhend, India-1034
[1624], Serhend) ‘rahima-humullâhu ta’âlâ’.]
We will now provide further
information about the spiritual heart and soul, in six paragraphs.
1– SPIRITUAL HEART AND SOUL
EXIST: Existence of the soul is obvious. Something which itself is obvious does
not need any extra evidence to prove its existence. The most obvious and
evident thing for a human being is his existence. A human being does not forget
about himself for a fraction of a second. The soul never forgets about itself
even while it is asleep or drunk. There is no reason for trying to prove that a
human being recognizes his own existence. Yet it is permissible to discuss and
prove whether the soul is material or not, or whether it exists by itself or
along with something else or the existence of other similar attributes which it
possesses. Obvious as most of them are, they ought to be reviewed in the
following five paragraphs:
2– SPIRITUAL HEART AND SOUL ARE SUBSTANCES,
which means they exist. Rűh is called “jân” in Persian. When an
animal dies, we say its “jân” has departed from it. It means its soul has left
its body. Every created being is either a substance (jawhar)
or an attribute (’araz). If something is substance, it does not
need anything else’s existence as a foundation for its existence. It stays in
existence by itself. If something is an attribute (sifat, ’araz),
it can’t stay in existence by itself. Something else is required to hold it in
existence. Matter and objects are substances. Their colors, smells and shapes
are their attributes. Color exists on a substance. Color cannot exist without a
substance to qualify. There are two types of substance. The first one is mujarrad,
i.e. immaterial, being. It does not have weight, shape or color, and it doesn’t
affect the sense organs. The second one is matter. The immaterial substance
cannot be perceived through sense organs and cannot be divided. Wisdom (’aql)
and soul are examples of this type. Matter, by contrast, can be perceived
through sense organs and can be divided. When matter takes a certain shape, it
is called an object (jism). It is a fact proven through a number of
different events that soul is a substance. The simplest event which proves it
is this: Attributes exist on substances. In other words, substances bear
attributes. The soul receives and bears everything perceptible and thinkable.
Hence, the heart and soul
are
substances, not attributes. This argument, however, has been refused on the
grounds of some irregular instances, such as existence of attributes on other
attributes; velocity, for instance, is an attribute of motion, which is not a
substance.
3– SPIRITUAL HEART AND SOUL ARE
ELEMENTARY: Something which cannot be split into parts is called elementary.
The opposite of elementary is composite or compound. According to this
definition, chemical elements, which have been considered to be elementary, are
actually compounds because they can be split into atoms or into gaseous
molecules. That the soul is elementary proves itself with the fact that it
grasps something which is known to be elementary. If the spiritual heart and
the soul were compounds, i.e. if it were possible to split each of them into
parts, something elementary, i.e. indivisible, would fail to catch on them.
For, when the soul, for instance, split into parts, anything elementary it bore
would also have to split with it. And that, in turn, is out of the question,
since something elementary cannot be split.
4– SPIRITUAL HEART AND SOUL ARE
NOT OBJECTS: A substance which has dimensions such as height, depth and length
is an object. It is also defined as matter which
has shape or form. Things which exist in objects (jisms) are called jismânî(material). Since
attributes exist in objects, they are said to be material.
5– SPIRITUAL HEART AND SOUL
PERCEIVE AND MANIPULATE: They know themselves. They know also that they know
themselves. They perceive colors by way of sight and sounds through hearing.
They manipulate the nervous system and move the muscles, thus making the body
perform certain actions. These actions are voluntary actions.
6– SOUL CANNOT BE PERCEIVED THROUGH
SENSE ORGANS: Material beings can be perceived. Since the soul is not an object
or a material being, it cannot be perceived.
SECOND STEP: What happens to the soul when a
person dies? When a person dies and his body rots, his spiritual heart and the soul
will not be annihilated. Death parts them from the body. When they leave their
body, they go back to the mujarrad, i.e. immaterial, world. They will not be
annihilated [until Doomsday (Qiyâmat)]. Religious scholars,
philosophers and unbiased scientists share this belief. Only a few naturalists
have
differed with this unanimity and deviated from the right path. They likened
human beings to grass which grows in a desert. They said that the human being,
like grass, comes into existence, grows and disappears; his soul does not stay
in existence forever. For that reason, this group of naturalists are called
“Hashâshîs” or “Grass-dealers.” Philosophers and religious scholars refuted
their corrupt philosophy with various proofs.
[Allâhu
ta’âlâ created many elements, a hundred and five of which
have so far been discovered each having different and special characteristics.
Every element is made up of atoms. He made every atom, like a micro generator,
a great source of energy. He created molecules and ion configurations by
bringing atoms together. Then He created organic and inorganic compounds,
cells, various tissues and systems. Each of them has such fine subtleties,
natural laws and harmony in their creation that mind falls into wonderment. For
example, a cell, which can only be observed under a microscope, is like a giant
factory which has many departments. The human mind so far has only seen a
negligible part of the machinery that exists in this gigantic factory.
Functioning of millions of cells which make up the human body requires
existence of thousands of proper conditions inside and outside the body. If one
of these thousands of conditions and harmonious systems stalls, the entire body
also will stall. Allâhu ta’âlâ, the Almighty and Omniscient, operates this body machine
automatically by creating infinite systems of order and harmony. The spiritual
heart and soul are, so to speak, the electric power of this machine. When some
failure takes place in a generator, the electric power goes out. Likewise, in
case of failure in the order and harmony which exist inside and outside the
body, the soul departs from the body and thus the human being dies. No motor or
machine in the world can function indefinitely. They all wear out in time and
are discarded. This is a general law of nature. The body also wears out in time
and decays. When the body of a human being decays in the grave, none of the
cells or elements become nonexistent. Decaying of the body means organic
molecules making up the body being decomposed into smaller molecules, like
carbon dioxide, ammonia, water and free nitrogen with the influence of earth
and anaerobic micro-organisms. This decomposition is a physico-chemical event.
Today, it is known with certainty that matter does not cease to
exist during chemical and physical reactions. The French chemist (and
physician) Lavoisier, who lived in the 16th century, proved through
experimentation that matter is neither annihilated nor created from nothing
during chemical reactions. He supposed that everything could only happen
through chemical reactions and by chemical laws and thus stated, “In nature,
nothing is created and nothing can be annihilated.” Today, newly discovered
information about nucleus and nuclear reactions show that matter converts into
energy and disappears, thus proving Lavoisier was wrong. Today, scientists
clearly see that further advancement in science, new discoveries, and
inventions add new strength to Islamic religion and refute the slanders of
enemies of Islam and destroy and disgrace the atheists who worship matter.
Unfortunately, however, there are some religiously ignorant university
graduates who exploit their precarious smattering of scientific knowledge as a
tool and the recent scientific retardation in the Muslim world as a ground for
the hostile campaign they wage against Islam. These infidels with diplomas try
to mislead the younger generations by saying such lies as, “Islam is
backwardness. It prevents progress. Christians are making progress. They are
inventing all sorts of scientific and technological vehicles. Their new
inventions in the areas of medicine, defense, and communication are dazzling
our eyes. Muslims are not aware of any of these advancements in science and
technology. We have to follow Christians.” They encourage youngsters to desert
their beautiful Islamic morals and Muslim brotherhood and follow the Europeans
and Americans. They say that following them means progress. They try to make
youngsters irreligious and inimical to Islam like themselves and thus try to
lead them to disasters. In reality, Islam commands us to make progress in
science and technology. Christians and all other disbelievers do what they have
learned from their forefathers and masters. They add small modifications to the
things they learned from their fathers and do them again. If their forefathers
had not done any of these, today’s generation would not be able to do anything.
The saying, “Takmil al-sana’at is through talâhuq-i afkâr” was said centuries
earlier. This phrase states that perfection of technology is accomplished by
adding and combining thoughts.
History shows that Muslims were the sole champions of all sorts of
scientific and techonological renovations. It was them who cultivated the
scientific erudition and improved the scientific automation to its state in the
last century. All this was accomplished through the Islamic religion and
through the governments and states who implemented the commandments of Islamic
religion. Christians saw that they could not destroy Islamic states by way of
crusading onslaught. They accomplished their aim internally through political
intrigues, lies, and cheating. They established governments under secular and
masonic (irreligious) people in their lands. But they will not be able to
destroy Islam. Fitting out the scientific inventions which Muslims left behind
with some modifications, these secular and masonic people are trying to get
credit for the present advanced state. To forestall Islam’s exposing their
wicked intent, people whose only concern is their own sensuous desires,
pleasures and advantages try to obfuscate people’s minds by calling Islam a
system of regression and covering up the fact that it commands science and
arts. All Jews, Christians, and even idolaters, people worldover believe in
Paradise and Hell, and churches and synagogues are inundated with theists.
Since these casuists do not stigmatize those believers also with regression,
what is modernism in their view must be debauchery and immorality, rather than
science and arts. The British are the pacemakers of this undeserved and
slanderous onslaught on Islam. Please see Confessions of a British Spy, one of our publications! What should devolve on today’s Muslims
is to unite, resume their firm grip on Islamic and scientific education, which
Islam commands, re-establish their gigantic industries and produce the
state-of-the art systems and devices, outmode Christians in all areas, and
thereby guide entire humanity to welfare.
The substance which constitutes
the human body comes from earth, water and air. Living beings are in need of
these three sources. When the body rots after death, it decomposes into these
three sources again. Life after death will be possible by the composition of
these three groups of substance or composition of some materials which are
similar to these three groups.
Neither the spiritual heart and soul nor
angels can progress or attain higher grades. They stay in the same state as
they
were
created. When the spiritual heart and the soul unite with the body, they
acquire attributes rendering it possible for them either to make progress or to
become a disbeliever or a sinner, in which case the person concerned gets
demoted to lower grades and heads for destruction.
Every object in the material
domain is known by its qualitative attributes. Every object is a composition of
elements and molecules. Elements change from one molecule to another and
thereby objects lose their homogenous composition and deteriorate and turn into
other objects with different qualitative attributes. Even though matter does
not cease to exist in these types of changes, objects change over time. They
become nonexistent and other types of objects replace their existence. In the
early ages matter was called “hayűlâ”. A substance with a shape was called
figure (sűrat).
Since the spiritual heart and
the soul cannot be dissolved into pieces and are not made up of parts they
never change, deteriorate or disappear from existence. In physical events,
objects do change their shapes or forms. For example, when water receives extra
heat, it changes to vapor. It turns from liquid to gaseous state. Liquid form
of water disappears and gaseous form of water comes into existence. In chemical
reactions, the composition or constitution of a substance changes. The
composition which makes up a substance becomes nonexistent while another
substance with a different composition comes into existence. In physical
phenomena, objects change their forms or shapes but the substances which make up
that composition or constitution do not change. In chemical reactions, an
object in one form becomes nonexistent and its composition changes. Therefore,
matter changes but it never becomes nonexistent. In nuclear reactions, however,
matter also becomes nonexistent and turns into energy.]
THIRD STEP: The spiritual heart and the soul
have powers. These powers are not like the powers of plants or animals. Plants
and animals also have souls which are proper for their constitution. Yet the
spiritual heart exists only in human beings. Every living creature has a plant soul,
which performs functions such as birth, growth, feeding, excretion of waste
matter, reproduction and death. These functions are carried out in human
beings, animals as well as in plants. Details of these functions and how they
are performed are taught in biology
classes.
Growth in these living beings is not continuous throughout their life spans. It
stops after reaching a predetermined level. This level in humans on average is
twenty-four years. Becoming obese is not growth. Feeding is continuous
throughout life span, since life cannot be sustained without getting necessary
nutrition.
In addition to a plant soul,
humans and animals also have an animal soul. Its location is the chest. This
animal soul is the source of voluntary movements. In human beings, it does this
under the control of the spiritual heart.
Humans have yet another soul.
When we refer to soul in humans, we automatically refer to spiritual heart and
soul. This soul does things like reasoning, thinking, and laughing. Animal soul
has two types of power. The power of comprehension and the power of movement.
The power of comprehension is a force which understands things. This
understanding manifests itself in two ways. The first is comprehension through
physical sense organs. The second is comprehension through unseen organs or
inner faculties. There are five physical sense organs. The first physical sense
organ is the skin. Through skin, warmth, coldness, wetness, dryness, softness
and hardness are sensed. When an object touches the skin, the animal soul
senses whether this object is warm. This tactile sense is stronger on the
inside of the hand (palm). The second sense is smell, done through the nose.
The third is taste, accomplished through the nerve system on the tongue. The
fourth is hearing, which is done through the nerves in the ears, and last, the
fifth is sight, and it is done through the nerves in the eyes.
There are also five unseen
internal sense organs:
1– Common sense (hiss al-mushtarak): It is located in the front part of the brain. The external
perceptions, coming from sense organs to their respective parts of the brain,
gather in this part.
2– Imagination (hayâl): Its location is the front of the first space of the brain.
Perceptions that are realized and comprehended are stored in imagination. When
one looks at an object, that object causes sensation in the common sense part
of the brain. When the object is removed from the eye sight, the sensation also
leaves the common sense but its image is transported to imagination, where it
maintains its impression for
a long time. If imagination did not exist, people would forget one
another and no one would recognize anyone.
3– Intuitive perception (wâhima): It senses meanings which cannot be perceived with sense organs and
which can be deduced from facts experienced by way of perception. For instance,
concepts such as enmity and integrity are beyond the perception of any sense
organ. Yet you feel a person’s friendliness or enmity. The inner power which
helps you to feel this friendliness or enmity is termed wâhima. Were it not for
this power of intuition, the sheep would not avoid the wolf because it would
not feel its voracity. Nor would it try to protect its young.
4– Memory (hâfiza): It stores what is understood through perception.
5– (Mutasarrifa): It is a faculty of mind which compares the received sensations
and perceptions and generates new mixtures. For example, it can conceive of an
emerald mountain. Poets enjoy a copious share from this faculty.
There are two types also of the
power of movement, which is the second power of the animal soul: The first one
is appetite or carnal power (shahawî). With this
carnal power humans and beasts crave for their natural needs and whatsoever
else appeals to their nature. This power is also called behimî (bestial) force. The second type is called ghadabî (of wrath, pertaining to wrath) force. Through this power, they
defend themselves against things that present danger to them. These two types
of power are also called “beastly powers.”
The forces which activate movements need the
forces of comprehension. Things should be sensed first through sense organs so
that they can be judged to be good or evil and then accepted or rejected
depending on the judgement. All this process of sensing and acting accordingly
is performed by the central nervous system. The human heart and soul exist only
in human beings. This soul also has two powers. It is these two powers whereby the
human being differs from beasts. The first one of these powers is the power of
knowing and realizing (quwwa-i-’âlima) or (quwwa-i-mudrika),
and the second one is the causative and effective power (quwwa-i-’âmila).
The power of knowing and realizing is also termed nutq
or ’aql(wisdom,
reason). This power consists of two main branches of force: Hikmat-i-nazarî
(theoretical wisdom) is charged with
acquiring
experimental,
or scientific, knowledge; and the second one, hikmat-i-’amalî
(practical wisdom), is responsible for knowledge of ethics.
Theoretical wisdom, which acquires scientific knowledge, is useful for
understanding the reality or essence of the material world. On the other hand,
the practical wisdom, which acquires the knowledge of ethics, discriminates
virtues and good deeds from vices and evil deeds.
The causative power of the soul
effects the accomplishment of useful and successful deeds. It acts upon the
information acquired through the power of knowing. Whereas the forces of motion
in the bestial soul accept what the intuitive power finds good and reject what
it loathes, the causative power of the human soul bases its performances on the
judgement of wisdom. It does something if wisdom judges it to be good and
useful, and refuses to do, or rejects, anything which it realizes (through
wisdom) to be productive of an unhealthy or harmful result. In addition to this
task, it supervises, also through the spiritual heart, the shahawî and ghadabî
forces of the bestial soul.
Quite a number of people behave
mostly under the dictations of their nafs or bestial soul. In other words, they
are mostly subject to the whims of their “wahm” and “hayâl.”
Imâm Muhammad Al-Ghazâlî
‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ and some of the great masters of tasawwuf said, “These forces
of the soul are, in actual fact, angels. As a magnanimous and compassionate
kindness to His human slaves, Allâhu ta’âlâ has assigned angels under the soul’s command. They remain under
the soul’s command until the break of minor doomsday, i.e. till the soul
departs from the body. This fact is implied in hadîth-i-sherîfs. It also finds credence in some events, e.g. sometimes ordinary
people exhibit such unexpected adroitness as must normally be quite beyond
their abilities and which experienced people marvel at. It is the two forces of
the soul whereby mankind attains perfection.
At many places in the Qur’ân, Haqq ta’âlâ commends knowledge and
lore;
Encouraging towards learning, the Most Beloved Messenger’s directions galore.
Know this: ignorance is Islam’s enemy, and also the most
formidable,
For the disease its virus spreads is such a disaster most deplorable!
“Wheresoever cometh ignorance, leaveth Islam thereof,” said the
Messenger.
He who loveth Islam ought also to love knowledge and be a science learner!
“Paradise lies in the shadow of swords.” Is it not a hadîth that
sayeth so?
Predicting atomic bombs and jet planes, and a succinct command also!
Ignorance is the only malady whereby Islam will suffer disgrace!
O you, plight of nescience, what a shame, this nation has fallen into darkness!
So bad is the state you have led us to, neither faith nor chastity
survives!
O thou, the sinister gloom, so baleful is thy oppression on Muslims’ lives!
O thou, the arch enemy, to kill thee, over all else, takes
priority;
Thou, alone, hast over us given disbelievers this superiority!
Wake up, o you, nation, or else a victim of your endemic oblivion!
Beside the harm, you are being stigmatized as ‘hidebound’ into the bargain!
Feel shame before Allah, and let go of Islam, you, ‘dog in the
manger’!
Like maggotty carcass, sink into soil, why should it join you in the danger!
To this caustic remark of mine, however, the unlearned will turn a
deaf ear;
For, “Shame before Allah,” is a maxim which requires learning to hear.