In this section vices which look
like virtues will be explained. We will also show how they can be distinguished
from each other.
Many people cannot differentiate between
gold and brass because they are both yellow colored. Some may think a blue bead
is a precious stone. Similarly, they may think a vice is a
virtue.
Hence, it is necessary to learn the knowledge of ethics and become proficient
in order to distinguish deeds with secret deficiencies from good deeds, and
goodness from evil in general.
1– First we will explain the
vice which looks like wisdom. There are many people who pick up a few phrases
of wisdom or a few words on scientific or spiritual knowledge from others or
from newspapers, magazines or radio programmes and repeat them among other less
learned people or engage in debates and arguments with others so as to give
others a false impression about themselves. Taken in by their false pretenses,
many people think of them as knowledgeable and wise people such as scientists,
experts or (great spiritual guides called) murshids. In actual fact, people of
this sort are quite incapable of solving the problems in the scientific branch
they profess profound knowledge about and are totally unaware of the meanings
of the ma’rifats in the science of Tasawwuf they claim mastery over. The
similarity between them and the scholars, murshids and scientists under whose
guise they try to steal the show, is identical with the similarity between men
and parrots in the ability of speech. For, the faculty called hikmat (wisdom)
is located in man’s head and soul. Its works and lights (nûrs) are outside the
range of the senses. There is many a soidisant
advanced personage who is a total stranger in the
territory of wisdom and value. People of this sort are vulgarly ignorant and
currishly ill-humoured. They have nothing to do with knowledge or ethics. They
do not utter a single word sounding benign. Always smartly dressed and innately
handy with the kowtowing business, they haunt dances, balls and cocktails, and
serve drinks at convivial parties, ultimately turning up as a chief or a
committee member or a councillor.
2– Vice which looks like chastity: People
tricked with this vice do not commit evil deeds and do not run after satisfying
their appetites. Outwardly, they are mature and virtuous people who possess
knowledge and good morals. Therefore, they are praised and respected everywhere
by everybody. They are treated well by people who possess wealth and position.
They are bombarded with presents, and the income from (the obligatory
almsgiving termed) zakât and from votive offerings fills their wallets. Remiss
as they are in performing the (obligatory acts of worship called) farz as well
as in (those
virtuous
and blessed acts of worship called) sunnat when they are alone, their bodies
have been enervated with the assiduous steadiness they have displayed in the
performance of supererogatory prayers, when in company. Their lower selves (nafs al-ammâra)
are extremely vigorous. They are truthful in people’s view, but faithless in
the sight of Allâhu ta’âlâ. False shaikhs of
Tasawwuf and men of religion pursuing worldly advantages are current examples.
Some villagers abstain from
meals cooked in city centers, and others do not purchase good food because of
their stinginess. People who observe them think that they are dervishes,
although in actual fact they are insatiable, unchaste and high-toned liars
under the guise of contentment.
3– The vice which looks like
generosity: A person who has this habit has earned his property quite easily by
way of inheritance or smuggling or hoarding or lottery or lotto, instead
sweating for it. Therefore, he does not appreciate how hard it is to accumulate
wealth by permissible means. So he spends his money either for prohibited (harâm) purposes or on unnecessary things. He spends his money on things
not approved by wisdom or Islam. Stupid people seeing him spending freely think
of him as a generous person. In reality, he does not possess the virtue
generosity. Earning and saving money or property is like going uphill with a
heavy load on one’s back. Spending money is like letting a spherical stone roll
downhill from a mountain top. Poverty holds back many people from being better
people. Many people lose their belief because of poverty and become apostates (murtads). It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Poverty is a blessing for my Sahâba. Being rich will be a blessing
for Muslims who will live in later times close to Doomsday.”
I have realized well, after long experience:
Knowledge determines man’s value,
Having wealth determines the knowledge!
It is very difficult to earn
wealth through trade which is carried out in accordance to the rules of Islam.
Generally very few people earn their wealth by following the rules of Islamic
laws. Permissible wealth comes in drops. By contrast, forbidden wealth comes
like a flash flood. It is a virtue to be generous in dispensing property,
whereas squandering is a vice and a
forbidden
act. Generosity (sahâwat) means to dispense in order to form the habit of
generosity and to get rid of the habit of stinginess. It is not generosity to
give for the purpose of obtaining something worldly or satisfying a certain
desire of the nafs.
4– The vice which looks like courage (shajâ’at):
A person with this spurious courage is showing courage, in reality, not for the
purpose of obtaining the virtue courage and for getting rid of the vices
rashness (tahawwur) and cowardice (jubn).
Instead, he is doing so either to earn fame or to obtain some worldly position
or possession. He steals Muslims’ possessions, robs them of their livestock,
and breaks into houses at the risk of his life in order to obtain more and more
property. In some cases, people of this sort have proven to be so foolhardy as
to consider it bravery not to inform against their accomplices despite torture
and even at the cost of their property or lives when caught in the act.
However, they do not even have a smell of bravery. A person with bravery will
come forward with the sublime purpose of doing something which wisdom and Islam
approve of. His ultimate goal will be to serve his government and his nation
and thereby to earn thawâb. He will pine for attaining the beautiful faculty of
bravery, which in turn will earn him the approval of Allâhu
ta’âlâ. A wolf’s or tiger’s attacking its prey looks like a heroic act,
although it has nothing to do with bravery. Strength and instinctive impulses
to attack and destroy are inherent in these fierce animals. So their attacks
are quite devoid of good motives such as charity and piety. They simply attack
weaklings which are no match for them. So is the case with an armed and
powerful person’s attacking someone who is unarmed, naked and hungry; which is
not bravery at all. A decision reached after an estimation and reasoning based
on wisdom, thought and knowledge in favour of attacking, a pure intention free
from worldly interests, and altruistic motives such as beautifying one’s soul
with bravery and freeing oneself from vices such as impetuosity and
pusillanimity, are components essential in the meaning of bravery. A person
with these intentions never wants to do evil deeds. He prefers dying to
committing evil deeds. He considers dying honorably is superior to living in
dishonor. He prefers to be remembered in an honorable way to living with a
black stain on his face. Since bravery carries the risk of injury or death, it
may
not taste very good in the beginning, but in the end it will taste infinitely
sweet owing to the ineffable pleasure in the victory it will bring, which, in
fact, would prove only incidental in comparison with the fruits it will yield
in this world and the next. All the greater, the gratification that will be
felt for having sacrificed one’s life in the cause of protecting Islam and
promulgating Rasûlullah’s brilliant faith is of
especial flavour overshadowing all the other flavours which may ever be
relished in this world and the next. As a matter of fact, the hundred and
sixty-ninth âyat of Sûra âl-i-’Imrân purports:
“Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead. Nay, they
live, finding their sustenance in the Pressence of their Rabb (Allâhu ta’âlâ).” (3-1699) There are innumerable hadîth-i-sherîfs which praise the value of bravery. Neither running away from
jihâd saves one from death or extends one’s life, nor staying and facing the
enemy causes death. The hour of death cannot be expedited or postponed and
one’s life-span cannot be changed. In many instances, running away from war
causes one to die unexpectedly and resisting and fighting against the enemy
causes one to enjoy victory. Hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ relates: “I
was planning to desert the battle of Siffîn, when I remembered the hadîth-i-sherîf, ‘Patience will save one
from disasters.’ So I preferred perseverence,
which thanks be to Allâhu ta’âlâ, saved me from defection. It was that patience of mine which
helped me attain caliphate.”
The basis of bravery is
acquiescence in the Will of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and trust in His Deeds and Decisions. Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu
’anh’, (whose valiant accomplishments won him the honorific) Lion of Allah, and
who was the rose of the garden of Wilâyat, would run forward during the
offensives in the battle of Siffîn and recite the following lines:
There are two days whereon it would be futile to run away from death:
The day when you are to die, and that which was not foreordained for
your death.
If it is time for you to die, it is no good to run away;
If it is not time yet, there is no reason for running away!
Idiots who commit suicide
because they have lost their property or position or they have become prisoners
of war,
prove
their cowardice rather than bravery. Brave people will show perseverance at
times of trouble and affliction. Those idiots, on the other hand, think that by
dying they will not face any trouble or disaster. They must be very ignorant
indeed! They do not realize that bigger troubles and disasters will be awaiting
them in the next world. According to Islam, suicide constitutes a graver sin
than homicide. They will be punished severely. Those who commit suicide in a
state of insanity are not in this category. If and when one finds himself in
such difficult circumstances, one should appeal to Allâhu
ta’âlâ for health and mercy.
5– The vice which looks like
justice: This habit is similar to the vice which looks like chastity (iffat). A wicked person who is devoid of the virtue of justice decorates
his office or walls of his home by hanging framed inscriptions praising justice
or he talks about justice or writes articles on the subject. Even worse, he
occupies a position which is related to justice and associates with people who
have true justice in order to give an impression that he is one of them. His
inner nature brims with cruelty, hatred and revenge. The real meaning of
justice is one’s habits and deeds being in accordance with wisdom and religion
or one’s being an honest person whose inner nature is reflected on his deeds.
In other words, one’s behaviour in company will be the same as it is when one
is alone. Double-faced behaviour is a sign of hypocrisy, which runs counter to
justice.
A distich:
Worship has to be done with a pure intention;
Otherwise, it will be no good, like a seed with a hollow kernel.