Articles > Concepts

Print Article

Send to a Friend

Download PDF

The Scale of Values

Westerners would determine the value of something according to the level of importance an individual would attach to it, or according to its importance in relation to something else. Therefore, to them the value would be relative and not real, for it would be related to either a specific person or a specific thing. However, to the Muslims, the value is determined by the amount of benefit gained from the thing itself, with the factor of scarcity taken into consideration, but not necessarily affecting the evaluation of things. In any case, the value would be the measure by which goods and services are judged, be it to the Muslims or the others, i.e. to those who either consider
the value to be real, or to those who consider it to be relative. The value would therefore be the measure of benefit obtained from the goods and services, and consequently, the knowledge of the value and how to estimate it would be indispensable to the material life i.e. to the economy.

This is as far as the material value is concerned. As for the moral and spiritual value, this also would be to the westerners determined by the amount of benefit obtained from it. Therefore, things like generosity, nobleness, helpfulness and fidelity would have a value if they happened to be important to a person, or important in relation to something else. Hence, if any of these things had no importance, they would be worthless and without value. Likewise, to the westerners, worship, places of worship and the learning of religious laws, i.e. anything connected to the spiritual value, would have its value if it had an importance in relation to a specific individual or something else.

For the Muslims, the value would not be nominal, it would rather be real. Thus, the moral and spiritual values would form one single branch, known as the spiritual value. The spiritual value means the abiding by the commands and prohibitions of Allah (SWT). Therefore, any action which Allah (SWT) ordered us to perform, and any action which Allah (SWT) gives preference to, it would have a value. If He (SWT) forbids it, it would be worthless and with no value whatsoever. This would be as far as the actions are concerned. As for the things, these would also not have a relative value, but they are determined by the amount of benefit (halaal or haraam) that Allah (SWT) has predetermined in them. Thus their value would not change, nor would it fluctuate according to supply and demand, nor according to the level of circulation. For example heroine may grow in abundance in an Islamic land, but the prohibition of heroine in Islam makes it worthless despite its availability. Similarly Islam considers basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing as valuable to every individual regardless of his occupation, age, religion or gender. The system should not make basic needs available to only those who have the means (i.e. price) to get them. Therefore, the value which Allah (SWT) has determined would remain fixed until the day of judgement.

Since the human being would naturally evaluate things and actions according to the benefit obtained from them, and since the value of things and actions meant the society's estimation of those things and actions, likewise, the spiritual matters would be valued according to the benefit obtained from them if they were left to be naturally determined. Therefore, Allah (SWT) has left it to the human being to determine the value of the material things and the actions (as long as they are halaal), and He (SWT) has predetermined the value of the spiritual matters, including the moral matters, and He (SWT) specified the aspects of preference between them. He (SWT) predetermined a value to the obedience of parents, However, He (SWT) gave the acts of Jihad a bigger value. He (SWT) predetermined a value to the providing for one's dependants, and He (SWT) placed a higher value on the repelling of the enemy from Muslim land. He (SWT) placed a value on the building of mosques, but he placed a higher value on the carrying of the Da'awa (invitation to Islam).

Therefore, Allah (SWT) has predetermined the values of the actions and at the same time He (SWT) classified the scale of values in a specific manner. He (SWT) has made Islam, Jihad in the way of Allah and the defending of Islam at the top of the scale of values. Therefore Allah (SWT) says: [9 - 24] . " Say if your parents, your children, your brethren, your wives, your tribe, the wealth you have acquired, a merchandise for which you fear that there would be no sale and dwellings you desire are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and Jihad in His way, then wait till Allah brings His command, and Allah would not guide the wrong-doing folk."

A Muslim should therefore place Islam, Jihad in the way of Allah, the Da'awa (invitation) to the Deen of Allah and making the word of Allah reign supreme at the top of his priorities i.e. at the top of the scale of values. Then the rest of the matter would also be placed, however, not according to the benefit obtained from them, but according to their order which Allah (SWT) had predetermined and in relation to the other values.

Political activities such as working with a group, distributing Islamic literature, political analysis, learning Islamic jurisprudence, making contacts, and holding discussions are included under the general command to engage in Dawa'ah. Hence all these partial actions related to Daw'ah becomes obligatory. For example when Allah (SWT) prescribed the Salat (prayer), His command (SWT) to perform the one Raka'a was included in this general command.

It is true that dawa'ah to establish Islam is Fardhu Kifaya (a duty of sufficiency), however, since the collective duty has not been fulfilled yet, the performing of Fardh-ul-A'yn (the individual duty) and that of sufficiency would become one and the same.

Also, when we say that it is presently an individual duty upon every Muslim to work towards establishing the Islamic system with the utmost capability, this means that he should forsake many of the permitted actions and many of the recommended (Mandub) actions if these distracted him from performing this duty. A Muslim should work to earn his living and to support his dependents. This is an individual duty upon him. Carrying the Da'wah in order to establish Islamic system is also an individual duty upon him at present. So which of the two duties takes precedence over the other? Shariah also demands of the Muslim to perform all the duties. However, when these duties clash together, so that if he performed some of them he would not have time to perform the other duties, in this case it is Shariah itself that decides which of the duties he should put forward and which duties he should defer. Hence, the issue is a Shariah issue and not one controlled by our whims and desires. The people of knowledge and Ijtihad are capable and competent when it comes to understanding the priorities. In this context, to earn a living takes precedence over working towards establishing the Islam when the two duties clash. However, the earning of ones living that takes precedence over the work towards establishing Islam would be the earning of the basic needs, not the luxuries. Hence, if the Muslim were working and earning enough to cover his basic needs, he would not after that be allowed to take another work to secure the luxuries if this work would prevent him from carrying the Da'wah to help working towards establishing the Islamic way of life.

The woman's role to an extent depends on her circumstances. If she has her own family, then her primary role is that of being the wife and mother. Conveying dawah is fardh on men and women, but if the woman has other responsibilities such as her child being unwell, pregnancy, nursing a baby or things like that, then these things are taken into consideration, so it's okay if she spares much less time for other things such as dawah and interaction.

If a woman is in good health and single, then she carries similar responsibilities with regards to conveying Islam as a man would because she does not have the additional responsibility of other fardh making demands on her time. As far as dawah is concerned, the woman is obliged to convey Islam as the rule of conveying is general. Women do this within their milieu (sphere of influence). This usually means within the family, social circle she mixes with and in some cases can include other people such as acquaintances she meets at the mosque/college/workplace.

Conclusion

The party politics we witness in Maldives is a big obstacle which distracts us from fulfilling the greatest Islamic obligation. Therefore rallying behind these parties have to be stopped immediately.

The detailed methodology of Dawa'ah to establish Islam does not include violence, vandalism and shouting contests.

The basis of our problems have to defined in the light of Shariah and the detailed steps to change the society should emanate from Islam.