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Introduction
In this article we wish to raise a discussion related to the concepts of values and
the need for a good understanding
of it in order to practically produce the Islamic behaviour. we will touch
upon many concepts discussed already, but with the aim to enhance our understanding
of these concepts rather than revise them. We will begin by explaining the importance of
values with regards to building the Islamic personality and the importance of
being able to recognise the values contained in the Ahkam Shari'ah(laws).
We will give our opinion regarding what we believe to be an obstacle about the subject of
the categories of values and their preoccupation with it. We will attempt to
rectify this by demonstrating its impact on how we seek the spiritual value as well as how
we should view the usefulness of knowing the category of values.
Developing the Islamic Personality
Each of us has responsibilities of building and maintaining the Islamic personalities
within ourselves and the people around us. This requires the correct type of effort in the correct areas. It has
been said that building the mentality (aqliyah) is more difficult relative to building the
nafseeyah( disposition), while maintaining the aqliyah is relatively
easier than maintaining the nafseeyah (disposition).This is because the
aqliyah is developed naturally by
continuously applying the concepts we are convinced of to realities and ideas we face, and this is
something which we can not avoid even if we tried. However developing the
nafseeyah does not happen so readily, because this requires you to continuously
perform the acts of obedience (Ta'at) or continuously remember Allah, rewards,
punishments and generally things of the unseen, and this dose not happen naturally. One would not see angel of death walking down
the street although he (as) may be walking down it. Thus building the nafseeyah requires a
conscious effort. This is especially the case since we live in a society obsessed by freedom.
Building the aqliyah and nafsiyah
both require certain concepts which we refer to as the ideology of Islam, this
is a set of concepts related to life, aims and objectives, namely; mixing spirit with matter,
qala wal qadr, khair wal shar (good and bad), husn wal
qubh (pretty and reprehensible), and values. All these concepts must exist with their correct understanding as concepts to
be applied at the moment of undertaking actions for our behaviour to be Islamic. The
absence of any of these ingredients will make our behaviour unislamic. For example if you were to
apply for a job in a company not applying the concept of qala wal
qadr,
then it may lead you to become frustrated if you did not become
selected. This would still be the case even though you acted according to the
khair
(applied for a halaal job) and you sought the correct value of earning
halaal income and all of this you did for the aim of pleasing Allah.
Just making the
reference to Islam as our reference point makes us Islamic personalities but does not make us live the Islamic way of life.
Often people who have rejected all other reference points and have complete
conviction in Islam as their reference point can still be obnoxious personalities.
Therefore we must realise that there is still much work to be done to produce the Islamic
behaviour as this personality requires knowledge of the Ahkaam
(laws pertaining to his actions), conditioning of his inclinations and the understanding all of the ingredients of
ideology of Islam in sufficient depth so as to make it practical. It is true that believing strongly that Islam is
the reference point should motivate the person to seek the Islamic judgement on every issue. However
we have found that because peoples understanding does not lead them to actively seek the values,
their application of the Ahkam is weak and sometimes this can lead to a failure to
implementing the Akham(laws). This is our opinion, and Allah, Al-Alim knows best.
Importance of the Concept of values
The concept of value of action is of prime importance among the concepts making up the
ideology of Islam. This has a major impact on the proficiency of actions,
completeness of the personality and man's state of tranquility.
The importance of seeking the value contained in
Shari' ah rule
Often the discussion of values can be seen to be a purely intellectual exercise and little linkage is made to the fact
that the Shari'ah rules and texts certain the values to be sought for the fulfillment
of the Ahkam. As a result of this weak link people are often content to restricting themselves to partially performing the duties and
recommendations without actually fulfilling the command in a precise way. This is a danger for both the individual
and society as it weakens our ability to bring the ideology or the Islamic way of life into existence.
Consider for example saying
wa'alaykum salam, this action can be undertaken without consciously
seeking to spread the peace to your brother/sister (as is motioned in the hadith), thus it would be fruitless with regards to
achieving the intended value. In fact one could just as well be producing effects
which are contradictory to the intended value, i.e., saying wa'alaykum salam in a grumpy mood will not
achieve spreading the peace but rather spread the gloom. Saying walaykurn salam with anger or sarcasm would
even make your brother/sister feel as if you are at war with him rather than spread the peace. Here it does not really help to be able to
identify the category of values even if we carried out the action because it is
fardh (obligatory).
If we study the Shari'ah texts we will find that the command of married life is associated with
achieving the values of comfort and tranquillity.
''They are a garment for you and you are a garment for
them''. A garment provides protection, comfort and covering of shame.
Also Allah (swt) says :''And among his signs is this, that he created for you wives from among yourselves that
you may find repose in them, and He has put between both of you affection and
mercy''
From the above texts we
understand that the purpose of married life according to the Shara' is comfort,
tranquillity and peace of mind. Thus in order to fulfil the hukm of married life both spouses must seek these
specific results in their behaviour towards each other and as a command of Allah (swt). So we can
see that it would not be enough to simply take the command that it is mandoob
(recommended) to get married and expect everything to be nice, rather each spouse must proactively
strive to seek the value (tranquility and comfort) in the halaal
way, in order for the values contained in the hukm of marriage to become a
reality. This is what we mean when we say that making Islam our reference in life is
not enough to bring about an Islamic life. The basic point we are trying to make is that, if
someone just tried to implement a hukm without actually understanding the value
contained in the hukm, the request of Allah would not be fulfilled
perfectly regardless of whether the intended result was achieved or not because the
person did not actively seek the value even though he undertook actions.
Preoccupation with the category
of values
Many people are preoccupied with the category of the values without realising that this is in fact a
secondary discussion. So one would be contend at being able to categorise the value of
actions without being concerned about the reality of the value being sort in an
action. This is a danger to the productivity of actions because in reality
the value of the action is not consciously being sought and hence the action is fruitless. For example, one would be
content by saying that prayer is a spiritual value and fixing a car is a material value and helping a
neighbor is a humanitarian value - all of these are permitted in Islam. However
one would fail to consciously seek the specific values when performing the
actions. Thus rendering them fruitless.
Impact of this on seeking the spiritual values and rituals
In our experience we have found this misunderstanding to have a big impact on the way people seek the spiritual
values. Or rather lack of seeking the spiritual values. Because we live in a
society which shuns the seeking of this value it requires more attention from us in order to
ensure we fulfill it. By simply being content with being able to identify the category of value being sought
people can fail to realise that there are a multitude of specific effects that make up this category and
each of these needs to be sought out consciously as they are distinct from
each other.
For example in prayer we can be very
conscious of the fact that this action is from the category of the spiritual
values, however we could still would fail to consciously seek a specific value from
the action . Prayer could be seen as a host of specific effects including, humility, awe, praise,
thanking, submission, hope, patience, ...etc
If these values were not sought with
all their subtle differences then the values would not be achieved. For example
one could easily fail to be in awe of his Lord while saying ''Allahu akbar'' or fail to consciously seek Allah's
guidance while saying ''Ih-dinas siratal mustaqeem'' or fail to consciously seek to praise his Lord
while saying ''rabanna lakal hamd'' (to my Lord belongs all praise) - rather in all these actions he could be thinking about many
other things.
Here it does not help to just know the category of the
action (whether spiritual or material), rather one needs to be aware of the
reality of the value being sought - e.g. seeking guidance is a value that must be sought and it has a specific reality
and is subtly different from thanking Allah. having humility before Allah's
tremendous power is a value intended in prayer which is distinct from praising His Majesty.
That's why as soon as the
prayer is finished many people are seen engaged in praising a political
party to the level of a deity, trying to defend the foolish actions of a
particular personality or a group and constantly seeking guidance about
politics from some kufr political parties.
It is imperative that in this field we understand the effect of the
concept of values in cultivating our relationship with Allah (swt). Having intellectual
conviction in Him (swt) establishes a relationship, but strengthening this
requires effort which often comes in the form of repetitive actions. The danger here is that the repetitive action is
performed out of habit and not seeking the values contained in those actions. For example, one could recite
tasbeeh over a string of beads but not seek to praise, or glorify or
exalt Him (swt) with the words Alhamdullillah, Subhannallah and
Allahuakbar.
The importance of knowing the category of the value
Knowing the category of the value helps in purifying the motive behind
performing or abstaining from the action and hence guarantees the completion
and continuous performance the action. E.g. One may accept to give a lift to a friend seeking the value of helping a Muslim in need because this is from
the sunnah. In the process one will face loss of money and time but knowing that this
action is seeking a humanitarian value will keep the motive clear and avoid feelings of
regret enabling us to complete the action and even continue helping people
in the same way with complete tranquillity.
However if
one was not conscious of the category of the action then we would become regretful
having accepted to give the lift and would be looking for the earliest
opportunity to end the journey and return home vowing never to accept
such a task in the future.
Also being able to categorise the values is used in the
evaluation of societies and proving that Islam fulfils all the values that man seeks whereas Capitalism
only accommodates the material value and makes benefit the criterion for seeking all
the values. Thus for the capitalists there is a value to the action if it holds some importance for
the individual or it is linked to a benefit. This is obviously extremely corrupt.
In our
own breakdown of
the subject of the categories of values we would say that the various types of categories
could be differentiated by considering the origin of the objective for each
action. If the origin of the objective is material benefit then it would be the material value. If the origin of the objective were the
benefit of another person then it would be the humanitarian value. If the origin of the objective were the pleasure of Allah then it would be
spiritual. The moral value originates from mans need for moral gratification. This understanding is useful to
differentiate between the value being sought when feeding a poor person and
the value in feeding animals. The former would be a humanitarian value as the origin of the objective is the
benefit of another person, while the latter would be a moral value since the origin of the objective would be mans desire for moral
gratification. All these values are praiseworthy characteristics of the
Islamic nafseeya (disposition). Also, this is useful for being weary of taking the objective
from the wrong source. For example we should be weary of mixing the action
of performing prayer perfectly, purely for the sake of Allah and for the sake of looking
good in front of contacts.
The importance of Moral values
People disregard the moral aspect due to an overemphasis in the concept about how morals accrue as a
result of implementing the Shari'ah and how it is forbidden to transform the Islamic call into a moral crusade. It would be
wrong to understand from this that morals are not important in building the Islamic
personality. Although it is true, that moral characteristics do accrue out of implementing the Shari'ah
on society and individuals, we should understand that in this case the moral is not actually sought but is a by-product of abiding by the Ahkam
Shari'ah in the muamalat (transactions) and ibadaat
(rituals). However it must not be forgotten that morals are also themselves commands and
prohibitions prescribed by the Shari'ah. Islamic morals are not permanent
attributes we acquire. For example truthfulness is not an absolute attribute of the Islamic personality. Islam has permitted Muslims to lie
in wars and prohibited from lying in other situations in such as business, transactions...etc. So the morals have
to be taken as they came in the Shariah texts. Similarly we have to be
compassionate to children but a Muslim judge cannot show any compassion when applying Islamic
punishment on a adulterer.
So we can see that the reality of the moral commands do not have a need for further elaboration as would say, the
rules of rituals and systems, which are very detailed, Rather it is enough to know that Optimism is an ethic
commanded by the Shari'ah. Rasulallah (saw) said ''the one who is pessimistic will never enter
Jannah'', Likewise once he (saw) kissed his grandson and one of the men with him said
''I never kiss my children'' and when the Prophet asked him he said he had 10 children, Rasullallah (saw) said
'' the one who does not show mercy will not be shown
mercy.''
By taking an overall
observation of these moral rules we can conclude that there are no strict criteria
that can be
applied. For example, how many kisses would qualify for the action of showing mercy? This poses a real problem
for the pedantic ulema. For example Ashraf Ali Thanvi, an orthodox deobandi
scholar, has written a book called
Muasharat in which he details the Islamic method of writing letters in which out of the need for Muslims to be
polite and considerate to others, he specifies the number of millimeters away from
each comer the stamp needs to
be placed on the envelope and on which side the return address needs to be
written. Such attempts at codification
of morals is quite unnecessary once we have understood the nature of morals in
life.
The question
may arise, without detailed and stringent criteria how should a Muslim apply the moral
commands ?
Would not his application be prone to difference, disparity, contradiction and
influence from the environment as in
effect he is using his mind to apply the moral principles in the same way the Christians apply their moral
principles ? Quite frankly, we would say that even though the mind is prone to these things, what we are
commanded to consciously seek the moral value and certainly the outcome of our
actions would differ according to time and place. Manifestations of kindness in
one reality will be different to it in another or for other people in that same
reality. This means that fulfilling the moral commands requires more thought than fulfilling the commands of the
ritual, as in ritual we simply need to be conscious of the value without worrying about the
specification of the action, whereas in morals we need to first specify the action as well as be conscious about achieving the value.
Take for example,
Prophet (saw) said ''the best of you is the best to his
wives''. Here the Shari'ah did not
specify how many times or how many presents or how many gifts would be considered
as being kind to you wife, rather the individual is charged with thinking proactively about how he would go about fulfilling this command for
being good to his wife and certainly the mind is prone to disparity, contradiction
and influence from the environment. However for the Islamic personality to be complete this proactive thinking must be built and based
exclusively on the spirit (realisation that Allah exist). Some of us are used to giving thanks to
people due to our upbringing. however this would be a fruitless action unless
this action is linked to the command in the text of the hadith where Rasulallah
(saw) said ''He who does not thank the people does Dot thank
Allah''. This is attainable as long as we are aware that the spirit and the spiritual aspect is the perception of the fact
that we are creatures of Allah (SWT) and the sensation of our servitude to Him (SWT). As a result
of the link between this perception and the sensations, an effect is generated within the soul, this
effect is the spirituality (Roohanyya). This spirituality is generated through the intellection and the
action, as well as through the performing of Nawafil and Mandubat
(recommended), and before all this, through the performing of the Furudh
(obligatory) and the abstaining from the Muharramat (forbidden). Some of these
Mandubat are related to other people, such as the attending of a
funeral, visiting the sick, or visiting one of the
neighbours, or giving Sadaqa to the needy, smiling in the face of other people and being friendly
with them.
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