The opposite of altruism is the stinginess and selfishness that arise from avarice and attachment to this world. Both stinginess and selfishness are regarded as reasons for becoming distanced from the Creator, the created, and Paradise.^[1] While stinginess arises from avarice and attachment to the world, generosity, benevolence, and perfect goodness arise from altruism.

Generosity means that believers give some of their belongings to others without feeling any unease in the heart. Benevolence means considering one’s own happiness as dependent on the happiness of others and, more than that, putting the welfare of others ahead of one’s own happiness. As for perfect goodness or excellence (ihsan), it means preferring others, even when one is in need oneself. The Qur’an points to such excellence or the highest degree of altruism in this verse (59:9): They feel in their hearts no displeasure because of whatever the others are given, but rather give them preference over themselves, even though poverty be their own lot.

Altruism is valuable when one attains and follows it freely; it has no value if one is forced or if one performs such an act not out of one’s own free will.

The generosity and benevolence that arise from and are dimensions of altruism have degrees, as follows:

• Sacrificing one’s soul in God’s way (for God’s cause), therefore for the sake of belief and for the good of the believers, is considered the highest degree of nobility.
• Being able, when it is necessary, to renounce a (rightful) claim to leadership or similar high position for the well-being and unity of society, is seen as altruism one step below the first degree.
• Preferring the (economic) welfare of others over one’s own, is a third degree of nobility.
• Allowing others to benefit from one’s knowledge and ideas without expecting anything in return, is a virtue not quite as noble as the previous ones.
• Giving to others out of one’s income – this includes responsibilities for the giving of the prescribed and voluntary alms (zakah and sadaqa).
• Showing warmth, speaking soft and kind words, being of use to others, and being the means of various instances of good – these are examples of altruism that almost anyone can strive for in any situation.

The first of these degrees of generosity and benevolence is a profound and fundamental dimension of altruism that not everyone can achieve. Mawlana Jami’,^[2] the author of Baharistan (The Land of Spring), expresses it most memorably:

It is easy to show generosity with gold and silver
Worthy of respect is he who shows generosity with his soul.

Among the characteristics and degrees of those who practice altruism are:

• Offering food and feeding others at the cost of one’s own hunger and thirst, and neglecting oneself in the provision of others. Provided that no one’s rights are violated, this is a virtue characteristic of truly pious, saintly people.
• Despite all adversities, spending whatever one has as a favor from God in God’s way and purely for His good pleasure, and in such a disinterested manner that one forgets what good one has done. This virtue is particular to those with considerable nearness to God, who take far greater pleasure in giving than receiving.
• Attributing to God exclusively all the accomplishments with which one is favored without seeing oneself as the agent of any good and, without expecting any return, even in the form of spiritual pleasures, for all that one does for God’s sake, always being aware of Him and experiencing oneself as the shadow of the light of His existence.

This last one is the attitude and practice of those nearest to God, including primarily the noblest of humankind and the greatest of all times and places, upon him be peace and God’s blessings. His Ascension is a demonstration of his being accorded the highest honor and being sought after (by all the angels and many among human beings and jinn) as a reward for his incessant efforts for perfect knowledge of God. His return from the realms beyond the heavens to be among people in this world is such a great degree of altruism that nobody else has ever been able to achieve it. His emerging from Paradise and letting his profuse tears fall into the pits of Hell for the salvation of humankind expresses the greatest possible altruism.

O God! For the sake of your chosen Prophet, Muhammad, make us of those who do not begrudge what has been given to their brothers-in-religion, but prefer them to themselves, even though poverty be their lot, and may Your blessings and peace be on our master Muhammad and on His family and Companions.

^[1] Sunan al-Tirmidhi, “Birr,” 40.

^[2] Mawlana Nur al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Jami’ (1414-1492), commonly called the last great classical poet of Persia, and saint, composed numerous lyrics and idylls, as well as many works in prose. His Salaman and Absal is an allegory of profane and sacred love. Some of his other works include Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wu Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa’ih, al-Durrah. (Trans.)

Happiness is an ideal for which everybody longs. People endure all kinds of sacrifice for its sake. But what exactly is happiness? Is this question not one of the biggest enigmas bewildering mankind?

To some, happiness may be physical love and intimacy; to Caesar, it was fame and glory; to Pharaoh, it was protecting his might and position; to Korah, it was possessing masses and masses of fortune and treasure. None of these, however, is either real happiness or a means to happiness. Those who seek true happiness through these means have always fallen into delusion and disappointment.

Real happiness is to be saved from both material and spiritual dishevelment and wretchedness, and for the heart to be settled in perfect confidence and repose. Those who look for it by the seaside, on mountain tops, or in secluded woods or bays have always been mistaken. In fact, these can also be counted as the means of happiness for ordinary people, people who do not know any other way to satisfy and rest their soul. However, real happiness and felicity requires no need for a specific time or place. Happiness can be found everywhere with everyone, attributable to mankind’s inner luminance and freewill. Every person, whenever they want, can attain happiness by setting sail to the eternal climates of their hearts with their unbounded flying soul. This is true, especially if the treasure of the heart is equipped with the purest and most lucid of thoughts. To paraphrase Samuel Boyce, the author of The Rover, or Happiness at Last, how fortunate is the person who holds such a shrine in the depths of his heart.

Surely, in order to be felicitous, the soul, the inner-self of a person, should be well-equipped, and the heart should be furnished with pure and exalted thoughts and emotions. Then the elating memories of the past and hopes of the future that are pertinent and accomplishable should be considered together. As a result, it will be possible to resist evil, to control carnal and lustful feelings, and to reinforce uplifting emotions and adorn every stage of life with meritorious deeds and behaviors. After all, the only principle of living a moral life is to conduct virtuous and meritorious deeds. In this respect, the happiness we seek can never be considered separate from virtue, and it is the result and reward of virtuousness.

The only thing that can elevate and uplift the spirit and keep the heart alive is to have virtuous thoughts and to strive on the path to becoming virtuous. To mention happiness without carrying any thought of virtuousness is meaningless and vain.

The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, that exclusive person who impressed the seal of felicity in our lives, was utterly virtuous and contentedly happy. He was so resolute and determined that in his whole life, he never, not even once, consented to anything that was not approved by the Exalted Creator. He was so righteous and honest that he was never unfair and never acted unjustly to anyone, even in insignificant matters. He was so attached to the most high, heavenly worlds, and was satisfied with sublime reflections and manifestations to such a degree that he never preferred any worldly flavor to virtuousness. He acquired such an outstanding capacity of perception and comprehension that he did not, not even once, fall into hesitation when distinguishing good from bad. He always remained respectful to people’s ideas, but never felt any need for any exhortation. He used to solve even the most complicated matters very comfortably and easily, and he used to instantly elevate those who were trapped in inadvertence and misguidance to a virtuous and meritorious state. In all his statements, intelligence and wisdom were side by side; he was absolutely resolute about things that he knew were acceptable and right. He was so God-conscious and pious that the lucidness in his behaviors and attitudes, the tenderness and pureness in all his actions and treatments, were all admiringly elegant and gentle; they were even envied by angels. Boasting and arrogance burnt away and melted in his soul, and they never had the opportunity to be revealed. He never used to retort any condemnation directed against him; he endured all this and, with the utmost care, avoided blaming people. Timidity has never come close to his environment, and he never experienced anything like anxiety, apprehension or hesitation. As he was never discouraged from his mission when he had to face his own tribe, he also remained unfaltering when he had to settle accounts with others. His room, his bed, his clothes and his food were so simple that only the poorest could live like him. And he was the most humble, among a community of humble men and women. His fellowship was unprecedentedly steady, firm, and powerful. His faithfulness was so graceful and generous that everybody felt gratitude and indebtedness towards him.

He was perfectly equipped with all these qualities and was outstandingly virtuous. Just as he was virtuous, he was also tranquil, serene, and happy.

To be able to acquire a conscience as lucid and pure as his, we should take him as an example and adorn ourselves with these qualities of virtuousness and never allow thoughts, which carry the reflections and colors of our souls, to be putrefied or soiled.

Yes, adopting and acquiring all these sublime merits and attributes can only make us virtuous. Then the doors of real happiness will be opened to us. However, any defect or shortcoming shown in this way will appear as a rupture in our world of virtuousness and, consequently, will blur our felicitous world. Just as it is necessary to keep the water clear by not throwing anything dirty in it, establishing the tranquility and happiness of the soul can only be possible if it never leaves virtuousness, even for a moment.

Let us imagine two people of similar economic status, one of whom donates a considerable amount of money to a charity organization willingly, while the other hesitates but eventually donates the same amount of money with relative difficulty. Which action deserves the real moral praise? Intuitively, the willing donor seems to get our praise and sympathy more than the other; yet, it might require more virtue to choose the right action in the face of adverse inclinations. Acknowledging that this question is more difficult than it first appears lets us go back several millennia to hear what Aristotle, the great philosopher and ethicist, has to say on this issue.

Aristotle use the terms virtue, continence, incontinence, and vice in order to account for diverse attitudes present in individuals when confronted with ethical dilemmas. “Virtue” is an excellence of the soul that helps one to achieve complete harmony between one’s reasoning and desires. Whenever the virtuous person chooses an action as the rationally best option, he performs this action pleasurably. Yet this is a pleasure of a higher status, a noble joy, one that stems from appreciating the intrinsic value of the virtuous action and thus coming to love it. In other words, the virtuous person’s emotions and reason point at the same direction and there is no inner conflict that haunts his soul. This results in a noble and complete joy; a cultivated ability to see the intrinsic value embedded in the virtuous act through gaining a second nature. This second nature begins with having joy in doing the right thing rather than primarily being after the satisfaction of the bodily desires.

Unlike the state of virtue, the cases of continence, incontinence, and vice all include conflict to some degree between one’s reason and desires. Within this spectrum, some people better resist these counter-rational desires than others, and they are able to act in the same manner as a virtuous person, as in our example above. Aristotle calls such individuals “continent” (enkrates) and he distinguishes them from the fully virtuous. Their distinctive characteristic is that they struggle inside, but they end up doing the morally right thing. Yet, unlike the continent, some people are less successful in resisting their inner desires, and they end up doing the wrong action even though they are rationally aware of its wrongness. These individuals are called “incontinent” (akratês). Their reason and appetites drift them in opposite directions, and they find themselves in a miserable position. In the very last category, vice, are the individuals who refuse to do what an ethically virtuous person would do because they have become convinced that justice, temperance, generosity, and the like are of little or no value; Aristotle calls such people evil (kakos). This last category is demarcated from other categories sharply by the lack of any struggle against the dark side of the soul. These people both begin and end up on the negative side. Despite the fact that vicious people might seem to possess an inner harmony since both their wills and acts are in accord, Aristotle portrays them as deeply divided, because they cannot help but become dissatisfied as a result of the over-dominance of the irrational part of their souls. Aristotle assumes that if someone is in the habit of making bad decisions about how to live his life, his failures are caused by psychological forces that are less than fully rational. It is probable that his desires for pleasure, power, or some other external goal have become so strong that they make him care too little or not at all about acting ethically. It can be claimed that the vicious person lacks internal harmony because he cannot implement his rational side properly in making decisions. This reminds us of the famous chariot allegory of Aristotle’s teacher, Plato, in which he paints the picture of a charioteer driving a chariot pulled by two winged horses: one of them representing the rational and moral impulses and the other irrational appetites. The charioteer is like the human soul that needs to balance and keep the chariot going in the path towards enlightenment. While it is not easy to keep the two fighting horses in check, a human soul is better off whenever it is guided through reason, the charioteer. Yet, the evil person suffers from an imbalance and is perpetually drifted away by the whims of the bad-behaved horse. This, in the long run, results in unhappiness and sickness of the soul.

Cultivation of dispositions

Now that a brief sketch of Aristotle’s four types of ethical subjects is drawn, there is an inevitable question that awaits us. We have seen that all three of these positions involve some lack of integrity; it is only the life of a virtuous person that possesses internal harmony, and all other lives deviate to some degree from this ideal. Yet, one cannot help but wonder how we could attain this ideal state? According to Aristotle, in order to achieve the state of virtue, we need to develop proper habits and emotional responses starting from early childhood. Although full virtue is a rare achievement for human beings, it is only attainable through employment of continence persistently in life. Aristotle divides the virtues into two categories, the natural and the true virtues, and whereas the former comes by nature, the latter is cultivated through habituation. Aristotle’s truly virtuous man has cultivated (habituated) emotions rather than possessing immediate impulses to do good. Aristotle famously tells us that “action” leads to the corresponding character states; just as to be a good painter, you have to paint, and to be a good shoemaker you need to make shoes, you need to do virtuous actions to become virtuous. In Aristotle’s words, we become “just by doing just actions, and temperate by acting temperately.” (NE II.4.)

Virtue is “made perfect by habit and by practical wisdom,” and this makes the virtuous person’s position superior to that of the merely continent person. This conception of virtue as an ongoing, developmental process implies that individuals cannot typically will to feel certain emotions at a moment’s notice, but they can choose to cultivate certain emotions over time as a significant part of developing moral character.

Although Aristotle advises that virtue be our ultimate aim, he still esteems the continent person to some extent. A lack of complete harmony between reason and desires is often inescapable for human beings. We can only want or choose to do the virtuous thing, but we cannot make ourselves take pleasure from doing it. In fact, continence is often the only state we are capable of achieving, even though we might want to do the right thing cheerfully. To make an analogy, Aristotle encourages the cultivation of virtues just like the flourishing of a flower. Growing flowers require time and great care; likewise, virtuousness does not always come by nature but it is gained through cultivation and care.

Reason as the guide

The Aristotelian virtuous person is the one whose rational part overrides and guides the appetitive part. Accordingly, as long as the person is guided by his rational part, his actions are virtuous; whenever the rational side of the person is weaker than his appetitive side, it leads to moral weakness (incontinence). The idea of acting from the rational part of the soul is pivotal in Aristotle’s ethics; he ties human arête (virtue) to reasoning. For Aristotle, virtuous action must definitely originate from reasoning since it is the human arête (virtue) to be guided by the rational part of the soul. “Like every other creature in the world, man has a particular nature and the best way to live is to live up to his nature, which is to be directed by a rational soul.” Therefore, by “desiring to do the virtuous thing” Aristotle does not claim that this person should have a natural inclination to do the right thing; instead, it requires adoption of rational desires that are in line with virtuous actions.

One-way road to happiness: From continence to virtue

How can we make ourselves enjoy doing the virtuous things according to Aristotle? For instance, how can we “enjoy” giving to charity? As Aristotle proposes, we become just by doing just actions, we become temperate by acting temperately; so, the only way to arrive at true virtue goes from acting in conformity with duty even if we do it with continence. Aristotle assumes every individual begins the journey by continence and tries to arrive at virtuousness, which is a complete harmony of will and reason. In a way, Aristotle’s virtuous person is someone who walked up the ladder from continence to virtue. No one ascends to the state of virtue without first being continent. It is important to note that, for Aristotle, doing the better thing willingly is a better position to which we should aspire, but climbing up the ladder of virtue is already sufficient to make someone a good person. Full virtue and complete harmony could only be the destination we reach after a long journey of cultivation of emotions.

Yet, the question still remains: how can we make our souls come to love and enjoy being virtuous? Aristotle’s answer is that when your will and reason are in complete harmony, you do the desirable thing with pleasure. Otherwise, it is continence, which is a state with a lesser degree of moral worth. Let us assume we have cultivated our emotions and habituated ourselves to do the virtuous thing. Now, I always “want” to do the right thing. Still, one cannot help but wonder how we can make ourselves “enjoy” being virtuous. Aristotle’s reply would be simple: the virtuous person, upon moral deliberation, rationally chooses the virtuous thing to do, and because he is acting in conformity with his rational part and because his rational part has supremacy over the emotional part, he is expected to perform the action pleasurably. However, this is not totally convincing; no matter how many times we “choose” or “want” to do the right thing, we might still not be able to “take pleasure” from doing the right thing. I might be able to acquire the habit of sleeping less after considerable effort, but I cannot get myself to “enjoy” this. If we define a virtuous person as the one who both “wants” and “does” the virtuous thing, then this is understandable. Yet, when it comes to “enjoying” or “taking pleasure from” the virtuous action, we are usually short of actualizing this at will.

Then, is it ever possible to be truly virtuous? Evidently, Aristotle is optimistic on this issue. He believes true virtue is possible as long as proper cultivation is provided. Nonetheless, virtue does not come without effort; it requires time and tender care — being virtuous is not possible without persistently doing the right thing and trying to strengthen our rational part so that it will have supremacy over the appetitive part. Only then can people ascend to true virtue rather than staying at the level of continence. And this journey is not something we could afford to overlook, since it harbors true happiness.

Despite Aristotle’s invaluable contribution to ethics, he falls short of providing satisfactory answers to many intuitive questions regarding how and why the human soul enjoys being virtuous. His ultimate answer revolves around the happiness of the soul and there is no greater gain other than having the best possible life that is characterized as the eudaimon life. This is not a bad ideal, but its significance is quite negligible compared to the greater ideal of gaining an immortal life of happiness and beauty. Yet, since Aristotle does not believe in an immortal soul, his arguments do not include references to eternal happiness. Given this, no matter how convincing the ethicists’ arguments are, there will always remain a question: Why would I care so much about a life that is doomed to end? Why should I take the trouble to fight with my desires and make myself a so-called virtuous person? Moreover, complete happiness is almost impossible to attain in a life that we know to be short. Even though we could lead a happy life through virtue, knowing that it will last merely for this life makes it bittersweet at best. Without immortality, we are like birds that are kept in cages in this finite world, trying to find the best way to lead a good and happy life–a small and finite goal. Instead, finding the real eternal Divine source of why our souls find happiness and peace in virtuous actions and knowing that this joy is to last forever, can grant us true happiness. Whenever we act virtuously, say, giving to the poor without expecting anything in return, we are actually imitating and aspiring to the character of the Divine who is the most Generous. Similarly, whenever a person forgives another, he would be acting in accordance with the Divine mercy that is exemplified in the name of the All-Merciful. Hence, engaging in such virtuous acts gives the person unprecedented joy of the soul because such participation in the Divine goodness is greater than other sorts of pleasure. Furthermore, with immortality such acts do not merely stay in this life; on the contrary, performing these virtuous acts become the key to eternal happiness. Acting virtuously is good because these acts derive from God’s character Who is the source of all goodness, truth, and beauty. As long as a human soul can reflect this beauty as a mirror, his actions gain intrinsic value, and she can reach true happiness, not only in this life but also in the eternal afterlife.

Virtue, succinctly, is being distinguished with the most exalted ethical and moral values, and beholding the whole of existence with love. A truly virtuous person has a kind of connection with all things. In the sight of such an individual the flow of events passes like breezes of spring. Life itself relieves the soul and brings it a feeling of bliss, filling the heart with joys. They are enraptured in the constant flood of things and events, savoring fresh scenes in them. Neither the rising and setting of the sun, nor the continuous cycle of night and day can spoil their delight or fill their heart with gloom. They keep living moments of serenity and happiness, viewing different and ever-renewed sights with wisdom.

On the one hand, being virtuous does not mean an extreme rejection of all human desires and leading a life of extreme austerity by turning our back against the material world. Such an understanding, which detaches people from the world they live in, is a cause of pessimism and a source of hopelessness. And this, as Ibsen puts it, means destroying happiness. At the same time, such extreme and groundless worries imply that the individual only thinks about one’s self. Such a person shows signs of being preoccupied with self-concern, and can be deprived of the feeling of benevolence. This kind of thought implies a wrong understanding of ethical standards, and is devoid of the merit of altruism.

On the other hand, it is not correct to claim that virtue is a guarantor of all material and spiritual felicities. A virtuous person can be ill, poor, or in a wretched condition. Such a person may suffer the oppression, insults, and betrayals of other people, and may even undergo torture, convictions, and exiles. Jesus was betrayed, Socrates was convicted, and Epictetus was oppressed-but they all remained happy in a deep sense. In this respect, we believe that happiness resides in the heart, in the form of the breezes of an inner paradise, reinforced by the practice of virtue that cannot be shaken. As faith contains the seed of a spiritual paradise, unbelief likewise bears the stone of a spiritual hell.

Virtue is when people realize their own limitedness, and let go of their pettiness in the infinity of the universe. Virtue means not valuing their person more than they should. We lose felicity when we experience the distress of insatiable and worthless ambition. Then we are beset by little miseries such as material disappointments, or wounds to dignity and pride. A virtuous person is one with sound thinking. Such people “do not wait passively when there is a solution, and do not start wailing at what there is no solution for.” On the contrary, they do their best and seek ways against the avoidable and on behalf of the possible. In the face of events beyond their power they submit to the divine will.

People of virtue do not violate their happiness with such things as self-oriented thoughts, greed for fortune, and love of worldly status, which are sought after by many others. Since sound thinking people are ready to welcome insurmountable troubles and inevitable misfortunes from the beginning, their felicity and happiness is never spoiled. In terms of their consciousness and feelings, such individuals can always have their share of pure and lofty joys or delights. They can always take pleasure in loving others, in familial compassion, in brotherhood, sisterhood, and friendship. Such people will not commit oppression, will not be traitors and will always keep away from thoughts based on revenge, grudges, hatred, and envy. Therefore, they can always feel a breeze composed of respect and love blowing around them and will always be happy. With the connectedness they feel for their family, country, nation, and all of creation they swim in a coastless sea of love. They actually feel infinite delights and feel the pleasures of Paradise before they enter there.

These pleasures stem from beauties like sharing others’ joys, feeling others’ delights in their own soul, and even facing grief and suffering in order to pave the way for greater happiness. Being virtuous means establishing a contact with the past and future just like the present time. Being virtuous means being spiritually connected to the most distinguished personalities of the past and future; feeling their approval and appreciation deep in one’s heart. Being virtuous means sharing the same life with the most distinguished persons in human history, uniting and merging with our ancestors and with all future generations. Thus, through living in such a close connection with the entire humanity and universe, the heart attains eternal happiness while in this world and reaches a dimension where external occurrences cannot violate its happiness.

We have learned this deep relation of virtue with true happiness from the most honorable figures of humanity. This is the very felicity which makes hearts find contentment, and which sets minds at rest. This felicity is based on the soundest pillars of virtue such as having no arrogance, being mature and tolerant, overlooking faults, and holding no grudges or hatred. To put it directly: this felicity is in the heart and spirit. It is so deep-rooted as never to be replaced by anything else. It is related to the essence of humanity. Materialistic pleasures in the superficial, selfish, ambitious sense can add nothing to this type of felicity, nor can they substitute for it. How fortunate are those who exalt their souls with belief and refine their hearts with virtue!

As it has been remarked, there are many questions confronting us daily:

• How did the endless universe we live in come into being?

• How did the equilibrium, harmony, and order of this universe develop?

• How is it that this Earth is such a fit and sheltering place for us to live in?

Questions such as these have attracted attention since the dawn of the human race. The conclusion reached by scientists and philosophers searching for answers with their intellects and common sense is that the design and order of this universe are evidence of the existence of a supreme Creator ruling over the whole universe.

At this point, it is beneficial to reflect on these questions from an Islamic perspective. As it has been observed, In His holy book, the Qur’an, God states that He has created the universe when it was not, for a particular purpose, and with all its systems and balances specifically designed for human life.

In the Qur’an God invites people to consider this truth in the following verse:

Are you stronger in structure or is heaven? He built it. He raised its vault high and made it level. He darkened its night and brought forth its morning light. After that He smoothed out the earth… (Naziat 79:27-30)

Elsewhere it is declared in the Qur’an that a person should see and consider all the systems and balances in the universe that have been created for him by God and derive a lesson from his observations:

He has made night and day subservient to you, and the sun and moon and stars, all subject to His command. There is certainly Signs in that for people who pay heed. (Nahl 16:12)

In yet another verse of the Qur’an, it is pointed out:

He makes night merge into day and day merge into night, and He has made the sun and moon subservient, each one running until a specified time. That is God, your Lord. The Kingdom is His. Those you call on besides Him have no power over even the smallest speck. (Fatir 35: 13)

The Fallacy of Materialism

Nursi has made extensive reference in his writings to the defects of materialism. He notes that the materialists, whose use of reason is limited to what is immediately apparent to them, have, in their nonsensical philosophies, based on futile foundations, taken the transformation of particles, a thing they regard to be the result of coincidence, to be the fundamental basis of all their principles and have shown that divine works and creatures result from those transformations. Anyone with a grain of intelligence would know how unreasonable it is to attribute the creation adorned with infinite examples of wisdom to something based on a purposeless, meaningless coincidence, which is quite without order.

Furthermore, as has been remarked, even if we leave out the human values, lofty truths, ideals, and spiritual happiness, which have all been sacrificed for the sake of material development, modern civilization based on scientific materialism has caused mankind much harm.

The products of science are usually exploited in favor of the great world powers to consolidate their dominion over the world. In addition, developments in genetics, biology, physics, and chemistry threaten the very life of humanity on the earth. Modern civilization, as pointed by Said Nursi is founded upon five negative principles:

*It is founded and rests upon power; power tends to oppression.

*It aims at the realization of individual self-interests; pursuit of their self-interests causes people to rush madly upon things in order to possess them and gives rise to pitiless rivalry and competition.

* Its understanding or philosophy of the nature of life is struggle; struggle causes internal and external conflicts.

* It seeks to unify its people on the basis of racial separatism, fed by swallowing up the resources and territories of “others”; and racism leads to terrible collisions between peoples.

* The service it offers to people is satisfaction of the novel caprices or desires it arouses in them (whether the satisfaction is real or not); this service brutalizes people.

Modern materialistic civilization stimulates consumption and therefore gives rise to new, artificial needs and increases them daily. Through the power of propaganda and advertisements to exploit some disprovable human tendencies, such as “keeping up with the Jones’,” materialism imposes its demands upon people. As a result of this way of life it necessarily leads to producing to consume and consuming to produce, upsetting people’s balance and causing extraordinary increases in mental and spiritual illnesses. In such a way of life there is left room for neither spiritual profundity nor true intellectual activity. For intellect is put under the command of pragmatism and always earning more.

Another disaster that materialistic science has brought upon mankind is the destruction of nature and environmental pollution. “What a pity it is that nature, this magnificent book, this charming exhibition, which God, the infinitely Merciful One, has created and presented to us to observe and study and to be exhilarated by, is no longer given any more care than is given to a heap of junk or rubbish. Worse than that, it is more and more becoming a wasteland and like a dunghill. Today, air, that magnificent conductor of Divine commands, is a suffocating smoke and a perilous ‘whirlpool.’ Water, that source of life and other Divine bounties, is either a hazardous flood or is altogether absent to form desolate expanses of desert. And the earth, that treasure of Divine Grace and Munificence, is a wilderness that is no longer safely productive and whose ecological balance has been ruined.”

The five essentials of Islamic civilization

* It should rest upon right, not upon power; right requires justice and balance.

* It should aim to encourage people to virtue, which is a spur to mutual affection and love.

* Its understanding or philosophy of the nature of life is not struggle but mutual help, which leads to unity and solidarity.

* It should unify people on the basis of a common belief, shared values and norms, which can lead to internal peace and brotherhood.

* It should guide people to the truth. Therefore, in addition to encouraging them towards scientific progress, it should elevate them, through moral perfection, to higher ranks of humanity.

This civilization is that which the Qur’an proposes to mankind and urges them to establish.

The following passage by Nursi, written at the beginning of the 1930s, is most illuminating:

Reality and the wisdom [purposiveness] in the existence of the universe require that the heavens should have conscious inhabitants of their own as does the earth. These inhabitants of many different kinds are called angels and spirit beings in the language of religion.

It is true that reality requires the existence of angels and other spirit beings because the earth, although insignificant in size compared with the heavens, is continually being filled with and emptied of conscious beings. This clearly indicates that the heavens. . . are filled with living beings who are the perfect class of living creatures. These beings are conscious and have perception, and they are the light of existence; they are the angels, who, like the jinn and mankind, are the observers of the universal palace of creation and students of this book of the universe and heralds for their Lord’s kingdom.

The perfection of existence is through life. Moreover, life is the real basis and the light of existence, and consciousness, in turn, is the light of life. Since life and consciousness are so important, and a perfect harmony evidently prevails over the whole of creation, and again since the universe displays a firm cohesion, and as this small ever-rotating sphere of ours is full of countless living and intelligent beings, so it is equally certain that those heavenly [realms] should have conscious, living beings particular to themselves. Just as the fish live in water, so those spirit beings may exist in the heat of the sun. Fire does not consume light, rather, light becomes brighter because of fire. We observe that the Eternal Power creates countless living beings from inert, solid substances and transforms the densest matter into subtle living compounds by life. Thus it radiates the light of life everywhere in great abundance and furnishes most things with the light of consciousness. From this we can conclude that the All-Powerful, All-Wise One would certainly not leave without life and consciousness more refined, subtle forms of matter like light and ether, which are close to and fitting for the spirit; indeed He creates animate and conscious beings in great number from light, darkness, ether, air and even from meanings and words. As He creates numerous species of animals, He also creates from such subtle and higher forms of matter numerous different spirit creatures. One kind. . . are the angels, others are the varieties of spirit beings and jinn.

Nursi on Decadent Civilization and Virtuous Civilization

As it has been observed, for the last three centuries Islamic scholars have debated what the attitude of the Muslim world should be towards Western/Christian civilization. Nursi found himself in the middle of this debate at the critical moment in the 20th century, when the westernization/modernization currents were rapidly gaining strengths. Today, once again, given the global situations, it seems, the Muslim world is asking pertinent questions with regard to its cultural/economic relationship with the west. Given the significance of these questions and their serious potential consequences on world affairs, globalization and inter-cultural/religious understanding and dialogue, I will attempt to shed some light on what can be offered on this, and at times troubled, relationship: Islam and the west; Islam and modernity/westernization. In contrast to those rejecting western civilization all together, Nursi distinguished between two Europe, representing two civilizations. The first Europe ‘follows the sciences which serve justice and right and the industries beneficial for the life of society through the inspiration it has received from true Christianity’. He called this ‘virtuous civilization.’ The second Europe, whose source is philosophy rather than religion, which claims that mankind can find happiness only in vice, Nursi called the ‘decadent civilization’. It is because this second Europe is characterized by its encouragement of vice that Nursi rejects capitalist culture and decadent civilization. Nursi observes that ‘absolute vice’ is being called civilization. He is very critical of this ‘decadent civilization’.

In a letter Nursi calls it ‘low’ civilization and elsewhere he says that it cast humanity down to the level of animals: …its alluring service is to excite lust and the appetites of the soul and facilitate the gratification of whims, and their result is vice. The mark of lust and passion is always this: they transform man into a beast, changing his character; they deform him, perverting his humanity. If most of these civilized people were turned inside out, you would see their characters in form of apes and foxes, snakes, bears, and swine. Nursi moreover states that the goal of decadent civilization is ‘mean self-interest instead of virtue’, while virtue is the basis of Qur’anic virtuous civilization. Virtuous civilization takes all man’s subtle faculties into account, causes him to progress spiritually, and to rise higher than angels. In Nursi’s words: Its aim is virtue instead of self-interest… Its service takes the form of guidance and direction instead of lust and passion. And the mark of guidance is progress and prosperity in way benefiting humanity; the spirit is illuminated and perfected in the way it requires. In my view, Nursi’s thoughts on decadent and virtuous civilizations are extremely significant and timely. They establish the bankruptcy of those who promote the clash amongst civilizations, in particular between Christianity and Islam. The clash is not between civilizations, but between decadent and virtuous civilizations. True Christianity and Islam form the front in virtuous civilization, while secularism, laicism, and capitalism are the three allies on the front of decadent civilization. Therefore, Nursi’s writings and reflections on these matters could serve to promote Muslim-Christian dialogue at these troubled global times. In all, Nursi sees the following contrast between the ‘second’ European and Qur’anic civilization. In Seeds of Reality Nursi clearly summarizes some elements of difference between the two visions. Nursi observes that, the Qur’an, which is a mercy for mankind, only accepts a civilization that comprises the happiness of all, or at least of the majority.

He then remarks that, modern civilization has been founded on five negative principles:

1. Its point of support is force, the mark of which is aggression.

2. Its aim and goal is benefit, the mark of which is jostling and tussling.

3. Its principle in life is conflict, the mark of which is strife.

4. The bond between the masses is racialism and negative nationalism, which is nourished through devouring others; its mark is collision.

5. Its enticing service is inciting lust and passion and gratifying the desires.

But lust transforms man into a beast. However, the civilization Islam comprises and commands is this: its point of support is truth instead of force, the mark of which is justice and harmony. Its goal is virtue in place of benefit, the mark of which is love and attraction. Its means of unity are the ties of religion, country, and class, in place of racialism and nationalism, and the mark of these is sincere brotherhood, peace, and only defense against external aggression. In life is the principle of mutual assistance instead of the principle of conflict, the mark of which is accord and solidarity. And it offers guidance instead of lust, the mark of which is human progress and spiritual advancement.

According to Thomas Michel S.J. the contrast is clear; the Qur’an proposes very different principles. In the civilization envisioned by the Qur’an (and the teachings of the earlier prophets):

1. It is truth, not might, which makes right.

2. Virtue, non self-interest, is the proper motivation for human acts.

3. Unity rather than conflict should be the basis for social relations, and

4. Mutual assistance instead of cutthroat competition.

5. It upholds divine guidance rather than human whims as the norm for ethical behavior.

A society built on such principles Michel S.J. remarks, will be characterized by values like justice, harmony, love, peace, brotherhood and solidarity. It will attract others by virtue of its own good qualities, rather than by imposing its views or by dominating and looking down on others. When a civilization accepts the principle of ‘might makes right,’ the result is injustice. This, as well as the ‘cherished’ principles of conflict, competition, and enmity, valued in ‘second’ Europe, will inevitably result in war and destruction. Even a casual look at the state of our world today, will clearly show how correct Nursi has been in his observations.

This article has been extracted from Dr Kamran Mofid’s paper ‘To Heal Our Broken World: Bringing Economics, Religions and Spirituality together for the Common Good’ presented at the International Conference on Spiritual Dimensions of Said Nursi’s Risale-i-Nur, in Istanbul, August 2005.

In Paul and Virginia, the Christian author relates the pure love between Paul and Virginia, who live on an imaginary non-European island. In this story, he discusses God’s existence and Omnipotence, divine rules, and the relationship between the Almighty and His servants. He begins with a discussion of the order and harmony in the universe.

His expressions sometimes come quite close to Islamic morality and faith, with which they have much in common with their Christian counterparts. We find beautiful examples in this work, some of which will be given below. These quotations present a glorious example of the similar attitudes held by people of different religions. Two children, their mothers, and a few servants live together on an island. Madam De Latour is a noblewoman who lives on the island with her daughter Virginia. The other woman, Margaret, was seduced by an aristocrat who promised to marry her. She is from a poor rural family and lives there with her son Paul.

“Every new day was embracing this cozy home with peace and serenity. Their hearts felt the sufferings of neither ambition nor envy. They had no expectations from worldly glories gained through intrigue and lost through slander.”

The author says that the characters “are very nice people” and that “they were such violets that no one could spot them with their thorns in the heath; but their pleasant smell could be sensed from very far away. They had crossed out gossiping from their lexis for good, and they were right about this. Gossiping always feeds resentment under the cover of revealing the truth, and it is disguised by hypocrisy.

-They performed good deeds as much as possible. Their hearts were so pure that they could leave the world of gossiping with the help of their feelings. Instead of speaking about other people’s scandals, they took the topics of their speech from nature and these topics filled them with joy and pleasure. Were not all these granted by an Unseen Being holding the universe in His power?

-The beautiful works of this world have been set up in such a way that it is possible to perceive them all, at one glance.

-Their faith was sincere and moral; their considerations were practical rather than theoretical. They didn’t have any festivities, celebrations or mourning days. Everyday was a festival for them and the world was their temple. In that temple, they admired the Sovereignty of a Supreme Will, friendly to man, in everything they saw. The trust they cherished for this Infinite Might made them forget the sufferings of the past, and became a source of courage today, never-ending hope for tomorrow…”

The following words, uttered by Paul, are so beautiful that they can be dedicated to those who devote themselves to humanity’s happiness: “Man can not be happy unless he is concerned about the happiness of others.”

Madame De Latour explains beautifully to Virginia about humanity’s purpose in this world: “My dear, seek help from the Lord. He is the decision maker about the well-being of His servants. Who knows? Maybe today He is just trying you in order to reward you tomorrow. Bear in mind that we have come to this world for doing good deeds so that they make us closer to God.”

One day, Madame De Latour’s aunt informs them that she is ill and would like Virginia to live with her. In exchange, Virginia will inherit her entire estate. Her mother wants to send Virginia, thinking that she will be happy there, but Virginia does not want to part from Paul. Before sunset, she boards the ship and leaves without telling him. Naturally he is very sad, for Virginia is no longer there. Being separated from his beloved friend, Paul suffers. Lonely, he recalls the days spent with Virginia. “She even used to bury the seed of the fruit she ate, since she cared for others more than herself, even in her simplest affairs. ‘One day, a tree grows here, passersby eat its fruits; it benefits birds at least’ she would say,” recollects Paul. His mother consoles Paul: “Let God be your sole helper, let humanity be your nation. Do not give up relying on them. God and humanity only expect virtue from us. God granted you freedom, health, a clear conscience and true friends. Even kings are not that fortunate.”

The relation between happiness and virtue is questioned in the mother’s counsels to Paul: “Most of the rich are bored with every kind of pleasure, for it is obtained with no effort at all. Haven’t you experienced that you buy the pleasure of drinking by thirst, eating by hunger and resting by tiredness. Likewise, loving and being loved is obtained through a great deal of absence and self sacrifice.”

(Paul): “What do you mean by ‘virtue'”?

“My dear, you are working to support your family. Virtue is bearing difficulties for the good of others, and doing this only for God’s good pleasure.”

His mother advises him to rely on destiny with patience and endurance: “My dear, what throws one into an early death is nothing but a momentary venture. Mostly, this is encouraged by worthless applause. However, there is a more exalted kind of courage which is more seldom but needful. With the courage called ‘patience and endurance,’ we face up to the misfortunes in life. Showing this patience is neither being manipulated by someone else, nor giving up to an ambition arising inside us. It is doing only what God says, since patience and reliance on destiny is a courage generated by virtue.”

Later, his mother tells Paul that the mind is darkened by desires in which people are lost, yet there is a torch for the person to illuminate his or her inner world: reading.

She states the following about literary works: “My dear, literary works are God’s gifts to us. Mankind is enabled to discern the rays of a wisdom ruling the universe by a Divine art on the earth. Just like the rays of the sun, these literary works also illuminate, warm, and cheer us. They are like a fire descending from the sky. They render everything useful to us, just like fire cooks our food. With these works, we gather around ourselves things, times, places, and people. They are what show us the way in life. They extinguish desires and remove despicable feelings. They are angels descended from heavens in order to develop the ‘love for virtue,’ and they present the honorable ones who exalt humanity as ideal models for us. There have always been great writers inspired by them. These people were raised in hard times which society couldn’t bear, in the period of barbarism, when morality was low. My son, there are countless others a lot unhappier than you among the ones who seek consolation by reading and contemplating.”

Starting with the saying that “a good book is a good friend,” reading is recommended as a magic potion to save humanity from loneliness. Stating that nothing can replace a good friend, Paul then summarizes a good friend’s qualities : “When Virginia looked at my face and said ‘my friend,’ I would forget all my worries.”

Later on, Virginia boards the ship to return, but a terrible storm wrecks it while it is approaching the island. In the midst of the waves, beside the wrecked ship, Virginia is seen floating in the water. Everybody calls out to a sailor, who is not far from her, to save her. Although waves cause her to drift toward the wreck, the sailor cannot help her and only manages to save himself with difficulty. Then the young survivor says: “O Lord, I am grateful that you granted my life to me. On the other hand, I was ready to sacrifice my life for that young girl.”

Now Paul is lonely forever. His grief overflows his heart. When the author consoles him, he virtually voices the Islamic understanding of submission to God: “God has taken Virginia from you. Everything comes from Him. He knows what is good for you better than you do. There is no reason for you to feel the sorrow and remorse we bear as a punishment of our own deeds. What lasts is only His Eternal Will. Therefore you can say: ‘This is the Providence after all, and I did not commit any transgressions to generate this result.’ And what are you grieving for? For Virginia, or for her dying like that? Remember that everyone born is destined to die. Virginia must be happy to have died before you and your mother did.

“My son, death is a blessing for all people, it is the night of this day named life. The diseases, sorrows, sufferings, fears that make people tired of living all disappear in the sleep of death. If a person has reached a rare blessing such as ‘being loved,’ imagine through what sacrifices he gained it. Mostly, when such people come to the end of their lives, they find nobody but false friends and ungrateful relatives around them. But Virginia is as blissful as can be. She was blissful again at the terrible event which resulted in her death. She saw how all the people of the province struggled for her, how you rushed to her rescue, risking every danger; in this way, she understood her worth for us. The memory of her pure and innocent past had strengthened her for the future. Thereby, God granted her the reward for virtue, namely ‘courage’ against dangers, which overpowers any kind of danger. That is why she welcomed death with a smile.

“My son, God granted the ability of accepting all suffering in life to the virtuous. This way, he showed us that the real purpose of life is virtue, which is the sole way to reach honor and happiness. If somebody will introduce himself to the world through his virtue, God makes that person meet death in a great arena of trial. Then his courage becomes an example for others, thereby allowing the ones who follow to remember him in tears, recalling what he went through. Here is a memorial for such people in this transient world, where every memory, even that of kings, is forgotten.”

The author dwells upon faith in God and the Day of Judgment in the following passage: “But Virginia still lives, my son. Don’t you see that nothing really vanishes? What changes is only the appearance. If all the power and knowledge of humanity were to unite, they wouldn’t be able to make anything disappear. Then, how can a being with intellect, love, virtue, and piety disappear while the slightest particle of her doesn’t disappear? Be sure that now Virginia is happier than when she was with us. There is a God my son, no doubt about it. I don’t even need to prove His existence, for all of nature is a witness to that. Some people deny His existence, for they do not want him to exist. The feeling of His existence is in your heart, just as the things He created are before your eyes. Is it possible that He would leave Virginia unrewarded? Is it possible that the Power that provides the happiness of people through some principles unknown to you would not provide Virginia’s happiness through principles also unknown to you? Does the Almighty need this small world in order to show His power and kindness, like people do? There is no single drop of water in the ocean that is not full of life. We know this for sure. While this is so, do you think that so many stars revolving above mean nothing to us? Fine! It means that the endless sources of light filling this enormous universe, the immense fields of light surrounding them, this land of light which is never to be darkened by nights or cyclones, is just a meaningless space and an infinite nothingness. Is that so? We didn’t grant anything to ourselves but everything was granted to us by the Almighty, by His Infinite Power.

“There is no doubt about that. Your virtue will be rewarded one day: there is a place where your merit will find what it deserves. Virginia is blissful now. If it were possible for her to tell you how she feels, like she did in her last letter, she would speak so: ‘Paul, this world is nothing but an abode of trial. I always lived relying on love and virtue. I went overseas, obeying the words of my mother. I rejected a fortune to sustain my faith. The Almighty Lord saw that my time was due. I rid myself of everything that makes life bitter: corruption, gossiping, storms, and people in agony. No disaster that frightens people can reach me now. Therefore, it is so strange that you feel pity for me! I remained chaste, my purity is free from any disturbance, just like a gleam of light. While this is so, you are inviting me to the darkness of life.”

Paul, who cannot bear the pain of separation, dies two months later. His mother lives only one week after that event, and, before she dies, expresses her faith in resurrection: “We shall meet each other eternally and with a sweeter affection. Death is the greatest blessing for humans. This blessing must be appreciated. If life is a punishment, one should long for its end as soon as possible. If it is an abode of trial, one should prefer the trial to be short.”

This novel contains beautiful descriptions of nature. When evaluating the work, we have tried to focus on those parts that are common to Christians and Muslims. Although the author was a Christian, it could have been written by a Muslim. It is a remarkable work in terms of underlining the two religions’ common points. This beautiful work has found a place among the classics of world literature. Its theme and the values it questions make it a universal work.

Bringing such works to the attention of people, writing fresh ones with similar themes, and reinforcing the common faith and values of people is something that must be done in order to establish the longed-for dialogue. The descendants of the Crusaders have shown the way by apologizing to the Muslims. Such things draw people of different faiths closer. If we look at it from the monotheistic viewpoint, this shared belief will engender intimacy and friendship. Words like love, tolerance, and dialogue, which are found in every language, must be felt in our hearts and present in our daily behavior. People should try to depict this theme in every form of the fine arts as well.

Reference

• Paul and Virginia (indypublish.com, 2002)

Human beings are likely to lean toward certain circumstances in life. Sometimes individuals are like fields of crops that bend with the wind; at other times they are like large trees that have fallen over and rise again, despite their outward dignity and strength. Individuals give the angels many reasons for envying them; unfortunately, they also do things that sometimes cause even the devils to feel shame.

Although not desired, human nature makes sin inevitable. Given this, forgiveness is everything.

However beneficial it is for us to ask for and expect forgiveness, to moan and groan for what has escaped us, forgiving is a much greater attribute and virtue. Forgiveness cannot be separated from virtue, just as virtue cannot be separated from forgiveness. There is a very common, yet very profound, saying: “Errors from the small, forgiveness from the great.” How well this is said! Being forgiven means being repaired, returning to an essence, and finding oneself again. Given this, the most pleasing action in the view of the Infinite Mercy is the one-seeking forgiveness-pursued amidst the palpitations of this return and search.

All of creation was introduced to forgiveness through humanity. Just as God showed His attribute of Forgiveness through us, He put the beauty of forgiving into our hearts. While Adam and Eve dealt a blow to their human essence through falling, which was somehow a requirement of their human nature, it was forgiveness that came from the Heavens in response to the remorse they felt in their consciences and pleadings.

For centuries, we have preserved this Divine gift received through the first couple as a hope and a consolation. Whenever we sin, we can mount on the magic transport of seeking forgiveness and surmount the shame and despair caused by sin. We attain to Infinite Mercy and show our generosity by covering our eyes to the sins of others.

Thanks to this hope of forgiveness, we can rise above the dark clouds invading our horizon and see light in this world. Those fortunate ones who are aware of the uplifting wings of forgiveness live amidst melodies that gladden their spirits.

Those who devote themselves to seeking forgiveness cannot help but think of forgiving others. Just as we like to be forgiven, we also like to forgive. How can we not forgive when we know that salvation from the fire of suffering in our inner worlds, caused by our own mistakes, is possible only by drinking from the river of forgiveness? And even more so, if we know that the road to being forgiven passes through forgiving?

Those who forgive are honored with forgiveness. Those who do not pardon cannot expect or desire to be pardoned. Those who close the road of tolerance are beasts who have lost their humanity. Such brutes, who have never felt inclined to take themselves to task for their sins, will never experience the high solace of forgiveness.

Jesus said to a crowd with rocks in their hands, as they were taking a sinner to be stoned: “Let one who has never sinned throw the first stone” (John 8:7) Can anyone who understands this binding, fine point even think of stoning someone else when there is already a head to be stoned-namely, his or her own? If only those unfortunate ones who spend their lives putting the lives of others to a litmus test could understand this!

It is true that a criminal deserving punishment will be punished. However, no one cannot say that there is a sentence for stoning those upon whom our malice and hatred have passed judgment. Unless we destroy the idol in our ego as courageously as Abraham did, we will never be able to make a correct decision in the name of our ego or in the name of others.

Forgiveness emerged with humanity and reached perfection through humanity. In this respect, we witness in the greatest people the greatest forgiveness and impeccable tolerance.

Malice and hatred are seeds of hell scattered in society by evil people. In contrast to those who encourage malice and hatred and turn the land into a pit of hell, we should run with forgiveness to rescue those who have uncountable troubles and are being pushed into the abyss. The excesses of those who do not forgive or show tolerance made the past one or two centuries the dirtiest and most unpleasant in history. It is impossible not to be chilled by the thought that these unfortunate ones may rule the future.

For this reason, the greatest gift today’s generation can give to its children and grandchildren is to teach them how to forgive even the crudest behavior and the most upsetting events. However, thinking of forgiving those monstrous, ill-natured people who enjoy making others suffer would involve showing disrespect to the very idea of forgiveness. As we have no right to forgive them, forgiving them would be showing disrespect to humanity. I do not believe that anyone would consider as acceptable an act that shows disrespect to forgiveness.

Members of a generation raised in an environment characterized by hostility always saw horror and brutality in the arenas of the dark world into which they were pushed. They saw blood and pus even at daybreak. What could be learned from a society whose voice, breath, thought, and smile were tainted with blood?

Everything presented to them was exactly opposite and contrary to what they needed and desired. Such people have assumed a second nature due to years of neglect and wrong suggestions, and the disorder and sedition they made has become a flood. If only at this moment we could understand them. Alas! Where is such insight?

Forgiveness and tolerance will heal most of our wounds, but only if this celestial instrument is in the hands of those who understand its language. Otherwise, the incorrect treatment we have used until now will create many complications and continue to confuse us.

Know the illness, then set out to treat it medically:
Do you think any ointment is a cure for any wound?
(Ziya Pasha)

The main duty and purpose of human life is to seek understanding. The effort of doing so, known as education, is a perfecting process though which we earn, in the spiritual, intellectual, and physical dimensions of their beings, the rank appointed for us as the perfect pattern of creation. At birth, the outset of the earthly phase of our journey from the world of spirits to eternity, we are wholly impotent and needy. By contrast, most animals come into the world as if matured or perfected beforehand. Within a few hours or days or months, they learn everything necessary for their survival, as well as how to relate to their environment and with other creatures. For example, sparrows or bees acquire maturity and all the physical and social skills they need within about twenty days; we need twenty years or more to acquire a comparable level of maturity.

We are born helpless as well as ignorant of the laws of life and must cry out to get the help we need. After a year or so, we can stand on our feet and walk a little. When we are about fifteen, we are expected to have understood the difference between good and evil, the beneficial and the harmful. However, it will take us our whole lives to acquire intellectual and spiritual perfection. Our principal duty in life is to acquire perfection and purity in our thinking, conceptions, and belief. By fulfilling our duty of servanthood to the Creator, Nourisher, and Protector, and by penetrating the mystery of creation through our potentials and faculties, we seek to attain to the rank of true humanity and become worthy of a blissful, eternal life in another, exalted world.

Our humanity is directly proportional to our emotions’ purity. Although those who are full of bad feelings and whose souls are influenced by egoism look like human beings, whether they really are human is doubtful. Almost everyone can train their bodies, but few can educate their minds and feelings. The former training produces strong bodies, while the latter produces spiritual people.

Our Innate Faculties and Education

Since the time of Ibn Miskawayh, human faculties or “drives” have been dealt with in three categories: reason, anger, and lust. Reason encompasses all of our powers of conception, imagination, calculation, memory, learning, and so on. Anger covers our power of self-defense, which Islamic jurisprudence defines as that needed to defend our faith and religion, sanity, possessions, life and family, and other sacred values. Lust is the name for the driving force of our animal appetites: Decked out for humanity is the passionate love of desires for the opposite sex and offspring; for hoarded treasures of gold and silver; for branded horses, cattle, and plantations; and for all kinds of worldly things (3:14).

These drives are found in other creatures. However, whether in their desires, intelligence, or determination to defend life and territory, these drives are limited in all creatures but humanity. Each of us is uniquely endowed with free will and the consequent obligation to discipline our powers. This struggle for discipline determines our humanity. In combination with each other and with circumstances, our faculties often are expressed through jealousy, hatred, enmity, hypocrisy, and show. They also need to be disciplined.

We are not only composed of body and mind. Each of us has a spirit that needs satisfaction. Without this, we cannot find true happiness and perfection. Spiritual satisfaction is possible only through knowledge of God and belief in Him. Confined within the physical world, our own particular carnal self, time, and place can be experienced as a dungeon. We can escape it through belief and regular worship, and by refraining from extremes while using our faculties or powers. We must not seek to annul our drives, but to use our free will to contain and purify them, to channel and direct them toward virtue. For example, we are not expected to eliminate lust, but to satisfy it lawfully through reproduction. Happiness lies in confining our lust to the lawful bounds of decency and chastity, not in engaging in debauchery and dissipation.

Similarly, jealousy can be channeled into emulation free of rancor, which inspires us to emulate those who excel in goodness and good deeds. Applying the proper discipline to our reason results in the acquisition of knowledge, and ultimately of understanding or wisdom. Purifying and training anger leads to courage and forbearance. Disciplining our passion and desire develops our chastity.

If every virtue is thought of as the center of a circle, and any movement away from the center as a vice, the vice becomes greater as we move further away from the center. Every virtue therefore has innumerable vices, since there is only one center in a circle but an infinite number of points around it. It is irrelevant in which direction the deviation occurs, for deviation from the center, in whatever direction, is a vice.

There are two extremes related to each moral virtue: deficiency or excess. The two extremes connected with wisdom are stupidity and cunning. For courage they are cowardice and rashness, and for chastity they are lethargy and uncontrolled lust. So a person’s perfection, the ultimate purpose of our existence, lies in maintaining a condition of balance and moderation between the two extremes relating to every virtue. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib is reported to have said:

“God has characterized angels by intellect without sexual desire, passion, and anger, and animals with anger and desire without intellect. He exalted humanity by bestowing upon them all of these qualities. Accordingly, if a person’s intellect dominates his or her desire and ferocity, he or she rises to a station above that of angels, because this station is attained by a human being in spite of the existence of obstacles that do not vex angels.

“Improving a community is possible only by elevating the young generations to the rank of humanity, not by obliterating the bad ones. Unless a seed composed of religion, tradition, and historical consciousness is germinated throughout the country, new evil elements will appear and grow in the place of each eradicated bad one.”

The Real Meaning and Value of Education

Education through learning and a commendable way of life is a sublime duty that manifests the Divine Name Rabb (Upbringer and Sustainer). By fulfilling it, we attain the rank of true humanity and become a beneficial element of society.

Education is vital for both societies and individuals. First, our humanity is directly proportional to our emotions’ purity. Although those who are full of bad feelings and whose souls are influenced by egoism look like human beings, whether they really are so is questionable. Almost anyone can be successful in physical training, but few can educate their minds and feelings. Second, improving a community is possible by elevating the coming generations to the rank of humanity, not by obliterating the bad ones. Unless the seeds of religion, traditional values, and historical consciousness germinate throughout the country, new bad elements will inevitably grow up in the place of every bad element that has been eradicated.

A nation’s future depends on its youth. Any people who want to secure their future should apply as much energy to raising their children as they devote to other issues. A nation that fails its youth, that abandons them to foreign cultural influences, jeopardizes their identity and is subject to cultural and political weakness.

The reasons for the vices observed in today’s generation, as well as the incompetence of some administrators and other nation-wide troubles, lie in the prevailing conditions and ruling elite of 25 years ago. Likewise, those who are charged with educating today’s young people will be responsible for the vices and virtues that will appear in another 25 years. Those who wish to predict a nation’s future can do so correctly by taking a full account of the education and upbringing given to its young people. “Real” life is possible only through knowledge. Thus, those who neglect learning and teaching should be counted as “dead” even though they are living, for we were created to learn and communicate to others what we have learned.

Right decisions depend on having a sound mind and being capable of sound thought. Science and knowledge illuminate and develop the mind. For this reason, a mind deprived of science and knowledge cannot reach right decisions, is always exposed to deception, and is subject to being misled.

We are only truly human if we learn, teach, and inspire others. It is difficult to regard those who are ignorant and without desire to learn as truly human. It is also questionable whether learned people who do not renew and reform themselves in order to set an example for others are truly human. Status and merit acquired through knowledge and science are higher and more lasting than those obtained through other means.

Given the great importance of learning and teaching, we must determine what is to be learned and taught, and when and how to do so. Although knowledge is a value in itself, the purpose of learning is to make knowledge a guide in life and illuminate the road to human betterment. Thus, any knowledge not appropriated for the self is a burden to the learner, and a science that does not direct one toward sublime goals is a deception.

But knowledge acquired for a right purpose is an inexhaustible source of blessings for the learner. Those who possess such a source are always sought by people, like a source of fresh water, and lead people to the good. Knowledge limited to empty theories and unabsorbed pieces of learning, which arouses suspicions in minds and darkens hearts, is a “heap of garbage” around which desperate and confused souls flounder. Therefore, science and knowledge should seek to uncover humanity’s nature and creation’s mysteries. Any knowledge, even “scientific,” is true only if it sheds light on the mysteries of human nature and the dark areas of existence.

Family, School, and Environment

People who want to guarantee their future cannot be indifferent how their children are being educated. The family, school, environment, and mass media should cooperate to ensure the desired result. Opposing tendencies among these vital institutions will subject young people to contradictory influences that will distract them and dissipate their energy. In particular, the mass media should contribute to young people’s education by following the education policy approved by the community. The school must be as perfect as possible with respect to curriculum, its teachers’ scientific and moral standards of teachers, and its physical conditions. A family must provide the necessary warmth and quality of atmosphere in which the children are raised.

In the early centuries of Islam, minds, hearts, and souls strove to understand that which the Lord of the heavens and the Earth approves. Each conversation, discussion, correspondence, and event was directed to that end. As a result, whoever could do so imbibed the right values and spirit from the surrounding environment. It was as if everything was a teacher to prepare the individual’s mind and soul and develop his or her capacity to attain a high level in Islamic sciences. The first school in which we receive the necessary education to be perfected is the home.

The home is vital to raising of a healthy generation and ensuring a healthy social system or structure. This responsibility continues throughout life. The impressions we receive from our family cannot be deleted later in life. Furthermore, the family’s control over the child at home, with respect to other siblings and toys, continues at school, with respect to the child’s friends, books, and places visited. Parents must feed their children’s minds with knowledge and science before their minds become engaged in useless things, for souls without truth and knowledge are fields in which evil thoughts are cultivated and grown.

Children can receive a good education at home only if there is a healthy family life. Thus marriage should be undertaken to form a healthy family life and so contribute to the permanence of one’s nation in particular, and of the human population in general. Peace, happiness, and security at home is the mutual accord between the spouses in thought, morals, and belief. Couples who decide to marry should know each other very well and consider purity of feelings, chastity, morality, and virtue rather than wealth and physical charm. Children’s mischief and impudence reflect the atmosphere in which they are being raised. A dysfunctional family life increasingly reflects upon the child’s spirit, and therefore upon society.

In the family, elders should treat those younger than them with compassion, and the young should show respect for their elders. Parents should love and respect each other, and treat their children with compassion and due consideration of their feelings. They must treat each child justly and not discriminate among them. If parents encourage their children to develop their abilities and be useful to themselves and the community, they have given the nation a strong new pillar. If they do not cultivate the proper feelings in their children, they release scorpions into the community.

The School and the Teacher

A school may be considered a laboratory that offers an elixir that can prevent or heal the ills of life. Those who have the knowledge and wisdom to prepare and administer it are the teachers.

A school is a place of learning about everything related to this life and the next. It can shed light on vital ideas and events, and enable its students to understand their natural and human environment. It also can quickly open the way to unveiling the meaning of things and events, thereby leading a student to wholeness of thought and contemplation. In essence, a school is a kind of place of worship whose “holy people” are teachers.

Real teachers sow the pure seed and preserve it. They occupy themselves with what is good and wholesome, and lead and guide the children in life and whatever events they encounter. For a school to be a true institution of education, students first should be equipped with an ideal, a love of their language and how to use it most effectively, good morals, and perennial human values. Their social identity must be built on these foundations.

Education is different from teaching. Most people can teach, but only a very few can educate. Communities composed of individuals devoid of a sublime ideal, good manners, and human values are like rude individuals who have no loyalty in friendship or consistency in enmity. Those who trust such people are always disappointed, and those who depend upon them are sooner or later left without support. The best way of equipping one with such values is a sound religious education.

A community’s survival depends on idealism and good morals, as well as on reaching the necessary level in scientific and technological progress. For this reason, trades and crafts should be taught beginning at least in the elementary level. A good school is not a building where only theoretical information is given, but an institution or a laboratory where students are prepared for life.

Patience is of great importance in education. Educating people is the most sacred, but also the most difficult, task in life. In addition to setting a good personal example, teachers should be patient enough to obtain the desired result. They should know their students very well, and address their intellects and their hearts, spirits, and feelings. The best way to educate people is to show a special concern for every individual, not forgetting that each individual is a different “world.”

School provides its pupils with the possibilities of continuous reading, and speaks even when it is silent. Because of this, although it seems to occupy only one phase of life, school actually dominates all times and events. For the rest of their lives, pupils re-enact what they learned at school and derive continuous influence therefrom. Teachers should know how to find a way to the student’s heart and leave indelible imprints upon his or her mind. They should test the information to be passed on to students by refining their own minds and the prisms of their hearts. A good lesson is one that does more than provide pupils with useful information or skills; it should elevate them into the presence of the unknown. This enables the students to acquire a penetrating vision into the reality of things, and to see each event as a sign of the unseen world.

And so absorbs us we can hardly tell spring from summer;

The enchanting song of faith is on our tongues,

And in our hearts a love as deep as Majnun’s…

All who partake of our feast from us glowing like emeralds;

From all directions, downpouring Light enters our souls;

Do not suppose such blessings come from us but from the Eternal

Transcendent, in whose garden abide both lover and beloved:

Faces looking up to Him are like flowers turning toward the sun;

By virtue of that gaze, they open and grow as in springtime.

It little matters that their colour is that of silver or of rose:

What their radiance reflects is the Tincture of the Infinite.