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Newsletter for June 2012
The Glimpses of Nahj al Balaghah
- Moral Lectures and Aphorisms
by
Murtadha
Mutahhari
Transl. from Persian by Ali Quli Qara'i
courtesy: al-Tawhid
Inimitable
Moral Teaching:
Moral and
spiritual teachings constitute the greater part of the Nahj
al-balaghah making up almost half of the book. More than
anything else the fame of the Nahj al-balaghah is due to
the sermons, exhortations, and aphorisms on ethical and moral
subjects.
Aside from the
moral teachings of the Quran and a number of the sermons and
sayings of the Holy Prophet ('s), which are to be considered the
source and antecedent of the Nahj al-balaghah, the
teachings of the Nahj al-balaghah are without a match in
the Arabic and Persian languages. For more than a thousand years
these sermons have played an influential role serving as a
matchless source of inspiration, and yet retained their original
power to quicken the heart, to sublimate emotions, and to bring
tears to the eyes. It seems that as long as there remains any
trace of humanity in the world, these sermons shall continue to
exercise their original power and influence.
A Comparison:
The literature
of Arabic and Persian is replete with works containing spiritual
and moral teachings of highest sublimity and elegance though
mainly in the form of poetry. There is, for example, the famous
qasidah by Abu al-Fath al-Busti (360-400/971-1010), which begins
with the verse:
Worldly profit and achievement is loss,
And the gain unmarked by the seal of pure goodness.
There is also
the elegiacal qasidah of Abu al-Hasan al-Tihami, which he wrote
on the early death of his youthful son. It begins with these
lines:
The law of fate governs the destiny of creation,
And this world is not a place to settle in.
Every one of
these works is an everlasting masterpiece of its kind and shines
like a star on the horizons of the Arabic literature of Islamic
era, never to lose its freshness and charm.
In Persian, the
Gulistan and the Bustan of Sa'di and his qasaid serve as an
unusually attractive and effective means of moral advice and are
masterpieces of their own kind. To give some examples, there are
those famous verses of the Gulistan which start with the verse:
Every breath is a fraction of life gone,
And when I see, not much has remained of it.
Or in his
qasa'id where he says:
O people, the world is not a place for leisure and repose;
To the wise man, the world is not worth the effort of acquiring it.
Or at another
place where he says:
The world on water and life on wind do rest;
Salutes to the brave who do not tie their hearts to them.
And where he
says:
Time and fortune are subject to endless change;
The wise man doesn't attach his heart to the world.
Sa'di's Bustan
is full of profound and glowing spiritual advices, and, perhaps,
is at its best in the ninth chapter on "Penitence and the
Right Way". The same is true of some portions of the
Mathnawi of Rumi and works of all other Persian poets, from whom
we shall not further quote any examples.
In Islamic
literature, including the Arabic and the Persian, there exist
excellent examples of spiritual counsels and aphorisms. This
Islamic literary genre is not confined to these two languages,
but is also found in Turkish, Urdu, and other languages, and a
characteristic spirit pervades all of them. Anyone familiar with
the Holy Quran, the sayings of the Holy Prophet ('s), Amir al-Mu'minin
'Ali ('a), the other Imams ('a), and Muslim saints of the first
rank, can observe a characteristic spirit pervading all Persian
literature containing spiritual counsel, which represents the
spirit of Islam embodied in the Persian language and embellished
with its charm and sweetness.
If an expert or
a group of experts in Arabic and Persian literature acquainted
with the works in all other languages that reflect the spirit of
Islam, were to collect the masterpieces in the field of
spiritual counsel, the extraordinary richness and maturity of
the Islamic culture in lhis field will be revealed.
It is strange
that so far as the works on spiritual counsel are concerned the
Persian genius has mostly expressed itself in poetry; there is
no such work of eminence in prose. All that exists of it in
prose is in the form of short sayings, like the prose writings
of the Gulistan-a part of which consists of spiritual counsels
and is in itself a masterpiece-or the sayings ascribed to
Khwajah 'Abd Allah al-'Ansari.
Of course, my
own knowledge is inadequate, but as far as I know there does not
exist in Persian prose any remarkable work, except for short
sayings-not even a passage which is long enough to be counted as
a short discourse, especially a discourse which was originally
delivered extempore and later collected and recorded in writing.
There are
discourses which have been related from Rumi or Sa'di, meant as
oral moral advice to their followers; they also by no means
possess the brilliance and charm of the poetic works of those
masters, and definitely are not worth considering for a
comparison with the discourses of the Nahj al-balaghah.
The same can be
said about the writings which have reached us in the form of a
treatise or letter, such as the Nasihat al-muluk by Abu
Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali, the Taziyaneh-ye suluk by
Ahmad al-Ghazali, the latter being an elaborate epistle
addressed to his follower and pupil 'Ayn al-Qudat al-Hamadan
Spiritual
Counsel and Wisdom:
Moral counsel,
according to the Quran, is one of the three ways of invitation
towards God (hikmah, maw'izah, al jidal al-hasan,
i.e. wisdom, good admonition, and honourable debate, as
mentioned in 16: 125).
The difference
between hikmah (wisdom, philosophy) and maw'izah
(spiritual and moral advice and admonition) lies in this that
hikmah is for instruction and imparting knowledge, while
maw'izah is meant for reminding. Hikmah is struggle
against ignorance and maw'izah is struggle against
negligence and indifference. Hikmah deals with the
intellect and maw'izah appeals to the heart. Hikmah
educates, while maw'izah prepares the intellect for
employment of its reserves. Hikmah is a lamp and
maw'izah is an eye-opener. Hikmah is for
ratiocination, while maw'izah is for self-awakening.
Hikmah is the language of the intellect, while maw'izah
is the message for the spirit. Accordingly, the personality of
the speaker plays an essential role in maw'izah, which is
not the case with hikmah. In hikmah, two minds
communicate in an impersonal manner But in maw'izah the
situation is like the passage of an electric charge that flows
from the speaker, who is at a higher potential, to the listener.
For this
reason, it has been said of maw'izah that:
If it comes
forth from the soul, then it necessarily alights upon the heart.
Otherwise it
does not go beyond the listener's ears. It is about the quality
of maw'izah that it is said:
The speeeh
which originates from the heart enters another heart, and the
words which originate from the tongue do not go beyond the ears.
It is true that
the words that come from the heart, being the message of the
soul, invade other hearts; but if they do not convey the message
of the soul, are no more than empty literary devices, which do
not go beyond the listener's ear-drum.
Maw'izah and
Khitabah (Exhortation and Oratory):
Maw'izah also differs from khitabah
(oratory, rhetoric). Although oratory also deals with emotions,
but it seeks to stir and agitate them. Maw'izah on the
other hand is intended to pacify emotions and it seeks to bring
them under control. Oratory is effective when emotions are inert
and stagnant; maw'izah is required when lusts and
passions become unmanageable. Oratory stirs the passion for
power and glory, the feelings of honour, heroism, chivalry,
manliness, patriotism, nobility, righteousness, virtue, and
service; it is followed by movement and excitement. But
maw'izah checks inappropriate passion and excitement.
Rhetoric and oratory snatch control from the hands of
calculating reason, handing it over to tempestuous passions. But
maw'izah appeases the tempests of passions and prepares
the ground for calculation and foresight. Oratory draws one to
the outside, and maw'izah makes him turn to his inner
self.
Rhetoric and
counsel are both necessary and essential, and the Nahj al-balaghah
makes use of both of them. The main thing is to judge the right
time for the use of each of them. The impassioned speeches of
Amir al-Mu'minin ('a) were delivered at a time when it was
necessary to stir up passions and to build up a tempest to
destroy an unjust and oppressive structure, such as at the time
of the Battle of Siffin when 'Ali ('a) delivered a fiery speech
before the engagement with Mu'awiyah's forces. Mu'awiyah's
forces, arriving ahead of 'Ali's army, had taken control of the
river bank and stopped the supply of water to 'Ali's camp. At
first 'Ali ('a) strived to abstain from resorting to force,
desiring the problem to be solved through negotiation. But
Mu'awiyah, who had some other designs, considering occupation of
the river bank a victory for himself, refused every offer of
negotiation. When things became difficult for 'Ali's men, it was
time when he should stir the emotions of his soldiers through a
fiery speech, creating a tempest that would rout the enemy. This
is how 'Ali ('a) addressed his companions:
They are eager
that you should make them taste the flavour of battle. So you
have two alternatives before you: either submit to disgrace and
ignominy, or quench your swords in their blood and appease your
thirst with water. It is' death to survive through defeat and
true life is to die for the sake of victory. Muawiyah is leading
a handful of deluded insurgents and has deceived them by keeping
them in the dark about the truth, with the result that their
throats are the targets of your deadly arrows.
[1]
These words
flared their emotions, provoked their sense of honour, and made
the blood surge in their veins. It was not yet sunset when
'Ali's companions seized the river bank and threw back
Mu'awiyah's forces.
However, 'Ali's
mawaiz were delivered in different conditions. During the
days of the first three caliphs, and particularly during 'Uthman's
rule, immeasurable amounts of wealth and booty won through
consecutive victories flowed into Muslim hands. Due to the
absence of any careful programmes for correct utilization of
that wealth, particularly due to the aristocratic, or rather
tribal, rule during the reign of 'Uthman, moral corruption,
worldliness, and love of comfort and luxury found their way into
the Muslim society. Tribal rivalries were revived, and racial
prejudice between Arabs and non-Arabs was added to it. In that
clamour for worldliness and mounting prejudices, rivalries, and
greed for greater share of the war booty, the only cry of
protest charged with spiritual exhortation was that of 'Ali
('a).
God willing, we
shall discuss in coming chapters the various themes dealt with
in 'Ali's mawa'iz, such as taqwa (God-fearing),
worldliness, zuhd (abstinence), desires, the dread of
death, the dreads of the Day of Judgement, the need to take
lesson from the history of past nations and peoples, etc.
The Nahj al-balaghah's
Recurring Themes:
Out of the 241
fragments collected under the title 'Khutab' by al-Sayyid
al-Radi (though not all of them are Khutab or sermons)
about 86 can be classed as mawa'iz or at least contain a
series of spiritual advices. Some of them, however, are
elaborate and lengthy, like the khutbah 176, which opens
with the sentence (Avail of the Divine expositions), the
khutbah named 'al-Qasi'ah; (which is the longest
of the sermons of the Nahj al-balaghah), and the
khutbah 93 (called khutbat al-muttaqin, the 'Sermon
of the Pious').
Out of some
seventy-nine passages that are classed as 'kutub'
letters, (which not all of them are) about twenty-five, either
completely or partially, consist of spiritual and moral
teachings. Some of them are quite lengthy and elaborate-like
letter 31, which constitutes 'Ali's advice to his son al-Imam
al-Hasan al-Mujtaba ('a), and the lengthiest of all, except the
famous directive sent to Malik al-'Ashtar. Another one is letter
45, the well-known epistle of 'Ali ('a) to Uthman ibn Hunayf,
his governor in Basrah.
The Themes in
Spiritual Advices:
Various themes
are found in the spiritual advices of the Nahj al-balaghah:
taqwa (God-fearing); tawakkul (trust in God);
sabr (patience, Fortitude); zuhd (abstinence); the
renunciation of worldly pleasures and luxuries, the renunciation
of inordinate desires and far-fetched hopes; the condemnation of
injustice and prejudice, emphasis on mercy, love, helping of the
oppressed and sympathy toward the weak; emphasis on the
qualities of fortitude, courage, and strength; emphasis on unity
and solidarity and condemnation of disunity; the invitation to
take lesson from history; the invitation to thought, meditation,
remembrance, and self-criticism; the reminders about the brevity
of life and the swiftness of its pace; the remembrance of death;
the hardships of death-throes; experiences of the life after
death; the reminders of the dreadful events of the Day of
Judgement, and so on. These are some of the frequent themes of
the spiritual advices of the Nahj al-balaghah.
Ali's Logic:
In order to
understand this aspect of the Nahj al-balaghah, or, in
other words, to understand 'Ali ('a) when he speaks as a moral
and spiritual counsellor and to understand his didactic outlook,
so as to draw benefit from that everflowing source, it is not
enough to enumerate the various themes and topics dealt with by
'Ali ('a) in his discourses. It is not sufficient merely to
remark that 'Ali ('a) has spoken about taqwa, tawakkul
or zuhd; rather, we must see what significance did he
attribute to these words. We must uncover his didactic
philosophy regarding the development of the human character and
his perception of the human aspiration for piety, purity,
freedom, and deliverance from spiritual servitude and thraldom.
As we know, these are words employed by all-in particular those
who are wont to play the role of a moralist; but all individuals
do not mean the same kind of things by these terms. Sometimes,
the meanings one person attributes to these words are quite
contrary to those meant by another, and naturally lead to
conclusions which are quite opposite.
Consequently,
it is essential to elaborate somewhat the specific meanings of
these terms in 'Ali's vocabulary, starting with taqwa.
Taqwa:
Taqwa is one of the most frequent motifs of
the Nahj al-balaghah. In fact it would be hard to find
another book which emphasizes this spiritual term to the extent
of this book. Even in the Nahj al-balaghah, no other term
or concept receives so much attention and stress as taqwa.
What is taqwa?
Often it is
thought that taqwa means piety and abstinence and so
implies a negative attitude. In other words, it is maintained
that the greater the amount of abstinence, withdrawal, and
self-denial, the more perfect is one's taqwa. According
to this interpretation, taqwa is a concept divorced from
active life; secondly it is a negative attitude; thirdly, it
means that the more severely this negative attitude is
exercised, the greater one's taqwa would be. Accordingly,
the sanctimonious professors of taqwa, in order to avoid
its being tainted and to protect it from any blemish, withdraw
from the bustle of life, keeping themselves away from
involvement in any matter or affair of the world.
Undeniably,
abstinence and caution exercised with discretion is an essential
principle of wholesome living. For, in order to lead a healthy
life, man is forced to negate and affirm, deny and posit,
renounce and accept, avoid and welcome different things. It is
through denial and negation that the positive in life can be
realized. It is through renunciation and avoidance that
concentration is given to action.
The principle
of tawhid contained in the dictum la ilaha illa Allah
is at the same time a negation as well as an affirmation.
Without negation of everything other than God it is not possible
to arrive at tawhid. That is why rebellion and surrender,
kufr (unbelief) and iman (belief), go together; that is, every
surrender requires a rebellion and every faith (iman) calls for
a denial and rejection (kufr), and every affirmation implies a
negation. The Quran says:
So whoever
disbelieves in taghut and believes in God, has laid hold of the
most firm bond .... (2:256)
However,
firstly, every denial, negation, rejection, and rebellion
operates between the limits of two opposites; the negation of
one thing implies movement towards its opposite; the rejection
of the one marks the beginning of the acceptance of the other.
Accordingly, every healthy denial and rejection has both a
direction and a goal, and is confined within certain definite
limits. Therefore, a blind practice and purposeless attitude,
which has neither direction nor a goal, nor is confined within
any limits, is neither defensible nor of any spiritual worth.
Secondly, the
meaning of taqwa in the Nahj al-balaghah is not
synonymous with that of 'abstinence', even in its logically
accepted sense discussed above. Taqwa, on the other hand,
according to the Nahj al-balaghah, is a spiritual faculty
which appears as a result of continued exercise and practice.
The healthy and rational forms of abstinence are, firstly, the
preparatory causes for the emergence of that spiritual faculty;
secondly, they are also its effects and outcome.
This faculty
strengthens and vitalizes the soul, giving it a kind of
immunity. A person who is devoid of this faculty, if he wants to
keep himself free from sins, it is unavoidable for him to keep
away from the causes of sin. Since society is never without
these causes, inevitably he has to go into seclusion and isolate
himself. It follows from this argument that one should either
remain pious by isolating himself from one's environment, or he
should enter society and bid farewell to taqwa. Moreover,
according to this logic, the more isolated and secluded a
person's life is and the more he abstains from mixing with other
people, the greater is his piety and taqwa in the eyes of
the common people.
However, if the
faculty of taqwa is cultivated inside a person's soul, it
is no longer necessary for him to seclude himself from his
environment. He can keep himself clean and uncorrupted without
severing his relations with society.
The former kind
of persons are like those who take refuge in mountains for fear
of some plague or epidemic. The second kind resemble those who
acquire immunity and resistance through vaccination and so do
not deem it necessary to leave the city and avoid contact with
their townsfolk. On the other hand, they hasten to the aid of
the suffering sick in order to save them. Sa'di is alluding to
the first kind of pious in his Gulistan, when he says:
Saw I a sage in the mountains,
Happy in a cave, far from the world's tide.
Said I, "Why not to the city return,
And lighten your heart of this burden?"
He said, "The city abounds in tempting beauties,
And even elephants slip where mud is thick."
The Nahj al-balaghah
speaks of taqwa as a spiritual faculty acquired through
exercise and assiduity, which on its emergence produces certain
characteristic effects, one of which is the ability to abstain
from sins with ease.
I guarantee the
truth of my words and I am responsible for what I say. If
similar events and experiences of the past serve as a lesson for
a person, then taqwa prevents him from plunging
recklessly into doubts ...
[2]
Beware that
sins are like unruly horses whose reins have been taken way and
which plunge with their riders into hell-fire. But taqwa
is like a trained steed whose reins are in the hands of its
rider and enters with its rider into Paradise.
[3]
In this sermon
taqwa is described as a spiritual condition which results
in control and command over one's self. It explains that the
result of subjugation to desires and lusts and being devoid of
taqwa degrades one's personality making it vulnerable to
the cravings of the carnal self. In such a state, man is like a
helpless rider without any power and control, whom his mount
takes wherever it desires. The essence of taqwa lies in
possessing a spiritual personality endowed with will-power, and
possessing mastery over the domain of one's self. A man with
taqwa is like an expert horseman riding a well-trained horse
and who with complete mastery and control drives his tractable
steed in the direction of his choice.
Certainly the
taqwa of God assists His awliya (friends) in abstaining
from unlawful deeds and instils His fear into their hearts. As a
result, their nights are passed in wakefulness and their days in
thirst [on account of fasting].[4]
Here 'Ali ('a)
makes it clear that taqwa is something which
automatically leads to abstention from unlawful actions and to
the fear of God, which are its necessary effects. Therefore,
according to this view, taqwa is neither itself
abstinence nor fear of God; rather, it is a sacred spiritual
faculty of which these two are only consequences:
For indeed,
today taqwa is a shield and a safeguard, and tomorrow
(i.e. in the Hereafter) it shall be the path to Paradise.
[5]
In khutbah
157, taqwa is compared to an invincible fortress built on
heights which the enemy has no power to infiltrate. Throughout,
the emphasis of the Imam ('a) lies on the spiritual and
psychological aspect of taqwa and its effects upon human
spirit involving the emergence of a dislike for sin and
corruption and an inclination towards piety, purity, and virtue.
Further
illustrations of this view can be cited from the Nahj al-balaghah,
but it seems that the above quotations are sufficient.
Taqwa is
Immunity not Restraint:
We have already
mentioned some of the various elements found in the spiritual
advices (mawa'iz) of the Nahj al-balaghah. We
began with taqwa and saw that taqwa, from the
viewpoint of the Nahj al-balaghah, is a sublime spiritual
faculty which is the cause of certain attractions and
repulsions; i.e. attraction towards edifying spiritual values
and repulsion towards degrading materialistic vices. The Nahj
al-balaghah considers taqwa as a spiritual state that
gives strength to human personality and makes man the master of
his own self.
Taqwa as
Immunity:
The Nahj al-balaghah
stresses that taqwa is for man a shield and a shelter,
not a chain or a prison. There are many who do not distinguish
between immunity and restraint, between security and
confinement, and promptly advocate the destruction of the
sanctuary of taqwa in the name of freedom and liberation
from bonds and restraint.
That which is
common between a sanctuary and a prison is the existence of a
barrier. Whereas the walls of a sanctuary avert dangers, the
walls of a prison hinder the inmates from realizing their inner
capacities and from benefiting from the bounties of life. 'Ali
('a) clarifies the difference between the two, where he says:
Let it be known
to you, O servants of God, that taqwa is a formidable
fortress, whereas impiety and corruption is a weak and
indefensible enclosure that does not safeguard its people, and
does not offer any protection to those who take refuge in it.
Indeed, it is only with taqwa that the tentacles of sins
and misdeeds can be severed.
[6]
'Ali ('a), in
this sublime advice, compares sins and evil deeds which are
afflictions of the human soul to poisonous insects and reptiles,
and suggests that the faculty of taqwa is an effective
defence against them. In some of his discourses, he makes it
clear that taqwa not only does not entail restraint and
restriction or is an impediment to freedom, but on the other
hand it is the source and fountainhead of all true freedoms. In
khutbah 230, he says:
Taqwa is the key to guidance, the provision
for the next world, the freedom from every kind of slavery, and
the deliverance from every form of destruction.
The message is
clear. Taqwa gives man spiritual freedom and liberates
him from the chains of slavery and servitude to lusts and
passions. It releases him from the bonds of envy, lust, and
anger, and this expurgates society from all kinds of social
bondages and servitudes. Men who are not slaves of comfort,
money, power, and glory, never surrender to the various forms of
bondage which plague the human society.
The Nahj al-balaghah
deals with the theme of taqwa and its various effects in
many of its passages; but we don't consider it necessary to
discuss all of them here. Our main objective here is to discover
the meaning of taqwa from the point of view of the
Nahj al-balaghah, so as to unearth the reason for so much
emphasis that this book places on this concept.
Of the many
effects of taqwa that have been pointed out, two are more
important than the rest: firstly, the development of insight and
clarity of vision; secondly, the capacity to solve problems and
to weather difficulties and crises. We have discussed this in
detail elsewhere.[7] Moreover, a discussion of these effects of taqwa here will
take us beyond our present aim which is to clarify the true
meaning of taqwa. It will not be out of place to call
attention to certain profound remarks of the Nahj al-balaghah
about the reciprocal relationship between the human being and
taqwa.
A Reciprocal
Commitment:
In spite of the
great emphasis laid by the Nahj al-balaghah on taqwa
as a kind of guarantee and immunity against sin and temptation,
it should be noticed that one must never neglect to safeguard
and protect taqwa itself. Taqwa guards man, and
man must safeguard his taqwa. This, as we shall presently
explain, is not a vicious circle.
This reciprocal
guarding of the one by the other is comparable to the one
between a person and his clothes. A man takes care of his
clothes and protects them from being spoiled or stolen, while
the clothes in turn guard him against heat or cold. In fact the
Holy Quran speaks of taqwa as a garment:
And the garment of taqwa
-that is better. (7:26)
'Ali ('a), speaking about this relationship of mutual protection
between a person and his tawqa', says:
Turn your sleep
into wakefulness by the means of taqwa and spend your
days in its company. Keep its consciousness alive in your
hearts. With it wash away your sins and cure your ailments...
Beware, guard your taqwa and place your self under its
guard.
[8]
At another
place in the same sermon, 'Ali ('a) says:
O God's
servants, I advise you to cultivate the taqwa of God.
Indeed it is a right that God has over you and it is through it
that you can have any right over God. You should beseech God's
help for guarding it and seek its aid for [fulfilling your duty
to] God.
[9]
Zuhd and Piety:
Another
spiritual motif conspicuous in the teachings of the Nahj al-balaghah
is zuhd, which after taqwa is the most recurring
theme of the book. 'Zuhd' means renunciation of the
'world', and very often we encounter denunciation of the
'world', and invitation and exhortation to renounce it. It
appears to me that it forms one of the important themes of the
Nahj al-balaghah, which needs to be elucidated and
explained in the light of various aspects of 'Ali's approach.
We shall begin
our discussion with the word 'zuhd' The words 'zuhd'
and 'raghbah' (attraction, desire), if mentioned without
reference to their objects, are opposite to each other. 'Zuhd'
means indifference and avoidance, and 'raghbah ' means
attraction, inclination, and desire.
Indifference
can be of two kinds: involuntary and cultivated. A person is
involuntarily indifferent towards a certain thing when by nature
he does not have any desire for it, as in the case of a sick
person who shows no desire either for food, or fruits, or
anything else. Obviously, this kind of indifference and
abstinence has nothing to do with the particular sense implied
in 'zuhd '.
Another kind of
indifference or abstinence is spiritual or intellectual; that
is, things which are natural objects of desire are not
considered the goal and objective by a human being in the course
of his struggle for perfection and felicity. The ultimate
objective and goal may be something above mundane aims and
sensual pleasures; either it may be to attain the sensuous
pleasures of the Hereafter, or it may not belong to this kind of
things. It may be some high ethical and moral ideal, like honour,
dignity, nobility, liberty, or it may belong to the spiritual
sphere, like the remembrance of God, the love of God, and the
desire to acquire nearness to Him.
Accordingly the
zahid (i.e. one who practises zuhd) is someone
whose interest transcends the sphere of material existence, and
whose object of aspiration lies beyond the kind of things we
have mentioned above. The indifference of a zahid
originates in the sphere of his ideas, ideals, and hopes, not in
his physiological makeup.
There are two
places where we come across the definition of 'zuhd' in
the Nahj al-balaghah. Both of them confirm the above
interpretation of zuhd. 'Ali ('a), in khutba 81,
says:
O people!
zuhd means curtailing of hopes, thanking God for His
blessings and bounties, and abstaining from that which He has
forbidden.
In hikmah
439, he says:
All zuhd
is summarized in two sentences of the Quran: God, the Most
Exalted, says, ... So that you may not grieve for what
escapes you, nor rejoice in what has come to you. [57:23]
Whoever does not grieve over what he has lost and does not
rejoice over what comes to him has acquired zuhd in both
of its aspects.
Obviously when
something does not occupy a significant position amongst one's
objectives and ideals, or rather is not at all significant in
the scheme of things which matter to him, its gain and loss do
not make the slightest difference to him.
However, there
are some points that need clarification. Is zuhd, or
detachment from the world, on which the Nahj al-balaghah,
following the Quranic teachings, puts so much emphasis, to be
taken solely in an ethical and spiritual sense? In other words,
is zuhd purely a spiritual state, or does it possess
practical implications also? That is, is zuhd spiritual
abstinence only or is it accompanied by an abstinence in
practical life also? Assuming that zuhd is to be applied
in practice, is it limited to abstinence from unlawful things (muharramat),
as pointed out in khutba 81, or does it include something
more, as exemplified by the life of 'Ali ('a) and before him
bythe life of the Holy Prophet ('s)?
Proceeding on
the assumption that zuhd is not limited to-muharramat
only and that it covers permissible things (mubahat) as
well, one may ask: what is its underlying rationale and
philosophy? What is the use of an ascetic life that limits and
confines life, rejecting its blessings and bounties? Is zuhd
to be practised at all times or only under certain particular
conditions? Is zuhd-in the sense of abstinence from even
permissible things-basically in agreement with other Islamic
teachings?
Apart from
this, the basis of zuhd and renunciation of the world is
the pursuit of supra-material objectives and ideals. What are
they from the point of view of Islam? In particular, how does
the Nahj al-balaghah describe them?
All these
questions regarding zuhd, renunciation, and curtailing of
hopes-themes which have so often been discussed in the Nahj
al-balaghah-need to be clarified. We shall discuss these
questions in the following pages and try to answer them.
Islamic Zuhd
and Christian Asceticism:
In the last
section we said that zuhd, as defined by the Nahj al-balaghah,
is a spiritual state that makes the zahid, on account of
his spiritual and other worldly aspirations, indifferent towards
the manifestations of material existence. This indifference is
not confined to his heart, intellect, and feelings and is not
limited to his conscience. It also manifests itself on the
practical level of life in the form of simplicity, contentment,
and obstention from hedonistic urges and love of luxuries. A
life of zuhd not only implies that a man should be free
from attachment to the material aspects of life, but he should
also practically abstain from indulgence in pleasures. The
zuhhad are those who in life are satisfied with the barest
material necessities. 'Ali ('a) was a zahid, who was not
only emotionally detached from the world but also indifferent to
its pleasures and enjoyments. In other words, he had 'renounced'
the 'world'.
Two Questions:
Here,
inevitably, two questions shall arise in the reader's mind.
Firstly, as we know, Islam has opposed monasticism considering
it to be an innovation of Christian priests and monks.[10] The Prophet ('s) has stated in
unequivocal terms that:
There is no
monasticism (rahbaniyyah) in Islam.
Once when the
Prophet ('s) was informed that some of his Companions had
retired into seclusion renouncing everything and devoting all
their time to worship and prayer in seclusion, he became very
indignant. He told them: "I, who am your prophet, am not such".
In this way, the Prophet ('s) made them to understand that Islam
is a religion of life and society, not a monastic faith.
Moreover, the comprehensive and multifaceted teachings of Islam
in social, economic, political and moral spheres are based on
reverence for life, not on its renunciation.
Apart from
this, monasticism and renunciation of life are incompatible with
the world-view of Islam and its optimistic outlook about the
universe and creation. Unlike some other philosophies and
creeds, Islam does not view the world and life in society with
pessimism. It does not divide all creation into ugly and
beautiful, black and white, good and evil, proper and improper,
right and wrong. Now the second question may be stated in these
words: "Aside from the fact that asceticism is the same as
monasticism-which are both incompatible with the Islamic
spirit-what is the philosophy underlying zuhd ?
Moreover, why
should men be urged to practise zuhd? Why should man,
seeing the limitless bounties of God and good things of life
around him, be called upon to pass by the side of this
delightful stream indifferently and without so much as wetting
his feet? Are the ascetic teachings found in Islam, on this
basis, later innovations (bid'ah) introduced into Islam
from other creeds like Christianity and Buddhism? And if this is
correct, how are we to explain and interpret the teachings of
the Nahj al-balaghah? How can we explain the indubitable
details known about the Prophet's life and that of 'Ali ('a)?
The answer is
that Islamic zuhd is different from Christian asceticism
or monasticism. Asceticism is retreat from people and society
and seclusion for the purpose of worship. According to it, the
life and works of the world are separate from the works of the
Here-after and the one is alien to the other. One should, of
necessity, choose either one of the two. One should either
devote oneself to worship of God which shall bear fruits in the
Hereafter, or take up the life of the world and benefit from its
immediate pleasures. Accordingly, monasticism is opposed to life
and social relationships. It requires with-drawal from people
and negation of responsibility and commitment towards them.
On the other
hand, zuhd in Islam, though it requires a simple and
unaffected life-style and is based on abstention from luxuries
and love of comforts and pleasures, operates in the very midst
of life and social relations and is sociable. It draws
inspiration, and proceeds, from the goal of better fulfilment of
social responsibilities and duties.
The conception
of zuhd in Islam is not something that would lead to
asceticism, because a sharp distinction between this world and
the next is nowhere drawn. From the viewpoint of Islam, this
world and the next are not separable, not alien to each other.
The relation of this world to the other is similar to that
between the inward and outward sides of a single reality. They
are like the warp and woof of a single fabric. They are to each
other as the soul to the body. Their relation-ship can be
assumed to be something midway between unity and duality. The
works of this world and those of the next are interrelated
similarly. Their difference is that of quality, without being
essential. Accordingly, that which is harmful for the other
world is also to one's detriment in the present world, and
everything which is beneficial for the summum bonum of life in
this world is also beneficial for life in the next world.
Therefore, if a certain work which is in accordance with the
higher interests of life in this world is performed with motives
that are devoid of the higher, supra-material, and
transcendental elements, that work would be considered totally
this-worldly and would not, as the Quran tells us, elevate man
in his ascent towards God. However, if a work or action is
motivated by sublime aims and intentions and is executed with a
higher vision that transcends the narrow limits of worldly life,
the same work and action is considered 'other-worldly.'
The Islamic
zuhd, as we said, is grounded in the very context and stream
of life and gives a peculiar quality to living by emphasizing
certain values in life. As affirmed by the Islamic texts,
zuhd in Islam is based on three essential principles of the
Islamic world-outlook.
The Three
Essential Principles:
It is not true
that all sorrow and grief are related to the soul and that all
pleasures are derived from the body. In fact, the spiritual
pleasures are much profounder, purer, and lasting than bodily
pleasures. To sum up, one-sided attention to physical pleasures
and material enjoyments finally results in compromising the
total human happiness. Therefore, if we want to make our lives
happy, rich, pure, majestic, attractive, and beautiful, we
cannot afford to ignore the spiritual aspects of our being.
With due
attention to these principles, the meaning of zuhd in
Islam becomes clear. The knowledge of these principles allows us
to understand why Islam rejects monasticism but welcomes a form
of asceticism which is rooted in the very heart of life and in
the context of social existence. We shall explain the meaning of
zuhd in Islamic texts on the basis of these three
principles.
The Zahid and
the Monk:
We said that
Islam encourages zuhd but condemns monasticism. Both the
zahid and the ascetic monk seek abstinence from pleasures
and enjoyments. But the monk evades life in society and the
respon-sibilities and the duties it entails, regarding them as
the low and mean facets of worldly existence, and takes refuge
in mountains or monasteries. On the other hand, the zahid
accepts society with its norms, ideals, duties, and commitments.
Both the zahid and the monk are otherworldly, but the
zahid is a social otherworldly. Also their attitudes to
abstinence from pleasures are not identical; the monk disdains
hygiene and cleanliness and derides married life and
procreation. The zahid, on the contrary, considers
hygiene and cleanliness, matrimony and parenthood to be a part
of his duties. Both the zahid and the monk are ascetics,
but whereas the 'world' renounced by the zahid is
indulgence and immersion in pleasures, luxuries, and comforts
(he rejects the attitude which considers them to be life's
ultimate goal and objective), the 'world' renounced by the monk
includes life's work and activity, and the duty and
responsibility which go with social life. That is why the
zahid's zuhd operates in the midst of social life,
and is, therefore, not only compatible with social
responsibility and commitment but is moreover a very effective
means of discharging them.
The difference
between the zahid and the monk arises from two different
world-outlooks. From the viewpoint of the monk, this world and
the next are two different spheres, separate from and unrelated
to each other. To him, happiness in this world is not only
independent of happiness in the next but is incompatible with
it. He considers the two forms of happiness as irreconcilable
contradictories. Naturally, that which leads to felicity and
happiness in this world is considered different from the works
and deeds which lead to success in the Hereafter. In other
words, the means of acquiring happiness in this world and the
next are regarded as being incompatible and contradictory. It is
imagined that a single work and action cannot simultaneously be
a means for acquiring happiness in both the worlds.
But in the
world-view of the zahid, the world and the Hereafter are
interconnected. The world is a preamble to the Hereafter. It is
a farm of which the Hereafter is the harvest. From the zahid's
viewpoint, that which gives order, security, uprightness,
prosperity, and flourish to life is application of other-worldly
criteria to the life of this world.
The essence of
felicity and happiness in the other world lies in successful
accomplishment of commitments and responsibilities of this
world, performed with faith, piety, purity, and taqwa.
In truth, the
zahid's concept of zuhd and the monk's rationale
for his asceticism are incompatible and contradictory to each
other. Basically, monasticism is a deviation introduced by men
into the teachings of prophets, due to ignorance or vested
interests. Now we shall explain the philosophy of zuhd in
the light of the teachings of the Islamic texts.
Zuhd and
Altruism:
One of the
ingredients of zuhd is altruism. Ithar (altruism)
and atharah (egoism) are derived from the same root.
Atharah means giving precedence to one's interests over
those of others. In other words it implies monopolizing
everything for oneself and depriving others. But Ithar
means preferring others over oneself and bearing hardship for
the comfort and good of others.
The zahid,
by virtue of his simple, humble, and content living, is hard
upon himself so that others may live in ease. He sacrifices for
the sake of the needy because with his sensitive heart which
feels the pains of others he can relish the world's bounties
only when there does not exist a single man oppressed by need.
He derives greater satisfaction by feeding and clothing others
and working for their ease than if he did those things for
himself. He endures deprivation, hunger, and pain, so that
others may be well fed and live without hardships.
Ithar represents the most magestic and
sublime manifestation of human greatness, and only very great
human beings climb to its noble heights.
The Holy Quran
refers to the episode of the self-sacrifice of 'Ali ('a) and his
honoured family in the glorious verses of the Surat Hal ata.
'Ali, Fatimah, and their sons once gave away whatever they
had-which was no more than a few loaves of bread-to the poor for
the sake of God, and despite their own distress. That is why
this story circulated among the angels and a verse of the Quran
was revealed in the praise of their act.
Once when the
Holy Prophet ('s) came to visit Hadrat al-Zahra' ('s), observing
that his daughter had put on a silver bracelet and hung a new
curtain on the door, signs of unease appeared upon his face.
Al-Zahra' ('a) was quick to discern the cause of her father's
reaction. When the Prophet ('s) left, without losing time, she
took out her bracelet and removing the curtain from the door,
sent them to be carried to the Prophet ('s) so that he might
give them to the needy. When al-Zahra's messenger brought them
to the Prophet ('s) he looked at them with amazement. He was
glad that his daughter had taken the hint and foregone her
simplest luxuries for the benefit of others.
'The neighbours
first', was the maxim in the household of 'Ali ('a) and Fatimah
('a). In khutbah 193, which describes the qualities of
the pious, 'Ali ('a) says:
The man of [taqwa]
subjects his own self to hardships so that the people may live
in comfort.
The Holy Quran
describes the Ansar (the Helpers), who in spite of their poverty
welcomed the Muhajirun (the Emigrants) as their own brethren,
giving them preference over their own selves, in these words:
They love
whosoever has migrated to them, not finiding in their breasts
any need for what they have been given, and prefer others above
themselves, even though poverty be their lot ...
(59:9)
Obviously, the
altruistic ingredient of zuhd comes into play only under
certain conditions. In an affluent society, altruism is less
frequently required. But in conditions where poverty and
deprivation are prevalent-as in the society of al-Madinah during
the Prophet's time-its need is greater. This is one of the
secrets of the apparent difference of the life-styles of 'Ali
('a) and the Holy Prophet ('s) with the rest of the Imams ('a).
In any case,
zuhd with its underlying altruistic motives has nothing in
common with monasticism and escape from society; instead it is a
product of man's gregarious instincts and a manifestation of his
noblest feelings, which reinforce the social bonds between
fellow human beings.
Sympathy and
Kindness:
The sympathy
and the willingness to share the suffering of the needy and the
deprived is another ingredient of zuhd. When the
destitute witness the luxuries and comforts of the richer
classes, their anguish is multiplied. To the hardships of
poverty and destitution is added the stinging feeling of
deprivation and backwardness in relation to others.
Man, by nature,
cannot tolerate to remain a silent spectator while others who
have no merit over him eat, drink, enjoy and relish freely at
the cost of his deprivation. When society is divided into haves
and have-nots, the man of God considers himself responsible. In
the first place, as Amir al-Mu'minin ('a) says, he should strive
to change the situation which permits the gluttony of the rich
oppressor and the hunger of the oppressed, in accordance with
the covenant of God with the learned men of the Ummah.[11] In the second place, he strives to ameliorate the state of affairs
through altruism and self-sacrifice, by sharing whatever he
possesses with the needy and the deprived. But when he sees that
the situation has deteriorated beyond reparation and it is
practically impossible to alleviate the misery of the poor
through sympathy, he practically shares their deprivation and
tries to soothe their wounded hearts by adopting a life-style
similar to that of the poor.
Sympathy with
others and sharing their suffering is of essential importance
especially in the case of the leaders of the Ummah on whom all
eyes are fixed. 'Ali ('a), more than at any other time, lived a
severely ascetic life during the days of his caliphate. He used
to say:
Indeed God has
made it obligatory for just leaders that they should maintain
themselves at the level of the poor class so that they do not
despair of their distress.[12]
Should I be
content with being called 'Amir al-Mu'minin' while refusing to
share the adversities of the times with the people? Or should I
be an example to them in the distress of life?[13]
In the same
letter (to 'Uthman ibn Hunayf) he says:
It is
absolutely out of question that my desires should overpower me
and my greed should lead me to relish choicest foods while in
the Hijaz and Yamamah there may be some people who despair of
even a single loaf of bread and who do not get a full meal.
Shall I lie with a satiated belly while around me are those
whose stomachs are hungry and whose livers are burning?
[14]
At the same
time, 'Ali ('a) would reproach anyone else for practising the
same kind of asceticism in life. When faced with their objection
as to why he himself practised it, he would reply, "I am not
like you. The leaders have a different duty." This approach of
'Ali ('a) can be observed in the conversation with 'Asim ibn
Ziyad al-Harith.
[15]
In volume IX of
the Bihar al-'anwar, it has been related from al-Kafi that Amir
al-Mu'minin ('a) said:
God has
appointed me the leader of the people and made it my duty to
adopt a way of living, in food and clothing, on a par with the
poorest classes of society, so that, on the one hand, it may
soothe the distress of the poor and, on the other, restrain the
rich from revolting.
[16]
An incident is
related from the life of the great faqih Wahid Behbahani,
may God be pleased with him. One day he observed one of his
daughters-in-law wearing a garment made of a fabric usually worn
by women of rich families of those days. He reproached his son
(the late Aqa Muhammad Isma'il, the lady's husband) in that
regard. The son recited this verse of the Quran in reply to his
father's remarks:
Say: 'Who has
forbidden the ornament of God which He has brought forth for His
servants, and the good things of His providing?
(7:32)
The father
said: "I don't say that putting on good dress, eating good food,
and making use of God's bounties is forbidden. Not at all. Such
restrictions do not exist in Islam. However, there is one thing
to be remembered. We are a family charged with the duty of the
religious leadership of Muslims and have special
responsibilities. When the people of poor families see the rich
live luxuriously, their frustration is aggravated. Their only
consolation is that at least the 'Aqa's family' lives like they
do. Now if we too adopt the life-styles of the rich, that will
deprive them of their only consolation. However, we cannot
practically change the present social condition, but let us not
grudge at least this much of sympathy."
As can be
clearly seen, zuhd, which derives motivation from
sympathy and readiness to share the sufferings of others, has
nothing common with monastic asceticism. It is not based on
escapism from society. The Islamic conception of zuhd is
a means of alleviating the sufferings of society.
Zuhd and
Freedom:
Another
ingredient of zuhd is love of freedom and independence.
The union between zuhd and freedom is as primordial as it
is indissoluble.
The dictates of
need and exigency are the criteria of opportunists, whereas
independence from want is characteristic of free men. The
deepest aspiration of the free men unattached to the world is
unencumbrance, buoyancy, absence of hindrance, and freedom of
movement.
As a result
they adopt zuhd and contentment so as to reduce their
wants to a minimum, liberating their selves from the bondage of
need, of things and persons.
The life of a
human being, like that of any other animal, requires a series of
natural and indispensable necessities, like air, shelter, bread,
water, and clothing. Man cannot free himself entirely from
attachment to such needs and other things such as light and heat
so as to make himself, in philosophical terminology,
"self-sustaining" (muktafi bidhatih).
However, there
are a series of other wants which are not necessary and natural,
but are imposed upon one in the course of one's life either by
oneself, or by social and historical factors beyond his control,
which nevertheless set limits upon his freedom. Such constraints
are not very dangerous as long as they are not transformed into
inner needs, such as certain political constraints and
compulsions. The most dangerous of compulsions are those which
emerge as inner needs from within one's own self and shackle
him.
The mechanism
of these needs, which lead to inner weakness, impotence, and
defeat, operates in such a way that when one turns to luxuries
and comforts in order to add charm, delight, and glamour to
one's life so as to feel more secure and strong in order to
derive greater gratification from life, one is impelled to
possess more and more things. In the course of time one gets
gradually accustomed to and engrossed in the means of one's
comfort, luxury, and power. These habits gradually result in
deeper attachment to and love for those things, and he is bound
to them with invisible bonds, thus becoming helpless and
impotent in front of them. That is, the same thing which had
once added charm and delight to his life later deprives his
personality of its vigour, and the same thing which once made
him feel powerful against nature now turns him into a helpless
slave without a will of his own.
Man's
inclination towards zuhd is rooted in his love of
freedom. By nature he is disposed toward possession of things
and their exploitation; but when he realizes that the things, to
the very extent they make him outwardly powerful and successful,
inwardly transform him into a weakling without will-power and a
slave, he rebels against this slavery. This rebellion of man is
what we call zuhd.
Our poets and
sages have spoken a lot about freedom and liberation. Hafiz
calls himself 'the slave of the magnanimity of him who is free
of everything under the blue sky that carries any taint of
attachment.' Among the trees, he admires the cypress which to
him seems 'free of all woes.' What those great men meant by
'freedom' is freedom from attachment, freedom from being
possessed, bewitched, and captivated by anything.
But freedom
implies something greater than being devoid of attachments. The
ties which make a man weak, helpless, dependent, and impotent
are not only those which originate in the heart or emotional
attachments; to these must be added the various bodily, physical
and psychological conditionings and artificial appendages that
are first acquired for adding charm and glory to life and for
satisfaction of the lust for power and strength, later growing
into a form of addiction or rather becoming a second nature.
These, while they may not involve one's emotional attachments,
or may even be regarded by one as reprehensible, should be
counted as even stronger means of human servitude and which may
bring greater even degradation than emotional attachments.
Take the
example of an enlightened 'arif with a heart free of
worldly attachments, for whom, nevertheless, addiction to tea,
tobacco or opium has become a second nature, or for whom
abstention from foods to which he is accustomed may endanger his
life. Can such a man lead a free existence?
Liberty from
attachments is a necessary condition of freedom, but it is not
sufficient in itself. Accustoming oneself to a minimum of the
niceties of life and abstention from affluent living is another
condition of freedom.
The first thing
to strike Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, one of the honoured Companions,
when describing the station of the Holy Prophet ('s), is:
The Prophet of
God, may peace be upon him and his Household, could manage with
the minimum necessities of life.
Is it a merit
to be able to do with a minimum of means? If we take only the
economic aspect into view, we should say that the Prophet's
level of consumption was quite low. In this respect, therefore,
the answer would be: "No, not at all; it is not a significant
merit." But if viewed from a spiritual viewpoint, that is when
examined by the criterion of freedom from worldly bondages, we
have to admit that it is a great merit indeed. Because it is
only by acquisition of this merit that a human being can live
with any measure of unfettered freedom and unimpeded mobility,
and participate in the incessant struggle of life with agility
and vigour.
This matter is
not restricted to habits involving the individual; binding
oneself to social habits and customs, to modes and manners of
dealing with people, the mesh of social connections and
gatherings, adherence to styles and fashions in dress and
demeanour-these and the like of these encumber life and deprive
it of dynamism
Freedom of
movement in the arena of life is like swimming; lesser the
interference and incumbrance for the swimmer, the greater is his
ability to move around in water. Too many attachments will not
only deprive him of his mobility but bring the danger of
drowning.
Athir al-Din
Akhsikati (d. 577 or 579/1181 or 1183) says:
To cross the river of life, shed your robes;
Nakedness is a condition of keeping afloat.
Farrukhi Yazdi
says:
Of nakedness the sage does not complain,
A sword of good steel would not rust without a sheath.
Baba Tahir has
a ruba'i which though intended for some other purpose is
nevertheless relevant here:
O heart, thy path is better when covered with thorns;
Thy track is better when stretched on heavens high;
Nay, if thou can strip the skin off thine flesh,
Do it, for the lighter thy burden the better it be.
Sa'di, too,
relates a relevant fable in the chapter 7 of his Gulistan,
although it also aims at some other purpose:
I saw a rich
mans son squatting by the side of his father's grave, and
bragging thus before a darwish's son: 'My father's tomb is
constructed of rare stones. Inside, it is paved with marble with
enlaid turquois. And look at the one of your father's! An
unbaked brick or two was fetched, on which a handful of earth
was thrown.'
The sage's son
heard these remarks and replied: 'Yet before your father is able
to budge under the pile of those stones, my father would have
reached the paradise itself.'
These are
allegories underlining the significance of lightness and freedom
from bondages, which is the essential condition for dynamism,
nobility, and nimbleness. Leaps, movements, and struggles were
achieved by individuals who were practically freer of bondages
and attachments; that is, in some sense they were zahids.
Gandhi, with his ascetic mode of life, brought the British
imperialism to its knees. Ya'qub Layth Saffar, in his own words,
'did not set aside his diet of bread and onions until he became
a terror for the caliph.' In our own times, the Vietcongs were
such an example. Their surprising power of resistance was drawn
from what in Islamic idiom has been called 'lightness of
provisions'. A Vietcong could sustain for days in his shelter
with a handful of rice and continue his battle with the enemy.
Which leader,
religious or political, living in luxury and comfort has brought
about drastic upheavals in world history? Which monarch who
founded a dynasty, having transferred power from another family
to his own, has been a lover of luxuries and comforts?
'Ali ibn Abi
Talib, may peace be upon him, was the freest of the world's free
men. He was a free man in the complete sense of the word,
because he was a zahid in the profoundest sense of the
word. 'Ali ('a), in the Nahj al-balaghah, lays great
emphasis on renunciation of worldly pleasures and comforts as a
means of liberation. In one of the hikam (aphorisms), he says:
Greed is
everlasting slavery.
[17]
In a sermon he
describes the zuhd of Jesus ('a), the son of Mary, in
these words:
He was free of
any abasing greed.
[18]
At another
place he says:
The world is a
place of transit, not a place to abide. Its people fall into two
categories: those who sell away their souls into slavery, and
those who ransom their souls and liberate them.
[19]
In a letter to
'Uthman ibn Hunayf, 'Ali ('a) is more explicit than elsewhere.
Towards the end of the letter, addressing the world and its
pleasures, he reveals to us the philosophy of zuhd and
the secrets of renunciation:
O world! Get
away from me! I have thrown thy reins on thy shoulders, have
freed myself from thy claws, and released myself from thy snares
.... Go, get thee away! By God, I shall not surrender to thee so
that thou should abase me! I shall not follow thee tractably
that thou may control me and lead me wherever thou willeth.
Yes. 'Ali's
zuhd is a rebellion against abasement and indignity on
account of pleasures. It is a rebellion against human weakness
and impotence before the tyranny of desires. It is a defiance of
servitude to the world and obsequiousness before its charms.
Zuhd And
Spirituality:
Zuhd, Love, and
Worship:
Another
fountainhead of zuhd and renunciation of hedonism is the
aspiration to avail of spiritual bounties. Presently we do not
intend to undertake any argument to the effect that man and the
universe possess an undeniable spiritual aspect. It is another
story by itself. It is evident that from a materialistic outlook
of the world, the rejection of hedonism, materialism, and love
of money and wealth as a prerequisite for acquisition of
spiritual virtues is devoid of any meaning.
We have, here,
nothing to say about the followers of materialism as a school of
thought. At present, we address only those who have experienced
the aroma of spirituality. For, anybody who has smelled its
fragrance knows that as long as one does not liberate oneself
from the bondage of desire, as long as the infant soul is not
weaned away from the breasts of nature, and as long as the
material aspects of life are seen as not being the ultimate end
of life and are seen as means, the domain of the heart is not
ready for the emergence of chaste emotions, majestic thoughts,
and angelic feelings. That is why, it is said, that zuhd
is the essential condition for exuberance of gnosis and is
inalienably linked with it.
The worship of
God, in its real sense, that is, ardour of love and zeal of
devotion and service in the way of God, His constant presence in
thoughts and His remembrance, the sense of delight and ecstasy
in His adoration and worship-it is not at all compatible with
self-adoration, hedonist attitude, and being captured by the
glamour and charm of material things.
The need of
zuhd is not characteristic solely of the worship of God;
rather, every kind of love and adoration, whether it pertains to
one's country, creed, conviction, or something else, calls for
some kind of zuhd and indifference towards material
aspects of life.
It is
characteristic of love and adoration, as opposed to knowledge,
science or philosophy, that they have to deal with the heart and
as such do not tolerate any rivals. Nothing prevents a scientist
or a philosopher who is enslaved to money and wealth from
devoting and concentrating his intellectual powers, when
necessary, on the study of the problems of philosophy, logic,
physics, or mathematics. But it is not possible, at the same
time, that his heart should be full to the brim with love,
especially love of a spiritual nature, such as for humanity, or
his religion and creed. Certainly, it cannot burn with the light
of Divine love nor can it receive an enlightenment or
inspiration of a Divine sort. Consequently, the essential
condition for reception of spiritual grace and realization of
authentic humanhood is purging the temple of the heart from
every trace of materialistic attachments and exterminating from
the Ka'bah of the heart all the idols of gold and silver and
destroying them.
As we have said
before, we should not be led to misinterpret freedom from the
bondage of gold and silver, and indifference towards what these
metals can be exchanged for, as monastic asceticism which is an
attempt to evade responsibility and commitment. Instead, it is
only in the light of such zuhd that responsibility and
commitment reacquire their real significance and are no longer
empty words without content and hollow claims. The personality
of 'Ali, upon whom be peace, is a glorious example of it. In him
zuhd and commitment were combined together. While he was
a zahid who had renounced the world, at the same time, he
had a heart that was most sensitive to the demands of social
responsibility. On the one hand he used to say:
What has 'Ali
to do with perishable niceties and short-lived pleasures.
[20]
On the other
hand, a small injustice or the sight of someone in distress was
enough to snatch sleep from his eyes at nights. He was ready to
go to bed with an empty stomach lest someone in his dominion
might have remained hungry:
Shall I stuff
my belly with delicious foods while in the Hijaz and Yamamah
there may be people who have no hope of getting a loaf of bread
or a full meal?
[21]
There was a
direct relation between that zuhd of his and this
sensitiveness. Since 'Ali ('a) was a zahid, indifferent
to the world and unselfish, with a heart that overflowed with
the exuberance of the love of God, he looked at the world, from
the minutest particle to the greatest star, as a unit entrusted
with responsibility and duty. That is why he was so sensitive
towards the matters of social rights. Had he been a hedonist
devoted to his own interests, he would never have been the
responsible and committed person that he was.
The Islamic
traditions are eloquent in regard to this philosophy of zuhd
and the Nahj al-balaghah lays particular emphasis upon
it. In a hadith, it is related from al-Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
('a) that he said:
All hearts that
harbour doubt or entertain shirk shall be inauthentic; that is
why they adopted zuhd so that hearts may be emptied and
made ready for the Hereafter.
[23]
As can be seen
from this tradition, every kind of hedonism and attachment to
pleasures is considered shirk and contrary to the worship of the
One God. Mawlana (Rumi) describes the zuhd of the 'arif
in these words:
Zuhd means taking pains while sowing;
Mystic knowledge (ma'rifah) is (care during) its
cultivation; The 'arif is the soul of the Law and the
spirit of taqwa; For mystic knowledge is the fruit of the
labours of zuhd.
Abu 'Ali Ibn
Sina, in the ninth namat of his al-'Isharat, which he
devotes to the description of various stations of the mystics (maqamat
al-'arifin), differentiates between the zuhd of the 'arif
and that of the non-'arif. He writes:
The zahids
who have no knowledge of the philosophy of zuhd, make a
certain deal in their imagination: they barter the goods of the
world for the goods of the Hereafter. They forego the enjoyments
of the world in order that they may enjoy the pleasures of the
Hereafter. In other words, they abstain here in order to indulge
there. But an aware zahid, acquainted with the philosophy
of zuhd, practises it because of his unwillingness to
engage his inner self with anything other than God. Such a man,
out of his self-respect, regards anything other than God to be
unworthy of attention and servitude.
In another
section of the same book where he discusses spiritual
discipline, Ibn Sina says:
This training
has three ends in view. First, removal of impediments from the
path towards God; second, subjugation of the earnal self (al-nafs
al-'ammarah) to the contented self (al-nafs al-mutma'innah),
third, refinement of the inward (batin).
Then he
proceeds to mention the effective means of realization of these
three ends. He tells us that true zuhd helps in achieving
the first of these objectives, that is, removal of impediments,
the non-God, from the way.
The
Contradiction Between the World and the Hereafter:
The problem of
the conflict between the world and the Hereafter and the
contradiction between them as two opposite poles, such as the
north and the south, which are such that proximity to the one
means remoteness from the other-is related to the world of human
heart, conscience, human attachment, love and worship. God has
not given two hearts to man:
God has not assigned to any man two hearts within his breast.
(33:4)
With one heart one cannot choose two beloveds. That is why once
when questioned about his old and worn-out clothes, 'Ali ('a)
replied:
These make the
heart humble, subdue the self, and induce the believers to
follow it as an example.
[23]
That is, those
who have no new clothes to wear are not ashamed to put on old
and worn-out dress. They no longer feel humiliation on their
account for they see that their leader himself hasn't put on any
better. Then 'Ali ('a) goes on to add that the world and the
Hereafter are like two irreconcilable enemies. They are two
divergent paths. Anyone who loves the world and chooses its
bondage is, by nature, led to loathe the Hereafter and detest
everything that is related to it. The world and the Hereafter
are like the east and the west, the north and the south. Anyone
who approaches the one gets farther from the other. They are
like two wives.
In one of his
epistles, he writes:
I swear by God
that, God willing, I shall so discipline my own self that it
would rejoice to have a single loaf of bread for eating and be
content with only salt to season it. (In prayer) I shall empty
my eyes of tears until they become like dried up springs. The
cattle fill their stomachs on the pasture and lie down to
repose. The goats graze, devour green herbs, and enter their
enclosures. Should 'Ali in a similar manner swallow whatever he
ean lay his hands on and lie down to doze'? Congratulations!
For, if he does that' after long years he has chosen to follow
the wild grazing animals and the cattle led out to pasture.
[24]
Then he goes on
to add:
Happy is the
man who fulfils his duties to God and overcomes hardships like a
mill grinding the grain, who allows himself no sleep at nights
and when it overpowers him lies down on the ground with his hand
for a pillow. He is accompanied by those who keep their eyes
awake in fear of the Day of Judgement, whose bodies are ever
away from their beds, whose lips constantly hum in the Lord's
remembrance, whose sins have been erased by prolonged
supplications for forgiveness. They are the party of Allah; why
surely Allah's party-they are the prosperers. (58:22)
[25]
The two
passages quoted above completely illustrate the relation-ship
between zuhd and spirituality. To sum up, one has to
choose one of the two paths; either to drink, eat, browse and
hanker after sensual pleasures in utter indifference to the
secrets of the spirit, to avoid the agonies of love and its
tears, to speak not of enlightenment and progress, not to take a
step beyond the threshold of bestiality; or to resolve on a
journey into the valley of authentic humanhood, towards the
effulgence and-exuberance of Divine grace which descends upon
chaste hearts and enlightened souls.
Zuhd: Minimum
of Intake for Maximum Output:
Some days ago I
was in Isfahan on a visit for a few days. During it, in a
gathering of the learned, a discussion started about zuhd.
The various aspects of it were scrutinized in the light of the
multifaceted teachings of Islam. Everyone wanted to find a
comprehensive and articulate definition of zuhd. Among
them a learned high school teacher,
[27] who (I later came to know, that he was writing a treatise on the
subject, the manuscript of which he showed me later) suggested a
wonderfully eloquent definition of zuhd. He said:
Islamic zuhd
is minimizing the intake and maximizing the output.
This definition
fascinated me and I saw that it was in conformity with my own
earlier understanding and the conclusions that I have drawn in
the foregoing chapters. Here I, with the permission of that
learned man, making a little amendment in his definition, would
say:
Zuhd in Islam means drawing a minimum of
intake for the sake of maximizing the output.
That is, there
exists a relation between drawing as little as possible of
material benefits of life on the one hand and aiming at
maximizing one's output on the other. Human 'outputs', whether
in the sphere of the actualization of one's potentialities,
whether on the level of emotion and morality, or from the point
of view of individuals role in social co-operation and mutual
help, or from the aspect of realizing spiritual edification and
refinement, all in all have a converse relationship to his
intake of material benefits.
It is a human
characteristic that the greater one's enjoyment of material
benefits and indulgence in such things as pleasures, luxuries,
and affluence, the greater is one's weakness, indignity,
impotence, sterility, and impoverishment. Conversely, abstinence
from indulgent and extravagant enjoyment of nature-of course,
within definite limits-refines and purifies human nature and
invigorates and strengthens two of the highest of all human
powers: thought and will .
It is true only
of animals that greater benefit from the possibilities provided
by nature contributes to their animal development and
perfection. Even in animals it is not applicable when we
consider what is called the 'merit' desirable in a beast. For
example, sheep and cattle which are reared for obtaining greater
amount of meat, milk, or fleece should be given greater
attention and care and fed well. However, this is not true of a
race horse. It is impossible for a common stable horse to show
any good performance in a race. The horse which has to run and
win races is given days or rather months of training with a
controlled diet until its body becomes lean and nimble, shedding
all its excessive fat so that it can acquire the desirable
agility and speed or the 'excellence' of which it is capable.
Zuhd is also an exercise and discipline for
man. But it is the exercise of the soul. Through zuhd the
soul is disciplined; shedding all excessive appendages, and
becoming, as a result, light, agile, and nimble, it takes an
easy flight into the skies of spiritual merits.
Incidentally,
'Ali ('a) also describes taqwa and zuhd as
'exercise' and practice. The word riyadah originally
meant exercising horses intended for racing. Physical exercise
is also called riyadah. 'Ali ('a) says:
Indeed, as to
my self, I shall exercise it and discipline it through taqwa.
[27]
What about
plant life? Like animals that which may be, loosely speaking,
called the merit of a tree or shrub is its capacity to thrive
with a minimum amount of nourishment from nature. 'Ali ('a),
also, makes an allusion to this point in one of his letters to
his governors. In that letter, after describing his own ascetic
life-style, characterized by a minimum of consumption, 'Ali ('a)
encourages him to emulate it. He says:
I can already
anticipate your criticism. Someone might say that if this is
what the son of Abu Talib eats then weakness should have made
him unfit for an encounter with the enemy's warriors. Remember
the untended tree that thrives in the harsh conditions of the
desert-its wood is firm and tough; even the fire lit from it is
more enduring and fierce.
This law, which
applies to all living things, is more effective in the case of
man because of the various characteristics special to him which
are summed up under the term 'human personality'.
[28]
The word 'zuhd',
despite its sublime human meaning, has suffered an evil fate,
and is fiercely denounced particularly in our own times.
Sometimes, the term is advertently or otherwise misinterpreted;
some-times it is equated with sanctimoniousness and show of
piety; at other times, it is considered equivalent to
monasticism and ascetic seclusion. Everybody is free to coin
terms of his own with any meaning of his own choice. But no one
has the right to condemn any concept or term by imparting to it
a wrong and misconceived meaning and sense. In its system of
ethics and education, Islam has used a certain term, zuhd.
The Nahj al-balaghah and the Islamic tradition are
replete with it. Before we make any judgement about zuhd
in Islam, first, before everything, we must understand its
Islamic connotation. The meaning of zuhd in Islam is what
we have tried to explain, and the philosophy behind it is what
we have discussed in the light of Islamic texts. If anyone finds
any fault with this meaning and philosophy, let him inform me so
that I too might be benefited.
What school of
thought and what kind of logic can justify monasticism? What
school of thought can recommend and justify the worship of
money, consumerism, love of goods, lust for position, or-to use
an expression which includes them all-worldliness? Is it
possible for man to be the slave and prisoner of material
things-or in the words of Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ('a), 'the slave
of the world and the slave of him who exercises control over
it'-and yet speak of 'human personality'?
Here, it would
not be out of place to cite the views of a Marxist writer about
the relation between love of money and human personality. In a
useful and concise book regarding capitalist and Marxist
economies, he points out the moral consequences of the power of
money for society. He writes:
The
extraordinary power of 'gold' over our contemporary society is
something deeply detested by men of sensitive nature. Men in
search of truth have always expressed their strong aversion
towards this filthy metal, and consider it to be the main cause
of corruption in contemporary society. However, those little
round pieces of a shining yellow metal called 'gold' are really
not to be blamed. The power and domination of money as a general
manifestation of power and authority of things over man is the
essential characteristic of a disorderly economy based on barter
and exchange. In the same way as the uncivilized man of ancient
times adored and worshipped idols made by his own hands, the
contemporary man also worships the product of his own labour,
and his life is overwhelmed by the power of things he has made
with his own hands. In order that the worship of consumer goods
and the worship of money, which is the filthiest form evolved of
idolatry, may be completely eradicated, the social causes which
brought them into existence should be eliminated and the society
should be so organized that the power and authority of the
little coins of this yellow brilliant metal would be thoroughly
obliterated. In such an organization of society, things will no
more wield their present power over human beings. On the other
hand, man's power and predominance over things shall be absolute
and according to a preconceived scheme. Then worship of money
and things shall give their place to honour and reverence for
the human personality.
We agree with
the author that the power of things over man, and in particular
the authority of money, is opposed to the demands of human
dignity and nobility, and is as condemnable as idolatry.
However, we do not agree with his suggested exclusive
prescription for solution of this problem.
Here we are not
concerned with the question whether collective ownership is
preferable from a social or economic point of view.
Nevertheless, morally speaking, this suggestion, instead of
redeeming society's spirit of honesty, eliminates right away the
very object of honesty!
Man can reclaim
his identity only by liberating himself from the power of money
and by bringing money under his own control. True human
personality can emerge when the danger of money and goods
remains possible without overcoming man, who is not ruled by
them but rules them. This kind of personality is what Islam
calls zuhd.
In the
educational system of Islam, man regains his personality without
the need to obliterate the right of property. Those who are
trained in the school of Islamic teachings are equipped with the
power of zuhd. They strip money and goods of their power
and subjugate them to their own authority.
Notes:
[1] Nahj al-balaghah, Khutab, No. 51
pp. 88-89
[2] Ibid., Khutab 16
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.,
Khutab 114
[5] Ibid., Khutab 191
[6] Ibid., Khutab 157
[7] See Guftar e mah, vol. I, the
second speech
[8] Ibid., Khutab 191
[9] Ibid.,
[10] Bihar al Anwar, vol. XV Bab al nahy an al rahbaniyyah wa
al siyahah. Rumi in the sixth part of his Mathnawi, refers
to this tradition in the story of the bird and the hunter.
[11] This is a reference to to Khutab
No. 3 p. 50
[12] Ibid,. Khutab 209
[13]Ibid., Khutab 45
[14] Ibid.,
[15] Ibid., Khutab 209
[16] Bihar al-anwar (Tabriz)(Vol IX.
p. 758)
[17] Nahj al-balaghah, Hikam,No. 103
[18] Ibid, Khutab, No. 160
[19] Ibid, Khutab, No. 133
[20] Ibid, Khutab, No. 224
[21] Ibid, Kutub, No. 45
[22] al Kulayni, al Kafi, vol. III p
194-5
[23] Nahj al-balaghah, Hikam,
No. 103
[24] Ibid., Kutub, No. 45
[25] Ibid., 420
[26] The person referred here is Akbar
Parwarish
[27] Ibid., Kutub 45
[28] Usul e Iqtisad e Nuhsin, "Shakl e
arzish e pul".
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