Islamic Morals [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Lesson: 25 Recognition of Faith

Now when the
reality of Faith, from the viewpoint of verses and narrations, has become clear,
it is essential to think over three things:

1 - Faith in
the Lord of the universe assures peace of mind and heart.

2 - Faith can be either strong or weak.

3 - Faith is of two kinds: firm and meek or docile.

Now surely
the friends of Allah - they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. Those
who believe and guarded against evil: They shall have good news in this worlds
life and in the hereafter; there is no changing the words of Allah; that is
the mighty achievement.

Between the
friends of god - who are real Mo-mins - and God, there is no barrier or distance.
Curtains have been lifted up from their souls and in the radiance of the light
of knowledge and faith and pure deeds, they see god with the eyes of their souls
in such a way that no kind of doubt or hesitation creeps in their hearts. It
is due to this recognition of Allah Whose existence is unending and Whose Power
is limitless and Whose perfection is total, everything except Him Allah becomes
little, insignificant and weak and valueless in their sight.

Yes, one who
is friendly with an ocean gives no importance to a drop and the one who looks
at the sun is care little about a faint lamp.

Thus it becomes
clear why they are fearless. The reason is that fear usually is due to the possibility
of the vanishing of a bliss or wealth which in the possession of man or because
of dangers which are likely to threaten him in future. Similarly, usually, man
grieves over losing what he had in the past.

The Wali's
and true friends of Allah are free of every kind of attachment or slavery of
the material world and zuhd or piety, in its true meaning, rules over their
existence. They do not complain restlessly by losing material possessions nor
any fear in this regard about future ever engages their minds.

That is why
the sorrows and fears which make others always tense and restlessness, either
about the past or regarding the future, are never found in their lives.

A little pot
of water wavers even with the blow of mouth of a man but in the vastness of
an ocean even storms prove ineffective and that is why the ocean remains mostly
calm.

So that you
may not grieve from what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given
you.

Yes, the friends
of God were always like this, that is: When they had they did not become mad
after it and when they missed they did not grieve. Their souls are so large
that and their views are so vast that such events of the past or the future
can never affect them.

In this manner
true peace and tranquillity rules over their existence and in the words of they
Holy Quran: Those are they who shall have the security.

And according
to another ayat: now surely by remembrance are the hearts set at rest.

In shorts,
grief and fear of man, usually is due to his materialistic thinking. If those
who are not materialists do not feel fear or grief it is quite natural and sometimes
this argument is propounded in the form of logic.

The friends
of God always remain so deeply thoughtful of the Grace and Grandeur of God and
are so much engrossed in His thought that they forget everything except Him.
It is obvious that and pain and fear and fright undoubtedly require a thought
of losing something or of facing an enemy who is dangerous. One who gives no
place in his heart except to God and who does not fear anyone else and whose
soul does not accept anything but God, how is it possible that he will have
any kind of grief or sorrow or fear or fright?

For making
the argument more clear it can be said: scientific and logical arguments also
may bring certainty but they cannot create peace because logical arguments can
satisfy man's mind but not his heart. And hence, it is essential that heart
should be satisfied by way of faith and certainty and actual observation. As
was the case with Gods fried Ibrahim (a.s.). When God asked him: What! And do
you not believe? He said: Yes but that my heart may be at ease.

An Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) said: One day the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) offered the Morning Prayer
in congregation. Then, in the mosque, he saw a young man who was dozing. His
colour was yellow and his eyes were deep in their sockets. They Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) asked him: How are you? How did you pass your night and got up in
the morning? The youth replied: I got up with Faith in my heart. The Prophet
(s.a.) doubted his words. So he asked: Every faith has a certainty. What is
the certainty of your faith?

The youth:
O Prophet of God! It is the same certainty that has made me sad and sorrow-stricken.
Awakening in the night and the thirst in days have been gifted to me by the
same certainty. I have become uninterested in the world and everything therein
so much so that, as if, I see the Throne of the Lord and that the court of accountability
has rose up and that all men have gathered there and as if I see those who are
in the Paradise, who are enjoying it fruits sitting comfortably on chairs introducing
one another and as if I can see also the people of the Hell who are being punished
there and that they are crying and shrieking and as if now I am hearing the
noise of the flames of fire leaping from the Hell. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
said to and the self-sacrificing youths of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in
the field of war, so much so that a captive Iranian Muslim youth is not prepared
to talk with a foreigner unveiled lady.

Faith is Liable
to be strong and Weak Now we invite your attention to some Quranic verses which
clearly state that faith can be increases:

1 - Those
only are believers whose hearts become full of fear when Allah is mentioned,
and when His communications are recited to them they increase them in faith,
and in their Lord do they trust.

2 - When
the believers saw the allies, they said: This is what Allah and His Apostle
promised us, and Allah and His Apostle spoke the truth; and it only increased
them in faith and submission.

3 - And
whenever a chapter is revealed, there are some of them who say: Which of you
has it strengthened in faith? Then as for those who believe, it strengthens
them in faith and they rejoice. And as for those in whose hearts is a disease,
it adds uncleanness to their uncleanness and they die while they are unbelievers.

Faith is
of two types: Mustaqarr and Mustavda

What is derived
from verses and narrations is that Faith of some people is stable Mustaqarr
and fixed while the Faith of some, due to repeated disobedience is departing
like as unfixed deposit. This can here be seen in the following verse and a
tradition:

1 - And
He it is Who has brought you into being from a single soul, then there is for
you a resting-place and a depository; indeed We have made plain the communications
for a people who understand.

2 - Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) said: Verily a slave gets up in the morning is a state of a faithful
Mo-min and passes his evening when he is a Kafir. And on the contrary he is
unbeliever in the morning and turns into a believer in the evening. In between
these tow kinds there also are people whose Faith is like a loan, which thereafter
is taken back from them and such people are called Ma aa reen meaning who were
given a loan. Then he said: That person is among them.

What experience
has confirmed and what history points out is that, around Prophets and Imams
(a.s.) there were people who were faithful and pious but when a testing time
arrived they failed therein and turned their faith into disbelief for example
names of Bal-am Baaooraa and Zubair and can be quoted and on the other hand
there are people of the other kind like Zaheer bin Qain and Hurr bin Yazeed
Riyaahi and In the Islamic Revolution of Iran also we know a group of people
who, after the Revolution, deviated from the straight path and the line of the
Imam. As against them, there were also were people who were for merely deviated
but thereafter they believed in the Revolution to such an extent that they even
attained martyrdom.

To summarize,
if man does not reform and construct oneself and does not train himself his
future becomes very dark and he reached a stage when this Word of the Lord Almighty
becomes applicable to him: They are as cattle, nay, they are in worse errors.

Yes, if we
long to attain the status of Gods vice regency, I quote here for our enlightenment
about heart soul some words of the archers of morals. They will, God willing,
prove helpful. Scholars of ethics are of the opinion that a man's soul or human
feelings and impulses has three stages and that the Holy Quran points to them
like this:

1 - Is a rebellious
soul that orders man to commit sin and drives him in every direction. Therefore
it is called Ammaarah In this stage intelligence and Faith have not only no
power or strength to control the rebellious self and to bridle it, but, on most
occasions, to it they also submit to it and if it wants to fight with the rebellious
soul they fall down and are defeated.

Second stage
is Nafse lawwaamah: wherein, after learning, training and striving, man rises
to a height. Of course, in this stage, it is possible that man in front of the
storming impulses, sometimes does wrong. But, he at once, feels ashamed and
scolds himself. He decides to stop sinning and washes purifies his heart and
soul with the water of repentance. In other words, in this battle between mind
and soul, sometimes Aql wins and sometimes soul. But in either case, the side
of Aql and Eemaan is weightier. Yet for reaching this stage effort and striving
is essential. In Islam such training and exercise is provided by the Words of
God and the Prophet and the Imams and religious leaders. It is the same stage
by which the Holy Quran has vowed in Surah Qiyamat. Such a vow indicates its
greatness: Nay! I swear by the Day of Resurrection. Nay! I swear by the self-accusing
soul.

The third stage
is Nafse Mut ma innah and this is the stage whereafter, full cleanliness, disciplining
and training, man reaches a status when rebellious desires get defeated. They
desires lose power to fight with Aql and Eemaan because the latter have become
mush more strong.

This is the
same stage of satisfaction and tranquillity. A tranquillity that rules over
vast oceans. This is the status of Prophets and saints and the true followers
and the Mo-mineen who learnt the lesson of Faith and fear of God from the Divine
religion, strived for several years for disciplining of the soul and took the
Jihade Akbar to its final end.

The Holy Quran
refers to it: O soul that art at rest! Return to your Lord, well pleased
with Him, well pleasing Him, So enter among My servants, and enter into My Garden.

Everyone who
keeps distance from his self

Gets back the opportunity of is rejoining

Here we conclude
the discussion of Faith and proceed to other heavenly attributes of man.