A Life of Humility

 

Consider the Qur’anic guidance on virtuous social conduct, righteous living:

 

‘Believers, no one group of men should jeer at another, who may after all be better than them; no one group of women should jeer at another, who may after all be better than them; do not speak ill of one another; do not use offensive nicknames for one another….’

 

‘Believers, avoid making too many assumptions– some assumptions are sinful– and do not spy on one another or speak ill of people behind their backs…’

 

‘People, We created you all from a single man and a single woman, and made you into races and tribes so that you should recognize one another. In God’s eyes, the most honoured of you are the ones most mindful of Him: God is all knowing, all aware’. (Holy Qur’an, 49: 12-14)

Islam & Humans

 

Islam is a religion that is both temporal and spiritual. This is because this religion emanates from the One Who created the human being and Who knows, therefore, what suits him best. Allah, our Creator, knows, in particular, what is necessary for the relations of man with his fellows to be harmonious. For social relations to be good, they must be based on right principles; it is necessary that the individual does not feel attacked either in his physical person, or in his moral personality, so that a healthy and united society is achieved.

 

Allah honoured the descendants of Adam (as) by endowing them with reason, which should be able to lead man to faith in Allah: “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (Bani Isra’il, 17: 71) 

This faith, this conviction, requires that we recognize Allah and accept His Laws. Obeying Allah and His Laws is the culmination of self-knowledge, as the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever among you knows himself best, knows his Lord best!” He who is convinced that Allah is indeed the Creator and the Lord of the universe not only comes to have admiration for the laws of Allah, but also to want to respect them, because he knows that these laws are what is best for each individual and for society. 

Many of these laws relate to social relations without which there would be no human civilization. They govern the relationship of the individual with himself, with his fellows, and with the universe in general. 

General laws are useful; but, in everyday life, the rules of convenience and good manners, which relate to details, are just as necessary. One of the qualities of Islam is to contain both general laws and precise rules of life. 

Instincts exist in humans as in animals, it is true. But, unlike the animal whose destiny is to obey its instincts, the human being, who has been endowed with reason and a sense of responsibility, must be able to control his instincts. It is not a question of “suffocating” them, but only of making them speak wisely. Indeed, Man was not created solely to survive and reproduce. Allah has assigned him and the Jinn a higher purpose: “I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.” (Az-Zariyat 51: 57)