In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful we have already talked about certain effects that follow monotheism in the society. There were many other aspects to monotheism such as the effect of monotheism on the financial affairs of the society, a very important question, also a little complicated as far as various verses of the Quran are concerned; it needs a thorough research that cannot be dealt with in a session such as ours. There are of course certain Quranic verses of which the general sense is not hard to understand: “…and give some property to them of that which God has given to you…” which certainly means that you should, out of your worldly property or wealth, give some to the poor, the needy and others in financial difficulties, but, as I said, an exact, thorough research in this respect is fit for some Quranic, scientific circles.
There are, however, some more necessary discussions relating to the ideological principles of Islam which we should try to deal with by the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Today we will be continuing our discussion of monotheism, but our discussion today is more relevant to what we said at the beginning of these lectures about ‘faith and faithfulness’ and its effects on the believers. We did explain that faith ought to be followed by faithful practice and faithful commitment and that faith should be acquired consciously, not blindly. The commitments that faith lays upon the faithful’s shoulders are among the heaviest and most effective ones in the Islamic, religious ideology. In a nutshell, a believer’s monotheism means commitment to establish a monotheistic world and eradicating all signs, symbols and impressions of polytheism and infidelity.
Those among you who are familiar with the Arabic language know that the root of the word ‘Towheed’ (monotheism) means ‘oneness’ and ‘changing into one’. What does this demand? It demands that a variety of so-called gods are changed into one and that the non-monotheistic societies are transformed into monotheistic ones. All this needs strenuous, zealous efforts; in fact belief in monotheism means doing things and fulfilling commitments, and this brings forth a special, clear insight in any person. We now notice that monotheism involved a unique, strong faith not comparable to other Islamic or non-Islamic religious faiths.
Let us cite some examples. Monotheism requires that the faithful do everything in their power to remove poverty, to regulate wealth in the Islamic society and do away with wars. Well, there may be some schools of thought that teach their followers to try to achieve one of these objectives. But monotheism, in its correct sense not in a superstitious, superficial belief in the Unity of God, divine administration, divine laws and a divine, social system embraces all such commitments (that some schools of thought declare) and many more; that’s why I say that commitment to monotheism is the heaviest, human task.
Thus when we say that faith in monotheism carriers with it the heaviest burden and is more decisive and more comprehensive than other religious fundamentals, we should then ask what are the psychological effects of such a belief on the souls, hearts and minds of the faithful? This is really a separate, independent question and we must find out what these effects are. There are two useful sides to this discussion. The first useful point is that we become more familiar with monotheism and we discover that monotheism includes a great spiritual education. Some people, talking about the psychological effects of monotheism, present you with a stupefying interpretation; this is absolutely wrong.
The second use of monotheism is that we come to know ourselves, that is, whether we are truly monotheists or not. How do we find out about this? Let me give you an example. If you are prescribed a medicament but after you eat it, you find out that it had no effect in curing your pain or illness, you will know that the drug was either wrongly prescribed or that it was not original our out of date. So what sort of psychological effects should monotheism have on your soul and mind? Well, we could talk about these effects for long hours but I try to sum up the discussion in our present meeting because as from tomorrow, I intend to talk about the question of divine prophethood.
So now let’s refer to some of these psychological effects: One is that people’s outlook on their horizon or insight will broaden; a monotheist does get rid of narrow-sightedness, short-sightedness, egoist world outlook and pessimist tendencies; a monotheist never says ‘I was defeated in that field, or that I always face setbacks and everything was detrimental for me’. He knows that his monotheism is not restricted to his life-span, fifty, seventy or a hundred years, and that his longevity is not more than a moment or a second compared with life-span of humanity. In other words, a monotheist’s outlook is never restricted to some mean, small, material needs and cheap worldly ambitions. In a monotheistic horizon, apart from those material needs, dozens of greater spiritual, human needs are observed. For a monotheist the future is infinite, he does see an end for his worldly life because in his outlook this world is closely linked to the next world; death is not the blocking wall of this life but it is a corridor to a far vaster world of monotheism.
On the opposite side, in the outlook of non-monotheists, no matter what noble human ideas they had and no matter what good, well-intentioned and great personalities they were, everything comes to an end through death. As you notice, for a materialist, apart from this world, there is nothing else and after his life, he’ll be in the region of non-existence, but a monotheist does not believe in non-existence; he will be in a very different kind of existence.
Another psychological effect of monotheism on monotheists is that fear never engulfs them and this is a most important factor in human life. There are many verses in the Quran in this respect and today we do recite a few of them. In one verse the believers are addressed and advised: “Satan it is indeed who prompts you to fear his followers, so you should have no fear of people but only fear Me if you are true believers.” The Quran is saying that you should burn up the roots of fearing other people and only fear God Almighty because god-fearing people fear nobody. The person who believes in the Unity of God and His power as the Creator will annihilate fear in his soul and mind.
If we ponder over this psychological phenomenon and do some research about it, we will conclude that it is fear that deprives man of a virtuous life both in this world and the next. Fear of falling into poverty makes man parsimonious and stops him from helping the poor and the needy. Fear of avoiding hardships makes man to tolerate crimes, scandals and humiliations. Fear of being alive for a few more days, months or even years-nobody is given a guaranteed document that you will live up to a certain future date – and fear of losing such passing, uncertain life causes men to murder other men, to make social life a horribly bitter one and to increase greed which also has its roots in fear.
Take a glimpse at historical facts and reports. What made the right-minded people, the supporters of truthful and rightful ways become a minority. What caused the people who had known the truth, not to follow the truth? Why were they silent when numerous crimes were being committed? When you do some research to find the answers to these questions, you’ll find out that the root-cause was fear. When the Islamic community was faced with certain deviations and non-Islamic tendencies, what caused the Muslims not to defend and keep safe the free gift of Islam that God had granted them? The first generation of those who bore all sorts of hardships and tortures and devoted their efforts for the establishment of the Islamic administration were still alive. Why couldn’t they live up to their Islamic ideals? The real cause was nothing but fear. Was there anybody in Hijaaz(Arabia) who didn’t know Muawia? From among those very close to Ali (AS) and familiar with his instructions, who was it who didn’t know the character and nature of Muawia Bin Abi-Sufyaan? Was there anyone who did not know Yazeed Bin Muawia? Was there anyone who didn’t know about Abdulmalik Marwaan? Were there any people who did not know the Bani-Umayya dynasty? Did they know nothing about the holy Prophet, the Quran and the Umayya animosity towards Islam? The answer to these questions is an affirmative yes, they all were aware, but they were frightened, fear had made them senseless and thoughtless.
The real cause of their submission, for cooperation with oppressive rulers, for becoming their mercenaries or henchmen and even seeking favours by flattery was fear, the root-cause was the fear in their hearts; this fear was everywhere and was true in the case of ordinary people up to high-ranking officials. Abdullah-Ibn Omar was an outstanding example of spiritual weakness; he lacked self-reliance, was most incompetent and absolutely unconcerned about questions of right and wrong.
Abdullah Zubair was also not concerned with questions of right and wrong; and when you ponder on the characters of these two, you may find that ruthless Abdullah was an arch-enemy of Imam Ali (AS) and later swore allegiance to a mass-murderer as Hajjaaj. His pretext for not swearing allegiance to Ali was ‘I am not very clear about this matter’! What sickness did he have in his heart and soul? Wasn’t it fear? He knows that Ali (AS) would not be unjust, so he didn’t fear him. Anyway, years passed, Imam Ali (AS) was martyred, Muawia had ruled for some years whom Abdullah Omar knew well. After that we had three years of Yazeed’s shameful rule. And now Abdulmalik Marwaan became the ruler who dispatched the butcher Hjjaaj to defeat Abdullah Zubair and conquer Mecca for him.
After Hjjaaj stoned the House of God and later put all the supporters of Zubair to the sword, many groups of Meccans went to the Hajjaaj’s tent to swear allegiance to him and Abdullah Omar was one of them. He was expecting welcome and respect for being the son of the second Khalif and his submissive attitude to Muawia. He told the guard: ‘please tell Hajjaaj that Abdullah Omar has come to swear allegiance.’ Then he walked into the tent and stood there but Hajjaaj, who was reportedly writing something, did not even raise his head. Abdullah said ‘I am here to shake your hand and swear allegiance’; Hajjaaj said ‘don’t you see that my hands are busy, swear your allegiance to my foot’! And he did so. Well, what do we learn from such historical incidents? Well, Abdullah Omar’s mean behaviour shows how some faithless people are ready to go through all sorts of humiliations to go on with their miserable lives for a few more months or years, lives in which you find no earthly joy, nor any good deeds for the next world. To kiss the feet of Hajjaaj in order to live a little longer and consume some more kilos of food! What’s the cause of such despicable behavior? Nothing but fear.
Here I would like to draw your attention to the importance of prayers and supplications by our own Imams, especially those relating to the holy month of Ramadan; I cannot emphasize enough on their significance which really concern many psychological needs of our souls. One of these supplications to God Almighty by Imam Sajjaad is this: ‘O God, lengthen my life as long as it is at your service, your servitude and your obedience…’. Before I talk further about this supplication, let me again put emphasis on the importance of such prayings. Some people take these prayings very lightly and just recite them thoughtlessly. There are plenty of benefits in them and, in this respect; my addressees are those who absolutely reject such empty supplications to God Almighty. Now let’s go back to the Imam’s request from God. What he really requests is this: I don’t want a long life, say, 120 years, no, I long after that longevity that is spent serving you and obeying you. He goes on to say: ‘but if You find that my life has turned into a breeding-field of Satan, then do put an end to my life (take my soul away).’ I have already told you about the extensive meaning of the term Satan; it not only means the person of the perverted angel (Iblees) but embraces all evil and vicious forces that lead men astray and throw them down into the abyss of sins, crimes and corrupt actions. In this sense, the Imam says if I am being exploited in the wrong ways, if my life is a means of anti-God elements to exploit, and when I, unknowingly, have become a means of satanic forces to exploit my pride, my ignorance and my life in ways other than Yours, please put an end to my life; I do not want this sort of life; this is a true supplication.
We may imagine the pure life of a person who, like our Imams, prays to God so humbly and asks Him to take his life if it has become a life at the service of God’s enemies; such a person declares that death is better than this kind of life.
Abdullah Bin Abbas is another outstanding example; he lived and died most miserably. He abandoned Ali (AS), he did not help Hassan (AS) and left Husain (AS) alone. Abdullah Omar had witnessed all this but he never learned anything. That’s why I believe that people like Abdullah Omar and Abdullah Bin Abbas were not true believers in monotheism. I don’t claim that monotheists could never worry, be anxious, distressed or alarmed, no, but they, as a result of their belief in the Unity of God, never fear the enemies of God; they don’t dread anything on the path of God and perform their commitments and obligations in the sight of God.
Anyway, the verses I selected to be recited and explained at this meeting are from the Suras Aali-Imraan and Ra’d. But before this, I must inform you of something that I forget to tell you yesterday. This evening the middle of Ramadan, coincides with the birth-anniversary of Imam Hassan Mujtaba (AS), and we are going to have a happy friendly gathering, which may start about 9 p.m. with some short speeches, some poetry reading and, of course, some good recitations of the Quran. I hope most of you will be able to attend it.
And now back to the verses I mentioned. First is the verse 172 of Sura Aali-Imraan; it says: “Those who responded to the call of God and the Messenger, even after having suffered a setback, those of them who do what’s just and right and are god-fearing, shall have a recompense unfailing.” Well, this verse puts stress on those ‘who responded to the call of God and the Messenger’; what does ‘responded’ mean? It means that they not only accepted the call in their hearts and souls but they followed and supported the Prophet in the most difficult and dangerous situations. They supported him even ‘after setbacks and after being wounded’; from among these responders to the call of God, who did such good deeds, many will be rewarded immensely.
As you may know this verse relates to the Battle of Uhud. In that battle, some Muslims were escaping out of fear for their lives and the holy Prophet called them to come back but they didn’t; there were others, badly wounded including Ali (AS), who gathered around the Prophet and defended him against the enemy like a steel wall. Certainly we should not limit our understanding of the verse to the Battle of Uhud; certain factors or events were the causes of the revelation of the verses, but we must know at the same time that the meanings of the Quranic verses go far behind such limitations; we should try and comprehend the basic idea or notion expressed in these Quranic verses.
I think I have at times explained about such fundamental ideas that have been expressed in the context of some stories and historical accounts because we do notice that some general Islamic principle is explicitly given us in such context. Take the account about Prophet Noah as an example. The Prophet, his family and his true followers are boarding the ship and others are caught in the harsh currents of flood and the accompanying typhoon as the signs of the wrath of God. In the midst of this tumultuous condition, Noah’s son, who chose not to believe in his father’s divine teachings, refuses to board the Noah’s Ark.
Well, this seems to be an ordinary story but it’s full of interactive points and sublime references. Let’s go back to the story again: a very old father who sees his dear son about to be drowned, calls out to him ‘Come quickly, do board the ship or you’ll be drowned and meet your death’, but he replies ‘no, I don’t follow you and I will not be drowned because I’m going to mount the highest mountains! And while the father and the son are engaged in this conversation, a strong wave takes the boy away and the father never sees his son again.
Now, as far as human emotions are concerned, Noah is naturally saddened by this catastrophic event. Then He turns to his God and says ‘O God, you had promised to save all my family, this son was also a member of the family, I wished he’d have been saved too’. Then the call comes from the Creator of all the worlds ‘no, he was no more a kinsman but an embodiment of evil doing’. This verse presents a general, Islamic principle and tells us that two brothers who have opposite opinions (regarding God) are aliens and two non-related person with Unitarian beliefs may be like brothers. If a father and a son differ radically in monotheism, if one is in the Party of God and the other in the Party of Satan, these two, father and his son, do not belong to one family; in Islam the genealogical, or maternal relationships, that is, blood-relations fall into a secondary category, the primary category belongs to mental, spiritual and ideological relationships; this is a fundamental, Islamic principle.
I took a glimpse at some Narrations attributed to our Imams and I found out that many of them confirmed the Islamic principle I mentioned. One of them says: a believer could be the brother of another believer as if they were of the same parenthood. This means that you may differ a lot with your own brother as far as your beliefs are concerned but you may be like a brother to another believer in a far corner of the world as if born of the same parents. So when you read the verses of the Quran, you should try to comprehend what basic principle, what truthful idea and what historical fact is being described.
Now let’s go back to the verses we read: ‘those believers who were warned that large groups of people had gathered against you, they have plotted and united to destroy you, you must fear them’. This warning was given them by some well-wishers and ordinary persons. But what was the reaction of the true believers supporting the holy Prophet? Firstly “…they grew more strong in their belief and answered ‘God is more than enough for us, oh, what a splendid Guardian”. This is most interesting: instead of being scared, their faith increased! And then declared ‘God is quite enough for us to rely on”. The next verse says: “Thus they returned with Allah’s grace and blessing, so they did not suffer any harm, they did follow God’s pleasure only, and God is the Lord of Grace unbounded.” So these believers who were frightened by others, did receive God’s blessings and suffered no harm and happily took part in the Battle. The Quran does not say how they were happy because whether they were martyred, wounded or returned to Medina safely, makes no difference for they all received the grace and blessing of God.
The following verse, which I think must be read and remembered, says: “Satan indeed it is that prompts you to fear his followers; so you should have no fear of people, only fear Me, if you are true believers.” Yes, it is Satan who tries to frighten the believers; he inspires that the enemies have plotted against you, they have gathered large armed groups against you, the Hypocrites and the infidels of Quranish have united against you, and that they have swords hidden under their cloaks; and finally it is Satan who frightens you all, but if you’re not a friend of Satan, you’ll never fear him. You see how this verse, deeply and tersely described the psychological state. So, you believers, never fear him but, if you’re believers, only fear God Almighty. Then the Quran says: “Do not grieve for those of them who hasten to unbelief; they won’t be harming God one whit; thus God intends that they shall have no portion in the Hereafter and a grievous torment shall be their lot.” Salute to you all with God’s mercy and His blessings.
