The Sunday Mail
THE world has suffered at the hands of the one-sidedness of many different ideologies. Some have laid emphasis only on the spiritual side of life and have ignored its material and mundane aspects.
Umari Stambuli
They have looked upon the world as an illusion, a deception, and a trap. On the other hand, materialistic ideologies have totally ignored the spiritual and moral side of life and have dismissed it as fictitious and imaginary.
Both of these attitudes have resulted in disaster, for they have robbed mankind of peace, contentment, and tranquility.
Even today, the imbalance is manifested in one or the other direction.
The French scientist Dr De Brogbi rightly says: “The danger inherent in too intense a material civilisation is to that civilisation itself; it is the disequilibria which would result if a parallel development of the spiritual life were to fail to provide the needed balance.”
According to Lord Snell: “We have built a nobly-proportioned outer structure, but we have neglected the essential requirement of an inner order; we have carefully designed, decorated and made clean the outside of the cup, but the inside was full of extortion and excess, we used our increased knowledge and power to administer to the comforts of the body, but we left the spirit impoverished.”
The right balance
Islam seeks to establish equilibrium between these two aspects of life – the material and the spiritual.
It says that everything in the world is in place for the use and benefit of man, but man was created to serve a higher purpose, the establishment of a moral and just order that will fulfill the will of God Almighty.
It’s teachings cater for the spiritual as well as the temporal needs of man.
Islam enjoins man to purify his soul and to reform his daily life -both individual and collective – and to establish the supremacy of “right over might” and of “virtue over vice”.
Thus Islam stands for the middle path and the goal of producing a moral man in the service of a just society.
One must comprehend that Islam is not a “religion” in the common and distorted sense, for it does not confine its scope to one’s private life.
It is a complete way of life and is present in every field of human existence. Islam provides guidance for all aspects of life – individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, and national and international.
The Holy Qur’aan enjoins man to embrace Islam without any reservation and to follow God’s guidance in all areas of life.
Islam clearly states that its objectives are the purification of the soul and the reform and reconstruction of society. As we read in the Holy Qur’aan: “We verily sent Our Messengers with clear proofs, and revealed with them the Scripture and the Balance, that mankind may observe right measure . . . ” (Ch 57 : v 25)
Thus even a cursory study of the teachings of Islam shows that it is an all-embracing way of life and does not leave out any field of human existence to become a playground for the forces of evil.
For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan, please contact:
Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars
Publications Department
PO Box W93, Waterfalls, Harare
Tel: 04-614078/614004, Fax: 04-614003/
e-mail: [email protected].
