Man and Ignorance

The Methods of Salvation

To save a Muslim from spreading the infection of `jahiliyah' and to help Muslims uproot its foundations in their society and civilization, and to achieve prevention and fortification against foreign, civil, and mental invasions, it is necessary for them to follow the following steps:

1. Achieving a full understanding for life according to original Islamic methods so that a Muslim knows the value of his life. He should ask himself:

What does existence in life mean?

What is the value of all beings with whom I deal?

How should my psychological relation be with life?

And how do I organize my relations in it?

A Muslim should consider these questions and take them into account in order to build his life on original Islamic teachings. Islam will guide him in all aspects including his possessions, rule, power, fame, life, death, pleasure, pain, and the human relations.

These teachings differ completely from an ignorant understanding and its material viewpoint towards things, the world, and life.

Therefore, the first step to get rid of ignorant concepts is to achieve an aware understanding of existence and life on the basis of Islam and to make a general, psychological change to turn ignorant awareness and understanding, entering our societies, into a believing mental system and believing civil awareness which revolves around the axis of servitude to Allah, sincere loyalty to Him, and going directly toward Him.

When a Muslim understands the meaning of life and its value, and recognizes the same right in it for others on the basis of these values and principles, he will see that all aspects of misery and aggression on the earth, such as poverty, aggression, terrorism, corruption, exploitation, enslavement, vanity, haughtiness, making light of man's values and rights, will disappear. Man will live a life of purity and dignity.

2. After this understanding is achieved, the reconstruction of both the Muslim's personality and the society will fit together. It will cause the purification of the conscience and awareness of a Muslim against ignorant backgrounds and motives hidden in his depths, so that he may achieve the reconstruction and reorganization of the human personality from its inner side on the basis of sound, Islamic understanding.

Thus, a Muslim will become honest, self-purified, a lover of good, ready to practice the Islamic life, and ready to accept its teaching.

3. The third method of uprooting ignorant backgrounds is to establish an Islamic society which unifies its individuals within the framework of an organized human unity full of believing spirit and truthful, believing direction and in which a Muslim will practice Islam as a living fact and as a social system, thought, behavior, life, and pure servitude to Allah only under the shade of a lawful authority which believes in Islam and stands on its principles in order to build the society with its foundations, activities, and the aspects of life based on original Islamic rules.

With this method, we are able to get rid of ignorant backgrounds and keep the course of the Muslim individual and society within the boundaries of Islam.

However, if we are satisfied with mere theoretic belief, while all, or most, of our behavior, life system, dealings, and laws of our society are far and deviated from Islam, we will not achieve full belief nor raise ourselves to the level of true Islam as Allah desires for us.

Rather our belief will bend toward `jahiliyah' and servitude at random, though many of us do not feel this contrast, duplicity, and collapse.