Philosophy Of Islam
Man of Our Age
From the point of view of the availability of the facilities of life,
the man of our age has reached a grand stage. The innumerable
discoveries and inventions have provided him such opportunities as
previously appeared to him totally fantastic.
The automatic appliances and electronic implements have made many such
things possible for the man of our age, which were hitherto impossible.
By just pressing a button he can obtain whatever he wants. Water, air,
heat, cold, food and clothing are all readily available for him.
Radio waves in the twinkling of an eye carry his voice to the farthest
corner of the world; not only his voice but his picture also.
The aircraft have subdued vastness of the space for him. With ease and
speed he flies from one side of the world to another, even more easily,
more lightly and to a greater distance than the legendary flying
carpet.
The astronauts have opened the way for him to the planets, and now a
journey to the moon and other planets appears to be as simple as going
from one city to another neighboring city.
The new scientific and industrial discoveries have so expanded in our
age that it is difficult to enumerate them. It may be said that nature
is now bent upon disclosing in the shortest possible time to the man of
our century all the innumerable secrets which it held in its bosom for
thousands of years.
As the result of his expanding acquaintance with the secrets of nature
and his marvelous discoveries in regard to the controlling and
exploiting the natural forces, the man of our age has reached the zenith
of material well being and has converted the whole earth into a well
furnished and magnificent place for his own benefit, in order to be
able to lead a contented life and secure that happiness of which he has
always dreamt.
Greedy Animals
This was one side of the coin, but there is another side of it too. The material civilization of today has solved many problems of human life, and has given man dazzling power to control nature. But at the same time it has so much eulogized and puffed the philosophy of having more and more, that it has made the man of our age a greedy animal, who is day and night worried about only increasing the production and consumption and thinks of nothing else.
Materialism and too excessive concern about economic affairs have
converted man into a machine. He is always busy with earning his
livelihood or finding the means of leading a more and more luxurious
life. This situation is so wide‑spread that the life of most of the men
of our times is almost devoid of any other valuable content.
There was a time when man valued his freedom most and even sacrificed
his life for the sake of it. Now he has become a slave of production and
consumption and has laid down his love of freedom at the altar of this
deity.
With the progress of material civilization, the consuming needs of man
have increased and the way of meeting them has grown complex to the
extent that many people sacrifice their physical and moral well‑being
for achieving that end.
In the material society of today all higher human values have been set
aside, or, it may be said, that even moral values are looked upon only
from material angle. In most parts of the world the real infrastructure
of education and training is only material and aims at economic gain.
The actual purpose of framing any educational or training program is
only to produce men who can provide better economic return for the
pockets of others or sometimes for their own pockets. The motto of every
one, from a man in the street to the elite, has become "achieve economic
gain and material pleasures ensuing from it".
The specialists in higher intellectual and technical fields, the
politicians, the writers and the artists are no exception to this rule.
Even many of those who are devoted to higher spiritual questions have
been affected by material and economic attractions. Missionary work is
performed mostly in exchange for financial and material remuneration.
This situation is the natural and inevitable result of the diverse
material philosophies prevailing during our times.
Day and night man is being told that he is no more than an economic
animal, and that wealth and economic prosperity are the sole criterion
of good fortune and the only sign of the progress of a nation, a class
or a group. It is constantly being drummed into the ears of people that
money has a miraculous power and it can solve every problem. There is
always a talk of the heaps of money obtained by chance or by directly or
indirectly robbing the fellow human beings and spent for satisfying the
lowest animal desires.
In these circumstances it is not surprising that men or rather semi‑men
of our age have turned into greedy animals, bent upon acquiring money
from whatever source they can and spending it for obtaining the greatest
possible pleasure. They have become the slaves of production and
consumption. Their life is bereft totally of the higher values befitting
a living human being, and has tended towards vulgarity and
degradation.
Quest for the philosophy of life and its aim
It is a matter of great satisfaction that here and there some new voices
have arisen in this very world enamoured of production and consumption.
They give rise to the hope that perhaps time has come for the
deliverance of the man of our age from the shackles of this economic
myth. It is more gratifying that these voices pertain to the youth
rather than the middle‑aged or the aged people.
For some time the youth throughout the whole world have been showing
practical reaction and saying loudly that they find their life
meaningless and vulgar in the magnificent palace which has been
furnished for them.
They want to know:
If people generally are happy in this magnificent palace.
If the boat of their life filled with all sorts of comforts and travel
equipment shall carry them to the shore of peace and content.
Whether this splendid civilization attaches any importance to man
himself.
Whether all the gadgets invented to facilitate life really serve man,
or they themselves have appropriated all his mental and physical
capabilities.
Whether this splendid civilization which has so much reduced distance
between various cities, continents and planets, and converted them into
just a big house, has also brought the hearts of its inmates closer to
each other, or in spite of reduction in distances their hearts have gone
further apart, or even worse than that, they no longer possess any
hearts, as man now has only brain and hands exclusively devoted to serve
his stomach, to satisfy his lust and to help him seek pelf, position and
similar other objects:
It is true that such voices strike only in the lands where people lead
an economically prosperous life and are not preoccupied with the worry
of obtaining such primary necessities as bread and butter.
It is also true that in most parts of the world there are still large
masses of people who are stricken with poverty and they themselves,
their families, their dependents and their neighbors are leading a life
below subsistence level. Their only hope now is a bloody revolution that
may put an end to their material and economic privation.
But the correct foresight makes it necessary that the efforts of these
under‑privileged people should be channeled in such a direction that
they may not have to face such a fate.
Anyhow, it is certain that the people have more or less awakened and
have got rid of the charm of material and economic prosperity. Both the
big camps of the modern world now see clearly that:
Though for centuries man has been making efforts to secure the best
possible means of living a better life, at present in both the big camps
of the East and the West men are being sacrificed ruthlessly in the
grand industrial temples at the feet of the deity of industry. Except
empty slogans there is nothing left of human dignity, human freedom and
real choice in either of the two camps. Both the systems have deprived
man of his dignity on the pretext that that is the requirement of the
speedy running of the wheels of the complex modern industry and
economy.
Anyway, the man of our age is no longer willing to be taught by means
of industry and technology how to lead his life.
He persistently insists that he should know what the aim of his life
is.
Contrary to what the pessimists think, the voices which are now being
raised in protest or otherwise, may be a forerunner of the happy and
propitious self‑realization. They may give rise to human self‑awakening
and a renaissance of human society. They may induce man not to take
mechanical development for human evolution, and to rediscover the real
goal of his life with deeper insight. They may lead him in the direction
of real human bliss. What does the Qur'an say in this respect?
The Qur'an emphasizes as a principle that all the pomp and show of life
is meaningless, if it is devoid of faith and spirituality and is not
consistent with the aim befitting a human being. A man enamoured of such
a life is a loser and all his efforts are in vain.
"Know that the life of this world is only a sport and pastime,
pageantry and cause of boasting among you, and a quest for more wealth
and more children. It is like the vegetation springing out after rain,
delights the farmers, but it withers and you see it turning
yellow, and then becoming worthless stubble". (Surah al‑Hadid
57:20).
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At another place Allah has been described as the light of the heavens
and the earth, the truth and the directing spirit of the whole world.
Then there is a mention of the meritorious and worthy men whom their
trade and the efforts to earn their. livelihood do not beguile into
forgetting of Allah and do not divert them from the basic goal of their
life. They consequently secure the best results. Their efforts are
always fruitful and conducive to virtue and excellence.
The Qur'an describes the fate of those who have no aim in life and are
forgetful of Allah:
"As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a
desert. The thirsty man thinks that it is water, but when he comes to
it, he finds that it is nothing. There he finds only. Allah, who pays
him his account in full, and Allah is swift at reckoning. Or as darkness
in a deep ocean covered with dashing waves and overcast with clouds.
Several kinds of darkness, one upon another. If one stretches his hand,
he can hardly see it. Indeed the man from whom Allah withholds His
light, can find no light at all". (Surah al‑Nur 24: 3 9 ‑
40).
Consider these verses well. They contain a truth, which has become far
more evident following the great scientific and industrial progress and
the expansion of the dimensions of human life.
Purely material life is as good as a mirage. The efforts of a greedy
and covetous man bear no fruit, for they are devoid of a direction and a
meaning. There is darkness all around. The people are puzzled and
submerged in vulgarity. The question still remains: What is the meaning
of life and what is its goal?
According to the Qur'an the real cause of all this confusion and
vulgarity is that human life has been bereft of the element of iman
and man is concentrating his efforts on material progress. He has
entered an era of production for consumption and consumption for
production. Such people may succeed to the utmost degree in achieving
their material ends but beyond that they fail in securing what is worthy
of a human being:
The Qur'an says:
*** ***
"Those who want the life of this world and its pomp, shall be fully
recompensed according to their deeds during their lifetime. They shall
not suffer any loss here. But in the Hereafter they shall have nothing
but the fire. All they have done here shall have no value and all their
deeds shall be null and void". (Surah Hud, 11 : 15 ‑ 16).