Islam

Human values in Islam for a crimeless society

Hilmy Mohideen

Values, ordinarily speaking, mean the desirability in a thing or its intrinsic worth. It is something desirable, something worthy, something right, as a precept, or as standard, or as a belief.

Human values in Islam then must mean what a human society, if it is Islamic holds high in esteem or regard and deemed as desirable, worthy and right, and are established as a belief, or standard or precept.

But the term Human Values characterises man or mankind, and what pertains to mankind or what is possessed by mankind without any suggestion as to whether these values are “good” or “khyr” or “bad” or “sharr”. Thus when we speak of human values in man or mankind, we mean both the “good” or “khyr” values or “bad” or “sharr” values.

In Islam, these human values are ordained Quranic values. We may define for our purpose the “good” or “khyr” values as gracious humane values emplaced in the qualb or heart of man from whence they occur, and likewise, the “bad” or “sharr” values originating from the evil in man, or inhumane values, flowing from man’s satanic, animalistic or illusory nature. The Quran is thus emphatic.

(4.79) “Whatsoever of good befalleth thee, (Oh man) it is from Allah’ and whatsoever of evil befalleth thee, it is from thyself”

(43.36) “And he who’s sight is dim to the remembrance of the Beneficent, we assign unto him a devil, who becometh his comrade”

(41.34) “The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better” (with the conscience)

Thus the values which fall into the category “good” or “khyr” are part of the Islamic values system, which the Islamic society, the family, the community, the school, and the society of muslimeen, and the religion of Islam, imperceptibly cultivates, cherishes, develops, indoctrinates, and implants in Insan, or man, while the “bad” or “sharr” values are assiduously, deliberately and conscientiously, cut away, excised and eliminated, as ordained in the Quran.

It is in the nature of the Divine Will that Insan shall exercise his God given analytical conscience and wisdom and use his own intelligence to identify the “khyr” within him and so grow in his purity and perfection, at the same time he is enjoined to do battle with the evil within him, and so eliminate the satanic, the animalistic, and the illusory in him.

By the very nature of his birth, both the “khyr” and the “sharr” are inherent in man, and are born with him, and these values are intrinsically and absolutely unique to that particular Insan (man) alone.

That is to stay the values which an Insan holds are uniquely his very own as against any other. It is these unique human values which inspires his individual conduct, his life and his behaviour, whether good or bad. These values then are part of the human psyche, and are innate and inborn, and are embedded in each single life.

Let us consider the “sharr” (bad) and the “khyr” (good) Quranic values:

The “Sharr” values

At the inception of our every prayer we utter the invocation “I seek refuge in Allah from the Shaitan” (Aoosubillahi minasshaitan ir rajeem). Implicit in this invocation is the duty to cleanse the human psyche of the satanic, the animalistic, and the illusory whisperings of the shaitan, the evil in us.

It becomes necessary to identify the inherent satanic, animalistic, and illusory nafs for their elimination at every prayer, as a preliminary step before we invoke the “khyr or the “good” from Allah.

(4.79) “Whatsoever of good befalleth thee, Oh man it is from Allah”

Speaking allegorically, we believe that we inherit the “sharr” or the “bad” from the spittle of shaitan, which fell on Adam, the father of man, and so poisoned his being with. It is this satanic poison which we as Adam’s children, scientifically speaking, inherit throughout genes.

This genetic devolution from our ancestors, generation after generation of humanity, cycle after cycle from the wombs of our mothers, manifest today as our inherent, inherited satanic, animalistic and illusory conglomerates (that is, our Shaitaniyath, the Haiwaniyath and the Nafsaniyath). We cannot deny that we, one and all possess in varying degrees as human beings such base qualities and values.

(4.79) “... whatsoever of evil befalleth thee, it is from thyself” asserts the Quran.

This means that the ills which pass as our suffering, our hell on earth and beyond, according to the Quran, are from ourselves arising from the “sharr” in us and not from Allah.

Hence the “sharr” values rooted in us are satanic, animalistic, and the illusory nafs. These are the very antithesis of and distinctly opposed to our humane or “khyr” values. Thus the “sharr” in us includes barbarity, brutality, cruelty, ferocity, inhuman, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, savage, selfish, unmerciful, unpitying...... In another sense they arise from our ego, our egoistic pride (of satan), our “I” consciousness, our selfishness, our self glorification, our conceit, our arrogance, our falsehood, our lies, our treachery to family, kith and kin, our friends and all others, our unbridled greed for wealth, power and fame, our lust and desires for worldly attractions, our status and temporal attachments.

We often refer to and identify those who possess such debasing ‘sharr’ values as shaitans and haiwans (animals) in human form or as dogs of desire, or lustful swine, or venomous serpents, or for those who break a pledge or promise, as treacherous, to family, friend, religion, race, or who are in torpor as apes in human form, or who’s hearts are as rock through which no light of wisdom and conscience can penetrate; their hearts are rock hard, against humanity in any form in their arrogance and are blind to truth, to justice, to fairplay and honesty, or who malign and backbite, and so devour the flesh of his brother (Quran), the liar, the adulterer, the rapist, the thief...

The ‘khyr’ or ‘good’ values, the ‘Humane’

Human values must not be confused with Human Rights. Generally when we speak of human values, we refer to the ‘khyr’ or ‘good’ values, when actually we mean the humane or ennobling values, sacred to the Insan man. They are the ‘khyr’ or ‘good’ values which arise from their roots mentioned in the Quran. They become sacred to the God-fearing man, and the God-loving man seeking perfection, purity, peace and nobility of character, and spiritual elevation and attainments.

The ‘good’ or ‘khyr’ values are therefore Quranic values which flow from the absolute nature, attributes and duties of Allah as reflected in the initial invocation, to Allah, the Bisman (Bismillah-i-Rahman-i-Raheem). He being the most merciful, the most compassionate.

Mercy and compassion, in their every meaning in any language are Divine in nature, unseen, formless, ineffable, but perceived, identifiable and are experiential values, originating from Allah and endowed like the Ruh or Soul in the Insan. These ‘khyr’ values are from God’s nature, His mercy, His compassion.

In our daily life as Muslims we invoke these divine attributes and so try to implant them as our guiding values. By understanding and knowing the meanings of the Quranic values, we imperceptibly implant them in us, in our daily life, in our daily prayer, our actions and conduct, and behaviour, so that we ennoble and adorn ourselves with compassion and mercy, flowing from our qualbs.

Flowing from these absolutes, the ninety nine Divine names of Allah, the Asma-ul Husna, His nature, His attributes, become mirrored in us as our humane values, as the ‘khyr’ or ‘good’ values.

By such means, these values help us, as ordained, to enrich and elevate ourselves, and help us to attain as close as possible to the Quranic ideal, the Insaan Kamil, the perfect man, the Supreme exemplary being our beloved Prophet Mohammed Mustapha Rasool Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam.

The term ‘humane’ or ‘khyr’ or ‘good’ denotes what may be required of mankind at its best in the treatment of all beings. Thus humane endeavour is one that is intended to prevent or relieve suffering. A humane man will not needlessly inflict pain upon the meanest thing that lives.

A merciful man is disposed to withholding or to mitigating the suffering, even of the guilty. The compassionate man sympathises with and desires to relieve actual suffering, while one who is humane would forestall and prevent suffering which he sees to be possible.

The Quran ordains and inspires man, the Insan, towards that goal of perfection and requires him to cultivate and implant these ‘khyr’ or ‘good’ quranic values, as directed thus:

(7.180) “Allah’s are the fairest names; Invoke Him by them and leave the company of those who blaspheme His names” (that is Shaitan and his cohorts, both within and without).

(91.7,8) “And a soul and Him who perfected it and inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it, and what is right for it”

(108.1) “To thee (the perfect soul) have we granted the fountain of abundance” (Kalkaudher).

The values which a Muslim carries, are his own unique values and no one may be said to have the likes of his own values, like his finger prints. This uniqueness of his identity is an expression of the Divine Will.

How these values are oriented or implanted in the individual and nurtured and grown by him depend entirely on himself, his intellectual make up, his strength of character or the want of it, his will, his conscience and his own wisdom and intelligence.

In the life of the individual, both the ‘humane’ or ‘khyr’ values and the ‘sharr’ values grow in him from infancy into childhood and adulthood. Hence the role of the mother, the father, the family, the school, the religious training, his upbringing, the community, the environment and the society in which he lives, all play a vital part in orientating the ‘good’ or ‘khyr’ values or the ‘sharr’ or ‘bad’ values in him.

If the ‘khyr’ is dominant or are strongly implanted by such familial training, religion, schooling and the society he lives, then he is motivated in his good behaviour, good conduct, good action, and he comes to abide by the Quranic expectations of justice, honesty, truth, goodness, kindness, mercy, compassion.

Thus this value orientation process is society is reflected in the value - motivational patterns of his behaviour and conduct in society.

Thus in the Islamic societies and communities, these societal values - orientation forces are active and exert a strong influence on the individual. The crime rate and deviant behaviour are said to be non-existent or minimal compared to non-Islamic societies.

If a statistical index of murder, rapes, grave crimes, etc, etc, are taken of the Islamic and non-Islamic societies, it is believed that the strength of the Islamic value orientation processes, and the weaknesses in the non-Islamic societies will be shown.

Thus some years ago it was reported that in Sudan when the Shariah Law replaced the laws of their colonial masters, the crime rate dropped dramatically.

In Saudi Arabia for example, a society in which Quranic values are strongly ingrained, murder, rape, grave crimes, theft, robbery, etc. are minimal, sometimes non-existent among native Saudis. And such are the reports from Muslim communities and societies everywhere quite apart from the war waged by freedom fighters.