The Man Islam Builds pdf download

The Man Islam Builds

THE MAN ISLAM BUILDS

The man Islam aims to build is one in whom a two-fold activity is set in motion at the same time, one form of activity being internal and the other external.

The result of this twin activity, is that the spiritual side of his nature develops in parallel with his intellectual advancement, both processes going on unhampered.

 On the one hand there is a strengthening of the moral fibre by which his personality assumes its permanent shape, and on the other, there is a broadening of his intellectual horizons.

Internal Development

How does the Islamic way of life set off inner activities in man? In this, the mainspring is the concept of accountability.

 Islam brings man to the realization that God Almighty is omnipresent and omniscient so that he has the feeling that for all his words and deeds—even intentions, he is accountable before Him.

And after death he will have to face the divine court of justice, where the whole record of his life will

 be examined. And then, according to its verdict, he will be sent either to eternal hell or eternal Heaven. This feeling surging within him is so powerful that it shakes the entire human personality.

A hadith thus admonishes the individual: Reckon yourself before being reckoned with. Weigh yourself before being weighed. And prepare yourself for the Great Appearance on Doomsday. (Al-Tirmidhi)

The consciousness of the presence of God activates all of the brain cells of the individual. A hunter once remarked: If you are walking through a jungle, and all of a sudden you notice a live tiger standing, in a nearby glade your blood stream will turn into a blood storm.

This is what happens when we stand in the presence of a tiger. At every moment Islam brings man to the realization not only of the Creator of the lion, but also of the Creator of the entire universe

 One can judge when the thought of the presence of a tiger turns man’s blood stream into a blood storm, how great a storm the thought of the presence of the Creator of the lion, that is, God Almighty, will be produced within a believer.

Therefore, by his own inner compulsion, the believer becomes a man of character and a staunch believer. For him it becomes impossible to be immoral or unjust or dishonest in his conduct to his fellow men.

This concept of the presence of God is no negative matter.

This is a wholly positive reality. This is because God is not simply a source of power.

 He is also a source of mercy. The storm brought about by the awareness of the presence of God awakens not only the feeling of fear, but a strong feeling of hope as well.

Similarly, the feeling of the presence of God becomes a perpetual incentive for the positive development of the human personality. This, in Islamic terms, is called a spiritual revolution.

In short, belief in Islam makes accountability to God man’s greatest permanent concern.

The potential of spirituality latent within man is activated by his belief to the ultimate extent; this turns him into a spiritual superman. But the feeling of the presence of God Almighty also cuts man down to size.

‘And man cut to size’ is the ultimate phrase in the spiritual dictionary. Such a man succeeds to the utmost degree in finding all those things that he ought to experience at the spiritual level. He becomes a man of God through and through.

External Activities

The Islamic man is one who, in consonance with his spiritual development, experiences constant intellectual activity which results in the most intense brain storming.

The intellectual awakening, or intellectual development of an Islamic man is so extensive that he becomes cerebrally activated to the highest possible extent.

 What is that external factor which stimulates this kind of intellectual activity in the Islamic man? It is da‘wah work.

According to the Qur’an, the Prophet of Islam is the final Prophet. Although no Prophet is going to come after him, the mission of the Prophet must continue.

The Ummah of the Prophet, charged with carrying on this mission for posterity, is thus addressed in the Qur’an: And thus We made you an intermediary nation so that you might bear witness against the people and the Prophet might testify against you. (2:143)

A commentator of the Qur’an has interpreted this as follows: Muslims are intermediary between the Prophet and the nations of the world (Al-Tabari).

 In conformance with this, da‘wah work is obligatory for the Muslim Ummah. It is their essential duty to receive the divine message of the Prophet and convey it to the rest of humanity.

It is not simply an act of annunciation. It is the most important struggle. Because of this the Qur’an says: Do with them the great jihad by the help of the Qur’an (25:52).

The Qur’an is a book, not a weapon. “Great jihad with the Qur’an” means a great religious endeavour; da’wah work is thus a great ideological struggle. It is a supreme intellectual effort which stretches to the utmost the mental capacity of the human being.

Intellectual Development

Da‘wah is a strictly non-political mission. But it is an extremely difficult task to perform, because it invites challenges from virtually all sections of society. The da‘i says: “Here is the truth with a capital, and success in this world as well as in the world hereafter depends on the acceptance of this truth, so man has no choice but to accept it.”

 This kind of claim is highly provocative, eliciting reactions from every ideological group—religious, materialist, secular, atheist, etc.

The man with a mission throws down a challenge which provokes a response. A challenge-response- mechanism becomes operative which stimulates continuous interaction, involving questions and answers, discussions and dialogues.

It is during this interaction that the process of intellectual development begins.

As a mission, da‘wah work by its very nature is divine.

Because of this people with a mission are bound by their code of ethics to respond in a positive manner to their audiences regardless of the latter’s misconduct. At all costs, they must, as a matter of principle, avoid all friction.

 As the Qur’an says: “Certainly, we (the Prophets) would bear with patience your persecution of us.” (14:12)

This positive behaviour on the part of people engaged in the da‘wah mission prevents them from succumbing to hatred for and violence against the other party.

 That again ensures that their intellectual growth and development will go on uninterruptedly.

No situation whatsoever will halt this process of peaceful da’wah and, subsequently, the inner progress of those involved in it will continue ceaselessly.