0
Wednesday 3 June 2009 - 05:26
The Islamic method of reform
Story Code : 6072
By: Muhammad Jawad Sahibi
The yardstick of legitimacy or holiness is struggle both in the goal and as an instrument. The goal would be establishing a divine government of the righteous and establishing justice. As an instrument it would mean that everything along its path must be pure and legitimate religiously.
The religious legitimacy of struggle is not conditioned upon the rights of an individual or a nation being invaded. Struggle is both religiously legitimate and holy when any sanctuary is put in danger. When a right is placed in danger struggle becomes legitimate, especially if that right is the right of a human society. Freedom is such a right. Struggling and fighting for the weak has been clearly mentioned in the Quran and is of this nature. Since monotheism is the main capital for salvation defending it would be legitimate if it was placed in danger.
Small and gradual reforms are not condemned. The reason for this is that the main factor of movement is not opposites and history does not forcibly move in the direction of opposites as a revolution to bring about the opposite which would make small and gradual reforms an obstacle for human progression. The main factor behind historical movements is man’s innate sense of wanting perfection. He always desires a higher station and always searches for it. Opposites make a movement move faster.
Small and gradual reforms aid man in his struggle for the truth. It sounds the bells of history in favor of those after the truth. On the other side of the coin, corruption and sins slow down the wheels of history for those after the truth. The example is a tree. The more the tree is watered, the more the tree is taken care of, and the more it struggles against the sunlight the better its fruit will be.
This is why small and gradual reforms are religiously legitimate. This is why the prophets and the imams would try to wake up people’s divine dispositions before militarily confronting corrupt societies. They tried to teach the people true beliefs so that they would recognize reality themselves and refrain from falling into the trap of ignorant values. Therefore, a desirable revolution in the eyes of prophets and imams would be an intellectual revolution of people’s beliefs. When this happens the people will stand up and get rid of the corrupt and oppressive government replacing it with a divine government. Islamic movements follow the same form of logic.
The yardstick of legitimacy or holiness is struggle both in the goal and as an instrument. The goal would be establishing a divine government of the righteous and establishing justice. As an instrument it would mean that everything along its path must be pure and legitimate religiously.
The religious legitimacy of struggle is not conditioned upon the rights of an individual or a nation being invaded. Struggle is both religiously legitimate and holy when any sanctuary is put in danger. When a right is placed in danger struggle becomes legitimate, especially if that right is the right of a human society. Freedom is such a right. Struggling and fighting for the weak has been clearly mentioned in the Quran and is of this nature. Since monotheism is the main capital for salvation defending it would be legitimate if it was placed in danger.
Small and gradual reforms are not condemned. The reason for this is that the main factor of movement is not opposites and history does not forcibly move in the direction of opposites as a revolution to bring about the opposite which would make small and gradual reforms an obstacle for human progression. The main factor behind historical movements is man’s innate sense of wanting perfection. He always desires a higher station and always searches for it. Opposites make a movement move faster.
Small and gradual reforms aid man in his struggle for the truth. It sounds the bells of history in favor of those after the truth. On the other side of the coin, corruption and sins slow down the wheels of history for those after the truth. The example is a tree. The more the tree is watered, the more the tree is taken care of, and the more it struggles against the sunlight the better its fruit will be.
This is why small and gradual reforms are religiously legitimate. This is why the prophets and the imams would try to wake up people’s divine dispositions before militarily confronting corrupt societies. They tried to teach the people true beliefs so that they would recognize reality themselves and refrain from falling into the trap of ignorant values. Therefore, a desirable revolution in the eyes of prophets and imams would be an intellectual revolution of people’s beliefs. When this happens the people will stand up and get rid of the corrupt and oppressive government replacing it with a divine government. Islamic movements follow the same form of logic.
Featured Stories
9 May 2024
