Revisiting Human Suffering
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Revisiting Human Suffering

Those human beings who persevere the most not only become the leaders of the society but they symbolize virtue and humane values which the society preserve for posterity

Post by on Thursday, February 10, 2022

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“It is the surmounting of difficulties that makes men,” goes the famous adage! However, unable to fathom the wisdom behind different kinds of suffering, human beings have got trapped into fatalism, stoicism, cynicism and the shades thereof. From the Islamic sociological point of view, human beings, by and large, persevere and exhibit resilience to overcome suffering for the larger benefit of the general public or the masses. Those human beings who persevere the most not only become the leaders of the society but they symbolize virtue and humane values which the society preserve for posterity. This sociological discourse was highlighted by Dr. Ali Shari‘ati during the heydays of his career as an ideologue Iranian Awakening.         

The masses, as per Shari‘ati, were “unique and irreplaceable point of orientation.” This shows that he “believed in social commitment and participation rather than scientific neutrality.” He differentiated the Sociology of Islam from the Sociology of Shirk to put forth a vivid picture of the world-view of Islam. For this purpose “he joined history, the philosophy of history, religion and shari‘a, and sociology to the general world-view of tauhid.”

Shari‘ati opines that the Abrahamic Prophets have been always dissociated from the power while as the non-Abrahamic Seers have always been associated with the power. This proves the people-centric (al-na¯s, the mass-oriented) approach of the Prophets of God and the Last Prophet (SAW).

His lecture “The World-view of Tauhid” highlights Tauhid as the central reality of the cosmos. It gives harmony and equilibrium not only to the human situation but also to the cosmos at large. According to Shari‘ati, “tauhid” represents a particular view of the world that demonstrates a universal unity in existence.” ‘Nature,’ as such, is the manifest world, the (a¯ya¯t) signs thereof are indications that point towards the ‘truth’.  Moreover, ‘tauhid’ also binds together the apparently conflicting phenomena of the universe. As per Shari‘ati, it exhibits “the unity of nature with meta-nature, of man with nature, of man with man, of God with the world and with man.”  

“The Philosophy of History: Cain and Abel” is Shari‘ati’s very thought-provoking lecture. Here, Shari‘ati has shown his concern and commitment vis-a-vis the society which is constituted mainly of the masses, al-na¯s. The struggle of Cain (Qa¯bi¯l) and Abel (Ha¯bi¯l) has been highlighted as the source of the philosophy of history while as Adam (AS) serves as the source for the philosophy of man. Abel “represents the age of a pasture-based economy” in which ‘love’ and ‘brotherhood’ ruled the roost. Cain, on the other hand, “represents the system of agriculture, and individual or monopoly ownership” where ‘hatred’ and ‘exploitation’ became the order of the day. Shari‘ati describes this event as the “end of primitive communism” but at the same time denounces socialism as such. Moreover, Freudian concept of sexuality as the pivotal reference for the cohesion of human society has also been rejected by Shari‘arti. Instead of the class struggle, Shari‘ati has described it as a “struggle between tauhid and shirk.”

One more famous lecture is “The Ideal Society: The Umma”. Etymologically umma is derived from amm which means ‘path’ and ‘intention’. It is thus related to some basic concepts of Islam such as, sira¯t, sabi¯l, madhhab, tari¯q, shari¯‘ah, minha¯j etc. which include the sense of ‘path’ in them. However, while following the common path and goal, Muslim Umma has a social system based on equity (qist) and justice (‘adl).

The apex of Shari‘ati’s lecture series is “The Ideal Man –The Vicegerent of God.” The Vicegerent of God, in the view of Shari‘ati, should have freed himself from the perpetual ‘contradiction’ and ‘friction’ of the “two infinities” of matter and spirit. In the words of Shari‘ati, “he is man of perseverant struggle (material) and ijtiha¯d (intellectual striving)” who possesses both ‘the taste of faith’ as well as the ‘power of thought and logical deduction.’ The vicegerent of God suffers for men like Abel and Husayn. He has a Socratic brain to think and a Hallajian heart to love God. He becomes immortal through the negation of self. He is the creator of his environment, not the product thereof. The Vicegerent of God has been endowed with ‘Art’, ‘the creative pen of the Maker!’ He is the ‘Ideal’ man with three aspects of ‘truth’, ‘goodness’ and ‘beauty’ combined in his person. He is thus the possessor of ‘knowledge’, ‘ethics’ and ‘art’. This theomorphic being (Ideal man, Vicegerent) is thus exiled on earth to yearn for the Infinite. He is thus Moses ever ready to traverse the Tu¯r to receive Tajalli (Divine Epiphany or Theophany)!

This sociological standing of Dr. Ali Shari‘ati led Jean-Paul Sartre to conclude, “If I were to choose a religion, it would be that of Shariati’s!” 

                                                                        

(The author is Assistant Professor, Islamic Studies at GDC Kokernag. Email: alhusain5161@gmail.com )

 

Box: The apex of Shari‘ati’s lecture series is “The Ideal Man –The Vicegerent of God.” The Vicegerent of God, in the view of Shari‘ati, should have freed himself from the perpetual ‘contradiction’ and ‘friction’ of the “two infinities” of matter and spirit

 

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