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The Religion's Function in the Attainment of Peace and Happiness
[1]
I seek Allah’s protection against Satan the Accursed
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
Peace and Allah’s mercy and blessings be upon you:
The Islamic religion is the major motive of the peoples in this
sensitive region of the globe because of a number of reasons to
be hereinafter cited, yet briefly:
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The peoples in this region are convinced of the religion’s
being the system capable of procuring happiness for human
beings in this worldly life on account of its being enacted
by Allah—Blessed and Almighty is He. Being the Creator of
man, Almighty Allah alone knows the most suitable method of
amending, putting right, and treating man’s diseases in the
same way as the manufacturer of an apparatus being the most
skilled in operating and amending it when a trouble attacks
it. This simple equation is too clear to require proof.
These peoples have found the Islamic code of religious law
(i.e. Shar¢`ah) the system that would put in order
all the details of their individual and social lives
including the etiquettes of sitting to dining tables,
toileting, and even sexual intercourse. In this regard,
these peoples are quoting their religious leaders (i.e. the
Im¡ms) as saying, “Almighty Allah has prepared a
ruling for each and every event.”
-
The manmade systems have failed to organize the lives of the
peoples. For instance, everybody has seen how Communism
collapsed in its own stronghold and how the Soviet Union,
the giant, came to nothing. Similarly, Capitalism is taking
the same path; thus, the social, mental, and economic
diseases are gnawing its structure; and the peoples in the
West have begun to tire of the ruling regimes and have begun
to express such boredom in the form of conferences and
demonstrations, such as those organized against
globalization in Seattle, Davos, and other regions where
matters attained the dangerous extent of killing the
demonstrators, as in the incidents of Italy.
As a matter of fact, such collapse is expected for such
regimes since they have been made by man who is too futile
to recognize even himself and thus composes a book entitled
“Man, the Unknown.”(2)
Such a mortal is thus incapable of recognizing others.
-
The leaders of Islam and the Muslim scholars have been
characterized by decency, straightforwardness, asceticism,
and self-denial. These characteristics have granted them a
high position in the views of the peoples who, accordingly,
submitted to and totally trusted them, and carried out their
instructions. In this respect, having been the highest
authority in an expansive state, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s),
the Commander of the Faithful, said from the minbar (pulpit)
of the Masjid al-K£fah to which he transferred the capital
of the Islamic State after it had been in the holy city of
al-Mad¢nah, “If I leave you carrying anything other than the
garment that I was putting on when I came to you from
al-Mad¢nah, I will have then betrayed you.”
-
People believe in the existence of another life during which
each mortal will face the outcome of what he has done in
this world’s life and then he will be rewarded, by being
allowed to enter Paradise, for the good deeds and will be
punished, by being taken to Hellfire, for the evildoings.
This belief has been confirmed by very trustworthy
individuals whose decency is beyond doubt. These individuals
are the Prophets whose number is 124000 throughout thousands
of years. Accordingly, to belie this truth is impracticable.
The commitment to the religion secures the winning with
Paradise and the salvation from the torture that Almighty
Allah has prepared (for the disobedient) in that eternal,
never-ending abode. It is consequently illogic to exceed the
boundaries of the religion.
-
In the view of the Muslims, the Islamic religion does not
act as no more than rituals carried out by individuals in
private places; rather Muslims find their civilization,
culture, history, traditions, and customs in their religion.
As a result, a Muslim individual takes pride in his
religion, stands up for it, defends it, and adheres to it in
the same way as the other peoples in the world abide by and
sacrifice their souls for the features of their lives.
Owing to the abovementioned points, as well as others, religion
has enjoyed a striking influence in the hearts of peoples to the
degree that it can direct their feelings towards a certain
orientation and can intrude in their situations towards a
certain issue. Through various mass media, the whole world has
understood this fact and seen the interaction of these peoples
with the religious rituals as well as their prompt response to
the religious calls. Yet, such attitude is not new for us. The
history of our peoples is full of examples on the functioning
influence of the religion. All the true liberatory revolutions
witnessed by the past century in the countries of this region
used to derive their power from this great religion as most of
these were led by religious scholars.
Because this religion enjoys such a strong influence, it can be
directed towards achieving many accomplishments procuring the
good of the peoples in such a way that cannot be achieved by the
other media and means. For instance, milliards of Dollars were
expended for the coverage of anti-smoking advertisements and for
the establishment of centers and associations conflicting
against this phenomenon. Nevertheless, all these efforts have
come to no avail. On the other hand, in the end of the
nineteenth century, a less than one line statement written by
the religion authority in Iran cast the die; when the British
government signed up a contract with the Shah (i.e. Iranian
king) of that time due to which the British authorities obtained
the privilege of purchasing, exporting, and manufacturing the
Iranian tobacco for fifty years, the sincere peoples realized
the danger of this agreement on the economy and policy of Iran
and, also, realized that the agreement would cause corruption to
the Iranian people. They therefore convinced the supreme
religious authority, Sayyid Muhammad °asan al-Sh¢r¡ziy, who
lived in S¡marr¡' (in Iraq) at that time, to treat this problem.
He therefore wrote down on a small sheet of paper, “To smoke
tobacco is to conflict against the Imam of the Age (i.e. Imam
al-Mahdi).”
According to this verdict, all the Iranian people refrained from
smoking. Having been obedient to the religious authority, even
the wife of the Shah himself broke her husband’s pipe and thus
the British plan failed.
We, the Iraqi people, passed through such an experiment. In
1998-1999, the martyr Sayyid Muhammad Muhammad S¡diq al-Sadr—may
Allah sanctify his soul—held the blessed ritual Friday Prayer in
Iraq, and hundreds of thousands of people participated in them.
It was obviously noticed how this ritual reduced crimes,
corruption, and social deviation in the proportion of ninety
percent, according the official confessions despite of poverty,
deprivation, persecution, and governmental perversity that was
prevalent during that period.
Inasmuch as it establishes the supreme human principles and
works on consolidating them in the human mentalities, the
religion is the most successful method for implementing this
mission of saving humanity from troubles, disorders, and horror
ambushing. As they paid attention to this fact, the Westerns
have confessed to their failure in eradicating AIDS, declaring
that the most successful method of treatment in this respect
being the spiritual and ethical education in addition to the
consideration of the heavenly values in the human relations. As
a matter of fact, this is very accurate although they should
have reckoned with it from the beginning for the two following
aspects:
First
As has been previously cited, because man is the made of
Almighty Allah, none can prescribe the complete and most
curative malady except the Maker Himself.
Second
Because the Source is the same, laws and regulations that
control human race and cosmos are correlated. Correspondingly,
any defect, deviation, or act of disobedience to Almighty Allah
done by human beings lead to total disorder in nature. In order
to shed more light on this dialectical correlation, let us cite
the following example:
Recently, a discordant wave of floods attacked some countries in
Europe and lasted for several days causing many casualties in
souls and properties. Europe has never witnessed such a wave for
the last 150 years. The authorities there blamed the authorities
of the United States of America because they did not agree to
sign on the treaty of environment conservation for parrying the
danger of the thermal strains during the operating of factories
altogether. Such strain caused high temperature that caused
increase in snow melting and rains. This proves that human
misbehaviors and incompatibility with this human principle that
corresponds with the heavenly precepts and values cause natural
disorders against which the most modern technologies can do
nothing as is confessed by them. On the contrary, to commit to
the divine instructions and supreme human principles makes human
beings live in mutual love, peace, happiness, and big affluence.
Referring to this fact, Almighty Allah, in the Holy Qur'an, has
said,
“And if the people of the towns had believed and guarded
(against evil) We would certainly have opened up for them
blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they rejected, so
We overtook them for what they had earned. 7/96”
Moreover, the religion is full of such supreme idealities that
are considered the main purpose for the divine mission of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad—peace be upon him and his Family—with
Islam. This purpose is the completion of the human beings’
moralities. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said,
“I have been commissioned (with the divine mission) only for
completing the nobility of character.”
Further, Islam calls for peace. The Holy Qur'an reads, “O you
who believe! Enter into peace one and all and do not follow the
footsteps of Satan; surely he is your open enemy. 2/208”
The salutation of Islam is “Sal¡m; peace”, and one of the
instructions of Islam is to practice reciprocal greeting as
expansively as possible and to enjoin the doing of justice and
the doing of good to others. In this regard the Holy Qur'an
reads, “Surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing
of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred, and He
forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you that
you may be mindful. 16/90”
It also enjoins doing good to the non-Muslims so long as they do
not assail the Muslims. The Holy Qur'an reads, “Allah does not
forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on
account of (your) religion, and have not driven you forth from
your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them
justly; surely Allah loves the doers of justice. 60/8”
It is receptive as regards conversations with others; the Holy
Qur'an says, “Say: O followers of the Book! Come to an equitable
proposition between us and you that we shall not serve any but
Allah and (that) we shall not associate aught with Him, and
(that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides Allah;
but if they turn back, then say: Bear witness that we are
Muslims. 3/64”
It organizes the most appropriate method of conversation with
others; the Holy Qur'an says, “And do not dispute with the
followers of the Book except by what is best, except those of
them who act unjustly, and say: We believe in that which has
been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our Allah and your
Allah is One, and to Him do we submit. 29/46”
“Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly
exhortation, and have disputations with them in the best manner;
surely your Lord best knows those who go astray from His path,
and He knows best those who follow the right way. 16/125”
It also shows consideration for freedom of belief; the Holy
Qur'an says, “There is no compulsion in religion. 2/256”
Moreover, it orders to procure security as well as the other
circumstances that are suitable for investigating the truth and
then gives the freedom of making decisions; the Holy Qur'an
reads, “And if one of the idolaters seek protection from you,
grant him protection till he hears the word of Allah, then make
him attain his place of safety; this is because they are a
people who do not know. 9/6”
In the conception of Islam, the sending of the Holy Prophet
(a.s) has been mercy for the peoples in order to save and
achieve happiness for them; the Holy Qur'an reads, “And We have
not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds. 21/107”
Hence, the Holy Qur'an has not claimed the Holy Prophet’s being
mercy for the Muslims only rather for all the creatures.
Finally, although this topic is useful, valuable, and effective,
let us not go further in providing more examples for fear of
lengthiness.
Sisters and brothers:
As you established the Third International Conference of
Religions for Peace, you have been assumed a big—yet sublime,
admirable, respectable, and worthy of thanking and
praise—responsibility and thus you are required to activate the
role of this responsibility in the establishment of these
enormous principles and to spread the culture of reciprocal
love, peace, harmony, and respect for the others, not the mores
of extremity, fanaticism, and clash that have destroyed “the
crops and the cattle.”
We, in the wounded Iraq, are moaning about the oppressions,
assails, and deprivation of our simplest rights that have been
justified by various excuses. We thus call for your help and
demand with giving us our suitable function, since we, the Iraqi
people, have an ancient civilization and possess all factors of
prosperity and progression. The first step in the achievement of
this appeal is to understand all our demands clearly and to
treat with them fairly, carrying out Almighty Allah’s saying,
“And defraud not men their things. 11/85”
Finally, I pray to Almighty Allah to support and lead all the
virtuous to success.
Peace and Allah’s mercy and blessings be upon you.
Muuammad al-Yaqoobi
Holy Najaf
(1)
This address was prepared to be delivered by the representative
of the Islamic authority, Ayatollah Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaqoobi
in the Third International Conference of Religions For Peace,
which was held in Amman in March 10, 2004. Yet, it was
unfeasible for Sheikh al-Ya`q£biy’s representative to attend the
conference due to managerial and technical procedures.
(2)By Alexis Carrel
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