Uswa as A Socio-Cultural System

 Uswa as A Socio-Cultural System

Dr M. Basharat Ali

Society, culture and personality inspite of documentationalization cannot run their course of life without patterning and imitation. Undoubtedly every individual in society in all walks of their life imitate someone if they find him equal to their social requirement and mental calibre. Having in view this fact, the French Socioiogist Trade framed a law which is called the Law of limitation. He was decepted by the common day to day expression and never analyzed the concept of imitation which is nothing but a delusion void of logos, monats, meaning and values. At the instance, imitation creates mental horison which leads nothing in permanency of values except fads and foibles. The imitators are always in their procedure of imitation guided by fantasy phantasmagoria which always lead them to fads and foibles creating a vacuum in cognizance, knowledge and truth. The hollowness of imitation seals the minds of men and loses the reasoning on the basis of induction and deduction. Finally imitation leads the men to understated the normative aspect of human life, belief and action. Such being the nature of Qur’anic reputation of law of imitation. One of the immediate reasons of the failure of imitation as a societal, social and cultural law is the eradication of cognitive, evaluative, connotative and cathoctic forces and hence imitation is void of documentation and social analysis and social legalistic procedure.

In contradistinction to the Law of imitation, the Qur'an maintaining the Germanic nature of human social living, societial and cultural evaluation lay emphasis that society, personality and culture are integrated and should be given dynamic orientation which is not possible without documentationalization of values and meanings with a further warning that they are to be preserved for each and every individual of the present and coming generations.

By virtue of this imperative conditioning-society, personality and culture should be energized value patterning and keep on running, manipulating and transmitting. Even in a modern time the Law of limitation has got no permanency and it has gone to the limbo of darkness.

It is to be noted that the theory of Law of Imitation was the result of mechanic theory of Sociology. With the beginning of 20th century much criticism made the theory far more obscure paving the way for the development of theory of patterning. This inadequate concept was soon amended with reference to values. In the mid 20th century it was felt by action theory that simply patterning is not sufficient without reference to values, ideas, ideals and meanings. This new adumbration of theory patterning was the result of the action procedure in society more particularly in socio-cultural action by the imminent scholar Talcott Parson. Parson was inspired by the systematized school of German while he was student of Berlin University. The Qur’an has rejected imitation both as a tradition and social phenomena guiding the personal socio-cultural behaviour of man in his usual day to day life (VS:43:22)

It is a universal fact that inspite of rational attitude, wide range intellectual capacity of men by nature rendered impossible to act and behave logically and meaningfully without following. This is not possible without some pattern which is full of knowledge, values and meanings. Long before the discovery of the modern theory of Value Orientation Pattern by the modern action theory of sociology and on one synchronicity by the operational school of philosophy the outcome of the thinking mind of ‘mach’ the Qur’an gave the law of patterning in all the totality and dimensionality of its utility in terms of values, meanings and ideals. Inspite of giving meaningful connotation to the theory of patterning through the emphasis of value orientation patterning the scholars feel that their job has been completed. The modern theory has not been systematically systematized. Hence the modern theory lacks an integralism and axiomatically disoriented.

Certainly you have in the Message of Allah an excellent exemplar for him who hopes in Allah and the laterday, and remembers Allah much. (33:21)

As Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is the Last Prophet and being Mercy to the world, the value orientation pattern or the beautiful conduct of life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) the universal pattern for all mankind throughout the ages so long human race survives on this globe. In generality referring to mankind, the above verse gives the connotation that mankind in one way or the other has to accept and follow the universal massage as adumbrated b the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) In this way the value orientation pattern of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) attained the meaning and value in sociological parlance a universal achievement pattern This can only be done by complying to the proviso or condition enunciated by the verse stating for him who hopes in Allah and the laterday and remembers Allah much (33:21), It means the value orientation patterning will have to be taken for e evolution of life in all totality through Qur’anization whose primary condition is Eman and Amal, i.e., faith and action. Sociologically speaking, this point suggests comprehensive understanding with depth and level analysis because such understanding will be commensurating with the personality orientation, action behaviour and dimensionality of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) who has been defined by the Qur’an as:

Certainly Allah conferred a favour on the believers when he raised among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His messages and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error. (3:163)

The term ayat refers to all spiritual sciences including symbolic, spiritual, and eschatological systems of knowledge, cognition and truth. Such knowledge will have to be acquired in all space-time dimension. Kitab refers all mundane and supra mundane knowledge promulgated by the past nations. What that knowledge, has clearly been explained and elaborated by the Qur’an in the stories of all the prophets. Their frame-work is dyadic relating to the material life and the spiritual life with reference to social, cultural, and particular space-time condition of the relevant ages dominant in the times of different prophets. These points are graphic and analytical. They are universalistic particular. The idea of such condition is to give expression in terms of situational knowledge with reference to the particular condition giving exposition to the operational phenomena which is sure to recur in all the coming periodicities of the life of men, nations and societies. This segmentalzed analysis and hitherto directed by the Prophet of each respective age refer that their pattern of conduct and their pattern of direction and development were time-bound, space-bound and restricted to the specific portion of mankind. Noah was meant to direct Jews and Bani-lsreael, Jesus was meant to direct the Christians which were called later on Christian. As such, their messages, directions their culture, their value orientation pattern procedure of the development of personality, society and culture were again limited in scope, limited in space time situation and hence their pattern or beautiful conduct of life developed eventually and turned into historical phenomena after the lapse of requisite time and were unable to lead mankind in line with the Kitab and Hikmat. They were glorified and made known to the entire world through the Qur'anic revelation on the basis of their space time-bound messages with the background miracles.

In the light of the analysis above one can visualize that these messages and their messages were divinely delegated to play their role in partial segmentalized, disorganized, de-systematized and dis-integrated framework of reference. Such being the nature of the prophesies of Noah and Jesus of the advent of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and in him the

Divine Message will be completed, eternal, perpetual in all polarities and dimensionalities of the space time. Hence, the messages of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and his beautiful conduct of life are equally eternal, perpetual, dynamic, capable of sewing in every forward march of human race and in every change, oscillation, spiral, and vicissitude of time. Such being the nature of the case, the prophetic conduct of life is everlasting and the final source for the development of personality society and culture. The messages and the prophetic guidance of all these prophets as shown above were incomplete and ideational. All of them focalized their attention for the betterment of life after death.

According to the Qur’an man has been born on this earth, will have to live on this globe and will have his resurrection on this earth. With this premise, it was indispensable to give a messenger who could with the final authority to integrate and supra-sensate reality into one composite whole. This means that he should be a messenger well-suited to direct human race in the direction of material and supra material life. He should be able to integrate the two simultaneous poles of life, i.e., sensate and ideational into cordially related whole, thus giving rise to intergalactic pattern of life what the modern sociologists call idealistic pattern combining sensatism and ideationalism in one togetherness. Thus the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) developed a systematically systematic integral culture directing the humanity to develop material culture, ideational culture uniting the mundane and the supra mundane spiritual and supra spiritual into one indivisible whole. In this framework of reference he guided the mankind to develop cultural) behaviour, societal and social system.

The finality of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is determined by virtue of the finality of Hikmat which among many systems of knowledge clearly denotes the science and philosophy which are indispensable need of the development of human race. Adam was created to govern the nature and the forces of the nature as given fuller exposition in the initial sura Al-Baqrah. The superiority over all creations, i.e., earthly and celestial was determined by specific prerogative of subjugating nature categorically and atavistically Consequently, to realize this end, Adam was given the perfect knowledge of method, of subjugation of the thing world, as given expression by the Qur’an under the specific term. The corollary involved in this process is the definitive knowledge and cognizance through the denominator of naming the entire object of the haven and the earth what the Qur'an calls Ilm-ul Ashya Adam was given the name of ‘ashia’ and with this endowment he directed the pedigree the prophets to keep on the process of subjugating the nature in peacemeal. We are unable to get sufficient knowledge as to the starting of the prophets from Adam downright to Abraham. Only Abraham has been given expression entering into the contact of nature. His job was restricted to the extent of discovery of the meaning of objects and repudiating facts that nature is not to be taken as an object of worshipping and divination. By empirical analysis and constant observation he discovered that the things which are in a situation of decline and decay cannot be taken as something to be worshipped as deity Herein his mission is completed. After Abraham none of the prophets took up the highly important task of the conquest of nature, had this work been done there would have been no necessity of sending prophets for directing the humanity that nature is subservient to man.

It is the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) who directed the humanity that life is not completed without getting mastery over the nature. The cultures which came into existence from beginning upto the advent of Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) were not the culture at all. The specific nature of culture is integralism, i.e., correlation and concordance between material and spiritual worlds. Man cannot understand the real meaning of life without constant efforts to get mastery over thing world. Abraham did highly important task by his discovery of the thing world being the value world paved the way for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to direct humanity that a simple understanding of the value patterning of nature is not sufficient without getting mastery over nature and to utilize the nature for better living. Thus Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is to be credited for putting the humanity on the path of scientifico-oriented activity.

It was not 16th or 17th century the age of beginning of science but rather the advent of the Holy Prophet Muharnmad (ﷺ) is the period of modern scientific age. So equipped the Muslims were directed to continue the task of conquering the nature but through their lethargy and deviant pattern of life they submitted themselves to decadence, degeneration and atrophy allowing the western nations the task of conquering nature but unfortunately their disintegrated conquest of nature has put at stake the well-being and happiness of mankind. The western world has taken nature in its exteriority totally disregarding the interiority the realm of values and meanings. They have jeopardized the whole world creating hollows, dichotomies, conflict and dualism.

It is now the high time for the Muslims to come forward and direct the western world to take integrated view point of investigation and discovery of nature identifying that nature is a clear exposition of spiritual meaning referring to the oneness and glory of Almighty Allah. This content analysis will lead mankind to understand that every object of nature stand testimony to the Unity of Allah.

“And whoever is in the heavens and the earth makes obeisance to Allah only, willingly and unwillingly, and their shadows, too, at morn and eve. (13:15)

The verse 33:21 categorically states that the past knowledge, the symbiotic knowledge, the philosophico-scientific knowledge are meant for realizing the completion of social missionary, perfection of human personality and systematically systematizing the ever new knowledge in all its types, forms and content in order to discover the concordance and similarity between man and nature on one side and knowledge and the nature on the other. Like nature, all knowledge and cognizance should stand in Unity in establishing the Divine Truth and the expression of logic and meaningfulness of man, nature and knowledge in relation to the Names and Attributes of Almighty Allah (see Rahman and Yasin).

The human personality in this way cannot be completed without discovery of nature and inner layer of the mind and variegated system of knowledge. It has finally been laid down once and for all that the Muslims cannot take any pattern other than the pattern of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). One of the causes of decline of the Muslims is the constant change in patterning as shown by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and adopted patterning of western nations. This variegated pattern stand diametrically opposed to the pattern of life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). In all circumstances of life in all happy or adverse conditions of life, the exclusive pattern of Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is to be taken as binding. The verse 33:21 guides the Muslim nations that this law of patterning is the imperative law. Any omission in patterning in congruity and strict concordance with the pattern of Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is tantamount to ’shirk' and ‘kufr' so much so that the Muslims are not allowed to follow any other pattern even in a situation of crisis, war, or any other socio-cultural mishap anomalous and jaundized situation. The verse 33:21 was revealed at a time when the Muslims were few in number and threatened by the opposition and wars by the enemies like Badr.

One of the causes of conflict of values of decline and chaotic condition of our life is mummish inclination of west in language, ways of life and fads and foibles.

The reconstruction or Islamization of society will never be successful unless attention is given to this determental situation in our life today, We need to understand that religion is the very foundation of our social and cultural system and only avenue of our reconstruction of deviant personality system.

One aspect of such religion pattern is always the permissive one of giving an opportunity for “acting out” symbolically the wishes and emotional tensions associated with the situation of strain. It provides opportunities for a permissive relaxation of some of the disciplines of everyday life.