Manifesto of Islam - 3

The Nature of the Unconscious Mind

11) The urge for an ideal in man is the urge of his unconscious mind which, as a result of the experiments of the psychoanalysts, is now recognized as the real motivating power of all human activity. Unfortunately, the psychoanalysts have not understood its true nature and have misinterpreted it variously as an urge for sex (Freud) or as an urge for power (Adler) or an urge for both sex and power (Jung). It is really an urge for Beauty or Perfection and can be satisfied only by an ideal of the highest beauty. Since an ideal of this kind is able to utilize and attach to itself permanently the whole store of love in the unconscious mind of an individual, it results in the complete unification of his personality as well as in his perfect happiness or satisfaction. This fact has a great importance not only in the treatment and prevention of mental diseases and moral aberrations but also in our search for a permanent solution of out social and political problems. 

The Progress and Regress of Love or Self- Knowledge

12) The love of an ideal is never real unless it is expressed in practice. In so far as a person's practical life is not determined by the ideal that he claims to love, it is being determined by another ideal and his pretensions of love are false. The real love of an ideal is never stationary. It is always either increasing or decreasing. When it is decreasing, it is accompanied by a simultaneous revelation of the beauty (supposed or real) of another ideal and the consequent diversion of activity in the service of that ideal in proportion to that revelation. If there is no such accompaniment, the person is, for reasons already explained, undergoing a painful mental experience amounting to a worry, a nervous breakdown or a shock. Since the frustration or obstruction of a man's urge for an ideal is painful and unbreakable, people try to resist this condition at all costs. That is why they generally do not listen to arguments against their own ideals and try to adhere to them even at the cost of appearing to be definitely obstinate and unreasonable. If, on the other hand, the love of the ideal is increasing, it is following its natural and normal course. The love of an ideal always adds to itself more and more so long as it is not crushed by another love. For love seeks expression and, as the lover expresses his love, he allows it to achieve a further control of his faculties of thought and action and thereby of the whole of his personality. Every expression of love, be it in thought, word or deed, brings up a new portion of the energy of love in the unconscious mind to be attached to the ideal. 

Factors in the Development of Love

13) The expression and, therefore, the growth of love takes place in two ways in the case of every ideal whether right or wrong. Firstly, the contemplation of the ideal's beauty which takes the form of the admiration and adoration of the ideal and the concentration of attention on as many of its attractive qualities and as much of each quality as possible. This activity proceeds from a feeling of the ideal's beauty and results in a further intensification of that feeling. Every group or nation uses devices of various kinds to enable its members to contemplate the beauty of their ideal. The sum total of these devices constitutes the educational system of the nation, in a sense large enough to include, in addition to their schools and colleges, their temples, churches, mosques and clubs, the radio, the press, the platform and the cinema, and indeed all the social and political activities of the nation. In the case of most wrong ideals, which emphasize the worship of persons and objects representing these ideals, these devices include the statues and pictures of national heroes, national flags and all ostentatious social, political and military demonstrations and displays organized or encouraged by the state. Secondly, external action in the service of an ideal which leads to a fuller contact with the ideal, a fuller realisation of its beauty and consequently a further development of its love. External action in the service of the ideal means following the moral law of the ideal.

The Progress of Love is in Proportion to Action in Its Service

14) It is a condition of the full and continued development of an ideal's love that its demands for action may cover the entire field of the individual's activity and embrace all aspects and departments of his life, social, political, economic, legal and even intellectual and artistic. For, if an individual's ideal does not govern any aspect of his life itself, it must leave that aspect to be governed by other ideas which are inconsistent with it, and hence a portion of the love of the unconscious mind must become attached to these ideas and the love of these ideas must flourish at the expense of the ideal. Only that ideal has a chance of attaching the whole of the love of the unconscious mind to itself which makes positive demands on our actions in every sphere of our life.

The Immortality of Man

15) Since it is consciousness and not matter that is real and ultimate and since it is consciousness that has created the body and not the body that has created consciousness, the human self does not die with the disintegration of the body at death. The nature and quality of its ideal in this life must, therefore, determine the nature and quality of its life, its happiness or sorrow, in the next life. The man who is rightly guided, progressive and happy in this life must be rightly guided, progressive and happy in the next life as well and vice versa. "O soul that art at rest, return to thy Lord well pleased, well pleasing" (lxxxix.27-28). "And whoever is blind in this world h will be blind in the Hereafter and further away from the path" (xvii. 72).

The Dangers of Loving Wrong Ideals. A Wrong View of life and Its Values.

When an individual or a nation does not heed the call of prophets and begins to love a wrong ideal, the condition is known as Kufr or denial. The characteristics of ideals enumerated above enable us to see that the love of a wrong ideal or Kufr must lead to very grave consequences for the individual and the community that adopts it. "And whoever associates aught with Allah it is as if he had fallen from on high, then the birds had snatched him away or the wind has carried him off to a distant place" (xxii.31). These consequences may be stated briefly as follows: 1) Since a wrong ideal has none of the qualities of Beauty in it, the individual who loves it has a wrong attitude towards life and its values. His natural urge for Beauty, Goodness and Truth cannot have a full and free expression because his wrong ideal interferes with it. The result is that his idea of moral qualities like justice, honesty, truth, equality, liberty, fraternity and goodness, become wrong. He is forced by his wrong love, unconsciously and imperceptibly, to interpret these terms narrowly and wrongly and hence immorally and wickedly. He ignores the true demands of these qualities in practice.

In spite of his best efforts and best intentions, his activities are directed towards wrong ends. His faculties of thought and action, which are controlled by his ideal, function wrongly and produce the wrong results. He hates what is really lovable and admirable and loves what is really ugly and detestable. His view of things is distorted and his judgment of men and matters is vitiated. He can neither see, nor hear, nor think, nor act rightly, and is never conscious of these disabilities of his own. "They have hearts wherewith they understand not and they have eyes where with they see not and they have ears wherewith they hear not. They are as cattle, nay they are more astray. These are the heedless ones" (vii.178). The ideal being the generator of the deed and the creator of its value, the deed is good or bad according as the ideal from which it results is good or bad. Hence the character of a man who loves a wrong ideal is never really noble or lofty. For example, if a man's ideal is a nation of a particular country, race, colour or language, his idea of truth, justice, liberty, equality, etc, cannot extend to people outside that nation and beyond that race, colour, language or country. He thinks that no truth, no justice, no liberty and no equality is worthy of effect and achievement which may serve to make other nations great at the expense of his own. The love of the Creator is the only fountainhead from which our desire for moral excellence can derive the strength to translate itself into action. If a person loves a wrong ideal, his desire for moral action in accordance with absolute and universal principles of morality is overpowered by his wrong love and is, therefore, misunderstood and misinterpreted by him. This is the reason why the lovers of wrong ideals cannot agree with each other as regard the meaning of terms like truth, justice, etc. and believe sincerely and honestly, while they are at each other's throats, that they are serving the cause of moral values expressed by these terms.

The Love of a Wrong Ideal is neither Perfect nor Permanent

2) The love of a man who adopts a wrong ideal is neither perfect nor permanent. It cannot grow to the fullest extent because it comes into conflict with his urge for Goodness, which demands action according to absolute and universal principles of morality and thus makes it impossible for him to express the whole of his urge for Beauty. Also the missing qualities of Beauty, which he attributes to his ideal unconsciously and wrongly, impose a check on the growth of his love beyond a certain limit. He cannot love his ideal wholeheartedly. A secret unconscious hatred for it (which becomes open or conscious sooner or later) always lurks in his mind. The result is that he leads a dissatisfied life and falls an easy prey to fear, grief, worry, hysteria, shocks, phobias and other nervous disorders. "We will cast fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve because they set up with Allah that for which He has sent down no authority" (iii. 151). "And whoever turns away from My Reminder, for him is surely a straitened life" (xx.124). "And whoever turns himself away from the remembrance of the Beneficent, We appoint for him a devil, so he is his associate" (xxxiv.36) There is no doubt that the two forms of loving Beauty (viz. contemplation of the ideal's beauty and action in the service of the ideal) develop the love of a wrong ideal too for some time but soon a stage is reached in the development of its love when these methods, instead of developing the love further, serve only to reveal the defects of the ideal and to induce its hatred.

A Wrong Ideal Creates Wrong and Intolerable Conditions of Life Sooner or Later.

3) The ugly qualities of a wrong ideal overlooked by its lovers determine their activities and become manifest in the outward conditions of their life. A wrong ideal, therefore, always creates a set of wrong national and international conditions which cause misery to large sections of humanity. A wrong ideal is in fact a total failure, since it cannot realise in the external conditions of existence even those qualities of beauty which its lovers attribute to it consciously. The reason is that the successful realisation of these qualities outwardly is thwarted and made impossible by the inherent defect of the ideal which come into a clash with them.

The Real Cause of Wars and Bloodshed

4) The Right Ideal is only one but wrong ideals are many and several of them come to exist side by side with each other. Since each of them has its own moral law and wants unlimited power and expansion for itself as well as a universal recognition of its Ethics, the ideal group fight among themselves and cause bloodshed and misery to mankind on an ever larger and large scale on account of the continuous improvements in the instruments of mass destruction of humanity.

A Society Based on a Wrong Ideal is Doomed to Ultimate Extinction

5) A community based on a wrong ideal is short-lived. It may live for centuries but its final disintegration is inevitable on account of the working of the inexorable laws of human nature. "And every nation has a term, so when its term comes, they cannot remain behind the least while nor can they precede it" (vii. 34). "And the parable of an evil word, a wrong ideal, is as an evil tree pulled up from the earth's surface, it has no stability" (xiv. 26). "The parable of those who take other ideals besides Allah is as the parable of the spider that makes for itself a house: and surely the frailest of the houses is the spider's house-- if they but knew" (xxix. 41). Hence all the self-sacrifice that its lovers make for it goes waste. They are obliged to demolish and destroy with their own hands what they build patiently thought long centuries of sweat and toil. "Ay: Shall we inform you who are greatest losers in respect of deeds? Those whose effort goes astray in this world's life, and they think that they are making good manufactures." Viii.103-104. "An be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly" (xvi. 99). They love their ideal faithfully and ardently but only to be deceived and abandoned by it later on and to pay the price of their own death and extinction for loving it. The Quran frequently makes a mention of the bygone communities and asserts that they had to quit the world because they loved wrong ideals. "Say: Travel in the land, then see what was the end of those before Most of them loved ideals other than the true Ideal" (xxx.42). "See they not how may a generation We destroyed before them, whom We had established in the earth as We have not established you, and We sent the clouds pouring abundant rain on them and We made the rivers flow beneath them? Then We destroyed them for their sins, and raised up after them another generation" (vi.6)

Real Freedom is Impossible in a State Founded on a Wrong Ideal

5) A state founded on a wrong ideal can never given real freedom to the individual. In such a state the individual is apparently free but really he is the slave of a wrong ideal, although there is no doubt that, on account of his wrong education, he is completely reconciled to his slavery. Liberty can have no meaning other than the liberty of a man to satisfy perfectly and permanently the only desire that he has, i.e. his desire for Beauty. The external forces that interfere with this liberty include not only the law that compels him to do what is contrary to his will but also the social environment that induces him imperceptibly to will what is contrary to the requirements of Beauty and the requirements of his nature.

The Love of a Wrong Ideal Makes the Next Life Miserable

6) The actions of a man who loves a wrong ideal are not only of no use to him in this world ultimately but they also become insurmountable, distressing and tortuous obstacles to his progress in the Hereafter.

A Necessary Condition of the Survival of the Human Race

Indeed, even when we consider only our earthly life, the dangers of loving wrong ideals or Kufr are so great that, if Nature had not provided for the proper guidance of mankind in their effort to satisfy their urge for an ideal by creating prophets, there would have been no hope of the human race surviving for long on the earth. But now that prophetic guidance is available to mankind the situation is different. The more the human race will be driven to their own ruin on account of their mutual animosities (and they are being driven to it more and more every day), the more will they be constrained to search for a remedy, and the remedy will be found only in the teachings of the prophets. "Be the time _ Surely man is in loss, except those who believe and do good and exhort one another to Truth and exhort one another to patience" (xxi.107) That is why the Quran says addressing the Prophet: "And We have not sent thee but as a mercy to the nations" (xxi.107).

The Blessings of Loving the Right Ideal

When an individual or a community heeds the call of the prophets and begins to love the Right Ideal, the condition is known as Iman (faith or belief) in the terminology of Islam. Such an individual or such a community starts on the safe and smooth road leading towards a state of the highest possible perfection in all respects and ultimately becomes as perfect and faultless as we can imagine an individual or a community to be.

The Correct Attitude towards Life and Its Values

An individual who loves the Right Ideal acquires a correct attitude towards life and its values. He has the right perspective of things, and his thoughts, words and deeds are rightly directed. He loves what is really lovable and admirable and hates what is really ugly and detestable. He alone can understand and realise the true meaning of terms like Goodness. Truth, Justice, Equality, Fraternity, Liberty, Progress, etc. He can love his ideal perfectly and permanently since it is not possible for him to discover any defect in it at any time. On the other hand he has an ever-increasing satisfaction that his ideal turns out every moments to be more perfect and more beautiful than he imagined it to be. Since he has a sound and smooth satisfaction of his urge of self, he is happy and contented. He is safe from worries, obsessions, hysteria and other nervous diseases. His personality is highly evolved, highly unified, powerful, fearless and magnanimous.

The Only Possible Basis for a Perfect State is the Right Ideal

When such individuals unites to form an organized group or a state, as they must, their activities as a society are also rightly directed. Such a state is able to express completely, constantly, and harmoniously, in its external practical life, all the qualities of Beauty, Goodness and Truth. As time goes these qualities are reflected more and more in the political, social, economic, ethical, legal, educational, informational, intellectual and military spheres, in fact all spheres, of their life. There are no economic, moral, social or political inequalities in such a state. Its members enjoy the boon of liberty and equality to the fullest extent themselves and are always ready to make them available to others. They are protected from all external forces which interfere with the liberty of the individual. They have, for example, no laws to compel them to do what is contrary to their will and no social and educational influences to induce them indirectly and imperceptibly to will what is contrary to their nature. As the members admire, adore and serve their ideal and evolve their love for it and for each other the state gradually attains to the highest possible level of its internal cohesion and solidarity as well as strength and efficiency. The result is that it becomes a society of perfectly noble and happy individuals, an ideal state free from every imaginable vice or defect and endowed with every known and unknown merit or excellence. The nature of their ideology guarantees their continued happiness and contentment. "Those who say: Our Lord is Allah, and then continue in the right way, the angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not, nor be grieved, and receive good news of the Garden which you were promised. We are your friends in this world's life and in the Hereafter and you have therein what you ask for." (xli.30-31). It also guarantees that they will continue to maintain their existence and prosper in the world in spite of the designs of their enemies to the contrary. "Allah sets forth a parable of a good word as a good tree whose root is firm and whose branches are high, yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord" (xiv 24-25). "Allah establishes firmly those who believe in the firm ideal, in this world's life and in the Hereafter" (xiv. 27). "So whoever disbelieves in wrong ideals and believes in Allah he indeed lays hold on the firmest handle which shall never break" (ii. 256).

A State Founded on the Right Ideal alone Can Survive the War of Ideologies

Such a state must spread gradually but irresistibly to the ends of the earth and take the whole of humanity into its fold. It must prove to be the final victor in the war of ideologies because. a) Its full-status membership will not be restricted to men of any particular country, race, language or colour but will be open to all human beings who are prepared to love and serve the Right Ideal, b) Its ideal will be free from all defects and therefore immune from the destiny of wrong ideals which must, on account of their internal contradiction, break up and disappear one by one leaving it to dominate the world, c) On account of the highly evolved and unified personalities of its members, the morale of its fighting soldiers will be unique and permanent, and d) Its ideal will derive an increasing support from the developing scientific and philosophical knowledge of making and turn more and more into a truly convincing, systematic and scientific ideology. Thus it will conquer not only on account of the power of its arms but also on account of the force of its ideas. Its final victory will be a great blessing for mankind because it will end finally the war of nations, unite the human race as a single family, establish a permanent peace on earth and carry man to the state of his highest possible evolution in every aspect of his life. How does the Right Ideal bring about the Perfection of the Individual and the Society? The question arises: how does it happen that the Right Ideal transforms the individual and the society and raises them both to such a high level of perfection? It happens because the individuals who adopt the Right Ideal are impelled by their ideal to act in a way which assures the internal growth and consequently the external practical expression and objectification of their love of the Creator and His qualities of Beauty and Perfection to the fullest extent.

Faith, Love, Self-Knowledge, Self-Consciousness or Knowledge of the Creator

The moment a person obeys the call of prophets and believes and declares his belief that Right Ideal is the true ideal of his nature, he has a conscious and direct realist ion of the total beauty of the Creator and the total absence of Beauty in every other ideal. It is his first direct glimpse of the light of Beauty and the first conscious beginning of his love. It is also his first knowledge of the Creator_ what is he like and what is His significance to him and his first awareness or consciousness of himself_ what is it that he really wants and what is the real significance and object of his life? His belief is, therefore, synonymous with his love, with his knowledge of himself and with his knowledge of the Creator, Henceforward his love, if properly safeguarded and allowed to have its own way, embarks on a course of continuous growth and enrichment which is natural to it and which culminates in the highest possible evolution of his self. This last stage of the individual's evolution is accompanied by the greatest amount of happiness, satisfaction, self-confidence and self-control, which he can possible desire or command. The greater and purer his love, the stronger is his belief, the higher is his belief, the higher is his self-knowledge and the knowledge of the Creator and the more perfect is his happiness, self-control or self-confidence. Love is not having its own way if it is not allowed to express itself thoroughly and continuously and it is not properly safeguarded if its obstruction in the shape of a powerful temptation results in its unnatural diversion. We shall see below what are the requirements of a free and full expression of love, what is the exact nature of a temptation and how it works to the detriment of the lover.

Action in the Service of the Ideal_ (Ibadah)

The effort or action that is motivated by the love of the Right Ideal is internal as well as external. The internal or mental effort takes the shape of the contemplation of the qualities of the Creator with the help of their symbols or representations. It is always attended by a sense (deep only in proportion to the individual's love or self-knowledge) of admiration, adoration and enjoyment of the beauty of these qualities. The symbols or representations of the Creator's attributes which become the medium for their contemplation are (a) the manifestations of Nature in which the Creator has expressed His attributes and (b) words expressing His attributes.

Study of the Attributes of Beauty

(a) Through the Medium of Nature_(Fikr). Nature being the creation of the Divine Being, qualities of the Divine Being are expressed in Nature. The heavens, the sun, the moon and the stars, the mountains, the landscape, the vast oceans, the twilight and the dawn, the clouds, the rivers, the streams, the winds, the changes of day and night, the rotation of seasons, the animal and vegetable life in all its variety, complexity and richness, in fact all the multitudinous phenomena of Nature at the material, biological and psychological level of creation embodying its crating, evolving, nourishing, protecting, decorating, designing and planning activities and processes reflect the qualities of the Creator as vividly as the masterpiece of an artist reflects his mental and moral constititution. The study of these phenomena, therefore, enables a believer to contemplate, admire and adore the beauty of the Creator's attributes. "And in the earth are signs for those who believe" (li.20). "In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day, there are surely signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord, Thou hast not created this Universe in vain Glory be to Thee Save us from the chastisement of the Fire" (iii.189-190). The study of Nature which is known as Fikr in the terminology of Islam is not only a means to express, feed, sustain and evolve the Love of the Right Ideal but also the very first originator of that love in the case of all human beings. Since we all, every moment of out life, are surrounded by Nature, every one of us is forced to contemplate nature and the admire and enjoy its Beauty. The result is that every one of us is forced to acquire a feeling of the Creativeness, the Greatness, the Goodness, the Beauty and the Power of a Creator, however vague this feeling may be in the case of some of us. That is why, whatever our creeds or beliefs may be, we talk of Nature so often as a person who has a character and a consciousness of his own activities which, therefore, are supposed to have an end or a purpose. But unfortunately many of us do not realise the importance of this feeling of Beauty which, like every other feeling, demands a proper understanding and expression. Hence they do not care to understand and express it properly. "And how a sign in the heaven and the earth do they pass by yet they turn away from it " (xii. 105). The result is that in the case of many of use this feeling is crushed on the conscious level of mind. But since its justification resides in our very nature and it accords with, and provides an outlet to, the most powerful urge of our being, it is never totally eliminated but is only suppressed and pushed down into the unconscious mind where it lingers on as a repression for ever.

A real atheist is not possible. A person who is generally known as an atheist denies God openly in word and deed but on account of his unavoidable contact with Nature, resulting in a deep, unconscious impression of its Beauty, he believes in Him in the heart of hearts. That is why he resorts to prayers when he is surrounded by difficulties which appear to him to be insurmountable. "And when a wave like awnings covers them, they call upon Allah being sincere to Him in obedience. But when He brings them safe to land, some of them follow the middle course. And none denies Our signs but every perfidious, ungrateful one" (xxxi. 32). "So when they ride in the ships they call upon Allah, being sincerely obedience to Him, but when He brings them safe to land, lo they associate others with Him" (xxix. 65). When a prophet comes into the world, he says nothing that is new to mankind but only revives or reawakens that buried or suppressed feeling of Beauty in their hearts with which they are already familiar, initiates them into its real meaning and importance and teaches them the right way of expressing it. He thus begins by inviting men to ponder over the manifestations of Nature which thrust themselves on their attention all around. Do the not abound with a clear evidence of the expression and operation of a Creator's qualities of Love, Beauty, Wisdom and Power, and do they not force him to bow before Him in love, admiration and reverence? A Creator with such qualities alone can be the True Ideal of mankind. "And if thou ask them: Who created the heavens and the earth and who made the Sun and the Moon subservient? they would say: Allah. Whence are they then turned away?" (xxix. 61). "And if thou ask them: Who is it that sends down water from the clouds, then given life to the earth with it after its death? they will say: Allah, Say: Praise be to Allah Nav, most of them understand not" (xxix.63). "Say: Who gives you sustenance from the heaven and the earth, or who has created hearing and sight and who brings forth the living from the dead, and brings forth the dead from the living and who rules the world? They will say: Allah. Say then: Will you not then guard against error?" "Such then is Allah, your true Lord. And what is there after the truth but error. How then are you turned away" (x.31-32).

The Quran draws attention of the human race again and again to the various manifestations of Nature and explains how they speak eloquently of the Creator's attributes of Beauty and Perfection. "In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the ship that runs in the sea with that which profits men, and the water that Allah sends down from the sky, then give life therewith to the earth after its death and spreads in it all (kinds of) animals, and the changing of the winds and the clouds made subservient between heaven and earth, there are surely sings for a people who understand (ii.164). "And of His signs is this that He created you from dust, then lo, you are human beings spread all over the earth." "And of His sings is this that He created mates for you from yourself that you might find quiet of mind in them, and He created between you love and tenderness. Surely there are sings in this for a people who reflect" (xxx.20-21). "Allah is He Who sends forth the winds, so they raise a cloud, then He spreads it forth in the sky as He pleases, and He breaks it, so that you see the rain coming forth from inside it; then when He causes it to fall upon whom He pleases of His servants, lo they rejoice_ though they were before this, before it was sent down upon them, in sure despair. Look then at the signs of Allah's mercy, how He gives life to the earth after its death, Surely He is the Quickener of the dead; and He is Possessor of power over all things" (xxx.48-50). "And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and colours. Surely there are signs in this for the learned". "And of His signs is your sleep by night and day and your seeking of His bounty. Surely there are signs in this for a people who would hear." "And of His signs is this that He shows you the lighting for fear and for hope, and sends down water from the cloud, then gives life therewith to the earth after its death, Surely there are signs in this for a people who understand." "And of His signs is this that the heaven and the earth subsist by His commands. Then when He calls you_ form the earth_ lo you come forth (xxx.22-25). "See they not the camel how it is created? And the heaven how it is raised high? And the mountains how they are fixed? And the earth how it is spread out?" (lxxxviii.17-20). The Study of Nature as a Means of Developing One's Realisation of the Creator's Beauty includes all Genuine Quest for Knowledge. Fikr or the study of natural phenomena is at the root of all sciences. When it is indulged in systematically, it takes the shape of scientific research which, if pursued regularly, enables us to understand the laws of Nature operating at all levels of creation and to utilise them in our service more and more thoroughly.

(a) Through the Medium of Words_ (Zikr).

The other variety of symbols used by the lover for contemplating the Beauty of Divine qualities are words expressing these qualities. A list of such words (known as al-Asma-ul-Husnah or beautiful attributes) denoting prominent qualities of Beauty has already been given above. Urged by his love, the believer concentrates his attention on the meaning of some of these words which attract him most of all for the time being, with a view to admiring and adoring and ultimately becoming as intimates as possible with the beauty that they represent. In this inner effort which aims both at discovering and enjoying Beauty more and more, he pronounces them again and again keeping their full import in the focus of attention to the best of his ability. This process is known as Zikr. A believer is urged by his love to avail himself of every opportunity that he can get, of associating himself with the Beauty that he loves. Therefore, whenever possible, he employs both the varieties of symbols_ the phenomena of Nature as well as the worlds expressing the qualities of the Creator_ for his study and contemplation of Beauty. "Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth" (iii.190). The contemplation of Beauty, whatever the symbols that become its instrument, results from love, yet it is a process which itself adds to the intensity of love. It is the result as well as the cause of love in the process of its emergence and growth. The greater a person's love of the Creator, the more sustained and concentrated is his contemplation of the Creator's attributes and the deeper is his admiration and adoration of His Beauty. Conversely, the more concentrated and sustained is a person's contemplation of the qualities of the Creator, the deeper is his admiration and adoration of their Beauty and the greater is the progress of his love. Thus the love of Beauty and the contemplation of Beauty on the part of a believer help each other to evolve his self-consciousness.

Praying is a Mental Activity, not a Vocal Exercise

Zikr is a mental activity and not a vocal exercise. The essence of Zikr is the inner effort of contemplation resulting from a realisation of Beauty. It is always accompanied by the emotions of admiration and adoration, humility and submission, fear and hope, joy and exaltation alternating with each other in the mind of the lover according to his idea of the state of his relation with the Beloved from time to time. Vocal repetition of words is meant to help the lover in this effort since it enables him to concentrate his attention on the Beauty which these words express. If it is not accompanied by inner effort it cannot help the growth of love. If Zikr is attended by the emotions mentioned above it is a proof that the inner effort exists and that the lover's self-knowledge is progressing. The Quran stresses this point when it says: "They called upon Us hoping and fearing, and they were humble before Us" (xxi, 90). "Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers" (xxiii.1-2). "Call on your Lord humbly and in secret" (vii.55). "And call on Him fearing and hopping. Surely the mercy of Allah is nigh to the doers of good" (vii. 56). A sincere lover is always midway between fear (Khauf) and hope (Rija) _fear lest he should lose the love and incur the displeasure of his Beloved and hope that his devotion is going to win him a still greater approval of the Beloved. That is why the Prophet (may peace be upon him) said:

Faith subsists between fear and hope

The Greatest Reward of the Worshipper is the Full Growth of His Love and Consequently of His Personality. When love has attained to a high degree of sincerity and purity, the lover fears the Beloved's displeasure for its own sake and not because it is likely to entail some punishment to him other than itself. To him there is no punishment greater than His displeasure. Similarly, he desires the approval of the Beloved for its own sake and not because it is likely to bring him a reward other than itself. To him there is no reward greater than His approval. The approval of the Creator, according to the Quran, will be the greatest of the boons that will be conferred upon a believer on entering Paradise. "And the greatest of all boons is Allah's goodly pleasure. That is the grand achievement " (ix. 72). It will be a joy the extent or the intensity of which it is not possible to assess in this world. "So no one knows what refreshment of the eyes is hidden for them as a reward for what they did" (xxxii.17). The happy news of this expected favour will be broken to him at the gates of the Paradise. "O soul that are well satisfied, return to thy Lord with Whom you are pleased and Who is pleased with you. So enter among My servants and enter My garden" (lxxxix. 27-30). The feelings of humility and submission, self-effacement and self-negation attending the act of worship or the contemplation of Beauty are due to the self's desire to approach as near to the Creator as possible. These feelings do not conflict with the lover's feelings of self-regard and self-affirmation; on the other hand, they intensify these feelings since the lover's contact with Reality engenders in him a unique sense of power and superiority. The more he considers himself insignificant before the Beauty and the Power of the Beloved, the greater is his realisation of His Beauty and Power, and the more is he able to compensate for his own insignificance by this realisation which is thus really a process by which he absorbs more and more of the Beauty and Power of the Beloved.

Regular Congregational Prayers (Salat)

A regular and systematic from of Zikr performed by the believers five times a day in congregation and with an appropriate discipline under the leadership of a man who is the best of those who are present is known as Salat, Salat embodies the minimum amount of Zikr which is necessary for the expression and evolution of a believer's love. It lays the foundations of his habits of Zikr and supplies at regular hours the nourishment that his love needs to maintain these habits for its own future growth. It is meant to serve, among other things, as the nucleus as well as the model of his entire practical life (in which Zikr also has a place) as a member of a society of believers. It does not, of course, provide him with all the Zikr that he needs for evolving his love quickly and continuously to the highest possible stage which is the real objective of the human self. The believer is, therefore, enjoined, in the interest of the growth of his love, to resort to Zikr as frequently as possible after his regular prayers. "But when the prayer is ended, disperse abroad in the land and seek of Allah's grace, and remember Allah much, that you may be successful" (lxii. 10). "And when you have performed your devotions remember Allah as you remember your father, rather a better remembering "(ii. 200). "Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides" (ii.190). The feeling of Beauty or love is attended by a special kind of pleasure, a joy or a satisfaction which goes on increasing as love evolves by means of contemplation. This strengthens the believer's faith and provides him with personal experience and an intimate knowledge of the correctness of his ideal, gives him hope and confidence and stabilizes and stimulates his efforts on the path he has chosen for its realisation. "Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Now surely in Allah's remembrance do hearts find rest" (xiii.28). The extraordinary satisfaction which a man derives from Zikr is itself a proof that Zikr satisfies an important natural desire of the human self. We know that Nature has so ordained that the satisfaction of every natural human desire, whether it belongs to the biological or the psychological level, is accompanied by a joy which itself serve s as guide for the satisfaction of that desire.