The present human situation is alarming, to say the least. Calls concern and active response by all people of good will and love of God. But this does not lead or should lead to despair or resignation. The spirit of hope is, and always has been, for members of Islam (see, for example, the Koran, 12:87, 65:3).
Problems and crises in your modern era are neither exclusively current or peculiar. They are certainly difficult, complex and distressing. Perhaps even more today than they have ever been. But the difference between this era and those of centuries past is basically a difference of degree rather than of kind. The increasing complexity of our contemporary problems may be due in large part to a similar rise and proportionate to our expectations and capabilities.
The main origin of the crisis was essentially more difficult for many centuries and in many parts of the globe, a kind of inflexible attitude, exclusive and intolerant of strange, different and foreign. This approach fostered racism, elitism, bigotry, prejudice and a host of equally unpleasant attitudes.
Few can deny that the community really faced with an unusual crisis. The current human crisis seems to emanate from a serious imbalance between our external progress, extrinsic, and materials, and our internal hesitations, intrinsic and moral. Nothing is easier to encourage the maintenance of a balance advocating a “cut through” or fighting for the “happy medium” and yet, nothing has been more difficult to achieve. In the past, statements like that man can not live by bread alone were sometimes so distorted that implied abandonment of human material welfare. Trust in God has also been misinterpreted, is often taken in the sense of helpless fatalism or outright rejection of free will and human self-realization. Excessive emphasis on spirituality, and resignation, necessarily gives rise to an increased emphasis on materialism, free will, etc. Pushed beyond certain limits, spirituality can become superstition and confusion. Similarly, greater emphasis can change in latitude materialism, free will into licentiousness and rationalism in mere vanity. The intellectual history of the last five centuries illustrates very well the trends.
The spiritual level has risen and fallen over the years in recent decades. In the decades of 60 and 70, and now in the 80′s, the events become news that correspond to the unsurpassed and unprecedented investigation of outer space. Are equally sensational investigations ever seen in the inner folds and recesses of the being, however capricious, cultural or appear to be neurotic.
The development of these types of research, unparalleled and unprecedented, is exceptionally alarming. The reason is probably due to the fact that two friends do not seem to relate to each other that do not converge on their own. As there is no reciprocity, mutual reinforcement and cross-fertilization. Moreover, their precarious and unbalanced life is a constant threat for most people. You can drive well, very well, the ambivalence and confusion, which can in turn intensify the problems of society and harden. the fate of modern man. But the uncertain course may change if somehow reconcile the scientific research field and the internal moral hesitation. Man does not live by bread alone. This is quite true. But not only prayer lives. Is in line to be political or materialistic, a browser religious sanctity.
We have already mentioned that the contemporary world is clearly taken aback by numerous problems, but is also confused by the conflicting diagnoses and prescriptions aimed at resolving these problems. Some people sing the popular song “what the world needs now is love … and so on.” some call for a rebirth of human beings. Others turn their gaze to Marxism, Humanism, Satanism, or science, seeking the final solution. Not lacking, who await the arrival of a future savior. And this long list is not even the indifferent, the desperate and apathetic, which may actually exceed the combined set of all optimistic. It appears that the greatest need today is the urgent need for “understanding.” What man needs most is to understand itself and its nature, its potential and limitations, its place in the universe and their relationships with their items.
The question now is how Islam can help man to understand, free your mind and clarify its vision honorable. To venture an answer to this question will need to bear in mind the basics of Islam, who have previously been exposed, and raise some other elements of your value system. This analysis will indicate, hopefully, the extent to which modern man can relate to contemporary issues, and how it can help break through.
The principle of moderation is very characteristic of Islam. As best expressed is probably the way that Islam provides for human nature, the meaning of life and the idea of God. Islam does not adhere to the philosophy of “humanistic” unilateral, almost verified the man and does not recognize anything after him. Assertion nor endorses the equally one-sided, that human nature is inherently vicious, wicked or sinful, Islam rejects the idea that life is nasty, brutal, short and miserable. But it also denies the idea that life is an end in itself, pleasant and carefree. Islam gives life a positive meaning, a purpose. Would be devalued life on earth, only seen in relation to the Other Side. Not concerned exclusively with the here and now, the hedonism of the moment and the immediate pleasures. Nor do not ignore the here and now, trying to find a future paradise in the future. It addresses the human condition who lives down here on earth, and human destiny in the life everlasting. This concern is, of course, relative; values each time of existence according to their relative effect on the general welfare of man (Qur’an, 7:33, 17:18-21, 28:77, 5720-21).
There is a passage in the Koran (2:27-39), typical of many others, it contains some of the fundamental principles of Islam and the fundamentals of the vision that the world is Islam. These principles include the following:
1. The world is a worthy institution, created by the will of a designer and maintained by him, full of meaning purpose. Historical flows take place according to His will and follow established laws. Are not driven by blind chance, nor are they random and disorderly incidents
2. Also the man has been created by God and is commissioned to be his viceroy on earth. Has been chosen to cultivate the land and enrich life with knowledge, virtue, purpose and meaning. And to achieve this goal, all that exists on earth and in heaven has been created for him and was subordinate to it. Life on this planet is a prison for the man coming into the world was not an arbitrary punishment for sins committed previously. Or expelled from another world and cast to it. Its existence was not due to mere chance or was an unforeseen event.
3. The only faculty of man is knowledge and an integral part of his personality and being. It is knowledge that qualifies man to become viceroy of his Creator, and entitling him to have authority over the respect and loyalty of the angels of God.
4. The first phase of life on earth began in sin or rebellion against the Creator Being. The “Fall” of the Garden of Eden, and what came after-the guilt of Adam and Eve, his repentance, forgiveness and compassion of God toward them, the enmity between man and Satan, none of this surprised the Creator Ni was not an accident in the course of events. He was too well designed to be accidental. Rather, it seems to have been designed to discipline the first man to make him really experience the fall and rise, defeat and moral triumph, waywardness and reconciliation with the Creator. In this way the man would be better prepared for life and most learned to cope with its uncertainties and moments.
5. Eve was not the weakest part of the first human couple, and tempted Adam to eat of the forbidden tree and was not solely responsible for the expulsion from the Garden of Paradise. Both Adam and Eve were tempted and equally responsible, the two felt sorrow and repentance, and the two were blessed by the forbearance and compassion of God. This is significant, because free from the curse Eve that she and her sex have been dragging through the ages, and acquitted of the charge that it alone is the sole, or main, responsible for the Fall. He also states unequivocally that the belief in the moral inferiority of women is unfounded, is completely unjustified moral criterion that applies a double standard of accountability. Here, as elsewhere, the Koran makes it very clear that both men and women are equally capable of virtue and weakness, equally sensitive and equally meritorious. rivers.
6. The man has a free will and has a will also free. This is the essence of his humanity and the base of his responsibility to his Creator. Without the relatively free will of man, life would be meaningless and the alliance between God and man would be in vain. Without it, human free will, God would not have achieved its objectives and the man would be unable to take any responsibility. This is of course unthinkable.
7. Life comes from God. It is not eternal, nor end in itself but a transition phase after which everything will return to the Creator.
8. The man is a responsible agent. But the responsibility of sin only supports the real sinner. Sin is not hereditary, transferable, or common in nature. Each individual is responsible for their own works. And while the man is susceptible to corruption, is also able to redeem and reform. This does not mean that Islam prefers the individual to the group, individualism means little or nothing when separated from the social context. What it really means is that the individual has different sets of roles to play. Must act in a way that allows you to save your moral integrity, to preserve their identity, respect the rights of God and fulfill their social obligations.
9. The man is an honorable and dignified. His dignity derives from the fact that the Creator has infused his spirit. Most important of all, this dignity is not limited to any particular race, color or class of people. Is the natural right of man, every man, the most honorable of the earth.
10. The passage suggests, finally, to the deep roots of the Oneness of God and the oneness of humanity. Also shows that the highest human virtues are piety and knowledge, when this knowledge is acquired and used in accordance with divine guidance, man will have secured their happy destiny and your life will be serene.
