SHAFAQNA- Intellectuals vs People
What did they miss? The family of Mohammad: Is it that this family is without effect or is it that our young generation and our intellectuals are in error? Or have our mothers and fathers failed in their responsibilities? The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the clearest of truth. He represents the most progressive school of thought which has ever taken human form. It is not a myth. It is a human reality (or should be). It is what could be but isn’t.
And his daughter, Fatimah is a perfect example of an ideal woman whom no one has yet become. His grandchildren- Hussain (AS) and Zaynab (SA), the sister and the brother, who brought deep revolution to mankind and who fought for honor and freedom and who opposed despotism and oppression. The house of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is like the Kabah in which the children and the inheritors of Abraham (AS) reside. It is a sign and a symbol.
It is Real. It is made of stone whereas they are human beings. The Kabah is the place of circumambulation for Muslims; whereas, the house of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the destination of every heart which understands beauty, majesty, freedom, justice, love, sincerity, and strength. It is the destination of those who encourage jihad and sacrifice to preserve the lives and freedom of the people.
From another point of view, the palaces of the Caesars (from which, historians say, waft culture, civilization, religion, thought, discipline and art) are turned around. Our intelligent, loyal, lovers of virtue who have known this household-luckless and quiet have always been sacrificed. Our people have tied eternal links to them. All their faith, longing, thought and feelings have been devoted to them. Their hearts beat for them. Their eyes cry with their sorrow.
They sacrifice themselves and their possessions in their way. They withhold nothing. Look at these poverty stricken, starving people who show their feelings and the faith which they have in each individual member of this beloved family. What things have they not done and what things will they not do for them?
The spending of money often shows with much clarity the power of faith and sincerity. Let us examine all the time, endowments and money which people have spent for this family. We see that the poverty among people is so advanced that the problems of bread and water, children’s milk and medicine for the hospitals are the most important things in life. Still, any time and under any circumstances which relate to this family, we see that over one million ceremonies are held in their honor. Over 150,000 clergy and speakers exist for reciting the congregational ritual prayers.
There are more than 700,000 descendants of the Prophet’s family who speak at the lamentation ceremonies where eulogists restore the memory of this family. How much is spent for construction of the buildings for the ceremonies related to Hussain (AS) [Husayniyahs], on places where the passion plays are performed [Taziyahs], on neighborhood clubs where young men form groups which participate in religious ceremonies [Hayats], on Dastahs [the generic name of the groups].
How much is spent for lamentation ceremonies and food, for that which is held in the name of taxes [Khums], for the religious leaders’ share, for that spent in good works and feeding poor people. It is above and beyond counting. This is particularly important when we consider that this country is one of the most economically backward countries. Income, according to head count, is minimal.
If we pay attention, in particular, to the great differences in classes which exists in Islamic societies, we see that half of the capital of the country is in the hands of a few thousand people. We see that two-thirds of whatever there is, is at the disposal of only 10% of the population. We see that, as opposed to the past, capital has been taken from the former landlords and the former merchants of the bazaar and has been put into the hands of new capitalists, new industrialists, modern bourgeois companies and middle men who sell foreign goods or produce new products themselves.
We see that the money has moved from village storage areas, from the shops of the old merchants under the old roofs of the bazaar, from the hands of local handicrafts workers, from the hands of money changers and indigenous professional guilds, from traditional industries and classical professions to the banks, to stock exchange, to foreign companies, to agencies, to distributors, to contractors and to factories. A new class is created.
It is characterized by foreignness and modernization. It adores the West. It is not religious. If it had a memory of or inclination towards religion, it has long since been stamped out. Luxury, transience, pretentiousness and foreignness prevail among this class. And their Islam, in the words of Seyyed Qutb, is an American Islam.
People who follow religion without responsibility and without effort, most often give their opinions without acting or investing anything. Intellectuals spend no money. Our young girls and boys have for years given dancing parties in Switzerland, France, England, America and Austria. They have been most generous in their expenditure on such parties. Men and women of this materialist class go abroad with their money bags overflowing. In the stores and casinos, they put money into the pockets of the capitalists, the milkers of money.
They are no more than cashcows, seen by deceiving Westerners as donkeys with money, donkeys coming out of a backward country. They squander their wealth on expensive dancers. They go slumming and then return to their country until once again they gather up enough money to go back to be milked. They do all this very naturally and without any understanding of their mistake or error even holding their heads high. With lies, people are turned in circles. They call this progress, modern living and a sign of civilization.
At the same time, a small merchant or villager gets ready for his pilgrimage (hajj) to Makkah or Karbala after a lifetime Of work and anguish. He goes on the principle that this is the only thing in his life which will be both a time of rest as well as pleasure a journey, a tour, traveling abroad and coming to know other countries. He will see the world and renew his faith, his beliefs and his union with his history. He makes the pilgrimage to his beloved people. He comes to know the remains of his civilization. He sees art which relates to him.
Because of his love, the longing of his spirit, and finally, the duty of his religious faith, once in a lifetime, he intends to make the pilgrimage. He takes a minimum amount of money. He pays for his plane ticket and the rest he uses for his expenses there and to buy gifts which he takes back home. What he spends there is the money to rent a tent or to take a bus or to buy a few days of food. The total of all this does not reach the cost of one night of Mr. and Mrs. so and so’s champagne in the Lido or one of their caviar breakfasts in the George V Hotel.
These pseudo-intellectuals who supposedly understand the subtle points of things, who are recently reborn (financially) look down upon a little merchant or a villager who lacks sophistication. All the feelings of such ‘gentlemen’, their knowledge, their class prejudice produce such hatred for the worker and the peasant that even Che Guevara could not stem it. We see this new moneyed class side by side with our general poverty. Town dwellers and village dwellers have become poorer, more afflicted and more hungry while the class of minor landowners and merchants has become weak and dispersed by the growth of new capitalist classes. The majority have remained in the same class. A minority of people change classes, moving either up or down.
We see only two groups, modern types and traditional types Those loyal to their beliefs and religious rites in a sense are part of these two groups. The strength of religion and the great expenses incurred in respect to rites and the inaugurating of places for gatherings or buildings for religious purposes all are a sign that the binding of our peoples’ spirit with the Prophet’s family is unbelievably deep and strong. It shows to what extent faith and sincerity are strong and pure. It is after considering these things that the question, ‘Who is responsible?’ suddenly drops upon our head like a sledge hammer. A person who has until now followed the problem logically and clearly uncovering all sides of the issue, studying it phase by phase, concludes that all is correct. Take a good look at Islam!
Islam
Islam is the last historical, religious school of thought possessing the most perfect Prophet, the Koran, the Companions and their histories as models of life, chastity and civilization. Islam brings law, progress, strength and culture to society. Islam has had a history full of struggle in God’s Way. Its believers show perseverance. They are inspired by freedom and justice. They are an avenging fire for despots and for the prejudiced. They have submitted to the way. Linked to the wrath of Truth, its followers are enemies of anything which conceals the Truth. They are enemies of a politics which reduces one to slavery. They are enemies of economic exploitation and spiritual despotism.
We can see the issue from another point of view. Our people, warm with faith, melting with love, with more than religious belief, with truth in thought, give their love to the Prophet’s family. Their names raise their spirits. The mere mention of them makes blood boil in their veins. In their longing for sacrifice, their zeal flows. They are ready to be martyred out of their love for them. They cry in pain from their sorrow. They are full of sorrow because they were not present on that bloody day of Ashura. Then bloodied tears run.
Sometimes, nearly insane, they draw their daggers and strike their heads. They lament all year long. Their sorrow is real. All year they think about those who went before them. Then full of praise for their positions and titles united as lovers, dressed in black from head to toe, drowned in tears and pain, they long with their whole being to pay with their lives. Their love brings on thirst, restlessness, anguish and it finally consumes them.
From yet another point of view, our enlightened thinkers are sensitive people, awakened, aware of the fate of the world and the fate of their society. They are familiar with the spirit and movement of time. Their timely demands need a boiling faith. They seek out revolutionary thought. They think about freedom, equality and justice for people. They attempt to bring about awareness, and responsibility among their people. They see their people and the religion of Hussain (AS) and Zaynab (SA). They see justice, strength, struggle in God’s Way, torture, martyrdom, Karbala…and they wonder…
Why are there no results when each member of that blessed family can inspire life, awareness, and enthusiasm in those who are faithful to these ideas, overflowing with life and liberty? Why do these perfect forms, whose origins lie in the majesty of humanity, not bear fruit?
Then, who is responsible? In one word, the religious scholars. It is they who should have made Prophet Muhammad (SAW) understandable. It is they who should have taught his thoughts.
In Islam, the scholars are not wise people. They guarantee nothing. They do not have a handful or a bucketful or a truckful of knowledge. Science does not consist of hundreds of pieces of information and knowledge. In their hearts is a ray of light, the light of God. It is not a question of divine science, illumination or Gnosticism. It is also not chemistry, physics, history, geography, jurisprudence, principles of jurisprudence, philosophy or logic, which are all types of scientific knowledge.
A science becomes illuminated with light when its knowledge brings about responsibility, guiding knowledge, and organization of ideas. This is called jurisprudence in the Koran, but today it is known as ‘the science of rules of the divine Law and things related to it’. This science should not remain in or with darkness. Rather, it lightens space and breaks the night apart. It shows the way.
The learned Jafari religious scholar is the vice gerent of the Mahdi. He takes the religious taxes on his behalf. The most evident of his responsibilities is to have people come to know who the Mahdi (AJ) is. If a good translation of the Prophet’s (PBUH) prayers is not available, religious scholars are to blame. If people only know a little of the virtues, good deeds and miracles of our Prophet and his Companions, then religious scholars are to blame.
Source: Shariati.com
Part of a Series: Fatemeh is Fatemeh by Dr Ali Shariati