Rules, Rules, and more Rules

The Philosophy of Submission

محمد صادق في الأربعاء ٠٦ - فبراير - ٢٠٠٨ ١٢:٠٠ صباحاً

Time frame fTime frame for the hours we have to spend on the job. Raises are based on rules, as well as illness. You can’t get sick and ask for sick leave unless you follow the policy of this job. And who makes this policy anyway? Some of it is made by the owner. Speaking of the owner, dare you have a conflict with him, otherwise, his rules will be enforced on you and guess what? No job and that means no pay check coming in your pocket. And don’t forget, when you go home and tell your wife; honey, I am fired …! Why dummy, I told you so many times you have to follow the rules, what we will do now? Do you expect me to feed all these people without money…dummy. The other job rules are made by certain branch of the government to protect the owner and the employees. Rules made by the owner-company policy- and rules made by the government, and the most effective rules when I go home and say honey; I am fired because I didn’t follow the rules. Poor me, I have to follow all these rules just to keep my job, and to keep my wife and the kids happy. Am I happy with these rules…not really, but I have to follow the rules 
 
The traffic light is red, can you disobey it? Either you will receive a fine or an accident, it is up to you which one to choose….! Now the light is green, what will happen if you don’t follow the rules and stop driving? Horns will be loud more than a police siren or you will get some nasty comments, and still you have to abide by the green light. Turning, parking, stopping and speeding, all these are governed by rules. If I want to avoid all these troubles, I have to follow the rules 
 
Morals and values, wow, don’t dare to talk about that. It differ from one place to another. It differs from one country to another. Even from one person to another. Everyone makes rules on him/her self and expect the others either to follow or at least to agree and respect the freedom of choice. Speaking of freedom of choice in this aspect is a big issue. What is consider bad to some one is ok to another. Even within the family, different values and morals. Why is that? Freedom of choice. Still lots of different sets of rules about morals and values around us 
 
The most important rules maker has a tremendous effect on our life. Of course, the Government and their institutions. Are these rules doing good for us, not really. Every branch of the government has their own set of rules. If you try to avoid, ignore or sometimes cheat, what will happen. For example, if you try to save some money on the side when you do your income tax at the end of the year, and the tax department caught you. Guess what? Either they force you to pay back or the court is waiting for your presence in front of a judge appointed by the government. Sometimes they have the right to garnishee your salary. Doesn’t matter what you have to do with your family, because you are cheating on the government money. At the end, you have to follow the rules 
 
How about Social Assistance, some times they call it Social Security. Either way, assistance or security, it means a safe life for some people in need. They have rules and more rules to follow. If not, there is no assistance or security. Don’t forget, that there are many who are cheating the system. Then, you have to follow the rules 
 
What happened to the family tie? There is no tie, in most cases “just pans and skirts above the knee , of course we have to remember freedom of choice. What does it mean freedom of choice anyway? From it’s name, you are free to choose which rules you like to follow and which not. Then the results are no tie and the family is loose. Why is that? Because, everyone in the family has choices to make. Can the father or the rules maker enforce rules on the family members? If they don’t like it, no one can enforce the rules on him/her. Can any one discipline the kids these days? Dare you do that, they call the police or the social services 
 
How about purchasing property or car 
Nobody tells me what to do, only the police can tells me what to do and what not…..!Recently I heard this principle from someone is dear to me. What I want to say here, this attitude (Nobody tells me what to do) is teen-agers language all the time to any one. This principle, indicate a very narrow minded person with materialistic thoughts. Why is the police is the only one can tell you what to do and what not? The narrow minded person can’t see except the things that can touch or physically hurt. That we call it the seen. The materialistic person, look for materials as essential objects in his/her life. Secondly, can we see the electricity? Obvious, the answer is no, but we believe that there is electricity, and what we see is the production of it, light. Did any one see the gravity? For sure, no. But again, we believe there is gravity, and so on. And that we call it the unseen or part of the unseen. Then why is it only the police who can tell what to do? Very simple, because his punishment is seen either physically, financially or both. The fine is money, material and physically is emotional, and both will hurt. And both we can see and touch. That is the principle of narrow minded person as well as materialistic thoughts. Still we have to abide by the police rules. 
Advise: I advise any respectable lady who read this article, please don’t get involved or marry a police officer. 
 
Another rule has to be obeyed. When we attend school or college, there are rules. These rules tell us what to do in order to continue education and get, at the end, a diploma. The school principal, will tell the teachers and the student what to do in the class room, in the school yard or the gym. The bank manager tells us what to do to get a loan. To keep the government benefits rolling, they will tell you what to do to keep these benefits in order. The examples are so many in our life, the police are not the only one which can tell me what to do. Actually, all the rules makers mentioned above are telling us what to do and most of it effects our life in one shape or another, and as you see not only the police. Do we have to follow the rules or in other words, what to do? Big yes. But don’t forget we are free to choose and according to our choices will be the results 
 
Freedom of choice has been mentioned earlier. Yes of course, this is a big issue here. We have freedom of choice, we the human, are the only creature that has this advantage over all other creatures. But we understood the freedom of choice in the wrong way which led us to the circumstances where we live in these days. And the results are devastating. And all what is happening to our society and the universe from corruption and loose morality, are the product of misunderstanding the freedom of choice 
 
Where are the family structure, values, morals and family tie? 
The techno-culture of this age is rapidly ensnaring everyone in its spreading tentacles. But it is happening in such a way that most of us are not aware of it. The texture of life is poorer. Things are becoming more and more uniform; regional differences less and less, individuals more and more alike. Look around. Think back a few years. It’s happening. We accepted because it’s comfortable. How can you halt progress? It would be still to try, and anyway why bother? Things are much easier now than they used to be 
 
There are set of rules in every aspect of life around us. I can go on and on. Rules in driving a car, crossing the street in traffic, raising children, in marriages, in divorce, raising a puppy, visiting a sick friend in hospital, valentine day, visiting father and mother-in-law, how to dress properly, even when you want to have a vacation and the list is endless 
 
What price are you paying for this? 
The community has disintegrated, the family is disintegrated and the individuals will soon follow. In many places this process is complete. People are losing touch with each other and losing touch with themselves and life becomes one material goal after another and everything seems to be all right! But it isn’t and anyone with an ounce of sense knows it isn’t. But no one knows what to do about it. So most people give up, turn on the television, have another drink, go to party, drive to the beach, go back to work, play with the children, go back to sleep 
 
Today’s society is replete with powerful temptations. Even parents start talking about boyfriends to their daughters and girlfriends to their sons. When they reach their teens, many parents even supply birth control means to their children. An alarming percentage of teen-agers are sexually active, even though they are not physiologically mature, and without any moral limitations. Millions of illicit pregnancies and the tragedies associated with them, plus millions of tragic abortions, happen every month 
 
Among the results of this moral break down: unwanted and unsupported children, delinquent and irresponsible fathers, criminals who have no regard for people’s lives or properties. Millions of social misfits, incurable genital herpes, incurable genital warts, devastating syphilis and gonorrhea, the killer aids, and new diseases never known before. Don’t forget illicit drugs, alcohol, gambling, the idols’ alters, smoking and games of chance. What most people do not know is that this moral breakdown costs them dearly throughout their lives 
 
More and more of life is being taken out of our hands daily. The birth process (at least conception is still mostly person-to-person though even that is changing!), educating children, entertainment, looking after the old, burying the dead. All these things and more which used to be an important part of everyday life have been made the business of experts and taken out of our hands 
 
Even generosity has become institutionalized in the form of welfare and social programmes and unemployment benefit. People are becoming more and more isolated from each other. In the cities of U.S. and Northern Europe it is not uncommon for people to be dead for several weeks without their neighbors knowing or caring. The results of this isolation are homicidally eloquent. Crime and killing completely out of control. 1 in 7 people addicted to drugs or alcohol. Mental hospitals overflowing. Suicides increasing daily. And so on and so on 
It’s your life that is being impoverished. Your life that is being stolen 
 
If this make no sense to you carry on in your dream, but know that sooner or later you will wake up, with a bang. If it strikes a chord and you are aware of the situation we are all in, then you will be more than interested to know that there is an entirely effective antidote to this all pervading poison 
 
The antidote is Islam and Islam is not what you think it is 
It is almost 100% certain that Islam is not what you think it is. All of us put labels on things, put them into categories, into our private filing system, but whatever your preconceptions about Islam are, get rid of them. They have nothing to do with the thing itself 
Islam is not Arab. It is not culture. It is not mosques, minarets or buildings. It is not Mohammedans. It is not the glorious past. You might call it the science of being human. It is based on worship of God and generosity towards your fellow men 
 
The God of Islam is not a concept, not a divine authority figure, not a father in the sky. Allah is Reality itself. The One who created everything and continues to do so and who supports and sustains everything He has created. He cannot be associated with anything. But every atom of the universe is humming with His presence. Everything comes from God and will return to God including us. There is not a cell in our bodies that does not affirm the presence of its Creator whether we realize it or not. Our seeing, our hearing, our speech, our movement, our life itself, we take them all for granted, but in reality what are they? Where do they come from? Think about it for a moment 
 
Nothing has been created for nothing. Everything has a purpose. Of all creatures only man is capable of conscious recognition of His Creator and therefore of conscious worship of God. Man is a worshipping animal. We are here to worship God. Nothing more, nothing less. If you do it you will become fulfilled and complete. If you do not you will search in vain for satisfaction elsewhere and you will never find it 
 
If human beings worship God things go right. If they stop things go wrong. It is quite simply what we are good for. The thing is how to do it? This is where Islam comes in. It just tell us how to worship God. How to put ourselves in tune with the natural order of things. It is that simple, just read and study God’s final words-the Qur’an- you will learn how to worship the Creator and start to do it and your life and your situation will change 
We are not alone in the world and this is where is the second element of Islam comes in. Existence is characterized by generosity and giving. Everything in nature is provided for and with abundance. The sun provides warmth and light, the plants and trees producing fruit, the animals giving milk and meat. The examples of generosity in nature are endless. Humanness too entails participating in this process in an active way. Direct human contact between man and man. Direct giving-out from what you have- which is provision from God in the first place- to those around you who are in need whether materially, emotionally or spiritually. Seeing a need and filling it 
Praying and giving out. It is really that simple. This is what the prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the final messenger, brought to us as the previous messengers brought it to their people. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all the others in between. God’s guidance for His creatures, the human race 
 
Look around and inside you 
If you look about you at the phenomena of existence in the universe or inside you at your own body, you will find clearly discernible laws at work, holding everything in harmony and balance. In the vastness of the galaxies and the overwhelming beauty of the stars in their constellations with patterns and movement. In the solar system and the wonderful way that the planets keep to their orbits held by an unbelievably intricate system of forces 
 
In our own bodies with their perfect co-ordination. With the senses, each with its own field of perception. With the digestive system and its extraction of what is beneficial and its rejection of what is superfluous. With the brain and its ability, with the natural healing process, the examples are endless, but the indications are quite clear. Whether you look at the whole universe or a particular system or a single organism, it is abundantly apparent that there is a universal law at work tending to order and balance in every situation 
 
Look at the case of the human race 
Only in the case of human beings does there appear to be a contradiction of this. The truth is, they rush about, on, above and underneath the surface of the earth, wreaking havoc at will, upsetting the natural balance, slaughtering vast numbers of other creatures, polluting beyond use great areas, turning on each other with an unprecedented fury and so on. This is happening more now than any previous time. It is because the vast majority of human beings are only concerned with the entirely self-centered gratification of the appetites of the wilful infant that they carry untamed inside them in the mistaken belief that this is all that there is. Or they do not need more rules or any way to worship God as He instruct us to do. They are completely out of control 
 
When you look out into the creation, you cannot fail to see that every creature, every atom even, has a definite part to play in the creational process. The point is that every creature has a natural form which extends beyond its physical outline into the zone of behaviour. Every creature also has a clear function in the process of existence by which it plays its own unique part in maintaining the harmony and balance within its own sphere and by extension in the whole universe 
Now since this is true for everything in existence, it must be that it is true for man as well. It must be that we too have a particular behaviour-form, that we too have a specific function to fulfill in the creational process. How is it then that everything seems to inherently know its form and function except human beings who are clearly extremely confused on both accounts? It seems that we have gone outside the limits of our form and lost touch with it and that we have certainly lost any clear idea of what function should be 
If this were not the case, there would be the same ecological balance in the human zone as there is in every other sphere of existence and it is plain to see that there is not. 
So what is the pattern? What is the role? How can we find out? 
Wherever you look in the universe you inevitably find a natural order and balance and everything plays its part in upholding it. In all of this only man and what he makes appear strident and discordant. Another thing which is quite clear when you look at natural phenomena is that everything is determined, there is no choice involved. A star has no option but to behave the way it does. The same applies in the mineral, vegetable and animal worlds on the earth's surface. A donkey cannot change into a horse. Each creature is limited and defined by what it is, to being what it is 
 
Each creature is limited and defined by what it is, to being what it is. And it is by every creature and form being what it is that the universal balance is maintained. Everything by its nature both submits to the universal rules, order and plays its own part in preserving it and it is only in the case of man that there appears to be an exception to this rule. It is in the apparent contradiction that the clear indication of our role in existence lies. It is absolutely inconceivable that in the case of man the universal laws are broken, that suddenly "it all went wrong". It is precisely our ability to go against the natural order of things that contains the clue to the purpose of human existence. 
 
From this, it is quite obvious that there is a great difference between human beings and all other forms of existence. Every other thing perfectly fulfills its appointed role, aware of its own limited function 
Apart from the case of man, it is quite apparent that everything submits involuntarily and unconsciously, just by being what it is, to the universal order manifested in existence, or we could say by extension to the Divine Reality, and the activity of submission and participating in the unfolding of existence. At this point you must jettison any concept you may previously have held of worship being connected to religion. It is an integral part of all existence. 
Now we come back to the human species, to ourselves. By use of the intellect, we must arrive at the conclusion that what is true for everything else in the universe must also be true for us, since we are an inseparable part of the whole structure. Just as the basic function of everything in the universe is worship, so worship must also be the keynote of our own existence. We by our faculty of inward articulation, have the capacity of both outward submission to, and also inner awareness of, the One reality 
All creatures except man have their form indelibly stamped in them so that they have no need of external stimuli to bring them out of them. But in our case the tendency is to go beyond the bounds. We have to choose to be human. We have to choose the form that is in reality our nature. It is very important to grasp this. Even though we have to learn what it is to be human, all we are doing is removing ignorance and uncovering what is in fact our organic natural pattern 
 
At regular intervals throughout the time that human beings have inhabited the earth we have been reminded of the total knowledge we are capable of containing and shown the form which is naturally ours by men who have been directly inspired by God Himself to carry out this task. It is these messengers from God and their communities who gave rise to what are now known as the "world religions" and these have, in every case, in one way or another, been altered beyond recognition, so that their original purpose, to show humans how to be human, has been completely obscured. Two examples briefly illustrated how the original teaching has disappeared. They are what are now called Judaism and Christianity 
 
The final complete version of the pure teaching was the one revealed to the prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the early seventh century of the Christian era. It is known as Islam. This is where we must look if we desire to find the picture of the true human form and to know the knowledge that we are capable of containing, since, of all the teachings, it is the only one that we know for certain to be completely intact. The message is there, unchanged by a single word, in the form of the Qur'an, giving us directly from God Himself the picture of the whole of existence and telling us exactly our part in it 
 
What has to be transformed is the heart and there is no way to do it except by embarking on action. The action that is necessary is the taking on of the truly human form which was recorded for the last time in the revelation of the Qur'an and perfectly demonstrated in the life of the last of those sent for that purpose by the One God - the Messenger Muhammad. This will give us real inner awareness and acceptance of the true nature of the universe and what is beyond it and hidden within it. The two together, the practice and acceptance, will lead to the liberation which we all desire. The overwhelmingly intoxicating experience of tasting the timeless spacless presence of the One from Whom we have come and to Whom we inevitably must return. Set out and you will arrive

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