Joy and Sorrow

No matter how happy an unbeliever may seem in this life, his heart is always sorrowful and under stress. First of all he cannot fulfill all his desires. Human desires are unlimited. Due to various hurdles he is not able to achieve even one percent of his wishes. That is why he burns forever in the fire of depravation and finds himself surrounded by the difficulties imposed on him by the barriers. Another thing is that he is ever dreaded to lose the bounties that he possesses. He knows that his material treasure is going to be destroyed one day and that it shall be taken away from him by death.

Now it is Allah and the faith in the Day of recompense that can keep a man happy. A believer is content even when there is scarcity of bounties. He doesn’t even fear the destruction of his material belongings. He knows that the best of bounties, better than material things is present in his very heart. And that is faith in Allah. Even with regard to the Hereafter he is happy due to the hope that he has reposed in his lord.

قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللّهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذَلِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُواْ

“Say: In the grace of Allah and in His mercy — in that they should rejoice.”

(Surah Yunus 10:58)

We must acquire as much belief as possible

From the discussion so far we realize that the greatest treasure for man in this world and the Hereafter is healthy and perfect soul and it should not be afflicted with the disease of the absence of faith. In the same way greatest misfortune for man in both the worlds is the absence of belief. Thus it is most important for us to strive to gain belief. We should always try to increase our faith. When the heart is illuminated by faith, most of the diseases are automatically cured. Lack of faith is a fatal disease of the heart. This disease causes other spiritual ailments or worsens then. Thus we should keep ourselves safe from this deadly illness.

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) is quoted in Tafseer of Safi explaining the exegesis of the Ayatul Kursi (The throne verse):

“Allah is the guardian of those who have accepted belief. Allah brings these very people from the darkness into Light. That is, He brings them out from the darkness of sins into the light of repentance and forgiveness.” Thus the most important thing is belief. One can keep aloof from every type of evil due to his faith alone.

Belief means Certainty

It should not remain unsaid that belief means the certainty in the necessary facts regarding Tawheed (Oneness of Allah) and Qiyamat (Day of Judgement). Such a belief is effective in curing the diseases of the heart. And the light of certainty guides man that Allah is his creator and the Creator of other people. All of us are the slaves of the Almighty. Allah has bestowed all that we possess to us. Everything belongs to Allah. We all have to return to Qiyamat and the world of recompense (Hereafter). One who has faith in these fundamentals is free from diseases like jealousy, greed and enmity. The brilliance and the luminosity of the light of certainty dispel all the shadows and ailments. If there remain in us such moral ills we must know that either we lack certainty and belief or it is very weak.

Conclusion of this Foreword

Thus anyone who wishes to have a peaceful heart and the best of the world and the Hereafter should achieve certainty regarding the beliefs. It is the cure for numerous diseases. He must give precedence to tis over his other desires. The aim of this introduction was to emphasize the importance of certainty for our respected readers. The foundation of all beliefs rests on certainty. Therefore we have kept the section on belefs before the section on morals. If the divine assistance continues we shall soon discuss the diseases caused by disbelief. Like Kufr (infidelity), Nifal (Hypcrisy), Shirk (Polytheism) and Shak (Doubt). All these shall be studied in detail. We shall also mention their cure and describe the method of achieving certainty. In the next section we shall describe the Moral ills.

Part One

Spiritual diseases related to the articles of faith

First Disease

Kufr (Disbelief or Infidelity)

Kufr denotes denial and disbelief of something that is considered true by human nature and a healthy reason. Nature and reason feel obliged to believe in it. Among such things is the belief in Allah, the Prophets and the Day of Recompense. Every save person understands that there must be someone who has brought him and other things into existence. And that Creator is wise and Powerful. When man thinks upon it he becomes certain of the wsdom and Power of the Creator of the Universe. Contemplation also makes him certain that this life is all that is and after death man shall annihilated then his creation shall be in vain. However, since the Almighty is wise and possesses intelligence there must be another life for human beings where righteousness of all shall be manifested and everyone shall be recompensed for their deeds.

We also gain certainty that Allah has not left man on his own. He has appointed for guides from their own genre (human beings). The guides of humanity are also human, whom Allah has sent to guide the people towards salvation. In brief we can say that belief in Tawheed, Nabuwwat and Qiyamat is based on human nature and common sense.

All three of these roots of religion are self evident or axiomatic. Deep contemplation and complicated reasoning is not required to bring faith in them. Even a little thoughtfulness convinces the unimpaired reason to acquire belief in these fundamentals. In spite of this if someone rejects these basics he is afflicted with the worst of spiritual and psychological diseases. And if he remains in this condition he ultimately loses his humanity and he falls into eternal perdition.

The disease of Kufr (disbelief) of man is like the disease of the stomach for man. It is like a severe indigestion that one cannot even swallow anything. And if they are forcibly swallowed the stomach does not accept them and vomits them out. If such an ailment is not cured, all the physical capacities are destroyed and the person dies. In the same way if one has chronic disbelief and man does not forgo enmity and stubbornness, the Almighty Allah increases his disbelief in this world.

فَزَادَهُمُ اللّهُ مَرَضاً

“So Allah added to their disease.”

(Surah Baqarah 2:10)

Actually he is being given whatever he himself had desired. He is made to tread the path that he has chosen from himself.

نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى وَنُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَاءتْ مَصِيرًا

“We will turn him to that to which he has (himself) turned...”

(Surah Nisa 4:115)

Allah increases the guidance of one who accepts belief and seeks guidance. He increases the luminosity of their belief. Then he becomes a devotee of whatever he gains recognition (Marefat) of. And he flees from every evil.

وَالَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْا زَادَهُمْ هُدًى وَآتَاهُمْ تَقْواهُمْ

“And (as for) those who follow the right direction, He increases them in guidance.”

(Surah Muhammad 47:17)

Consequence of Disbelief

The result of disbelief is that the heart becomes absolutely blind. Now it cannot discriminate between truth and falsehood. Nor can it understand what is wrong and what is right. The reality of humanity is that due to this quality man can understand the reality of different things and is aware of them. Disbelief causes him to fall from this height of humanity and he becomes debased like animals. No goodness can be expected from him. There is a continuous increase in his spiritual and internal ailments. Now he cannot find the cure for any of his aches. He does not recognize any of his evil traits that he can avoid it. The capacity to differentiate good and evil is destroyed. For from finding a cure, he does not even accept that he is spiritually sick.

Two Types of Disbelief

Disbelief is of two types. One of it is due to ignorance and immaturity, and the other is despite having knowledge and intentionally. And ignorant disbeliever is one who does not wish to recognize the truth. He denies truth because he cannot recognize it and thus he does not accept it. Most of the atheists and materialist are such. They deny their creator and the last day just because of their ignorance. Man spends a few years in this world. These materialists think that like other living creatures man is also annihilated by death. There is no reward or punishment for his actions and (god forbid) Allah does not exist. Such people only follow their baseless conjectures and wrong notions.

يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ

“They follow naught but conjecture.”

(Surah Najm 53:23)

These people live in a society filled with disbelief. They follow their elders. Or in spite of ignorance they consider themselves wise and deny the truth. In the words of quran these people utter such things,

إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِم مُّقْتَدُونَ

“Surely we found our fathers on a course, and surely we are followers of their footsteps.”

(Surah Zukhruf 43:23)