Javanese Religion

Doctrines   "It is particularly true that in describing the religion of such a complex civilisation as the Javanese any simple unitary view is certain to be inadequate" and there is "much variation in ritual, contrast in belief, and conflict in values... behind the simple statement that Java is more than 90 per cent Moslem" (Geertz 1960, 7). There are two types of Javanese Islam. The most popular is Agami Jawi, "Javanese religion," which Geertz calls Abangan. The second type is a puritanical Islam known as Agami Islam Santri, "Santri Islam religion," called Islam Santri by Geertz. Sufism or mystical Islam has been of great doctrinal importance in Javanese religion. Agami Jawi is a complex blending of doctrines and practices. It has a wide range of concepts, views, and values, many being Muslim in origin, such as the belief in God Almighty (Gusti Allah), the prophet Muhammad (kanjeng nabi Muhammad), and other prophets (para ambiya). All actions and decisions are done "in the name of God" (bismillah). The wali sanga, the nine semihistorical first missionaries of Islam, religious teachers, and some semihistorical figures have their sacred graves (pepundhen) venerated. Religious leaders, healers, wayang puppeteers, and village leaders can become saints while still alive. The most important Javanese work on the nature of God and man is the seventeenth century Dewaruci, which has a mystical pantheistic view. God can enter any human heart though he is as wide as the oceans and as endless as space. This view became interwoven with Islamic concepts by those who wrote the Serat centhini and the magico-mystical suluk books. Many Hindu-Buddhist gods called dewata with Sanskrit names are incorporated in Agami Jawi. Dewi Sri comes from Sri, the consort of Vishnu, and in Java is the goddess of fertility and rice. There are traditional pre-Hindu elements in the religion. Semar is the divine trickster acting as an intermediary between the gods and man, and in the wayang, the shadow-puppet play, he is a clown who is servant and guardian to the heroes of the Bratayuda, the Javanese version of the Mahabharata. Spirits are central to traditional Javanese belief and include ancestral spirits, guardian spirits who are the soul's twin, and guardian spirits of holy places such as old wells, old banyan trees, and caves. There are also ghosts, spooks, giants, fairies, and dwarfs. Magic gives magical power to certain persons and parts of the body, plants, rare animals, and objects. Traditional concepts of death and the afterlife have been influenced by Islam. At the centre of Javanese religion is the slametan ritual, a communal feast. Agami Islam Santri doctrines are determined by dogmatic Islamic concepts. The shari'ah, Islamic law, is applied and the dominant legal school is that of al-Shafi'i. Besides the obligatory prayers five times a day, there are voluntary personal prayers called ndonga which can be at any time.

History   Before the coming of Indian religions the early religion of Java was based on ancestor worship, spirits, magical power in natural phenomena, and saced objects used by man. Trade from South India brought Hinduism in about the fourth century CE. Indian culture and religion was to completely dominate Java for centuries. The first traces of Hindu-Javanese and Buddhist-Javanese civilisation date from the eighth century. From the eighth to the early fifteenth century temples (called candi after a name of the goddess Durga) were built from the Dieng Plateau in Central Java to Candi Kedaton in East Java. The main concentration is in Central and East Java. Near Yogyakarta, the cultural capital of Java, is located the large ninth century Saivite temple of Prambanan as well as the largest Buddhist stupa in the world, Borobudur, built in the same century. The proximity of such important religious complexes shows that Javanese Hinduism and Javanese Buddhism lived peacefully together. Indian civilisation was developed in these ancient empires of Central Java from the eighth to the tenth centuries and in the ancient empires of East Java from the eleventh to the fifteeenth centuries. In East Java this civilisation was more characteristically Javanese. During the fourteenth century another religion came from India. This was Islam arriving from Gujarat, first becoming established on the north coast of Java at Demak and Gresik. Trade was the main factor involved and a number of powerful Islamic trading cities developed. With a background of mysticism in Javanese Hinduism, mystical Islam or Sufism proved attractive and influenced early Javanese literary works. Puritanical Islam came later with pilgrims returning from the haj, pilgrimage, to Mecca. These mercantile cities undermined the declining Majapahit empire of East Java. Muslim wali or holy men spread Islam into the interior of East and Central Java. The Mataram empire of Central Java resisted Islam, which reached there by force in the second half of the eighteenth century. Hindu-Buddhist centres in Central Java only superficially accepted Islam, and developed the syncretistic Agami Jawi. Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries the Javanese mystical and pantheistic view of God was mixed with Islamic elements. There have always been numerous kebatinan kejawen, spiritual movements. Kebatinan means the search for truth from the Arabic batin, truth. From the late 1960's there has been a considerable increase in the kebatinan movements.

Symbols   Buddhist and Hindu symbols are found all over Java, reflecting centuries of Indian civilisation. Many of the ancient temples are built in the form of Mount Meru, the cosmic mountain of Indian mythology which is the axis of the world. Borobudur is the supreme example of this. This stone mountain with its thousands of carvings in galleries stretching over five kilometres is a micocosm of life with the different levels of the monument representing the different levels of existence. The central stupa at the top is the symbol of heaven. Many of the deities in Agami Jawi are of Hindu-Buddhist origin. The puppet figures in the wayang are based on the Mahabharata, though the wayang predates Hinduism coming to Java. The puppets perhaps once represented deceased ancestors. The clown Semar is a survival of early times. Islam banned the human form, causing the puppets to become ugly and grotesque and unlike humans. They became so stylised that they are symbols rather than actual human figures. Nearly every town on Java has a mosque and minaret, together with the traditional use of Islamic symbols. Those who have been on the haj to Mecca wear a white peci on their head. The very important slametan ritual is a communal feast which symbolises the mystic and social unity of all taking part, and besides friends, relatives, neighbours, and colleagues, this includes spirits, ancestors, and gods. Batik may have come from Turkey or Egypt in the twelth century. For seven centuries it was the preserve of women in royal families, who regarded it as a spiritual discipline and form of meditation. The symbols used in batik designs are endless and include ancient stylised symbols as well as traditional, Indian, Chinese, and European motifs, which vary from region to region.

Adherents   Java has a population of 110 million. 97.3 per cent of these are officially Muslim. The remainder are Roman Catholics, Protestants, or Buddhists. In South Central Java there are recent converts to Hinduism (Koentjaraningrat in Eliade 1987, Vol. 7, 559). Only 5-10 per cent follow Agami Islam Santri with 30 per cent following Agami Jawi. The rest are only nominal Muslims called abangan, whose religion is based more on animism, mysticism, Javanese Hinduism and Javanese Buddhism. In Central Java there are large areas that are still Hindu-Buddhist (Dalton 1988, 155). In 1982 the province of Central Java had 93 kebatinan movements with a total of 123,570 adherents. Nineteen of the most important ones are in Surakarta with about 7,500 adherents. The four largest movements are Susila Sudi Darma (SUBUD), Paguyuban Ngasti Tunggal (PANGESTU), Paguyuban Sumarah, and Sapta Darma. Kebatinan movements can be found all over Java, though, and are divided into aliran kecil, small movements of not more than two hundred adherents, and aliran besar, large movements with thousands of adherents (Koentjaraningrat in Eliade 1987, Vol. 7, 562). There are estimated to be 148 religious sects on Java, mainly in Central and East Java (Dalton 1988, 155) The Sultan of Yogyakarta is looked upon as a god by his followers.

Headquarters/Main centre   Islam: Jakarta; the Muhammadiyah movement of Agami Islam Santri: Yogyakarta; Kebatinan movements: Surakarta; Buddhism: Borobudur; Hinduism: South Central Java.

Worship and Prayer

Worship and Prayer
by  (Martyr) Murtadha Mutahari
We sometimes notice points in our Islamic interpretations that raise questions for
some of us in connection with worship. For example we are told in the case of prayer
that either the Prophet or the Imams have said, "Prayer is the pillar of religion," or if
we think of religion as a tent, 'prayer is the pole that keeps it standing." This remark
is also quoted from the narrations attributed to the Prophet, "The requisite for the
acceptance of other human deeds is the acceptance of prayer". In other words, the
good deeds of the human being will be null and void if prayer is incorrect and thereby
unacceptable.
Another Tradition says, "Prayer is the means of proximity of every virtuous being to
God." Another Tradition says that the devil is always uneasy with a believer and
shuns him who is devoted to his prayer. The Quran, too, shows the remarkable
importance of prayer in many verses.
But sometimes it is stated by some persons that all these traditions about prayer
must be forged and unreliable and uttered not by the Prophet and his successors but
by some devotees in order to win more followers particularly in the 2nd and 3rd
centuries of the hegira when the matter of worship had gone to such excess that it
had more or less led to monasticism and Sufism.
We see that some people concentrated all their efforts on acts of worship to such an
extent that they ignored other religious duties. For example there was among Ali's
companions a man called Rabi' ibn Husain, who was later known as Khajah Rabi'
whose tomb is in Mashhad. He was known as one of the eight famous ascetics of the
Islamic world and he went so far in asceticism and devotion that he had dug his own
grave long before his death. (It is said that for twenty years he never spoke a word
about worldly matters). Sometimes he went and lay in it reminding himself that the
grave was his home. The only words he was ever heard to say besides prayer was
on the occasion of hearing of Imam Husain's martyrdom. He said, "Woe upon these
people who murdered the dear descendant of their Prophet." It is reported that
afterwards he repented having uttered a sentence other than the invocation of God.
He was a warrior in the time of Ali, peace be upon him, and one day he came to
Hadrat Ali and said that they had doubts about that war they were fighting, as it
seemed to them to be unlawful, for they were fighting against those who in their
prayer turned their faces to Mecca and uttered the formulas of the Islamic creed. This
man at the same time did not want to abandon Ali, peace be upon him, so he asked
to be given a task in which there was no doubt.


Ali, peace be upon him, agreed and sent him to a frontier again as a soldier so that in
case of fighting he would face non-Muslims or idolaters. This man was a type of
ascetic of the time but of what worth was his asceticism and worship? It is useless to
be the follower of a man like Ali, peace be upon him, and at the same time have
doubts about the way shown by him in a holy war. Sometimes people use the
phrase, "Why should one observe a fast based on doubt and uncertainty? It is
worthless." Islam requires insight combined with practice but Khajah Rabi' had no
insight. He lived in the time of Mu'awiyyah and his son Yazid. He had nothing to do
with the social problems of the Islamic society and he used to retire to a corner
praying day and night and uttering nothing but the Name of God and regretting his
own remark about the martyrdom of Imam Husain, peace be upon him.
This kind of thing does not accord with Islamic teachings and as the saying goes, "An
ignorant person either goes too fast or too slowly." Some may say that the phrase,
"Prayer is the pillar of religion," is not in harmony with Islamic teachings since Islam
pays more attention to social matters than any other. Islam says, "God orders to do
justice and benevolence. " (16:92) We sent our prophets with manifestations
and the Book and justice to make people do justice also." (57:25) It commands
people to direct others to goodness and forbid evil (3:110) Islam as a great religion is
the creed of activity and work. If these matters are important in Islam, then acts of
worship and devotion are not so significant. Thus, according to such people, one
should follow social teachings and leave acts of devotion and prayer to idle people
who have no other task to perform.
But such thoughts are wrong and very dangerous. Islam should be recognized as it
is. I emphasize this point since I feel that our society is suffering from a sickness.
Unfortunately those who have religious ardor are two groups: One group follow the
way of Rabi' and think of Islam only as a creed for prayers, hymns and pilgrimage
and refer to certain standard books of theology to guide them. They have nothing to
do with the world or social regulations or Islamic principles and education.
The reaction to the slowness of this group is the appearance of a second group who
go too fast and move on the path of excess. They pay all their attention to social
matters, which in itself is a worthy attitude, but ignore acts of worship. I have met
people who can well afford to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, an injunction which is
regarded as an important matter in Islam. They ignore prayers, and put aside the
matter of imitating a religious leader. They believe that problems related to acts of
worship should be solved by oneself, without the need of the guidance of others.
Thus everyone is assumed to be a religious expert or a jurisprudent. One is one's
own physician and has no need of consulting a doctor or a specialist. There are
some who are slack in fasting and its conditions in the case of permanent residence
or on a journey and do not believe in making amends for failure to perform acts of


worship in their proper time and place.
Both groups consider themselves Muslims but they are not wholly so. Islam does not
agree with the phrase, "To believe in some things and disbelieve in other things."79It
cannot agree with the acceptance of worship coupled with the rejection of its moral
and social questions, or vice versa. You notice that whenever the Quran says,
"Perform your ritual prayer," it is followed by, "Pay your alms."
The first injunction concerns the relation between a creature and God and the
second one shows the relation between one creature and others. Thus a true Muslim
has a dual responsibility towards God and towards human beings and to their society
in a permanent way. No Islamic society can be built without worship and invocation
of God and prayer and fasting. In the same way, no pious society can exist without
directing to goodness and forbidding evils and without kindly relations between
individuals, even though a person may be a pious individual.
We see Ali, peace be upon him, as the most exalted, pious man, so much so that his
worship was proverbial, a worship full of terror and love and tears. After his death, a
man called Zirar, who was a companion of his, met Mu'awiyyah who asked him to
describe Ali, peace be upon him, for him. Zirar narrated something he had witnessed
about Ali, peace be upon him. He said, "One night I saw him in his special
worshipping place of worship.' He was twisting with the fear of God like a man bitten
by a snake and weeping with deep sorrow and saying, 'Oh, for the fire of hell'";
Mu'awiyyah wept on hearing this.
Before Ali's death, Mu'awiyyah met Adass bin Hatam and intended to provoke him
against Ali, peace be upon him, so he asked him about his three sons who had been
killed fighting for Ali, peace be upon him. He wished to hear Adass blame Ali, peace
be upon him and so he said, "Was it fair of him to deprive you of your three sons and
save his own sons from death in the battlefield?"
Adass answered, "It was I who was unfair to him. I should not be alive while he is
buried in the earth." When Mu'awiyyah saw that he had failed in his purpose, he
asked Adass to describe Ali, peace be upon him, fully for him, which he did. When he
ended his narration, he noticed tears flowing down Mu'awiyyah's beard and wiping
them with his sleeve, saying, "Alas! Time is too sterile to produce a man like Ali." You
see how truth reveals itself.
But was Hadrat Ali only a pious man of the altar? No. We see him also as the most
social being, well aware of the conditions of the poor and helpless and all who
brought their complaints to him. Though he was a Caliph, he went among the people,
dealing with their affairs. When he met merchants he shouted, "You should first go


and learn Islamic questions of trade." In other words, before engaging in commerce,
they should know divine injunctions about what is lawful and unlawful in every deal.
He is also reported to have used a phrase to a poor beggar who begged him for
something. Ali, peace be upon him, looked at him and saw that he was capable of
working but had chosen begging as a trade. He gave him advice and said, "Follow
your honor and dignity, " a phrase that he addressed to every person. For work
brings dignity and honor.
Ali, peace be upon him, is thus a true Muslim: Pious in worship, a just judge in the
court, a brave soldier and commander on the battlefield, a fine orator at the pulpit, a
remarkable teacher in his chair, and a wonderful and perfect example in every other
accomplishment.
Islam can never approve of half-hearted acceptance of its injunctions or belief in
some of them and not in others. This is a wrong way adopted by some ascetics who
considered Islam to consist of praying, or those who ignored acts of devotion
altogether.
The Quran says, "Muhammad is the Prophet of God and those who are with him
are hard against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves. " (48:29)
In this sentence, the feature of an Islamic community is portrayed. In the first part of
it, the matter of following faith and the Prophet is expressed and in the latter part, the
question of standing firmly against infidels is mentioned. Thus these seeming
devotees who make a mosque their home and say no word when they are driven on
by a single soldier, are not Muslims. The most important quality of a Muslim
according to the Quran is showing firmness and strength against an enemy.
The Quran says, "Faint not, neither sorrow; you shall be the upper ones if you
are believers." (3:133) Islam does not allow weakness in religion. Will Durant says in
his History of Civilization that no religion but Islam calls upon its followers to be so
strong and steadfast.
To bend the neck with helplessness, to dress poorly and in a dirty way, to walk lazily
and to pretend to be forelorn and indifferent to all around you and sigh and groan are
all contrary to Islam. The Quran says, "And as for the favor of your Lord,
announce (it)." (93:11) God has given you blessings like health and strength. Why
do you show yourself so helpless? This is ingratitude. Ali, peace be upon him, was
never such a man. He stood ably and strongly against enemies.
What about being kind to others ? We sometimes meet devotees who are never kind
and are usually glum and unsociable. They never laugh and seldom smile as if the


whole of humanity is indebted to them and yet they suppose themselves to be
attached to Islam. Is it enough to stand firmly against enemies and be kind to
Muslims? The answer is no. The Quran says, "You will see them bowing down,
prostrating themselves, seeking grace from God and good pleasure." (48:29)
This speaks of those who have the two above qualities of steadfastness and
kindness and in their prayers and prostrations sink so deeply in their devotion that
you can see in their faces all signs of chastity and godliness.
It is narrated from the Prophet that the disciples of Christ asked him with whom they
should associate and he answered, "Sit with someone whose sight reminds you of
God, whose speech increases your knowledge and whose conduct persuades you
into doing good." The verse continues, "That is their description in the Old
Testament and their description in the New Testament like a seed-produce that
puts forth its sprout, then strengthens it so it becomes stout and stands firmly
on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the unbelievers on
account of them." (48:29).
A nation possessing all the above attributes must be a remarkably find nation. Now,
tell me, why should Muslims be so decadent, docile and miserable. Which of those
qualities mentioned before do we possess? What should we expect? Although we
admit that Islam is a social creed, why should we scorn worship and prayer and
communion with God? Let me assure you that taking prayers lightly is a sin as
ignoring them is a sin.
On the death of Imam Ja'far Sadiq, peace be upon him, as Abu Bassir came to offer
Umm ul-Hanida his condolences, the latter wept and so did the former. Umm ul-
Hanida then narrated something that had happened in the last moments of the life of
the Imam. She said that he sank into a trance and then opened his eyes and asked
for all his relatives to be present. After they had all gathered there, the Imam
addressed them the following remark and then died. He said, "Those who take ritual
prayers lightly will never gain our intercession."89You see that he did not speak of
those who ignore ritual prayers altogether, for, the consequence of that is obvious.
What does 'taking the ritual prayers lightly' mean? It means that inspite of having
time, an opportunity, one may postpone them and just before it is getting too late,
perform the acts of devotion hastily and perfunctorily, without giving the mind and
spirit the necessary tranquility before beginning to say the ritual prayer.
Experience has shown that in a household where ritual prayers are taken lightly, no
interest is shown by its members to pray or to pray properly. One should choose a
spot in the house allotted to acts of devotion, or, if possible, a separate room for
them and carry on with ablution without haste and spread a clean prayer-carpet and
accompany all the preliminary acts with the convocation of God. Ali, peace be upon
him, began with, "In the Name of God and with the help of God. Oh God place me


among those who repent; place me among those who cleanse themselves."
Two nights ago I spoke about repentance and explained that repentance meant
purifying oneself. Washing the body is the prelude to purifying the spirit; it refreshens
the face, but since the intention is to cleanse the spirit, too, it gives one a sacred
aspect. Ali, peace be upon him, in his ablution prayed to God to illuminate his face on
the Day of the Resurrection where many faces are black with shame and sin. Then
he said this prayer on washing his right hand, "Oh God, on the Day of Resurrection,
put my book of deeds in my right hand," and on washing his left hand, he said, "Oh
God, do not give me my book of deeds in my left hand nor from behind my back. Oh
God, do not let it be shackled to my neck; I seek refuge from You from the fire of
hell."
Then, on touching his forehead with water, he said, "Merge me into your grace and
blessings." Then on touching his feet with water he said, "Oh God, direct my efforts
towards such a path of your satisfaction."
Such an ablution which is accompanied by so many pleadings is of a different worth
and merit than what most of us are accustomed to perform. We should not lightly
disregard all these rites and confine ourselves only to the absolutely obligatory parts.
Let us see what religious authorities say about this. Should we repeat the following
sentence three times or only once, "Glory be to God, praise be God, there is no god
but God and God is great." An authority may say, "Once is enough, since it is
obligatory but the second and third repetitions are recommended." Should we, on the
basis of this verdict, confine ourselves to saying this prayer only once?
In the same way, fasting may be taken lightly. I am saying this as a joke, but if I were
God I would not accept such fasts. I know some people who stay awake at night in
the month of Ramadhan, not to worship and pray, but to drink tea, smoke and eat
fruit. In the morning, they say their ritual prayers and go to sleep. Some of them
sleep all day and wake up near sunset to say their daily ritual prayers hastily before it
is too late and get ready to break their fast. What kind of a fast is this? When you do
not give yourself the chance of feeling the pain of abstemiousness? This is fasting
lightly and is really an insult to a fast.
Again we go on a pilgrimage to Mecca but perform the rites lightly in the same way
as our prayers and fasts. Similarly the matter of the call to prayer may be taken
lightly; it is said that the call to prayer should be utterest melodiously to attract and
invite people to prayer, in the same way that the Quran should be recited clearly,
fluently and with a fine voice. Some people are gifted witll a fine voice, but if you ask
them to sing out the call to prayer, they consider it below their dignity to be known as


a muizzin. But it is really an honor to be one. Ali himself was one, even when he was
a Caliph. There is no disgrace attached to this task and no nobility to forsake it.
Thus no act of worship should be taken lightly. The merit of Islam is in its
comprehensiveness, not in being so absorbed in devotion as to ignore every other
duty, nor to be so involved in social matters to forget acts of devotion. Although a
prayer is for its own sake and for proximity to God, if we scorn worship, we are
ignoring other duties, too. Worship is the executive and guarantor of other Islamic
injunctions.
Here I end my discourse and pray God to make us true worshippers, to acquaint us
with the comprehensiveness of Islam, to make us whole-hearted Muslims, grant us
pure intentions, forgive our sins in these precious nights, and grant salvation to our
deceased ones.

Nobility and Magnanimity of Spirit

Nobility and Magnanimity of Spirit
by  (Martyr) Murtadha Mutahari

Oh soul at peace return unto your Lord, well pleased, well-pleasing. Enter
among My servants. Enter My paradise. (89:28-30)
On the holy birthday anniversary of Imam Husain, peace be upon him, last Monday I
began a discourse saying that anyone who possessed a lofty spirit must suffer
physical discomfort while only those who have loose spirits live in comfort, sleep
soundly and enjoy delicious dishes and other benefits.
Tonight, I wish to discuss the greatness and nobility of the spirit and show the
differences between the two. Greatness of spirit is one thing but nobility is a higher
quality. In other words, every greatness is not nobility but every nobility is also
greatness.
Determination is obviously a sign of greatness of the spirit and there are different
levels of determination. One person is content to secure a diploma while another
knows no limit to the pursuit of knowledge, and his aim is to make the utmost use of
his life and gain as much knowledge as he can.
You may have heard the well-known story of Abu Rayhan Biruni, a man whose true
worth according to scholars, is not quite known. He was so extraordinary a
mathematician, sociologists and historian that he is considered by some to be
superior to Abu Ali Sina (Avicenna).
These two were contemporaries. Abu Rayhan was in love with knowledge, research
and discoveries. Sultan Mahmud summoned him to attend his court and he had to
obey the call. He accompanied the King in his conquest of India and found a great
treasure of knowledge in that country. But he did not know Sanskrit, so he began
learning it. Inspite of his old age, he learned it to a very high degree and after many
years of study, he produced a book called Tahqiq mal al-Hind min maqulihi marzalah
fi al-aql wa maqbulat, which is a very valuable source of reference for the
Indianologists of the world.
He was on his death bed when a jurisprudent neighbor of his, learning of his serious
illness, went to visit him. Abu Rayhan was still conscious and, in seeing the
jurisprudent, asked him a question of jurisprudence concerning inheritance or some
other issue. The jurisprudent was amazed that a dying man should show interest in
such matters. Abu Rayhan said, "I should like to ask you which is better, to die with


knowledge or without it?" The man said, "Of course it is better to know and die." Abu
Rayhan said, "That is why I asked my first question." Shortly after the jurisprudent
reached home, the cries of lamentation told him that Abu Rayhan had died. This
shows his determination even at the moments of death.
One person is great in gathering wealth, for example, while others show no such
endeavors and are content with earning a simple livelihood by whatever means they
can, whether it is by serving others or begging or submitting to abasement. Are those
two types of effort equal? Not at all.
Sometimes you see the people who lack the resolution to get rich, simply because
they are weak and others scorn and laugh at them. They recite verses of the Quran
about asceticism, based on fallacious reasoning. But they are wrong. The person
who pursues the amassing of wealth, with all his misery, with all his devotion to the
world, is still better than those having a weak determination or no determination, who
resemble beggars and thus, he has more character. This person is not blameworthy
before him.
These persons can be considered blameworthy only before a real ascetic who
himself is a man of determination. Like Ali, peace be upon him, he can gather riches,
not because of his own needs, but to spend on others and help the needy. He is in a
position to reproach another for whom storing and hiding riches have become a goal,
not a means.
Similarly, one may seek high rank and position. Alexander the Great was such a man
who desired to rule the world. He is a superior to a man who lives in servility and has
no determination for feelings of nobility. Nadir Shah is another example of high-
mindedness. These men have great spirits but it cannot be said that they have noble
spirits.
Alexander is an example of a great ambition, and his greatness has developed only
in one direction, in ambition, fame and influence, in being the most powerful man in
the world.
His spirit is noble only to that extent. But did he experience any ease and comfort?
Could Nadir have had an easy life with his tyranny, and his building of minarets with
the skulls of those he had killed, the man who pulled men's eyes out of their sockets,
the man who was madly ambitious? He had no time sometimes to take off his boots
for ten days. A story is told about him that in a very severe winter night he reached a
caravan serai by himself. The keeper was awakened by a loud knock, and when he
opened the gate he saw a burly-looking man riding a big horse. He asked the keeper
what food he had, and the latter said he only had eggs.


He was sharply ordered to fry the eggs and bring it with some bread for him and
some fodder and barley for his horse. The keeper did so and the man rested there an
hour or two and after grooming his horse, he threw some gold coins on to the
keeper's lap and said, "Very soon a column of soldiers will reach here. Tell them
Nadir has gone in that direction and they must follow at once." On hearing the name
of Nadir, the keeper was so frightened that he let the coins fall down. Nadir ordered
him to go on the roof and shout to the soldiers on their arrival not to linger a moment
but to follow him speedily. The men grumbled when they heard the message but
none of them dared to stay a minute to refresh himself.
One may become a Nadir, but he can never enjoy a comfortable bed, fine food and
hundreds of other luxuries. His body can never relax. And eventually he will die.
Whoever has great determination, in whatever area it may be, will have no physical
ease. But none of these men possessed noble souls. Their souls were great but
were not noble. Suppose a man to be a great man of learning without any other good
quality. He has lofty thoughts about human knowledge. Another is skillful in gathering
wealth. Someone else is full of rancour, envy or ambition. All of them are extremely
selfish but none of them is noble and magnanimous.
The point is that from a psychological and philosophical point of view, there is
another kind of greatness which does not depend on selfishness and which is called
humanity.
I have not yet seen how materialists explain away this aspect of the human being.
What makes the human being or, at least, some individuals, have a feeling of honor
in their spirits, something which is beyond and above selfishness? Such a human
being wishes to be noble and great, but not at the expense of another. One's spirit
does not allow one to tell a lie. Nobility is the opposite of baseness and a person
avoids baseness completely.
Mussolini, the well-known Italian dictator, is reported to have said to a friend that he
preferred to live like a lion for one year, rather than like a sheep for a hundred years.
He insisted that his friend should not quote his words to anyone since his being a lion
must mean that other people are sheep and if other people learned what Mussolini
desired, they, too, would want to be lions in which case the dictator could no longer
remain a lion. There is no nobleness in such an attitude.
But what is a noble person like? It is a person who wants all people to be lions rather
than sheep in the world. The Prophet has said, "I was appointed to perfect the
morality of nobility," not "I was appointed to perfect good morals." The latter is not the
correct meaning. Every innovator of a school claims that what he teaches is right.
Even Nietzche who believes in might and has no compassion for the weak, considers


his school as one of the true ethics. His words mean nobleness not mastery over
others.
Ali, peace be upon him, says to his son, Imam Husain, peace be upon him, "Uplift
your spirit above every mean act and think that your spirit is worthier than to be
polluted by meanness." He advises his son to think himself nobler than to demean
himself by lies or by abasing himself before others. Ali, peace be upon him, says that
an honorable person never commits adultery and this is irrespective of the fact that it
is forbidden by the divine law and punishable in both worlds. In the epic of the Nahj
ul-balagha it is said that in the first encounter of Ali, peace be upon him, with
Mu'awiyah, in the Battle of Siffin, the Imam had no desire to fight and wished to settle
matters through letters and emissaries. But when Mu'awiyah seized the access to the
waters of the Euphrates to prevent Ali's army from reaching it, hoping to inflict defeat
on them through lack of water, he wrote a letter asking Mu'awiyah to desist from such
strategy since fighting had not begun yet and there was the possibility of reaching an
agreement.
Mu'awiyah refused to forego his advantage and when Ali found that his insistance
was of no avail, he gathered his men and delivered a discourse saying, "These
people are seeking war like food. If so, do you know what should be done? You are
thirsty and there remains only one way, and that is to quench your swords with their
blood in order to satisfy yourselves. If you die victoriously, you are alive but if you live
in defeat, you are dead."
This is how Ali, peace be upon him, inspired the spirit of nobility and self-respect in
his followers. Ali, peace be upon him, believes that all vices are caused by the
baseness of character. For example, he thinks slandering is the act of a weak
person. A brave person is so noble and magnanimous that he or she expresses the
objections he or she feels for another to that person's face or at least keeps silent.
One who is covetous towards others is making the self contemptuous. One who
laments one's misfortune before others is abasing the self.
Someone came before Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him, lamenting his distress and
poverty. The Imam asked an attendant to go and pay him a few dinars. The man said
in apology to the Imam, "I did not intend to ask for anything." The Imam said, "I did
not say that you did but my advice to you is to abstain from narrating your difficulties
before others, for you lose your worth, and Islam does not wish a believer to be
humbled before others."
Ali, peace be upon him, says, "He who describes his helplessness for others is
destroying his self-respect and honor which are the dearest things for a true believer.
And he who lets his carnal desires dominate him is abasing himself." Ali peace be


upon him, believes that all virtues are due to the nobleness of spirit. Being truthful,
honest, perseverant and avoiding all vices are the result of that nobleness. Drinking,
to give an example, causes drunkenness, even though temporarily robbing one of
reason and reducing one to the level of a stupid animal.
He also says, "I do not base my life on excess." The teachings of our gnostics and
Sufis have many exalted thoughts. But one of the problems that Islam suffered
through the teachings of the gnostics and Suifis was that it was influenced by the
teachings of Christianity, Buddhism and Manicheanism. They lost hold of the correct
balance in what they called forgetting the self and killing the self. If they had paid
attention to Islam, they would have realized that Islam is in favor of annihilating one
aspect of the self and reviving another aspect of it. It advises you to forget your
animal self and strengthen your noble spirit. I have come across the same idea in the
works of the poet-philosopher, Iqbal Lahouri.
Islam believes that one of the divine punishments is that the human being is brought
to forget the self altogether. The Quran says,
Be not one of those who forgot God and so He caused them to forget their
souls. (59:19)
Do you know of anyone like Ali who called people to renounce the world? Ali did this
but at the same time he emphasized self respect and magnanimity. He says to his
son, Hasan, peace be upon him, "Do not be the slave of another being. God has
created you free." How is it that Ali, peace be upon him, as the most humble man in
the world, invites people to regard the self? This self that he respects is the noble
side of man kind.
We have in hand many sayings of this kind belonging to Ali, peace be upon him, but
few quotations from his two sons, a result of the despotic conditions of their time. But
in the books containing the words of Imam Husain, peace be upon him, the question
of narrowness of the spirit is noticed abundantly, particularly his sayings in the last
moments before his martyrdom, blaming those who had sold themselves to tyrants.
He says, "If you are not religious and do not fear the Resurrection, at least be free
men in your world." In his discourse in Mecca, he says that his spirit does not allow
him to live and see such corrupt conditions, let alone be a part of it. Again he says,
"Verily I consider death to be nothing but felicity and life with these tyrants to be
anything but misery." By this he means that it is an honor for him not to be amongst
such people who bring nothing but weariness and sorrow to his soul.
To those who advised him to abandon his fight against tyrants, he quoted the
sentence of one of the Prophet's friends, said as an answer to his cousin who wished


to prevent him from fighting. The sentence is, "No. I will go forth. Death is no
disgrace but honor for a free man whose intention is to follow the right path and fight
a holy war. Death in aiding the good and opposing the wicked is an honor." He
continues saying,"You who forbid me this humility is enough for you to live in
abjection. Do you not see that they do not act according to what is right and no one
forbids all this corruption?" Again he says, "A believer must seek death." When it was
reported to Ali that Mu'awiyah's army had plundered the town of Ambar, and seized
the earnings of a Muslim woman, he says, "By God, if a Muslim dies in sorrow for
such a happening, he is not blameworthy."
On the day of his martyrdom (the 10th of Muharram), Imam Husain, peace be upon
him, gives this answer to the messenger of Ibn Ziad who was demanding allegiance,
"I will never offer my hand in humiliation nor confess like a slave (that I have been in
error)." Even in his last moments of fighting when all his relatives and companions
died and he himself, in facing death, and his household is in danger of capture, he
continues to declare his exalted goal of nobility and freedom.
Thus we see that all great men are not noble but all noble ones are great. About
Imam Husain, peace be upon him, we must say that he was great in his good deeds,
his indifference to wealth, his endeavours in enjoining to good and forbidding the
wrong, in his lack of ambition and vengefulness, in his insistance on prayer and
communion with God and in his revival of the noble self in fighting for (God and the
truth. I pray God to grant us such spirits of nobleness and to give us the awareness
of our destiny .

philosophical schools of Spiritual Freedom

philosophical schools of Spiritual Freedom
by  (Martyr) Murtadha Mutahari

And removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them.
(7:157)
Last week I mentioned that our discussion consists of three parts: The meaning of
freedom, the two kinds of freedom, namely social and spiritual freedom and the
dependence of these two types of freedom upon one another, especially the
dependence of social freedom on spiritual freedom.
Tonight, I wish to devote myself to the subject of spiritual freedom, its meaning and
its necessity for mankind. This is particularly urgent since today little attention seems
to be paid to spiritual freedom by human societies, which is the cause of many
present troubles. This is so evident that many people consider spiritual freedom as
something abolished, even though the need for it is much greater than in the past.
What does spiritual freedom mean? Freedom requires two sides so that one side
becomes free of the bond of the other. In spiritual freedom what must the human be
free of? Spiritual freedom is freedom from one's self as against social freedom which
is freedom from the bonds of others. One may be asked whether the human being
can be enslaved by the self.
Can a person be both a slave and a slave owner? The answer is in the affirmative. In
the case of animals this may not be true but what about this strange being called the
human being? How is it possible for it to be at the same time a slave and master?
The reason is that the human being is a complex creature and that is a fact which
has been confirmed by religion and philosophy by scientists and psychologists and
about which no doubt exists.
Let me begin by an interpretation of the Quran on Creation which says, "So when I
have shaped him and breathed into him of My spirit, fall you down, bowing
before him." (15:29) It is not necessary to know what this divine spirit means, but it
is enough to know that this earthly being is granted something else which is
unearthly. According to a Tradition, the Prophet says that God created angels and
granted them only intelligence. He created animals and gave them only appetites
and He created man and granted him both intelligence and appetite; an utterance of
the Prophet that has been used in a poem by Rumi. Now, besides these verses of
the Quran and Traditions and what has been affirmed by philosophers and
psychologists, what does spiritual freedom consist of in simple language. We will
begin with something which everyone would understand. Undoubtedly we need food
to live and the more of it the better, and we need clothing and the finer the better and


we require a dwelling and the more magnificent the better. We desire wives and
children, luxury, money and material things. But at one point we may reach a cross-
road where we should keep our honor and nobility and at the same time put up with
poverty, eat dry bread, wear shabby clothes, live in a poor hut and have no money
and be distressed. If we ignore our honor and nobility and submit to abjection, then
all material benefits will be provided for us. We see that many people are not willing
to suffer abasement for the sake of material things while others readily accept this
exchange, even though they and their consciences are ashamed of themselves.
In the Gulistan, Saidi describes two brothers, one of whom was rich and the other
poor. The former was in the service of the government and the latter was an ordinary
worker who secured a livelihood by manial labor. One day thc rich brother said to his
poor brother, "Why don't you accept government service, to be delivered from
hardship and distress?" The poor brother answered, "Why don't you work to be
delivered from abjection?"
That kind of service with all its accompanying wealth means lack of freedom, for, it
involves bowing to others and being humbled. Sa'di goes on to say that according to
the wise, sitting down to eat your own bread is far better than wearing a golden belt
and standing to serve others.
You may be well-versed about this subject but I wish you to analyze it from a
psychological point of view. What feeling makes the human being prefer pain and
hardship, labor and poverty to humbling himself or herself betore others? He calls it
captivity to serve others though it is not of the type of material slavery. It is not his or
her strength that is enslaved but the spirit. There is a quatrain attributed to Ali, peace
be upon him, saying, "If you desire to live freely, labor like a slave, work and suffer
pain and shut your eyes from Adam's offspring whoever they may be, even from
Hatam Ta'i (a heroic figure famous for his generosity in pre-Islamic Arabia). So have
no expectation not only from mean people but also from the generous."
He goes on to say that when a job is offered to someone, that person considers it
below his or her dignity to accept it. He or she thinks every kind of manual labor as
mean. But Ali, peace be upon him, believes that every kind of work and labor is
better than extending your hand before others begging for something. He says,
"Nothing is worse than going to others to beg for something."
Having no need of others means being superior to them. Once I came across a
remark of the poet Hafiz who was an extraordinarily eloquent man and had a deep
respect for Ali, peace be upon him. He quotes nine sayings of his which are relevant
to our discussion, one of which is, "You may be in need but remember that if you
have need of someone, you still turn yourself into his slave. But if you do away with


that need, you will be his equal and if you show benevolence to someone, you will be
his master."
So you see that your need makes you someone's slave What kind of slavery?
Slavery of spirit. These sayings are fine but today they are disregarded since
mankind prefers to discuss other problems and pays little attention to ethical ones.
Again Ali, peace be upon him, says, "Greed means perpetual slavery." Thus he
considers greed worse than slavery. Here then, spiritual slavery is mentioned as
something worse than physical slavery. There is also slavery to wealth against which
all moralists have warned mankind.
Another saying of Ali is, "The world is a passage not a residence." Again he says,
"There are two groups of people in the world." He continues, "One of these two
groups come and sell and enslave themselves and go and the others come and buy
their freedom and go." These two attitudes can also be applied to wealth, either to be
a slave of wealth or free from it. A person should say that as he or she must not be a
slave to riches, he or she should say, "I am a human being. Why should I make
myself a slave of inanimate things like gold and silver, land and other things?"
But the truth is that when a person thinks the self to be a slave of wealth, that person
is in fact a slave to his or her mental characteristics, a slave to greed and one's
animal nature. For inanimate things like money, land, machine and even animals
have no power to enslave that person. When one ponders deeply over this matter,
one finds the source of slavery to lie in one's own peculiarities such as greed, lust,
anger and carnal desires.
The Quran says, "Have you noticed someone who 11as made his carnal desires his
god?' Wealth itself is not to blame when a person is warned against his or her own
desires. Thus if one liberates oneself from the bond of one's wicked desires, one will
realize that one is not at the service of wealth.
It is then that one finds one's own true worth and understands the significance of this
verse of the Quran, "All We have created on the earth is for you. " Thus riches are
at the service of the human being and not vice versa. If so, then, envy and avarice
have no meaning and if one engages in them, one is enslaving oneself. There are
two stages for the human being: A lower, animal stage and a higher, human one.
The Prophets are sent to preserve the spiritual freedom of humanity. What does that
mean? It means preventing human honor, humanity, intelligence and conscience
from being subjugated to its own lust, passion and love of profits. If you overcome
your passion, you are free. If you conquer your lust and not vice versa, you are free.


If you are in a position to gain an illegitimate profit, but your faith and conscience and
intelligence forbid you to do so, you have overcome your desire and then you can
say that you are really spiritually free.
If you see a woman, but you check your lustful desires and obey your conscience,
then you are a free human being. But if your eyes, ears, and stomach incite you to
satisfy them by whatever means, then you are their slave. The human being is ruled
by two types of ego: An animal ego and a human one. This fact and this contrast are
well illustrated by Rumi in a story of Majnun (in eastern literature, Majnun is the
equivalent of Romeo and Laila is the equivalent of Juliet) and the camel.
The story goes that Majnun was riding a camel intending to visit Laila's home. The
camel happened to have a baby camel and Majnun, in order to ride faster to his
destination, confined the baby camel to the house. He was deep in thought about his
Beloved while the camel was worried about its young. Every moment Majnun
absentmindedly let the reins loose, the camel turned back towards home. This was
repeated several times until the camel collapsed. The poet digresses to say that thc
human being has two kinds of inclinations: that of the spirit and that of the body.
If you wish to be free in spirit, you cannot be a glutton, a woman-worshipper, a
money-lover, a lustful person of passion. I have come across a narrative in the Nahj
ulbalagha which says that one day the Prophet went among the Companions (the
ansar who were the poor followers of the Prophet in Medina who had migrated there.
The Prophet first let them stay in a mosque, but a divine command was issued to him
to find another home for them since a mosque was not a proper place to live in and
they obeyed the order. Subsequently, they lived in a large shelter near the mosque).
One of them said to the Prophet, "I feel as if the whole world is worthless in my
eyes." He did not mean that he made a similar use of stones and gold but that
neither of them had the power to attract him. The Prophet looked at him and said, "
Now I can say that you are free." Thus we can say that spiritual freedom is in itself
something real.
We can give other reasons to show that the human being's personality is complex
and that one can either be spiritually free or a slave. God Almighty has granted this
power to a person to be one's own judge. In society, a judge stands apart from the
plaintiff and defendant. Have you ever heard a person to be his own plaintiff and
defendant and judge, all at the same time?
A person is called just. What is a just human being? Does it not mean that a person
can judge impartially about one's own problems and issue a verdict against one
when guilty? Does this not show the complex nature the human being? Many a time
you have seen people who judge fairly about themselves and prefer the rights of


others to their own. The late Sayyid Husain Kuh Kamari who was a great religious
authority with a following and an uncle o the late Ayatullah Hujjat Kuh Kamari who
was our teacher was such a man. It is narrated about him that he had theological
class in Najaf which had not yet won the reputation it had later on, especially as his
stay in Najaf had not been long for he had been in the habit of travelling here and
there to benefit from the teachings of the great masters in various towns such as
Mashhad, Isfahan and Kashan.
The late Shaykh Ansari who was dressed poorly and whose eyes suffered from
trachoma happened to teach in the same mosque as Sayyid Husain, each in turn,
the Shaykh first and Sayyid Husain next, without meeting each other. One day the
latter happened to arrive an hour earlier than usual. As there was no time to go home
and come back, he thought he would wait there for his pupils to arrive. He noticed a
peculiar looking Shaykh sitting there teaching two or three fellows. He sat in a corner
and could hear the Shaykh's words. He found them to be profound and wise. It was a
strange experience for a great scholar like him to meet an unknown but erudite
teacher. He decided to go earlier to the mosque once more to see how things went.
The second visit proved to be as beneficial as the first and he found the Shaykh very
learned and in fact more of a scholar than himself. On repeating the experience for
the third time, he was fully convinced of the man's profound knowledge. So he
decided to join the small class and when his own pupils arrived, he said to them,"I
have news for you. That Shaykh is much more learned than I am as I have
discovered and I advise you to accompany me to join his class." They arose together
and attended the Shaykh's class.
What is the implication of such fairness? Sayyid Husain turned himself into a pupil of
Ansari and gave up his claim to being an authority. He must have felt, as we do, what
respect and mastership are and must have been pleased at being an authority. And
yet his noble and free spirit allowed him to judge fairly between himself and that man,
and issue a verdict against himself. This is proof of the human being's complex
personality. A person commits a sin and then blames the self. What is this prick of
conscience? Exploiting governments train individuals in such a way as to kill their
conscience . And yet when that conscience is supposed to be dead, a small light is
noticed to scatter its beams at its proper time. The pilot of the plane who bombed
Hiroshima was actually trained for such a crime but when he dropped his bomb and
saw the city burning and the innocent men and women and children who had no
connection with war, being annihilated, he felt spiritually sick. In America they gave
him a fine welcome but they could not check that torture of conscience which led him
eventually to a lunatic asylum. The Quran says, "Nay, I swear by the Self-
reproaching soul ... " (75:2).
Ali, peace be upon him, says, "He who is not granted a preacher within himself by
God, will not be affected by other's preaching." Do not deceive yourself into thinking


that you will be influenced by others if you are not influenced by your own
conscience. One of our religious injunctions is to judge ourselves and issue a verdict
against ourselves when necessary. "Call yourself to account before you are called to
account." "Weigh yourself before you are weighed for your deeds on the Day of
Resurrection."
All these show the human being's complex personality which has a lower animal side
and higher human side. Spiritual freedom means that the higher side is free from the
lower one.
In connection with self-punishment, I remember a case related to Hadrat Ali. A man
came to him to repent, supposing that by saying the sentence of repentance,
everything would be all right. Ali reprimanded him sharply by saying, "May your
mother mourn for you. Do you know what repentance means? It is very much higher
than saying a sentence." Then he told the man that repentance is based on several
things: Two principles, two conditions of acceptance and two conditions of
completion. That is, a total of six points.
He then explained this by saying, "The first principle is that one should be truly
penitent of one's past wicked deeds. The second is to decide never to commit that
sin in the future. The third is to grant people their right if one owes it to them. The
fourth is to perform the obligatory devotions which one may have forsaken." The last
two points, Ali, peace be upon him, mentioned are most relevant to my discourse.
They are: Fifthly, to melt down the flesh that is grown on you by lustfulness through
sorrow and constant grief; and lastly, to give this body which has in the past been
addicted to the pleasure of sin, the pain of worship and devotion.
Have there been people in the past who have reached this stage? Yes. There have.
Today we may forget that repentance exists. But we can cite a fine example of it by
mentioning Mulla Husain Quli Hamadani who was a great moralist of modern times
and a pupil of the great religious scholars, the later Mirza Shirazi and Shaykh Ansari.
A sinful man goes to him to be guided. When the man came back after a few days,
he could hardly be recognized due to his extraordinary leanness. The Mulla used
neither a whip nor a weapon nor a threat. But he could offer true spiritual guidance.
He managed to awaken that man's conscience to fight his lust and passion.
The most significant program of the prophets is to provide spiritual freedom. Self-
purification is in fact spiritual freedom. The Quran says, "Prosperous is he who
purifies it and failed has he who seduces it." (91:9-10)
The greatest damage of our time is speaking of freedom and confining it to social
freedom. Spiritual freedom is never spoken of and, in consequence, social freedom


is not secured. A great crime is committed in our time in the form of philosophy and
philosophical schools totally ignoring the human being, its personality, spiritual honor
and God's revelation, "I breathed into him of My Spirit,"is quite forgotten. They
deny that the human being has two aspects an animal side and a human one. They
claim that this human being is no different from animals and is subject to the survival
of the fittest. This means that each individual' effort is for his or her own interests.
Can you imagine how much damage this attitude has done to humanity? They say
that life is a battle and the world a battlefield. They also say that a right is what one
seizes, not what one ,rants. But the truth is that a right must both be taken and given
and not only something which is snatched by force.
The prophets did not come to make such a statement that a right must be seized by
force. They came to persuade the oppressed to secure their rights. They also
compelled the oppressor to rise against their evil deeds and grant others their rights.
In conclusion I pray God to liberate us all from our carnal desires as he has done for
truly generous beings; and to grant us social freedom and blessings in this and the
next world; to acquaint us with the facts of Islam; to meet our legitimate needs and to
grant salvation to our deceased ones.

Spiritual Freedom

Spiritual Discourses-The School of Humanity

Spiritual Freedom
by  (Martyr) Murtadha Mutahari
Say, oh people of the Book! Come now to a word common between us and you
that we worship none but God and that we associate not aught with Him and
do not some of us take others as Lord, apart from God. (3:64)
The subject of our discussion is spiritual freedom. The points that I wish to submit to
this gathering tonight are as follows: Firstly, the nature of freedom; secondly, how
many kinds of freedom there are though I confine myself to two types here, namely,
spiritual freedom and social freedom and thirdly, the relationship between these two
types of freedom and the extent to which spiritual freedom is possible without social
freedom and vice versa. The discussion will mainly be centered round the last point,
namely, the connection between the two types of freedom.
I begin my discourse with a point which is relevant to this occasion, the birthday
anniversary of Hadrat Ali, the Master (mawla) of the virtuous, peace be upon him.
One of the words we often use in connection with his personality is the word master
and master of the virtuous and master of the masters. When we quote his sayings
we add one of the above epithets instead of his name.
This epithet was first used by the Holy Prophet about him in his famous remark, "Ali
is a master for him who accepts me as his master (when he lifted him up to present
him to his followers), an uttering unanimously affirmed by both the Shi'ites and the
Sunnis. The word has also appeared in the Holy Quran, "If you both turn to God
then indeed your hearts are already inclined (to this); and if you hack up each
other against him, then surely God is Who is his Master and Gabriel and the
believers that do good, and the angels after that are the aiders. " (66:4)
What does the word master mean? I do not wish to go into great lengths about it
tonight but to be brief. The original meaning of it is 'proximity' of two things which are
close to one another. Therefore it is sometimes used with two opposite meanings.
For example, God is said to be the Master of His servants. It is also used to mean a
master or even a slave. Another meaning of it is both liberator and liberated.
In which sense, then, did the Prophet use the word 'mawla' in his utterance meaning,
"As I am a master and friend to a person, then Ali is his master and friend."I have no
intention of saying which meaning was, in my opinion, expressed here. But in
connection with my discourse I may mention that the poet Jalal ul-din Rumi has
tastefully used the word in his Mathnavi and taken it to mean liberator. The word
occurs in chapter six of his work in a well-known story of the woman and the


treacherous judge. In this story the judge wants to hide in a chest. He is hidden there
and the chest is given to a porter to carry. The judge begs the porter with the promise
of a fine reward to go and find the judge's assistant to come and buy the chest. The
assistant comes and buys the chest. Here the poet makes a digression to say, "All of
us are confined in the chest of the lustful body without being aware of it and we need
liberating prophets and apostles to deliver and save us." Then he goes on to say,
It was for this reason that the assiduous Prophet Applied the word Master to himself
and Ali
Saying whoever has me as his master and friend
Must have Ali, my cousin, as his master too.
Who is a master? He is one who liberates you.
And removes the fetters from your legs.
This is really true whether the Prophet's remark, "Whoever has me as his master has
Ali as his master," would have the same meaning or not, that is, whether he used the
word master to mean that he and Ali were liberators or not. The fact remains that
every rightful Prophet is sent to liberate people and every rightful Imam possesses
the same quality.
Now let us see what is the meaning of freedom and liberty. Freedom is a requisite of
life and evolution and one of the greatest needs of living creatures, whether they are
plants, animals or human beings. The difference in their freedom lies in their
differences of structure. The human being needs a freedom beyond that of plants
and animals. Every living thing must grow and find perfection. It cannot remain
stationary. Solids do not grow so they have no need of freedom. But living creatures
need three things for their growth and evolution: nurturing, security and freedom.
Nurturing consists of a number of factors required by living creatures for their
growth . For example, a plant needs soil and water as well as light and heat in order
to grow. An animal needs food and other things. A human being's needs are the
same as those of plants and animals plus a series of other needs which would come
under the heading of nurturing, all of which are like food for it. How can one live
without food? The faculty of nourishment is a necessary asset to a living being.
The next requisite of a living being is security. What does security mean? It means
being able to keep the means and equipment necessary for living. It should not be
withheld from them by an enemy or a foreign power. Next to this nurturing it needs


security in order to keep its life and wealth and health and belongings safe against
aggression.
The third need is freedom. What does freedom mean? It means the absence of
obstacles in the way of growth. For example, in growing a plant, in addition to other
requisites, you must provide a suitable environment for it and remove all obstacles. If
you plant a tree under a roof, you are depriving it of free space above to attain its full
growth. Thus every living being needs freedom for its growth and evolution. What is
this freedom? It is the absence of barriers. Free persons are those who fight against
all obstacles set in their way of growth and perfection. They do not submit to
obstacles.
Now we must see what types of freedom there are. The human being is a peculiar
being and his or her life is a social one, in addition to being a complex creature in his
or her individual life. Human beings are quite different from plants and animals; they
have certain other needs which may be divided into two kinds. One of them is social
freedom. What does social freedom mean? It means having freedom in connection
with other individuals in society, so that they do not hinder their growth, do not
imprison them to check their activities, do not exploit or enslave them, do not exploit
all their physical and mental powers in their own interests. This is called social
freedom which may in its turn be of several types.
One of the greatest problems of human beings throughout history has been this
same abuse of power by powerful elements in subjugating others and enslaving
them so as to enjoy the whole fruits of their lives and labor.
Do you know what exploitation means? It means picking someone else's fruits. For
each person his or her essence is a fruitful tree and his or her labor and thoughts are
the product of that tree. This crop must be his or hers. But when others seize these
fruits by one means or another, we say a person is exploited by another or others.
Throughout history one person has been exploited by another person or a people by
another people or enslaved by them. Or at least they have been deprived of the
opportunity to give the exploiter a greater chance to secure maximum benefits. For
example, suppose a piece of land belongs to two men but one of them who is
stronger takes possession of the whole land and expels the other or employs him as
a laborer; that will be a form of slavery.
In the Holy Quran, one of the explicit purposes of the prophets has been to offer
mankind social liberty and deliver them from their mutual enslavement. The Quran is
a wonderful Book. Some ideas flourish in a particular period while they lose their
brilliance at other times. But the case is different with the Quran for its ideas and
words possess a permanent lustre and this is something of an epic and miracle. One


example of which is this idea of social liberty. I do not believe that you can find a
sentence elsewhere or at any time about this matter more lively and surging than
what you meet in the Quran. It has been unrivaled in all the last three centuries when
the motto of philosophers has constantly been liberty. This is the sentence, "Oh
Prophet tell all those who claim to follow a divine book of the past (to the Jews,
Christians and Zoroastrians or perhaps even the Sabeans whose name occurs
in the Quran and to all people who follow a previous divine book) to come and
assemble around one tenet and under one banner." (3:64)
What is this banner? The banner consists of two sentences: The first one is that
nothing must be worshipped but the unique God, neither Christ nor any other nor the
devil should be worshipped. Only God. The second one is that 'none of us must
consider another as his slave or master.' This means the abolition of the order of
servitude, the system of exploitation, of the exploiter and exploited, getting rid of
inequality and doing away with the right of enslavement. This is not the only verse
about this matter in the Holy Quran. There are many of them but as I wish to be brief,
I will mention a few of them. The Quran, quoting Moses in his argument with the
Pharaoh, quotes the latter's remarks: "And you did (that) deed of yours which you
did; you are one of the ungrateful." (26:19) Moses answers, "And is it a favor of
which you remind me that you have enslaved the children of Israel?" (26:22)
The Pharaoh had said to Moses, "You are the man who grew up in our house and at
our table and when you grew up you committed the crime of killing a man."(All this
was meant to make Moses feel lowly and under obligation.) But Moses answered,
"Should I remain silent at your enslavement of my people solely because I have
grown up in your house? I have come to save these slaves."
The late Ayatullah Nai'ni says in his book Tanzih ul-ummah, "Everyone knows that
the tribe of Moses never worshipped the Pharaoh as the Egyptians did but as the
Pharaoh used them as his slaves, the Quran employs the word enslavement as
uttered by Moses." We definitely know that one of the aims of the Prophets is to
establish social freedom and fight against every form of enslavement and social
deprivation.
The world of today, too, considers social freedom as being sacred and if you have
read the universal declaration of human rights, you will see that the major cause of
all wars, bloodshed and misfortunes in the world is that individuals do not respect the
freedom of others. Is the logic of a Prophet so far in accord with modern logic? Is
liberty sacred? Yes, it is sacred and very much so.
The Prophet always feared the Umayyids and was worried about their future in
connection with the Islamic ummah. So he (according to a successive narration)


said, "If the offspring of Ibn Aas reach thirty in number, they will consider God's
property as their own and God's servant as their own servants and will introduce their
own innovations in God's religion."
It is true then that social liberty is sacred. Another kind of liberty is spiritual freedom.
The difference between the Prophets' school and other human schools is that the
Prophets have come to offer spiritual freedom to mankind as well as social freedom,
the former having a greater value than anything else. Both social liberty and spiritual
freedom are sacred and the former liberty is not possible without the latter. The
trouble with modern human society is that it tries to safeguard social liberty without
seeking spiritual freedom. In fact it has not the ability to do so, since spiritual freedom
is obtainable only through prophethood and Prophets, and through faith and divine
books.
Now let us see what spiritual freedom is. The human being is a complex being with
various powers and instincts, with strength, appetites, anger, greed, ambition and
love of excess. On the other hand, it has been granted reason, mental and moral
conscience. Internally and spiritually the human being may feel the self free or
enslaved. It may be a slave of its greed, lust, anger and love of excess or it may be
free of all these vices. As the poet says,
I tell the truth and feel thereby happy
I am a slave to love and free in both worlds.
A person may be so human that that person is socially free and rejects abjectness
and servitude and preserves social liberty so ethically; that person also keeps his or
her conscience, spirit and intelligence free. This kind of freedom is called 'self-
purification' or 'virtue' in religion.
Can human beings have social freedom without spiritual freedom? That is, can they
be slaves to their own lust, anger and greed and at the same time respect the
freedom of others? Today they say yes and they practically expect each person to be
a slave to his or her greed, anger and lust and at the same time to respect social
liberty. This is one of the many examples of contradictory ideas from which human
society suffers.
Human beings in ancient times had no respect for freedom and trampled upon it.
Why? Was it because they were ignorant and so they deprived others of their
freedom? Can we say that when they gained wisdom, they found it necessary to
respect the freedom of others? Is this similar to the question of illness? Faced with
sickness, they could rarely find their accidentally-found drugs effective but now with


their increase of knowledge they can afford to discard old treatments and resort to
new and efficacious ones.
We wish to know whether the action of ancient people in depriving others of their
freedom was solely due to ignorance? No. It had nothing to do with ignorance or
knowledge. Human beings were fully aware of their actions which served their
interests. Was their lack of respect for the rights of others and liberty due to the forms
the law took? If so, could a change of law bring about a change of behavior? For
example, did the abolition of slavery in America really put an end to slavery? Or did it
only change the form of slavery without changing the context? Was this disregard of
the freedom of others due to their way of thinking and their philosophy?
It was none of these; it was nothing but self-interest. As an individual, the human
being sought only to secure maximum profit for himself and get benefit from every
possible means. Other human beings were one such means for him and he used
them in the same way that he used wood, stone, iron and domestic animals. When
he planted a tree or cut it down, the last thing that he cared about was the tree itself.
He thought only of the way that the tree benefitted him. When he fattened a sheep
and then slaughtered it, what was his purpose but self-interest? When he enslaved
other human beings and deprived them of their rights, it was to benefit himself. Thus
all his actions including trampling on other people's liberty were based on self-
interests. Is he the same today? Yes. He is and he has not changed at all. On the
contrary, it should be said that his mouth is even opened wider to swallow more.
Neither science nor law has been able to check greed. The only thing they have
done is to change the form of it. The content is the same with a new cover. Ancient
man was an outspoken being and had not yet reached the state of hypocrisy. When
the Pharaoh enslaved people, he frankly declared to Moses, "What is your answer,
Moses? These are my servants and slaves." (23:48)
The Pharaoh did not hide his deeds of exploitation and enslavement. But today
human beings deprive others of all their rights and freedom in the name of a free
world and under the pretext of defending peace and liberty. Why is it so? Because
human beings lack spiritual freedom and are not virtuous and free in their souls.
Hadrat Ali has an utterance about virtue which, like his other sayings, is highly
worthy, even though to some people it seems old fashioned. He says, "Divine virtue
is the key to every truth, provisions for the resurrection day, factor of release from
any sort of slavery and deliverance from any cause of perditions."
The phrase shows that virtue delivers the human being from every kind of servitude
and frees him or her spiritually to enable him or her to give freedom to others. Who,
then, is a true liberal in the world? It is men like Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him,


who stand in the same rank as he or are trained in his school. For they are, in the
first place, liberated from the bonds of sel f. Ali, peace be upon him, says, "Shall I
content myself with being entitled 'Amir ul-muminim' (the master of the faithful) and
how can I oppress anybody for my own sake?"
Only a person who resembles Ali can truly be free and generous at all times or is at
least his follower and calls his mind and spirit to account. When Ali was at the altar of
prayer, stroking his beard, he said, "Oh worldly things. Oh gold and silver. Go away
and deceive others but Ali, for he has divorced you forever." Only a person in whose
heart and conscience there is a heavenly call can truly have a respect for people's
rights and liberty without feeling the slightest hypocrisy. When such a man who
possesses such chastity and spirituality and fears God is in a position of governor, he
never feels that he is a man of power and other men are subjugated by him.
Although custom makes people keep their distance from him, he persuades them not
to do so and to come close to him. When Ali started his campaign for the battle of
Siffin, he reached the town of Anbar which is now a part of Iraq but was then an old
Iranian town. A number of the great citizens such as the mayor and aldermen had
come forth to welcome the Caliph in a fitting manner, for they imagined Ali to be a
royal successor to the Sassanid Kings. The moment he arrived on horseback, they
started running towards him. Ali called them and asked what they meant by such
behavior. They answered that it was their way of showing respect to their kings and
great men. The Imam told them not to act thus for it meant abasing themselves
before their Caliph. He said, "I am one of you and you are treating me badly by such
behavior for you may (God forbid) fill me with pride and cause me to consider myself
superior to you."
This is what is meant by a generous person who possesses spiritual freedom and
has welcomed the call of the Quran, "To worship nothing other than God " . No
man or stone or heaven or earth or any human attribute is worthy of worship but
God. I will read you a sermon of Ali, peace be upon him, so that you may have an
idea of his generosity and spirituality.
The sermon is rather long and is related to the mutual rights of the governor and the
governed towards one another. Ali as a ruler advises his people to feel free with him
and not to consider their governors as being superior to themselves. He says, "Do
not use for him the expressions they use for tyrants by which they might abase
themselves and elevate them." He wants them to speak with him as they do with
ordinary people. He says, "If by chance they found him angry and hot-tempered, they
should not lose courage, but should freely state their objections." He continues that
they should not confirm and express agreement with every word and action of his .
He says that they should not suppose their true words to seem to him too heavy to
bear. On the contrary, he would be well pleased to hear truth and proper criticism. He
goes on to say that even though he is their ruler and Caliph and they are his


subjects, they should not praise and flatter him. Then he lays down a general
principle by saying that a man who cannot bear hearing truth will find it even more
difficult to act truly.
Christensen writes that Anushiravan, the Sassanian King, had assembled a number
of people to discuss a matter. He stated his own opinion and everyone agreed with it.
A secretary present, supposing this gathering to be a truly group discussion was
duped into asking permission to express his own view. He did so and criticized the
King's opinion. The King angrily called him insolent and at once ordered him to be
punished. They knocked him so much on the head with his own pen box that he died.
In conclusion, Ali makes a request . He begs them never to withhold their true words
and objections and counsels from him.
This is an example of a perfect man who is spiritually free while he enjoys the rank of
a ruler and in this way he grants social liberty to others. I pray God to make us a
follower of Ali, peace be upon him.