Dr. Muhammad Benaish
Professor of Thought and Civilization
The Kingdom of Morocco
First: There is a long road between passion and begging
The human soul, with its functionally contradictory characteristics, may combine, as the Holy Qur’an describes it, between enjoining evil on the one hand and ignorance of itself and the consequences of its behavior. Thus, it always remains the motivator for the conscious person to adopt patterns of behavior that may not be in her best interest, while she may oscillate between the concept of desire and desire. And begging, except that desire may always come before begging, which means self-incitement and urgency, because the latter is one of the results of the first and represents the practical extension of the whimsical position.
An example of it and its meaning is found in the words of God Almighty: “And they brought false blood on his shirt.” He said, “Rather, your souls have asked for a matter for you.” So patience is beautiful, and God is the one who seeks help in what you describe.” “So I caught a handful of the Messenger’s trace and discarded it, and so my soul asked for forgiveness.”
What is observed in these two verses is that “begging” may be immediately followed by the application of the situation or the intended intention, as if – begging – is a moving, pressing idea. Implementation is a moving action, while the previous is a static idea that has taken its place and settled in the depths of man. It will be determined by the level of the soul’s conspiracy and its inclination toward evil. The Qur’an expressed it sometimes as whims, sometimes as deviation, and sometimes as following suspicion. These are all images of the soul commanding evil, which may not be able to distinguish between… The idea, its dimensions and results, due to its materialistic nature and self-introversion.
We find among these descriptions in the saying of God Almighty: “As for those in whose hearts there is deviation, they follow that which is ambiguous, seeking temptation and seeking its interpretation.” And the Almighty’s saying: “And most of them follow nothing except in suspicion. Indeed, suspicion is of no avail against the truth. Indeed, God is All-Knowing of what they do.” And if We had opened upon them a gate from heaven and they continued to ascend through it, they would have said, “Indeed, our eyes have been dimmed. Rather, we are an enchanted people.” And “then after them was succeeded by a succession who neglected prayer and followed desires. They will meet with destruction.”
In the same context, we find the words of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, specifying for us the psychological tendency in the field of desires, which have fatal consequences. However, those who surrender to psychological conspiracy may not realize its danger, whether the desire is moral or material.
On the authority of Abu Hurairah, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Hell is obscured by desires, and Paradise is obscured by hardships.”
This is one of the most wonderful and comprehensive words of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and his wonderful eloquence in denouncing desires, even if souls incline to them, and urging acts of obedience, even if souls hate them and are difficult for them.
This overwhelming lustful tendency in the human soul may obscure it from insight into the consequences resulting from rushing to achieve it, and it takes place at the level of changing outlook and objective evaluation of things, because the self may be hidden from the consequences when it is immersed in satisfying itself from the lustful side, and this does not happen through the language of lust and its impulses. Rather, it is done by the conscious element in man, but in the sense that he is an observer of the appetitive physical or psychological function.
Hence, his judgments may become contradictory to what his awareness requires in terms of a sound vision of physical and psychological function and its dimensions.
Such a psychological shift in issuing judgments is indicated by the Almighty’s saying: “Is he who has the evil of his deeds made beautiful to him and sees it as good? Indeed, God sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills, so do not let yourself go away from them out of regret. Indeed, God is All-Knowing of what they do.” When will the Day of Resurrection come?
“And God wants to turn to you in repentance, and those who follow desires want you to lean greatly.”
Second: The soul goes from the object of desire to the object of suspicion
As the person who was exposed to desire inherited the person who was exposed to doubt, and then the conscious element in man abandoned the correct position and later became a prisoner of the self and pleasures: “And when it is said to him, ‘Fear God,’ pride takes him to sin, and Hell will suffice for him, and wretched is the resting place.”
This lustful impulse, contrary to self-interest, despite the presence of awareness and understanding, is indicated by what was mentioned in the hadith: On the authority of Shaddad bin Aws, may God be pleased with him, that he cried, and he was told, “What makes you cry?” He said something I heard from the Messenger of God, and it made me cry. I heard the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, say: “I fear polytheism and hidden lust for my nation! I said, O Messenger of God: Will you join your nation after you? He said: Yes, but they do not worship the sun, the moon, a stone, or an idol, but they show off by their deeds. “The hidden desire is that one of them becomes fasting and one of his desires strikes him and he abandons his fast.”
With this psychological weakness resulting from instinctive impulse, a person’s actions will become uncontrolled, whether on the doctrinal, physical, or financial level, and so on, due to concealment and blurred vision of the conscious person, to the point that a person who has reached the age of majority may become like a young child who lacks complete discernment. This is what is known as foolishness.
Folly can either be internal, or it is fueled by an external factor represented by invisible, satanic deception, whose language is of the type of self-talk.
Regarding psychological foolishness, we find several forms that define it either at the doctrinal level or at the behavioral level or both. Also, foolishness may take on a pathological nature or an accidental one that disappears with the disappearance of its symptoms. The worst of these types of foolishness is of a pathological, ideological nature. Deviating from the correct doctrine and abandoning its followers in exchange for following personal desires is primarily a psychological illness, just like the illnesses that occur to a person in his financial and material behavior in general.
However, doctrinal foolishness is more dangerous and worse, because faith is a precious treasure and wealth that represents the backbone of life that remains. Therefore, it should not be squandered or wasted by dispensing with it and running after a deadly mirage. Hence, the person who takes this measure will deserve the description of foolishness, because it indicates the weakness of discrimination and the defect of the human soul in preferring it. The lowest is the first and the highest.
We can derive this meaning from the words of God Almighty: “And whoever turns away from the religion of Abraham except one who fools himself, and We have chosen him in this world, and in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous.” “The foolish among the people will say, ‘They do not turn away from the Qiblah they used to follow.’ Say, ‘To God is the East and the West. He guides those who He wills to a straight path.
Doctrinal foolishness – as we said – is worse than financial and behavioral foolishness in general, because doctrinal reliance is the basis of financial discipline and the codification of its disposal. Financial foolishness is remedied, while ideological foolishness is difficult to recover because it cannot be dealt with or seized or restricted. Therefore, wherever there is ideological foolishness, it is followed by general financial, economic, and behavioral foolishness as an inevitable result.
But there may be financial, judicial, and procedural foolishness, but there is no doctrinal foolishness, and when there is financial foolishness, redress will be practically possible, through rationalization, testing, education, and reinforcement. The foolish person may later become a fully qualified person, who can dispose of his money with all freedom and choice, and he can become It is subject to litigation and testimony, and thus foolishness will have no effect on the balance of society and its financial and judicial stability.