Despite
all of this expansion he did not elevate to arrive to the level of the human
being. Allah had honoured him and created him in the best of moulds and yet he
did not see himself as a human being who lives amongst others from amongst
mankind. From this fundamental view towards existence, life and the human we
are able to distinguish between the elevated thought and the declined or low
level thought. So if we were to draw an explanatory line we would place the
lowest level of the human being at zero. This zero would guide towards the view
of the human in terms of him being a human being. As for that which is less
than this point then this would represent the beginning point of decline like
from Qawmiyyah (nationalism related to a people) to regionalism to the wider
family network until it reaches the end (of the chain) i.e. the self-centred
individual. As for elevation then this begins from adopting the view of the human
in terms of him being a human being until he is able to reach the highest level
based on this view.
This
is when he fully comprehends that he is the slave of Allah and as such adopting
the view of the human as a human represents elevated thought or the beginnings
of intellectual elevation whilst anything less than this view represents a
declined thought or a low level one. As for climbing the stairs of elevation
and attempting to revive this human, then this is represented in the answer to
the other question, which attaining knowledge about the meaning of the human’s existence
in life. And any study or thought in regards to defining the meaning of life
and the meaning of the human being within it represents and elevated study
irrespective of the results that are reached. It is the type of thought that
leads to revival irrespective of whether this revival is correct or incorrect. From
this perspective the first criteria in relation to a thought being elevated or
declined is comprehensiveness. So if the thought is comprehensive in
encompassing the reality that is being investigated and not restricted to one
area, case or circumstance then this thought would possess the attribute from
amongst the attributes of the elevated thought which is the attribute of being
comprehensive. As such if the thought is not comprehensive then it will not be
elevated.
As
for the second attribute from amongst the attributes of the elevated thought,
it is the depth in the study or investigation and to begin from the beginning,
where the fundamental true reality of the matter that is being studied is
reached. So this happens when he examines the universe, life or the human being
and he does not just take one of its aspects or manifestations but rather it is
necessary for his view to be deep so that he knows the basis from which this
reality that he is investigating arose from. So when for example he examines the
human being, it is necessary for his view to encompass the type of this human
from the very beginning which necessitates knowing whether this human is Azaly
(eternal) or a creation of a creator. From there he moves on to knowing what
this human is made up of and what distinguishes him from the other living
creatures. He then moves on to knowing or understanding the drives and motives
that lead him into motion and action and whether he is compelled to undertake
these actions or acts according to his choice. He studies this amongst other
matters that would make it a deep fundamental thought about this human being.
And
when he undertakes this study he does not do so merely to increase his
intellectual wealth, to develop a philosophical opinion or just to increase his
knowledge and information. Rather he undertakes it because he is a human who
lives in this life within this wide existence (universe) and this is because he
wants to know the meaning of his existence within life . He will not be able to
arrive at this knowledge unless he knows and understands the beginning of this
existence that he is living within and the direction that it is heading to. And
built upon his answer to that (whether it is correct or incorrect) he defines
his conduct and regulates his behaviours.
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