36.Islamic principles and methods of character building

The subject of character and character- building is of concern to many disciplines: psychology, sociology, social anthropology- and religion regards it as its central issue. "Character" could be taken to mean that coherent pattern of thoughts, habits and conduct which imparts an element of unity, continuity and consistency to human behaviour. It is because of this pattern of unity inherent in a character make-up, that one can forecast or predict what a particular person may do in a particular situation. Most, if not all, of the schools of psychology and, of course, people in education who deal with the subject, would perhaps agree with this tentative definition with which I want to begin this discussion.

In a Muslim who seeks to lead a life in accordance with the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, there is present this particular pattern of thought and be- haviour, -a pattern in which certain things cannot be juxtaposed that are not germane to it, that are foreign to it. If one studies Hadith he will find the Prophet again and again saying that a Muslim cannot do this or that act, simply because of the fact that he is a Muslim. And if there is any one "central theme" of the Qur'an, it is the guiding of Man along the Right Path. This is what leads to character and character- building. Following the Qur'an will produce a particular pattern of life in the individual and in the society. What goes to make up this central theme of the Qur'an is beyond esti- mation. That this central theme is closely bound up with character-building is amply borne out by the fact that the mission of the Prophet, peace be upon him, has been described in the Qur'an by the word Tazkiya. Tazkiya means literally the purification or the cleansing of all those things which are unwholesome and unwelcome and unwanted. At the same time it endows the human being with all those things which are essential for growth and develop- ment, for blossoming and flowering. The tazkiya of a person would mean the developing of his character, his thought, his behaviour; it would mean the moulding of his entire flow of actions to free them from those evils, those unwholesome traits which are obnoxious, un- desirable in the eyes of Allah, and to endow them with all those virtues which Allah wants to flourish in human life. Tazkiya, one might say, is a "short-hand" word for the entire concept of character-building.

How central it is to the example and the mission of the Prophet, one can realise from the fact that the Prophet Ibrahim-peace be upon him-when he prayed, asked Allah to endow his progeny with prophethood while he was laying the foundations of the Ka'aba. His prayer was:

"Our Lord, and raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who shall recite to them Your signs, and shall instruct them in the Book and the Wisdom, and shall make them pure (yuzakaihim-from the same root as tazkiya). Truly You, only You, are the Mighty, the Wise."

And this prayer of the Prophet lbrahim was accepted; the prophet he asked for was even- tually sent to mankind, to the entire human race. He was Sayyidina Muhammad, peace be upon him. And note how the acceptance and the fulfilment of this prayer is stated as well:

"As also we have sent to you a messenger from among you who recites to you Our signs and makes you pure(yuzakkikum) and teaches you the Book and the Wisdom, and teaches you that which you did not know." 2 : 151.

Exactly the same thing which was demanded is given, and tazkiya forms an essential part of it all. It is one of the most essential parts in the function of the Prophet.

And when we come to the problem of character-building in the individual, the same point of tazkiya is stressed.For each and every individual, the criterion which has been set in the Qur'an is:

"Prosperous indeed is he who has purified it (his soul) And unsuccessful is he who de- debases it." 91 : 9-10

Individual success depends then on purifying the soul.Even more than this, from the view- point of the da'wa or the message of Islam, this purification is important for the society and for humanity at large, but it starts with the in- dividual. And here also we obtain the criterion from the Qur'an. Although Islam is nothing but the Truth, as far as the psychology of any movement, of any message is concerned, human beings will judge the veracity and cor- rectness of that message in the light of the character of the people who present it. And this is not a false criterion. We find that in the Qur'an one of the arguments given by Allah in support of the veracity, the correctness, and the truthfulness of the Qur'an itself is the life of the Prophet:

“I have been living a life amongst you before (proclaiming this message). Will you then not understand ?" 10:16

Here the Prophet is made to appeal to the reason of would-be adherents asking them to judge the veracity of his message against the background of the life which he lived among them. For that life and that message both confirmed each other, both supported each other. One is a witness to the other, one bears the other out. This is the relationship of character to the message and the leader: the very truthfulness of Islam.

A PERSONAL PROCESS:

character-building,is a highly personal process. Of course Islam assigns great importance to the collective spirit and, as shall be shown later on, this has a part to play in character- building. But ultimately, the process of character-building is a highly personal one. There is no machine, psychological, sociolog- ical or ideological, which could mould one automatically into a cast of good character. It is only through personal effort-the in- dividual's own realisation, own determination and own exertion that can produce this character. Perhaps one can get a clue to this from the fact that in the Qur'an God makes each individual accountable individually to Him for his entire life: accountability on the Day of Judgement will be individual. Definitely the umma has certain collective responsibilities to fulfil certain collective functions to perform, but as far as the record of this life's career is concerned, it is the responsibility of the in- dividual. This is so because the process and the nature of character-forming is such that it must be a personal process and a personal effort. So each of us will have to think out how best he can perform this function, this task. Of course, the society, the Islamic society does extend help. It assists. It co-operates. It makes things easy, but the process remains personal.

character making is not a part-time or a piece- meal job. What it demands is a protracted effort. It is an unending, unceasing process, and there is no short-cut to it. It's not there for just a day, a week, a month, a year.The process is life-long there is no end to this process.

So the principle of character-building is knowledge. But knowledge on its own is not sufficient: it is definitely essential but not a sufficient source for character-building. The second principle is, for want of better words, "resolve and determination" which is very different from "wish and hope". We can entertain as many wishes as we want. It is not a bad thing but it will not enable us to live a life of virtue and piety. What is required for character-building is not a simple wish but a resolve, what in Qur'anic terminology can be called 'azm. azm is a resolve or determination which is coupled with an urge or an idea to follow it in practice, to undertake some plan for it and translate it into practice. Once our hope or desire becomes effective and significant, then it becomes 'azm.
during the Meccan period, when every kind of pressure was put on the Prophet to force him to abandon his mission, When his uncle, his last earthly support, asked him if he would not give up his mission, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered,

"Even if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand I will not abandon my mission".

This is 'azm. What is needed therefore is resolve and determination which may come from the bowels of hope and wish, but it must first come out, Then only can it help one in character-building.