The Triune Nature of the Muslim Ethos
Translating the Hisba as an institution into practice requires a willingness to view the “literalist” perspective of Islam as primarily pertaining to the literal truth of Allah’s manifestation of Will through the lens of the universality of cause and effect. While the life of a human being is bound to public duties, which include living in a community of believers (an Umma) which enjoins the good and forbids the evil through prayer as well as the establishment of the office of the Muhtasib and its obligatory punishments, what becomes clear through the teaching of Taymiya is that human rights do not exist in the Hisba.
Theologically and philosophically, in Islam, humanity is bound to its sole duty to worship Allah.
Fulfilling individual duty leads to correct actions. Fulfilling collective duty leads to collective liberation. Both please Allah.
Individual and collective duties are fulfilled by humanity as a measure of capacity. In the ethical framework of the Hisba, “rights” are the province of Allah alone.
“…the duties of shari’a which are Rights of Allah are of three types: matters of worship, like Prayer, the alms tax and fasting; punishments, whether fixed or discretionary; and expiations. Each of these is again subdivided into physical, financial and composite.”
An example of physical worship would naturally be Prayer. The alms tax is an example of financial worship, and sacrificing an animal is an example of a composite form of worship. Execution, amputation and flogging are examples of physical punishment, while a financial punishment example would be the destruction of the containers of wine…but interestingly, a composite financial punishment example would be “the killing of an infidel plus the seizure of their property.”
The fact that these examples, particularly the last, are examples of “public duties” should give Westerners pause when determining the “peaceful” nature of Islam and its “corrective mechanism” of morality, the Hisba.
According to Taymiya,
“In the Hadith: ‘The tyrants and the arrogant ones will be resurrected in the form of particles of dust, so that people will tread them under foot.’ Since they abased the servants of Allah, Allah will abase them before his servants. Likewise, Allah will exalt those who humble themselves before Him, and so he has made men humbly submissive to Him. Allah will correct us and the rest of our believing brethren, and will make us and the rest of our believing brethren conform in word and deed to what pleases and satisfies Him.”
In this, the corrective mechanism of the socio-economic totality of Islam is the institution of the Hisba.
A Just social order is arranged through this institution in accord with the values and principles of fairness harnessed by an active authority.
In actuality, the individual Muslim is only one piece of the cosmic puzzle, since Sura 3 Ayat 110 refers to the Muslims as “the best community ever brought forth for mankind.” The reason the Muslim Umma is the “best community” is due the fact that “they have commanded every right and forbidden every wrong to everyone. This they have performed through Jihad in Allah’s cause with themselves and their property, and this is the perfection of benefit for mankind.”
Only in this frame, does the “consensus” of the scholars, the Ijma, reveal its true intent. That is, the capacity of leadership and authority in an Islamic Umma determines whether or not the different social strata within the Umma will be successful in its collective struggle to please Allah by making Islam supreme.
Moreover, in its full glory, the collective duty of the Hisba demands collective Jihad.
“Likewise, commanding the proper and forbidding the improper is not incumbent upon everyone individually. It is rather a collective duty, as the Quran indicates. And since the Jihad is its most complete expression, the same applies to Jihad. Therefore, if it is not performed by those whose duty it is, the sin lies with every able person in accordance with his capacity, for it is a duty incumbent upon every human being according to his capacity…. This being so, it is evident that commanding the proper and forbidding the improper, and its fulfillment in the Jihad, is the supremely proper thing Muslims are commanded to do.”
From this passage, the Western scholar must consider the collective nature and power of the concept of Capacity in Islamic thought. For in Islam, right guidance is only achieved by the fulfillment of public duty. And, through Jihad, complete right guidance “…is achieved sometimes by the heart, sometimes by the tongue, and sometimes by the hand.”
Capacity, then, in Jihad and the fulfillment of other public duties of the Hisba, divides Islamic society into those who can support Allah’s straight path as best fits their capacity as individuals.
According to Taymiya, “Allah burdens no soul beyond its capacity.”
For proof of this Truth, Taymiya points to Sura 64 Ayat 16, “Be aware of Allah as best you can,” noting that the Sacred Law of Islam is an expression of Allah’s love, hatred, desire, and repugnance, calling for these Divine desires to be absolute in the human heart – a deficiency of which can only be attributed to a deficiency of faith, for “man’s performance of what is approved and rejection of what is repugnant are to the measure of his strength and ability.”
Knowledge of the Koran and the Sharia precede correct action. That is, a Muslim can be sincere in an act of kindness; however, without a full understanding of the Sharia tenet at play in the sincere act, the act of kindness is not correct…it is capricious. The whim and vanity of blameworthy capriciousness are cured by faith.
“When the desire and repugnance of the heart are complete and perfect, and the creature acts upon them to the best of his ability, he receives the reward due to one who performs perfectly…”
This teaching of Taymiya accords to the New Knowledge instilled by the Koran in Sura 28 Ayat 50: “And who is farther astray than one who follows his own whim without guidance from Allah.”
The institution of the Hisba requires Muslims to reckon their acts and thoughts and prayers in perfect unity with Allah’s expressed guidance as found in Sacred Law. A sincere act is one meant for Allah, alone; however, a correct act is one which accords with the traditions (of the Sunna). To achieve excellence, to please and satisfy Allah’s Rights and dominion over men, a Muslim’s actions must be both sincere and correct.
Interestingly, in these Taymiya renderings, “enjoining the good and forbidding the evil” corresponds with Allah’s desires and Allah’s repugnance.
In Islam, according to Taymiya, there are three sources of damnation – greed acted upon, whim followed without guidance, and vanity. Chief among these is Whim. Indeed, when the Koran is accepted as a source of “New Knowledge” by a Muslim, the teachings of Jewish and Christian schools of thought are transformed into “whims of the unguided”, for the Koran warns in Sura 5 Ayat 77: “People of the Book! Do not overstep the bounds of truth in your religion: and do not follow the whims of people who went astray in times gone by, who misled many, and strayed from the even way.” Moreover, in direct reference to Jews and Christians, Sura 2 Ayat 120 states “Say: ‘Allah’s guidance is the guidance,’ Surely, if you were to follow their whims after all the knowledge that has come to you, you would have no friend or helper against Allah.”
Damnation, in terms of Whim, essentially forces a supremacist mentality and identity to develop in the mind of a devout Muslim, as an ethical imperative of the Hisba, since the aim of all Authority in Islam is to ensure that all religion shall be Allah’s.
Only in this framework of ethics found in the Hisba can the Western mind truly grapple with the nature of supremacy inherent in the “New Knowledge” of the Koran. In this, Western experts on counterterrorism wrongly attempt to expose the political nature of Islam’s intolerance of Jews and Christians by citing the Table Sura (Ayat 51) which states “O you who believe, take not Jews and Christians for friends. They are friends of each other. And whoever amongst you takes them for friends he is indeed one of them. Surely Allah guides not the unjust people.” This direct quote, while telling in its literal reading, lacks the context of the Hisba warning against Whim. As a result, Western thinkers immediately posit that a “dualistic ethics” exists in Islam in which Muslims and Infidels are treated by different standards. This is completely false. Both are judged by the same standard. Albeit, the Christians and Jews, in this case, are judged as “unjust” primarily because they are not following the guidance of Allah. To this, Taymiya focuses instead on Ayat 49 of the Table Sura: “So judge between them according to what Allah has sent down and do not follow their whims.”
In the institution of the Hisba, the ethical imperative of sincere and correct action dictates the terms of human understanding: “Religious knowledge is possible only through Allah’s guidance, which His Messenger has conveyed.” This is an absolute. It is not intended as a slight toward Christians and Jews, it is the Commandment of Allah, it is the desire of Allah, it is the will of Allah, it is the Truth of Allah; it is the Supremacy of Islam.
In this frame, theologically and philosophically, according to the hadith of Mu`adh ibn Jabal, “Knowledge is the Imam of action and action is its follower.” To command and demand from a position of authority that which is proper and to forbid that which is improper requires religious knowledge as the ultimate source of Truth and the prime author of Justice. The difference between Muslims and those people of the “Great Ignorance” (al-Jahaliya) is an ethical absolute – al Qu`ran, the New Knowledge.
What is more confusing to Western scholars when attempting to determine if such a thing as moderate Islam exists is the reality that, in the implementation of the Hisba, Patience plays a powerful role in the achievement of the Straight Path – as does Gentleness. That is, properly implementing Allah’s commandments of the Hisba are contingent upon His commandments to His Messengers. According to Islamic tradition, all of Allah’s prophets were enjoined to practice the Hisba with Patience and Gentleness.
Of these, gentleness is relative to that which Allah has defined as Good, while patience is the true mark of the prophetic tradition.
Indeed, in Gabriel’s second revelation to Muhammad, six months after the first, Muhammad thought himself possessed and sought to hide himself from Gabriel’s form, to which Gabriel revealed Sura 74 Ayat 1-7:
“You, wrapped in a cloak,
Get up and warn!
Magnify your Lord!
Purify your garb!
Defilement shun!
Do not shower favors to get more,
but towards your Lord be patient.”
In the second revelation of the Koran, Allah enjoined Muhammad with instructions to warn and closed with the commandment to be Patient. To this, Taymiya states clearly “The essence of warning is to enjoin what is proper and forbid what is improper, so he taught that the next thing needed is patience.”
As previously discussed, the authority to lead in Islam is determined by an individual’s capacity. So, when considering the above, Muhammad’s capacity to be a Messenger of Allah is due to the absolute nature of right and wrong in terms of the Sacred Law and the nature of good and evil in terms of Justice. The reason prophets came to mankind was due to the triune nature of human capacity. That is, man’s soul has a higher element and a lower element. Those who command good and forbid evil are living according to their higher self as believers. Those who live by whim, greed, or vanity are the evil ones who are following the base corruptions of their lower selves. And those who combine good and evil within their lives, commanding Justice while practicing Tyranny. This absolute reading of good and evil naturally devolves to a triune humanity, which is either working for good, working for evil, or mixing elements of both. In this, the prophets came to humanity as warners, that men and women might realize the errors and consequences of following the impulses of their lower selves.
Capacity, then, in Islamic ethics, holds reflexive properties just as a geometric proof does. A straight path for one man is not equal to the crooked path of another in terms of Justice, just as a straight line between two points is not equal to a curved line between two points in terms of the Integral.
Thus, in terms of the absolute Will of Allah, the lives of men and women are not products of reason and merit; rather, they are products of will and justice. From this reflexive property of the absolute, Taymiya derives a proof for good and evil from the conditionals of the Koran; namely, that good is a product of Allah and evil is a product of the errors of humanity’s lower selves. In this, Taymiya is rigid:
“We know well from the signs Allah has shown us on the horizons and in ourselves, and from what He has testified to in His Book, that sins are the cause of misfortunes. The evils of misfortunes are the recompense for evil deeds. We also know that obedience is the cause of bounty. Good deeds are well rewarded by Allah.”
This rigid proof holds a powerful similarity to the works of St. Augustine and Christian theologians that, holding to the claim of Original Sin, derive that the carnal desires of the flesh are the source of human corruption. However, owing to the reflexive properties of the Absolute Justice of Allah, human desire, in Islam, is not a product of carnal desire, but rather a product of a weakness in Faith. As proof, Taymiya follows with the conditional, citing Sura 4 Ayat 79, noting that “Whatever good befalls you is from Allah and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself.”
This reflexive property of individual sin translates into the collective Umma. “For the causes of error and temptation are heretical innovations in religion and worldly immorality. These are common, universal to mankind, on account of the wrongfulness and ignorance they imply.” In this, the Unity of the Umma is challenged by the reality of human error, for “Unbelief, iniquity and disobedience being the causes of wickedness and hostility…” naturally results in “disunity, controversy and mischief” within the community of believers. Thus, it falls to the leadership of the Islamic community to break the chains and evils of discord:
“Anyone who contemplates the tribulations of discord and dissension that beset us will see that the cause lies there. He will see this at the root of what goes on among leaders and scholars of the Community, involving also the kings and chiefs and their followers among the masses.”
It is the leadership of the Umma which must recognize the failings of the community, for “As we know, these sinful things may be despicable and reprehensible in reason and religion, yet they also attract our desire. For such is the nature of the lower self that it does not like others to have monopoly of them, but wants the same for itself. This is the milder form of envy, the desire for superiority and control.”
This Taymiya line of “reason” is drawn as a reflexive property of humanity in relation to the absolute properties of the divine, as a matter of the universality of cause and effect. In this, the leaders and scholars of a community, drawing from the knowledge lain down in the scriptures and the Koran by the Messengers of Allah, are required to enforce the order of things, though this goes against the express nature of mankind’s lower selves. Thus, the enforcement of Allah’s Sacred Law is the province of those who are well versed in the new knowledge of the Koran. In other words, the reason for the existence of the Ulema, the council of Islamic Scholars which impart the Law of Sharia is due to the reflexive principle of Allah’s Absolute Will in relation to the deviations of humanity’s lower selves. In this, the rise of an elite class of scholars is a mercy and a kindness of Allah, and these leaders must submit to the conditionals of the Messengers:
“These things are therefore essential: knowledge, gentleness and patience. Knowledge precedes command and prohibition, gentleness accompanies it, and patience follows, although all three really go hand in hand in these matters.”
Afterall, in the Hadith tradition of Qadi Abu Ya`la in al-Mu`tamad, “One may not command the proper and forbid the improper unless one has a profound legal grasp of what is to be commanded or forbidden, is gentle with what one commands or forbids, and is forbearing towards what he commands or forbids.”
This triune nature of human will, the good the evil and the mixed, is the trial of the Umma in the achievement of Allah’s Tawhid (Unity). The Unity, the Oneness, of Allah is an absolute ethical reality that is accepted by all Muslims; hence, a reflexive property exists for the Unity of Allah and the Unity of the Umma. The ethical imperative of force, then, in the Muslim Ethos, is a matter of geometric precision in the achievement of Unity on Earth. The political goal of a worldwide caliphate, ethically speaking, then, is a matter of achieving absolute Justice, the unity of the Umma as a reflexive property of the Absolute Unity of Allah, though Allah forgives much.
Jihad, then, in this frame is ordained as a matter of force and imposition, not to achieve the supremacy of Islam, but to achieve the supremacy of Allah’s Sacred Law. Thus, sin and error, as a corollary to the Absolute conditionals of Allah’s Book, are as man’s nature triune – sins causing injury to others, sins causing injury only to the sinner, and those sins combining injury to the sinner and to others. There is a geometric precision in the Taymiyan strain of rationale found in the Jihad and its aims in that sin is not something to be completely destroyed to achieve Justice, since Allah forgives much; however, those sins which cause injury to others and cause injury to the sinner and others demand remedy in the fight against disunity, whose collective sources are unbelief, iniquity and disobedience, and whose individual sources are greed, whim, and vanity.
Three by three by three, the nature of the New Knowledge, the nature of the Umma, and the nature of individual men and women follow an absolute pattern in the geometry of Taymiyan rigor in the rooting out of Tyranny and the achievement of a Just social order through the corrective mechanism of the Hisba. This does not suggest a linear view of dualistic ethics; rather, the Muslim ethos as espoused by Taymiya holds a complete recognition and awareness of spatial form. Geometry may begin with the algebra of points and lines, but it naturally precedes to a shape, and this shape is a reflection of the Universal Order…and takes form as a Cube, when the fourth dimension of Time is considered. Thus, in the Taymiya formula, the conditional and reflexive, wrought from the Absolutes in the Koran and the Corollaries of the Hadith naturally build to a three sided reflection on earth of the three sides of the Divine – The six-sided Cube, the Kaaba, then, can be seen as a representation of the Unity of Allah and the Justice of Allah from this perspective. The aim, then, of Islamic Ethics, via the capacity of individuals is to achieve a more perfect Unity through the eradication of certain sins through the Hisba as individuals and the destruction of certain Tyranny through collective Jihad:
“The affairs of men in this world can be kept in order with justice and a certain connivance in sin better than with pious tyranny. This is why it has been said that Allah upholds the just state even if it is unbelieving, but does not uphold the unjust state even if it is Muslim. It is also said that the world can endure with justice and unbelief, but not with injustice and Islam.”
In this, oppression is struck down swifter than all sins. According to Taymiya, “The reason for all this is that justice is the universal order of things.” In this, it becomes apparent why dhimmitude exists – it is the result of forced imposition of the Hisba upon tyrants, not upon individual men, for the force of Justice strikes down the tyrant as an absolute ethical imperative of universal justice and the universality of cause and effect, for tyranny pleases not Allah; however, individual unbelief is not a matter of force, it is a thing the world can endure, so long as the institution of the Hisba wipes away oppression. But, this, if it be properly administered as a corrective methodology, must adhere to the conditionals of patience and gentleness, lest the “pious” tyrant rise.
Only in this frame can the Western mind truly find order in the rejection of terrorism and extremism by certain sects and schools or individual religious leaders within Islam. For, while Jihad is incumbent upon the faithful as a collective duty, it must hold to the “virtues” of patience and gentleness if it is to be deemed an authentic jihad to rid the world of tyranny, rather than an act designed to punish and terrorize individuals. Again, this is no apology. It does not erase the reality of Muhammad’s calls to terrorize the idolators and unbelievers through Jihad; however, it places absolute limits on the practices and methodology as a matter of ethical absolutes wrought from the nature of Allah’s desires and repugnances.
So, in full, then, the Islamic faith is an affirming one on Earth and in the Hereafter for an individual in terms of the Scales of Judgment; however, for the collective Umma, the affirmation of faith in word and deed is the establishment of the glue that holds together the Kaaba, the Cube of the Muslim Ethos on Earth, to achieve the Resurrection, the Final Hour, the great Summoning in which human deeds are made manifest before Allah upon the Scales. In this, the completion of the affirmation is a collective duty, for it derives its firmness from the conviction of the absolutes laid down in the Koran, and is embodied in the concrete faith expressed in the public duty of Jihad. Only in this frame can the Hisba become firm:
“Likewise, commanding the proper and forbidding the improper is not incumbent upon everyone individually. It is rather a collective duty, as the Qu`ran indicates. And since Jihad is its most complete expression, the same applies to Jihad. Therefore if it is not performed by those whose duty it is, the sin lies with every able person in accordance with his capacity, for it is a duty incumbent upon every human being according to his capacity. As the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘If one of you sees something improper, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart. That is the weakest of faith.’”
The Hisba, then, according to Taymiya’s reflexive ethical imperatives, “…and its fulfilment in the Jihad, is the supremely proper thing we are commanded to do.” The formula, then, for Jihad, as an ethical imperative can be represented in a flow chart: The essential New Knowledge of the Koran is to be exercised per an individual’s capacity, the performance of good commanded and the prohibition of evil demanded from a position of authority with gentleness and patience, through excellent action derived from correct and sincere excellence pursuant to an individual’s capacity, that right guidance might be achieved for the good of all upon the absolute straight path of Muhammad as a reflection of the Absolute desire and repugnance of Allah.
Thus, through the Hisba’s imposition of a just social order – in terms of universal justice – a justice in which the sins of individuals will not impede a Muslim’s entry into Paradise, the corrective mechanism shows its absolute power in (The Table) Sura 5 Ayat 105 through Taymiya’s geometric reckoning:
“This is the meaning of the Exalted One’s words: ‘Believers! For yourselves you are responsible. Those who err will not harm you if you are guided aright.’ Right guidance is completed only by the performance of duty, so if the Muslim fulfils his obligation in commanding the proper and forbidding the improper, as he fulfils his other obligations, he will not by harmed by the error of those who go astray.”
In this, the concept of Muhammad as “the seal of the prophets” becomes literal – for the absolute, when seen through the lens of a universal first principle of cause and effect, yields the affirming seal of the Cube of the Muslim ethos in a philosophical and theological concrete, housed in the Kaaba, the naval of the universe, that point on Earth in which the Ultimate meets the highest attainability of human faith. Submission, in this sense, is literally Unity, Oneness, and it is embodied in act and deed…achievable via the Hisba…sealed in the righteous Absolutes of Allah’s Love, Hate, Desire and Repugnance through the example of Muhammad. Supremacy, through this philosophical and theological window, is not a matter of earthly monopoly – it is a Cosmic Victory of Allah’s Will over the lower vanity of human Reason, itself. Only through the new knowledge and the Hisba can the annihilation of lesser knowledge and lower impulses yield perfect justice and the Ultimate Truth. Islam’s completion is the eradication of all idols, including those of the lower self, for Allah’s Absolute Will, as found in the Sacred Law as revealed to Muhammad, was for men and jinn to worship only Him. All else is vain glory, whimsical misguidance and greed for the material world. Thus, the conviction necessary to hold fast to Muhammad’s Rope, the Final Covenant between Allah and Mankind, is designed, as a method of attaining perfected justice, with the Absolute New Knowledge, working in perfect Unity with Patience and Gentleness, in the speculative art of Taymiyan mathematical precision. Euclidean geometry holds that a squared plus b squared equals c squared in a Right triangle. Equilaterally, the Taymiyan teaching of the Islamic Dispensation yields the same precision in perfected Right guidance, for the squares beget a Cube.
Moreover, mathematically, geometrically, it yields one set of three Universal sides of a Cube and one set of three reflective sides of a Cube: [set 1] Knowledge (K), Patience (P), and Gentleness (G); [set 2] knowledge (k), patience (p) and gentleness (g). When sealed, to a point of certainty, housed within the Kaaba, equidistant from the six sides of the cube, the beauty of the Sublime, the perfection of Justice, and the Mercy of Knowledge yield the completion of the Absolute Truth (T) of Unity, for Allah is One.
Spatially, in terms of conjoining the Universal and the Reflective sides of Allah’s word made whole, Truth (T) can be represented as a three-dimensional 12 pointed star, housed in a six-sided cube of reflection, yielding 72 dispositions of Truth, wrought from the Light of Truth, which embodies 72 planes of understanding, and yields the Oneness of Allah, completing the prophetic riddle of Muhammad’s 73rd sect – answering the circular peculiarity of pi, by noting the inner and outer shells of a jihadist cube as sides unto themselves and defining a cube as decidedly 12-sided – a revelation which yields the tiny fraction of Allah’s Light of Truth (t) that mankind can grasp as limited earth-bound vessels, subject to the gravity of matter, witness to a Kaaba shrouded in black to back the mirrors’ magnifying reality.
Three by three by three, the Muslim Ethos upon the Earth is triune by the Sacred Law of Cause and Effect, that mankind might seal the divide between the carnal and the Divine and achieve unity with the Truth of Allah’s Oneness.
In this, homage to the sublime is reflected in the symmetry of the architecture and the art of Islamic aesthetics.
In this, reflection is an ethical imperative of Absolute Truth.
These, all, can be derived from a dedicated reading of Taymiya. It is with supreme respect that I handle the teachings of his mind. As a philosopher, as a mathematician, indeed, as an aeronaut of the spirit, in the unpacking of ibn Taymiya’s work Public Duties of Islam: The Institution of the Hisba, I find a man of a singular brilliance, unmatched in the annals of Platonic Forms theory.
His effort reveals Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative and Blaise Pascal’s Wager to be amateur ramblings, childish scribbling. The implications of ibn Taymiya’s work on the Hisba are profound and hold at the center of Truth, so long as Doubt is eradicated from the seat of power in all human relations. In this, his words represent a Jihad in their own right.
Yet, while my admiration for Taymiya’s effort is raw and unbridled…it is so out of my esteem for his individual accomplishment as a philosopher and theologian, not out of any sense of devotion to his Cause of Allah. It is out of esteem for his power as a thinker that I admire his work, for it is inspired thought. Unfortunately, due his position as the Sheikh of Islam, his inspired achievement is utilized by today’s Islamic Terrorists and Extremists, by modernity’s Islamic Supremacists as a primary source of Aspiration, as the trigger of tyrannical indoctrination.
Taymiya’s literal reckoning of Allah’s Pen; however, is now on display for the Western mind through my pen, this pen of one who doubts, this pen of one who will now shatter, upon reflection, the mirrors of the universal fallacy of the Absolute, that Reason and Self-Esteem might breathe free of Jihad’s pious tyrants, who seek supremacy for its Earthly sake, yet have the audacity to justify their crimes against humanity, their defilement of innocence, their subjugation of Liberty.
Doubt is the tinker.
