Conscience and Command

Conscience and Command

1988 12 December 12-13 Conscience and Command (462) The need of the hour is to revive that inspired consciousness which was so evident in the Prophet’s companions. We need to banish the mental inertia, which mars the hereditary faith, and replace it with the keen awareness, which accompanies a conscious moral decision. This should be the very first step in reforming the Muslims of the present day.

The Quran tells us how the Israelites asked Moses to give them the command to go into battle, but that when they were actually given the command to make war, the majority of them were not ready to do battle (2:246).

The Quran tells us, on the contrary, that when the Prophet’s companions were threatened with war and, they were asked to fight, they immediately found themselves ready to take up the challenge. They said it was just what God and His Prophet had promised them. (AI-Ahzab:22)

The reason for this difference in attitude is that the followers of Moses were believers by birth. The followers of the Prophet were, on the contrary, believers by choice, that is, they had become believers through a conscious process of revolution. Willingness to act springs from consciousness of its necessity: the more profound this consciousness, the greater the willingness to act.

This difference can be ascribed also to the fact that command alone is not sufficient to spur one to action. If a command is to be obeyed, it must appeal to the conscience of those to whom it is addressed. But if that conscience be lacking or dormant, there is little else to which a command may be addressed. A man who is unaware of moral imperatives can never even begin to understand the significance of a command. He will attach no importance to it because there is no ethical sense in him which could be awakened by it. Psychologically, his lack of awareness leaves him unfit to respond to it.

It almost always happens that those who accept a new faith, which is still not universally accepted, do so as a matter of will. They make a conscious choice. Following generations do not need to make that choice, because it has already been made for them. They find themselves believers by birth – by tradition. This results in there being no keen appreciation ‘on their part of what it means to be a believer. The consciousness of the path they follow is dimmed or even non-existent.

The need of the hour is to revive that inspired consciousness which was so evident in the Prophet’s companions. We need to banish the mental inertia which mars the hereditary faith and replace it with the keen awareness which accompanies a conscious moral decision. This should be the very first step in reforming the Muslims of the present day.