ABASEMENT AND DESTITUTION — False Perception

ABASEMENT AND DESTITUTION False Perception Abasement and destitution were stamped upon them, and they incurred the wrath of God […] T HE words ‘abasement’ and ‘destitution’ are used here in the psychological sense. They indicate a condition where, in reality a person is not debased; but yet, inside his psyche, he feels himself to be so. He appears to be well-off, but yet, in his mind he feels he is destitute. This Quranic verse refers to this psychological condition of the people and not their actual condition. This psychological condition emerges in a community that considers itself to be superior to others on account of its beliefs and its history. It considers itself to be the best and the greatest of all communities. Along with this, it lives in its past glory. Any community that falls prey to this psychological condition will develop a mentality that is based on false pride. And it is this false pride that engenders psychological abasement and psychological destitution in any community. It is this false pride that engenders psychological abasement and psychological destitution in any community. This psyche of false pride appeared very prominently among two religious communities—one, Jews, and the other, Muslims. In earlier times, Jews fell prey to this psychological condition, and today Muslims are stricken by it. Today, Muslims number more than one billion. Muslims rule almost sixty countries. In terms of material resources, they have everything. Yet, despite this, every Muslim, in his capacity of being a member of the Muslim community, today lives in the psyche of abasement and destitution. The reason for this is that Muslims consider whatever they have got, to be less than what they imagine they should have, because of their false pride. It is this false pride that is the real cause for all the problems of Muslims today. o Surah Al-Baqarah (2: 61), the second chapter of the Quran, refers to the case of the Jews of the earlier times and relates a law of nature in these words: