I. Religion and Salvation
Every human activity is directed to some end. The end may be clearly formulated or may
only be dimly perceived, but some kind of end desired by man is necessary to rouse him to
action. Man's activity becomes intelligible only when we know the goal he is seeking.
Religious activity too is goal-directed. It aims at the attainment of some objective
which, rightly or wrongly, is believed to satisfy the spiritual longing of man. Most of
the higher religions of mankind agree in regarding salvation as the ultimate goal of
religious endeavour. It is believed that the purpose of religion is to help man to attain
salvation. They differ as to the means by which salvation may be attained, but they are
one in regarding it as the only end which a wise man can
desire. Because of its essential
role in many religions, it will be worth while to take a closer look at the concept of
salvation and to examine its underlying supposition. Salvation means the saving of the
soul, or in other words, its deliverance from sin and its consequences. The supposition on
which the idea is based is that even at birth the human soul is stained by sin. This stain
can be wiped out by leading a devoutly religious life. It is obvious that the doctrine of
salvation is based on a belief in original sin. The soul of the new-born infant is, it is
said, already infected with evil and the infection will grow and spread unless it is
checked by religious belief and action. Man is born under the shadow of sin. He can dispel
it only by submitting to a rigorous religious discipline. The followers of most religions
are obsessed with the idea of sin and their chief aim in life is to loosen its hold on
their souls. Each religion has its own distinctive view as to the source of sin and the
means by which it may be eradicated.
In Hinduism, Mukti or salvation is conceived as liberation from Avagawan, or
the cycle of death and re-birth. The doctrine of Karma offers an apparently
reasonable answer to the question why one man is born with a silver spoon in his mouth
while another is doomed to a life of misery. It is because in the previous life the former
had lived virtuously while the latter lived had committed sins which he has to expiate in
the present life. If the purpose is to instil the love of virtue and hatred of evil in the
mind of man, it is hard to see how it can be accomplished through the cycle of death and
re-birth. No memory of a former life lingers in the mind of man, and so he cannot
consciously relate his present distress to the evil deeds he had committed in the previous
life. No doubt, a. few instances have been recorded of man recalling the experience of a
previous life. It is, however, safer to regard these as cases of paramnesia than of
genuine recall. The concept (of the cycle of death and re-birth) which was borrowed by
Hindus from the early Greeks, has not stood the test of time and is being discarded by the
present day Hindus.
Vedantic philosophy presents the same idea in a slightly different form. It is
essentially a pantheistic creed. The individual soul or Jivatman has its source in
the cosmic soul or Parmatman. It was separated from its source because of some
unspecified cause. The soul is lonely and unhappy, and longs intensely for re-union with
its source. This it can achieve only by running away from the world of matter and
submitting to the rigorous discipline which is prescribed in the Vedas. Salvation for the
Jivatman lies in its merging again in the infinite Parmatman.
Buddhism takes a still more pessimistic view of human life. Man's life is wrapped in
gloom, relieved only by occasional fitful gleams of happiness. Pain is inseparable from
life. Buddha taught that the source of human misery is desire. Some desires are
insatiable. Others may be satisfied, but fresh desires spring up in their place. Desire
keeps us restless in this life and chains us to the cycle of death and re-birth. To attain
salvation, we must eradicate desire from our heart. Peace and happiness are unattainable
in life. When desire has been rooted out, the way to salvation or Nirvana lies open
before us. He who has not extinguished desire in himself is doomed to be re-born, to
suffer pain and misery during a whole lifetime. Existence is an evil and we can throw off
its yoke only by ceasing to exist. The wise man, therefore, aims at annihilation,
non-existence. Nirvana is not a state of positive happiness but a negative state
characterised by absence of feeling and, therefore, absence of pain.
Christianity inculcates in its followers the dogma of "original sin." Adam
and Eve were guilty of disobedience to God, and were punished by being expelled from
heaven. Every man is born with a soul stained by the original sin. He can wipe out this
stain only by believing in Christ and living a life of asceticism and hard discipline.
Salvation means the regaining of the state of bliss which was forfeited by man through
sin. Man gains his salvation not by daring adventure and glorious achievement but by
self-abnegation and refusal to participate in the affairs of world. The ideal is not
self-fulfilment but self-renunciation. Such was the teaching of the Church in the medieval
age.
The Jews, too, were obsessed with the idea of sin and its consequences. They lived in
terror of hell, where, they believed, they would suffer for their sins, as well as for the
sins of their forefathers. They thought that they could escape this doom only by the
punctilious performance of an elaborate ritual. All that salvation meant was to be saved
from hell-fire.
It is obvious that in all these creeds, the emphasis is on the negative aspect of
salvation. Salvation is conceived not as a positive achievement, the acquisition of some
new value, but as deliverance from the evil which clings to man from birth. In Islam, the
emphasis is on the positive side of "Salvation." Islam demands that man should
be oriented to the future, that he should bend his efforts to the realisation of new
values and the attainment of new levels of experience. Islam discourages man's
preoccupation with the past: instead it fosters hope in the future. Man’s objective
in this life should not be to regain a lost paradise. He is encouraged to create a new
paradise for himself in which all his capacities may have full scope for development. This
he can do, not by withdrawing from the world and fixing his gaze on the past, but by being
fully alive to the present and by making full use of the opportunities that this life
offers. The purpose of Islam is the reorientation of man to life, so that he may wake up
to the immense potentialities inherent in him. His "salvation" lies in
discovering the possibilities open to him, and in choosing the one which is likely to
prove most fruitful. Islam gives its approval to the forward-looking attitude and to the
belief that man can work out his "salvation" not by annihilating or contracting
his self but by creating conditions in which it can develop to its fullest extent.
II. The Quranic
Concept of Salvation
The Buddhist, Christian and Hindu doctrines of salvation have a great deal in common.
In each, the emphasis is upon liberation from sin, upon rescue from evil. In each, the
objective is a return to the previous state of innocence and bliss. As sin is supposed to
be inseparable from life and the phenomenal world is believed to be the abode of evil, it
follows that liberation can be achieved only by renouncing the world. This doctrine
appears in its purest form in Buddhism. It has been to some extent toned down in
Christianity and Hinduism. It must be admitted that during certain periods of human
history, the doctrine attracted large numbers of men and cast its spell even on men of
learning and intelligence. It is a fact that during these periods, men had suffered acute
frustration and were disillusioned with life. Having nothing to hope for in this world,
they centred their hopes on the other world where they might get all that they lead missed
in this world. This doctrine is the product of the disillusionment and defeatism. It is
clearly repugnant to men who are sane and normal. It is in direct opposition to reason, to
experience and to the progress of mankind. Hope cannot be killed-it springs anew in the
human heart. When man had recovered his natural buoyancy, he recoils with horror from such
a dismal doctrine. He tends to look on the world of matter as a field for varied fruitful
activities. He refuses to believe that his soul will be blighted by the slightest contact
with the world. The doctrine also implies that the world has no purpose or design. If
accepted whole-heatedly, it will prove to be best for life and of the desire for progress.
If ever it becomes the dominant creed, humanity will be doomed to stagnation and decay.
All the health instincts in man rebel against such a barren concept. To believe in a God
Who has created a world which should be shunned is derogatory both to God and man.
The Quranic concept of salvation is of a different kind, and, as it will become clear
in the course of this exposition, attained to the constructive and progressive forces in
man. In the first place, the world of matter is regarded as embodying a purpose which is
consonant with the purpose inherent in the human self. the following verse should be
noted:
And We created not the heavens and the earth, and what is between them, in sport (21
:16).
It is a world which is responsible to man’s needs, both physical and human. It is
world which man, if he likes, can mould "nearer to his heart’s desire." It
is a world which offers full scope for the development and fulfilment of his being.
Knowing that he can engage in fruitful activities in the world, he has no excuse for
infirmity of purpose.
Moreover, in the Quran, the emphasis is on the positive content of salvation. It is not
conceived as a negation of pain and liberation from evil. It consists in the sense of
fulfilment, the feeling of realisation and the thrill of expansion. Man is endowed with a
number of potentialities. By developing these he reaches his full stature and qualifies
for still higher stages awaiting him. Man must discover in what direction his self can
develop and then he must create the conditions, physical as well as social, which favour
the development. His main task in this life is to develop his self by conquering the
forces of nature and employing them for the development of mankind :
He is indeed successful who causeth his self to grow, and he is
indeed a failure who stunteth it (91 : 9-10).
III. Life-A Struggle,
Life is a constant struggle against forces hostile to it -forces hostile to
it—forces which would destroy it if they were not successfully opposed. In the
external environment, there are wide variations in temperature. Sometimes it is too cold
for man, sometimes it is too hot. Homeostatic mechanisms in the body usually keep the body
temperature at the normal level. Without them, the human body will burn or freeze to
death. Again, the body is assailed by a. variety of pernicious germs which tend to destroy
it. As long as man lives, he keeps up the fight against these destructive forces. The
struggle ceases only with death. It is, however, not only on the physical plane that the
struggle is carried on. On the moral plane too, he has to struggle against forces of
destruction which would disintegrate and disrupt his self. Here the problem is more
difficult and complicated, as the self has to contend with the destructive forces of the
external world as well as the impulses of debasing animality which rise in man if not
checked. Man naturally looks around for help as he very often finds it difficult to keep
the enemy at bay. The Divine Guidance in the Quran offers man effective help in the moral
struggle. This help is given according to a definite programme. The first part of the
programme may be characterised and prophylactic. It helps man to guard himself against
both the open and insidious attacks of destructive forces. This form of help is termed Maghfirah
in the Quran. Ghafrun means "to cover" and Mighfar, which is
derived from it means the helmet which protects the head of the warrior from the blows
of the enemy. The Quran protects the human self just as effectively from the blows of
destructive forces. Man quails when he finds himself facing the formidable array of the
forces of destruction. He begins to weaken and to give way to despair. The Divine
programme prevents him from yielding to batil by replenishing his store of moral
energy and by inspiring faith in his heart that the haqq, though weak at the
moment, will finally, prevail over batil. Many may feel defenceless against the
forces of batil but when the Divine Revelation has instilled in his heart Iman
and courage, he enters the arena with renewed confidence and hope. This is how the first
part of the programme helps him. The second part, Taubah, in the terminology of the
Quran, is curative. Many may have yielded to batil and may have followed the wrong
path. Even then, the Quran says, their case is not hopeless. Taubah offers them a
sure remedy. Taubah is derived from the root T’aba which means to
return. Taubah, therefore does not mean vain regret or futile remorse. It means
that when man realises that he has been following the wrong path, he should have the
courage to stop and retrace his steps. In this sense Taubah means heart-searching,
reappraisal of the situation and re-assessment of the policy he has been following.
Suppose a man suddenly realises that the path he has been following is taking him farther
away from his real goal. If he is wise, he will not merely sit down and give himself up to
unrestrained grief. It will resolutely hasten back to his starting point and when he has
reached it, he will, after due deliberation, choose a new path. Taubah, on the
moral plane, represents the same sensible way of acting. But Taubah has in it an
ingredient of Divine help. The man who has realized his mistake and is eager to rectify
it, is not left to his own resources. Unstinted Divine help is given to him in the shape
of Divine guidance which never errs. Otherwise, the sense of having wasted his time and
the feelings of uncertainty about the results of his further efforts will weigh heavily on
him and will hamper his efforts to regain the right path. The Divine help, the concomitant
of Taubah, refreshes and re-invigorates him so that he acts with re-doubled energy.
In short, Maghfirah assists a man in warding off the blows of shaar, but
when he is hit, Taubah helps to repair the damage done. It should be need that
Taubah is not a passive act of regret ; it is positive effort at restoration of the
lost position, with regeneration of energy born out of hope and confidence. Taubah
is not merely withdrawal from what was destructive ; it is the annulment of its
consequences. Says the Quran.
Lo, good deeds annul ill deeds (11:114)
Taubah thus fortifies the constructive forces in man and enables them to repair
the damage to the self, which was caused by his destructive deeds. The Quran assures man
that if he does not surrender himself to sharr on the big issues, his paltry lapses
will not be permitted to impede his progress to his goal.
And if ye avoid the great things which ye are forbidden, We will remit from your
lapses and make you enter a noble gate (4:32)
Since the constructive results of your noble deeds outweigh the destructive
consequences of your lapses.
IV. Conclusion
We have since considered two different views of salvation. It will be seen that the
concept of salvation set-forth in the Quran is a positive achievement as against the
negative and barren concept of escapism favoured in certain quarters. The latter springs
from a misplaced notion of man’s nature and from a misconception of his relationship
to the world. It throws man into the turmoil with the handicap of tainted soul in perverse
world, giving the only recourse of renouncing the combat and fleeing from it. Why set such
a futile stage at all. Divine purpose runs through the world, a purpose of which is akin
to the purpose for which is endowed with the self. No doubt, the odds are set against him.
But the obstacles care there not to frustrate him, but to call forth the best in him. They
are designed to put him on his mettle and permit the indomitable spirit he possesses to
reveal itself in all its glory. Man develops his powers in the course of overcoming
obstacles. Frustration forces him to reconstruct his personality. Rebuffs and set-backs
toughen and harden him and by facing them he develops a mature personality. So we see that
even the world at times appears to be stern and unkind, in the long run it turns out to be
man’s ally and not his foe.
Certainly man often goes astray. As a free being, it is his privilege. When he commits
a mistake, he has to pay the price for it and in the process he realises that he is fully
responsible for his action and that the freedom he enjoys is real and not illusory. To err
is human, and it is natural for man to commit a mistake now and again. If he acts wrongly,
his self is stained, but the stain can be removed. If he realises his mistakes and
sincerely tries to make amends for his wrong-doing, he can recover his poise. This is the
truth that is clearly set fourth in the Quran. The Quran is a gospel of hope. It forbids
man to give way to despair. A man may have led a wrong life for years but if he resolutely
turns his face in the right direction and persists in acting rightly, he will not find the
path to self-realisation blocked for all time. Right actions nullify wrong actions. The
man who is saved is not one who has never committed a mistake, which is impossible, but
one whose right actions outweigh his wrong actions. says the Quran :
Then those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful.
And those whose scales are light are those who lose their self
(23 : 102-103).
What exactly is meant by saving one’s self or losing it? These phrases become
intelligible only when viewed in relation to the goal-seeking activity of the human self.
The deepest urge in man is for self-development and self-realisation. When he is making
progress towards this goal, he feels happy and knows that he is on the way to qualify
himself for promotion to a higher plane of existence. For the self lives in and through
activity, and the activity natural to it is always in an upward direction. Inaction is the
death of the self, and so is movement in a downward direction. When the self of man is
making steady progress towards the goal, it may be with occasional deviations and
backsliding, but it slowly moves forward, until it finds itself in a state which is
symbolised by Jannah, or paradise. The picturesque imagery with which it is
represented, has misled many into thinking that it is a place which provides
gratification for the, senses. It is not a place but a state of mind, a
state charged with the sense of fulfilment and the feeling of high aspiration. It is akin
to the feeling that the mountaineer experiences when, after wearily climbing the hillside
and avoiding boulders, he finally reaches the lofty peak. Loftier peaks swim into his
vision and invite him to fresh conquests. For him it is at once the end of a journey and
the beginning of another. His joy at successful action achievement is blended with the
thrill of excitement at the discovery of fresh fields for adventure. Such is the state of
mind of those who have fully realized themselves on the human plane and are ready to
ascend to a higher one.
The state of mind directly opposite to this has been designated as Jahannam. It
is the Arabic form of the Hebrew word Gehenna. Originally Gehenna meant the
valley of Hannom, where human sacrifices to Baal and Moloch were offered. 1 Jahannam
symbolises that condition of existence in which the self's purposeful activity is
brought to a stand-still. Enfeebled and debilitated by continuous and persistent wrong
doing, the self loses its capacity for progress and for moving towards a higher state of
being. Its urge for progress is crushed and the enervated self surrenders itself to regret
and remorse. It has voluntarily relinquished its right to participate in the pursuit of
the good. If it ever feels the desire to rejoin the match of free selves, the desire is
too weak to pull it out of the slough of despair and inaction. In the words of the of the
poet, Robert Frost, it has :
Nothing to look backward to with pride and nothing to look forward to with hope.
The Quran asserts :
Whenever in their anguish they desire to come forth therefrom, they shall be turned
back into it (22 : 22).
The inmates of Jannah will be spared the sight of this slough of despondence:
They shall not hear the slightest sound thereof (21 : 102).
They will continue their forward march, steadily rising in the scale of existence and
testing the joys of self-fulfilment. The process of their self-development will be
continuous and unlimited. when they have attained a high stage, the vision of a still
higher one will spur them on to put forth fresh efforts. For them the reward of victory
will not be well-earned rest but a greater zeal for action and a new vista to their
ambition.
Such is the picture of heaven and hell that the Quran presents for the edification of
man. According to the view upheld by the Quran, salvation is not liberation from
"evil"; evil in ourselves or in the world. To achieve salvation is to prove
one's fitness for entering on a higher plane of existence. Reward and punishment are
wrongly conceived as coming from external source. They are the natural consequences of
what we do and think and manifest themselves in the enrichment or impoverishment of our
self. Heaven and Hell do not exist outside us, somewhere in the outer space. They are
states of the self. Hell is the state in which the self finds its progress blocked. Heaven
is the state in which the way to development lies open to the self. To cease to aspire is
to be doomed to Hell, to be able to aspire is to be in Heaven. There is, therefore, no
room for intercession and redemption in Islam. What we become, we become through our own
actions. We cannot carry the burden of any other person and no one can relieve us of the
burden we bear. The concept of sin also must be reformulated so as to bring it into
harmony with the above view. Sin should not be conceived as the taint of evil that clings
to the soul from birth, being either the legacy of our forefathers or the result of our
own previous life. Sin is the ill effect on our self of our own wrong doing. It can be
obliterated by our own right action and not by the action of any one else. If we have
committed wrong unwillingly, heedlessly or even with our eyes open, we can draw solace
from the reflection that we hold the remedy in our hands.
Finally we can define "wrong"—A'mal-us-Sayyiah—as an act
which impoverishes the self, curtails its freedom, jeopardises its independence and
weakens its urge for development. To react to it by impotent rage, helpless grief or self
mortification serves no purpose. The proper reaction is to make a determined effort to
regain our balance and follow the right path with redoubled energy. We would also do well
to bear in mind that our final success depends not on our sinlessness but on the
preponderance of our right actions over wrong ones. "Sense of sin" is one of the
main sources of unhappiness. The healthy attitude to a weakened self inculcated by the
Quran is a sure safeguard against unhappiness and infirmity of purpose. It may be added
that Jannah and Jahannam are not held over till after death; they manifest
themselves in this life and continue thereafter. The point will be discussed fully in the
next chapter.
Reference
1. Arabic Lexicon, Muhit-ul-Muhit
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