(4)
that economic security does not impair the incentive to work. It is
true that bread is the staff of life, but it is equally true that man does
not live by bread alone. Both his physical needs and his higher
aspirations must be satisfied if he is to enjoy real happiness. Prof.
Hawtrey's pregnant remark deserves careful consideration:
What differentiates economic systems from one another is the
character of the motives they invoke to induce people to work.(4)
The fact is that materialistic concept of life cannot, provide the
motive to work hard for the benefit of others. It is here that both the
Capitalistic and the Communistic systems fail to achieve the desired
end. Christian states in the West, no doubt, profess to believe in
God, but since they are all secular, they are, for practical purposes, as
"God-less" as any Communist State. Materialistic concept of life
cannot raise man above animal level at which there is no incentive
for sacrificing one's own interest for the welfare of others: animals
have no values and hence are incapable of conceiving the idea of
altruism. The Communistic philosophy of life cannot therefore,
provide a foundation firm enough to bear the load of the huge
structure of Communistic social order. This is possible only in the
Rububiyyah Order based on Qur'anic concept of life, according to
which the ideal is the development of the human self, and the self
develops in proportion to what one does and gives for the benefit of
others. This is one of the Permanent Values. Communist economic
system blended with Qur'anic Permanent Values is the only solution
of the world problems today. This, in a nutshell, is the Qur'anic
Social Order. "Bolshevism plus God," wrote Iqbal to Sir Francis
Younghusband," is almost identical with Islam.”(5)
V. The Mystical WayThis is not the place to enter into a discussion of the aims and
ideals of Mysticism. We will, however, content ourselves with
pointing out the difference between the ways of life advocated by
Islam and Mysticism. The mystic, believing that his soul has been
polluted by contact with matter, pursues the goal of purifying it and
delivering it from the evil grip of matter. He believes that he can
accomplish this task by withdrawing from the world, living in
seclusion and practising self-mortification and self-abnegation.
This view is based on the duality of matter and spirit, a view alien to
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 199