Dialogue on Obligation

Imam: As-salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatulah, As-Salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullah

Malik(after counting Tasbih): Salaam Alaykum Iqbal Sahab. Kya hal hai?

Iqbal:Va laykum salaam, Thik hai.

Malik: Do you ever wonder, my friend, why we do this? Is it just to avoid punishment or is it because it is right to worship Allah in the way he has prescribed?

Iqbal: Ah, I see you're in one of your questioning moods again. Ideally, we should worshipping Allah out of love for Him, not out of hope of reward. But yes, he has a right over us that we should worship Him.

Malik: But what is the basis of this right? Is it simply that he has created us or is there something more basic involved, some fundamental moral duty?

Iqbal: I think, perhaps, that you've brought in assumptions about the nature of moral duty that are alien to world-view of Islam. Instead of trying to get beyond
this world in the attempt to see it as it relates to Allah(SWT), an act which is surely impossible, perhaps we should start with the human reality as we live it.

Malik: Please explain.

Iqbal: We have an innate sense of right and wrong, do we not? A conscience, if you will. I am not claiming that this sense is infallible, but we can agree that we do possess it, no? Is it not part of the fitrah, or natural disposition, that we, as Muslims, believe is a blessing from Allah (SWT) ?

Malik: I agree.

Iqbal: Doesn't this sense of right and wrong call us to virtue and ward us off from vice?

Malik: That seems to be its nature and purpose.

Iqbal: Is this sense rational and calculating; does it attempt to persuade us with arguments or an appeal to the facts?

Malik: No, it seems to, depending on its strength, either whisper suggestions or make commands.

Iqbal: So this conscience is essentially an inner call to duty?

Malik: That seems reasonable.

Iqbal: So obedience to conscience is a duty, a duty based in our nature as human beings. For when we disobey conscience we are certainly miserable, even if the misery is at times delayed. In our practical lives we have adopted a norm of rationality which compels us towards coherence and integrity in our beliefs and actions. To consciously act against them insites a kind of psychological vertigo, as if one's next step would be into the void itself.

Malik: This is true; to act against conscience seems to negate whatever foothold
we have in our dealings with reality.

Iqbal: And part of this framework of belief in which we find ourselves enmeshed is a belief in the duty to show gratitude to benefactors, is it not? This belief has immense pragmatic benefits when acted on in the context of human society; for this reason it can be found integrated into the world views of virtually every culture. While we can speculate as to how it came to be and even generate
faux doubts about it, in practice it is not something that is subject to living doubt.

Malik: This is true; in practice we don't even think about it. We just act on it.

Iqbal: So gratitude to benefactors is something that we would expect a rational human being to express?

Malik: Certainly.

Iqbal: And part of gratitude is service, is it not? If someone had done me a good turn and later came to me with a request, I would be an ingrate to decline that request, would I not?

Malik: Absolutely.

Iqbal: And the service requested is justified in so far as it does not exceed the original good that was done for me?

Malik: Of course.

Iqbal: Then Allah (SWT), who is our greatest benefactor, can rightfully demand whatever He wills of us because, as our creator, all good that we have ever experienced and ever will experience is a gift from him. The service demanded of us can therefore never exceed the good that was done for us.

Malik: That appears undeniable.

Iqbal: What follows from this is that not only is it expedient to obey Allah (SWT), in view of both the rewards He has promised us for obedience and of the blessings He has associated with the fulfillments of His commands, it is right to do so because failing to obey would violate that central duty of gratitude towards one’s benefactors which we discussed earlier.

Malik: I am forced to agree. But what of the duties we owe to other human beings and to the rest of Allah’s Creation? These do not concern Allah (SWT) alone as do Salat and Saum; is his command sufficient to establish their justice? After all, what engenders so much of the criticism to which Islam is subject is the way in which Islamic Law is seen to mistreat women and non-Muslims.

Iqbal: Allah (SWT) is equally the benefactor of all of His creation; he can therefore rightfully assign the duties which one creature owes to another. For example, if I was owed a debt by two men I, being both generous and not in financial need, could rightfully order the first debtor to pay what he owes me to the second and vice versa. Similarly, Allah (SWT), who is exalted above any need, can rightfully command us to pay back part of the debt we owe Him in the form of good deeds directed towards his other creatures. Being our supreme benefactor he is entitled to exact whatever terms he pleases and these terms include how ought to act to his other beneficiaries. Part of gratitude is acceptance of the fact that He may ask more of some and less of others; a woman is commanded to cover more of her body than a man, while a man is commanded to provide financially for his children and a woman is not. Some are called upon to enforce these commands, while others are commanded to simply obey them. In none of these cases is there cause for complaint because what is made obligatory for someone never exceeds the good that has been done to her. Islamic laws, provided they are derived from authentic sources via a sound methodology and are applied correctly, can therefore never be unjust.

Malik: I feel as if a great burden has been lifted from my spirit. Praise be to Allah and may He reward you. Khuda Hafez.

Iqbal: Khuda Hafez.