Islamic lifestyle components

The Delphi or elite method includes collecting the views of experts several times by means of repeating a questionnaire in several stages. This questionnaire is a tool for creating consensus among a number of experts. The Delphi method with a predictive view seeks for data collection and analysis of the opinions of experts. Accordingly, with the help of Delphi method in this project the following steps were taken to determine and extract jihadi-revolutionary Islamic lifestyle factors:
1. At first, the religious and scientific texts related to lifestyle were studied comprehensively, which consequently the various aspects and levels of life were determined;
2. In the next stage components related to each of those areas were extracted;
3. At this stage some of the components which somehow overlapped or interfered with each other, were categorized under a general title;
4. In the fourth stage, some of the components that were not still covered by either of the fields, were included in their related stage by the studying about that component and the instructions which had been mentioned in religious texts and narrations;
5. In this stage, the diagram of the Islamic lifestyle fields and components was illustrated at the four levels of relationship with God, oneself, others and nature and about sixty main and partial components were extracted and presented to twenty experts, additionally the necessary information were explained to each of them in person.
6. After numerous meetings and working groups and asking the opinions of the experts on the jihadi-revolutionary Islamic lifestyle, twenty seven major and minor components were characterized. Based on this survey, it was decided that components related to the aspect of nature will be deleted nature in this book to prevent the overload of information.
Chapter two
The foundations and principles of jihadi-revolutionary Islamic lifestyle
In this chapter, firstly we deal with the foundations of Islamic lifestyle and by making a comparison we’ll talk about the foundations of western lifestyle and finally the Islamic lifestyle principles and the features of jihadi-revolutionary lifestyle will be mentioned.
The Foundations of Islamic lifestyle
Islamic lifestyle is in contrast with Western lifestyles. It is clear that faith foundations which are originated from wisdom, revelation and religious texts, cannot be the same as the beliefs which come from experience and wisdom. Therefore the differences in attitudes and perceptions of experts about the lifestyle often refer to the differences in the resources and ideology.
In fact the discussion on the foundations is branching out into the fields of epistemology, theology, anthropology and religious studies. In order to have a logical order of the topic, we’ll discuss them under the titles of lifestyle and epistemology, lifestyle and ontology, lifestyle and anthropology, lifestyle and sociology.
1. The Islamic lifestyle and epistemology
There’s a strong and fairly profound relationship between lifestyle and the foundations of epistemology. There are many pint of views on the topics related to epistemology. The first view that considers the criterion of human knowledge and understanding limited regarding sense and experience, accepts no other tool for cognition and gaining knowledge. The Holy Quran attributes the origin of the formation of this thought to the time of Prophet Moses and says:
And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we will never believe you until we see Allah outright"; so the thunderbolt took you while you were looking on. Surat Al-Baqarah [verse 55].
This is the viewpoint of those who consider the basis of epistemology sense and experience and as a result they just pay attention to the material dimension of the whole existence and they don’t believe in something beyond it.
In contrast, the other view believes that the preliminary knowledge is gained by sense and experience and this category of knowledge and sciences that are based on perception cannot be denied as the Holy Quran clarifies it:
And Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful. Surat An-Nahl [verse 78].
But knowledge and wisdom is beyond perception and experience which manages the speech and wise saying and man understands many things through it; like Immaterial intellectual issues, angels, revelation, prophethood, prophecy, caliphate, leadership and divine names which are not included in field of perception and natural experience.
Intuitive knowledge and sciences are beyond wisdom. The Holy Quran says:
“O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion” Surat Al-Anfal [verse 29]. And in another verse it says: “And fear Allah. And Allah teaches you” Surat Al-Baqarah [verse 282].
All of these are the stages of cognition and knowledge and the knowledge of the prophets and great men of God is above all of them which is called the innocent discovery and revelation of the God’s vicegerent; so epistemology has various tools and stages which is started from the lowest stage of perception and experience and ends in the high stage of mystical discovery and intuition of mystics and the higher stage of discovery and revelation of the prophets and the Infallible Imams.
Based on these sciences if one wants to comment on the issue of lifestyle, he should have a complete understanding of the whole stages and levels maintain the rights and ethics of these scientific in a way that it won’t be in contrast with any of them.
According to what was presented, the relationship of lifestyle with epistemology will be clarified in a way that the borders of these issues are determined regarding the criterion of knowledge; that is one who considers the means to gain knowledge on epistemology just in perception and experience, has proved lifestyle in this realm and cannot prove it beyond this level. Lifestyle for this group just makes sense in the realm of material affairs. Unlike one who considers all means of gaining knowledge and enjoys the lowest of them such as perception and experience to the higher level; that is the mystical discovery and intuition of mystics and the highest level that is the discovery and revelation of the prophets and innocent Imams.
He knows that the most perfect and complete management and explanation is just done by the wise God which is the creator of man. He has presented this method in the form of verses and the behavioral Sirah of the Holy prophet to Muslims. Therefore He says:
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often. Surat Al-Ahzab [verse 21].
The responsibility for explaining the Holy Quran and applying it to the trivial matters of human life after the Holy prophet which who is the first guide and teacher is given to the Infallible Ahl al-Bayt and they have explained and interpreted the precious Qur’anic teachings for the people in various times, in war and peace and ups and downs of the Muslim’s life and the Islamic community and in the time of the occultation of Imam Al-Mahdi (a.s.) also the students of the school of Ahl al-Bayt that is the religious scholars and interpreters have explained the Holy Quran as much as possible and humble jurists and clergymen by recognizing the conditions of the time of the emergence of the new phenomena of each era have inferred the religious orders from the Holy Quran and the Infallibles’ narrations which include foundations, principles and issues related to lifestyle and they have presented them to people.
The Islamic lifestyle and ontology
Ontology contains two important elements: studying the origin of nature and eschatology.
A) Studying the origin of nature
Three critical and important questions in this field which have a key role in the issue of lifestyle are as follows: Is man a creature which has been created accidentally without any cause or not? Id creation of man is not accidental and inevitably there’s a cause is he the creator of himself or another creator has created him? And if he’s not the creator who has created him? The almighty God or another creator?
These three questions are about human creation which each of them has its particular necessity. The holy Quran has mentioned the three aforementioned views in two verses: first in the verse 35 of Surat At-Tur [verse 35] it says: “Or were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]?” and in the verses of 58 and 59 of Surah Al-Waqi'ah it says: “Have you seen that which you emit?” * “Is it you who creates it, or are We the Creator''. ?
The first two views, randomness and that man is the creator of himself which leads to human autonomy, is a wrong attitude which forms the belief system of humanism; but the third approach that considers the human being dependent on God, believes that many steps and stages were passed in the process of creation so that his existence was completed.
The divine lordship
Now this question comes to mind that after the creation of man, who will manage his affairs? Is the man provider and trainer of himself or he has another God that directs him? This profound scientific is true about those who do not believe in God and also about those who have accepted the God's creativity.
A person who believes that man has no creator will not accept the lordship and management of another person too; but those who have accepted the God’s creativeness based on knowledge, may not recognize his attributes of provider at least in action. It is mentioned in the Holy Quran that: “If you asked them, "Who created the heavens and earth and subjected the sun and the moon?" they would surely say, " Allah ." Then how are they deluded?” Surat Al-'Ankabut [verse 61]. Although this group do not deny that God is the creator but they believe that managing some affairs has been entrusted to them and man has the authority over his affairs and doesn’t need anyone else to help him in material and spiritual life. This considered as ignoring the divine monotheism and denying the Allah’s attributes of provider and delegation of authority to man is much more dangerous than determinism.
These two kinds of attitudes that one of them which considers the human identity both in creation and managing the affairs dependent on another one (God) and the other one which accepts the human dependency to another creator just at the stage of creation and suppose that he is independent in managing his affairs have two completely different results regarding the topic of lifestyle. A person who believes in religion since he considers his origin from the almighty God, he cannot ignore the source of his creation for a moment and regarding the issue of lifestyle he cannot act independently from his origin (God). But a person who has just accepted the God’s creativeness and does not believe in His attributes of provider in fact sets his lifestyle based on his lust and desires: “Have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire” Surat Al-Jathiyah [verse 23].
This is the humanist thought and culture which human has replaces the Allah’s far-reaching arguments i.e. the Holy Quran and Ahl al Bayt with his own desires and arranges his lifestyle based on those tendencies and desires.
B) Eschatology
One of the important topics regarding the lifestyle is the goal of creation and the scope of human life. The main question in this regard is that whether the scope of human life is limited to this material world and worldly life? And is there any life after death or not? Or is the material life the beginning of human life and his death is a kind of transfer from the material creation to the divine creation?
When man considers himself as an immortal creature and his life is not limited to the material world rather he considers the resurrection as a true event and accounting of deeds as a certain action on the day of resurrection, his actions and behaviors should be based on this belief and his lifestyle should be set and arranged in line with it; but if someone does not believe in this kind of belief and considers his life temporary and limited to this world and summarizes human life just living from the cradle to the grave his lifestyle will be different.
Materialism believes that: “And they say, "There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time.” Surat Al-Jathiyah [verse 24]. In such kind of thinking, the limited material identity of man is seen as a principle and everything which is in line with his desires and wants is right, although it is really wrong. On the contrary, something that is unpleasant to him is void, however, it is really right. It is very obvious that to what extent accepting or rejecting this fact can affect the human lifestyle and have a decisive contribution.
Therefore, based on the belief in the resurrection, the lifestyle of a man who believes in teh resurrection forms based on the Hereafter; he knows that the world is not eternal and it is just a place for passing and reaching the destination which has a higher status and value; therefore, he sets his lifestyle is based on the beliefs of resurrection:
“Whoever should desire the immediate - We hasten for him from it what We will to whom We intend. Then We have made for him Hell, which he will [enter to] burn, censured and banished* But whoever desires the Hereafter and exerts the effort due to it while he is a believer - it is those whose effort is ever appreciated [by Allah]” Surat Al-Isra [verse 18 and 19].