“This unstable character of man, this going from one extreme to the other, arising as it does out of his narrow vision and petty mind, reveals certain basic moral tensions within which human conduct must function if it is to be stable and fruitful. These contradictory extremes are, therefore, not so much a problem to be resolved by theological thought as tensions to be lived with if man is to be truly religious, i.e., a servant of God. Thus, utter powerlessness and being the measure for all things, hopelessness and pride, determinism and freedom, absolute knowledge and pure ignorance—in sum, an utterly negative self-feeling and a feeling of omnipotence—are extremes that constitute natural tensions for proper human conduct. It is the God-given framework for human action. Since its primary aim is to maximize moral energy, the Qur’ān—which claims to be guidance for mankind—regards it as absolutely essential that man not violate the balance of opposing tensions. The most interesting and the most important fact of moral life is that violating this balance in any direction produces a Satanic condition which in its moral effects is exactly the same: moral nihilism. Whether one is proud or hopeless, self-righteous or self-negating, in either case the result is deformity and eventual destruction of the moral human personality.”
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 06:52:19 +0000
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