Social Problems
What is society? It is in actual fact another name of a group of individuals. The behaviour of society is an aggregate of the behaviour of its individuals. If individuals are good, society likewise will be good. If individuals are not good, society will reflect their shortcomings.
The concept of God gives each member of society the most morally correct viewpoint. Its perception engenders in each individual such seriousness as enable him or her to do what is beneficial for the whole of mankind, and to refrain from acting to its disadvantage.
Belief in God is the greatest of discoveries. It galvanizes one’s entire personality. This can be illustrated by the example of the game of carrom-board, which is played with 19 pieces arranged at the middle of a square board with holes at each corner. If a player can hit these pieces with a striker in such a way that they are all thrown into all the four holes at one stroke, he is said to have played a Master Stroke. Belief in God too is a kind of masterstroke.
Belief in God affects a man’s whole being, bringing into play all of his forces. Although apparently just one aspect of human thinking, such belief reforms the entire human being, so that regardless of how he gives expression to his personality, he will always bow to the norms of rectitude. Indeed, the conviction that man’s whole existence is in the grip of God, has a through-going influence on all of the individual’s thoughts, words and deeds. The true believer will never deviate from the straight path of nature.
Paying attention to the body alone, while abandoning the soul, does not produce an integrated personality. The consciousness of this lack keeps the individual constantly dissatisfied, with the feeling that he has failed to find something that he really wanted.
It is this feeling of deprivation which in most cases is the cause of social evils. All tyranny and injustice in society are traceable to this discontent of some being vented on others. People continue to exploit others in order to satisfy their unfulfilled wishes. But, when belief in God takes root in the mind, it turns the man into a complex-free soul, (called a peaceful or serene soul in the Quran) no longer suffering from an inferiority complex about having fewer worldly things than others or from a superiority complex at being granted more. Under all circumstances, with his new, well integrated personality, he remains a moderate person and that is what makes a man a better member of a society.
A new element in his mental makeup is the feeling of responsibility This feeling is always produced when he is aware of a power above him, which can take him to task. Over and above God, there is no such superior power as will induce a sense of accountability on man, forcing him to abide by the truth.
Belief in Almighty God produces an awareness in man that he is answerable to Him, which in turn makes him extremely cautious in his words and deeds. The possession of the new awareness is like having a guardian angel, which organizes his whole life. It turns him away from the perpetration of tyranny and expectation, and forces him to stick to the path of goodness and justice. The well-known English judge, Sir Matthew Hale, (1609-1676) had very aptly observed: “To say that religion is a cheat is to dissolve all those obligations whereby civil societies are preserved.” (Quoted by Julian Huxley, in Religion Without Revelation, p. 155)
