Towards Spiritual Civilization
The aim of tazkiyah is to find virtuous souls who will gain entry into the world of Paradise, the spiritual society. And it is these people who will build an eternal spiritual civilization.
It is desirable for a person to strive to discover the signs of God hidden in nature and to acknowledge God at the elevated level of God-realization. In this way, he brings into existence a Godly or divine civilization. In the present world, he has been given freedom for the purpose of being put to the test. But by misusing this freedom in this present world, he establishes a civilization which is non-spiritual in nature. But God wants a spiritual civilization: very soon this world will come to an end and will be replaced by a better world. (The Quran, 42:36)
It is in this world, called the Hereafter that it would be possible, according to God’s desired plan, to bring a high level of spiritual civilization into existence. Here it would be possible for an elevated level of God-realization to be attained. According to the will of the Lord, an ideal society will come into existence. It will be a perfect world where it will be possible for one to achieve fulfilment in every respect.
The aim of tazkiyah is to find virtuous souls for this spiritual society or heavenly civilization of the future. Tazkiyah means that such upright individuals be prepared for this heavenly society as are well-adapted to living in this ideal world, whose thinking, conversation, habits, and tastes in every respect have that sublime character which is desired in the Hereafter for life in Paradise.
The present world has been created in order to prepare such individuals and it is this preparation which is called purification. This purification is brought about by one’s own reflection and introspection. In that way, what we are going to experience in the society of Paradise is being experienced again and again in this present world. On this subject, the angels are preparing a person’s record of his relations and his dealings with others, and what kind of response he has given in different situations, heavenly or non-heavenly, spiritual or non-spiritual, right or wrong, responsible or irresponsible. It is on the basis of this record of those who have given the desired response in this present world that candidates for Paradise will be selected.
It is these selected souls who will gain entry into the world of Paradise. And it is these people who will build a spiritual civilization. This is a process which will go on and on forever. Just as there is no limit to the words of God (31:27), similarly, there is no limit to this process of building a spiritual civilization.
