If an act is persistently done by a person even if it costs them badly, and if that person is unable to give up the act and unable to see the harms, it is called an addiction. Today, various forms of substance abuse are under the broad umbrella of addiction. However, there are behavioral addictions, as well. I don't want to use the term obsessive-compulsive for the behavioral addictions, because that term has its own frame of reference, which is not relevant to our discussion about what to do after the Great Flood. Our real question is how can you treat the imitation addiction that pervades the psychology of herd, which was the case of the people of Noah? What can you do to prevent the blind faith suppressing the critical thinking?
In fact, by introducing the subject through the use of the term addiction carries with it several components of the solution. Think of what you would do to heal an addict. The same procedures can be employed to hinder a replay of the evils that took place before the flood. So, what are they?
Broadly speaking, first, one has to admit the fact that they have a problem. Without this, nothing can be accomplished, because the situation would be not the addict's but your problem. In other words, the addict must embrace themselves, which necessitates a look from outside to themselves. That is, they must be able to objectively evaluate their situation and realize that they are in trouble.
Unfortunately, before the Great Flood, this did not happen. The people did not listen to the warnings and lessons from Noah. They did not assess their actions when obeying the evil leaders and when following the crowd. In short, they did not accept the fact that they had a problem. So, they missed the ship, both figuratively and literally. They could not even realize things when the destruction was unfolding around them. So, after the ark lands, you must take such actions to establish emergency routes for people's minds to escape the psychological avalanche of a herd.
Second, formation and continuation of an addiction requires an environment that not fosters it. This environment is not necessarily physical but also social. Circle of the like-minded people is a dangerous object in society, if they grow impenetrable. That is, it is inevitable and very natural that people hang around with those who are like themselves. This fact of nature, however, becomes prone to evil as it becomes isolated from other circles or individuals. "Us and them" duality has always been an exquisite tool for evil.
Before the Great Flood, we understand from the descriptions of Noah pbuh that the disbelievers had formed a kind of cult that avoided any intrusion and had achieved a state of continuity over generations. If a person is unable to step aside from the cult, they are not able to think independently and critically. And, in the Quran, we are repeatedly told that God does not guide the disbelieving communities.
Third, a crucial component of recovering from an addiction is to avoid its triggers. That is, whatever the preceding or surrounding conditions are for the re-occurrence of the addiction, those must be completely abolished. This is exactly what was done by prophet Muhammad pbuh, when he unconditionally prohibited the making of statues, because at the time, presence of a statue anywhere was not acceptable due to its triggering effect on the addiction of idol worshiping. Again the same was his rigid stand against musical instruments and performances, because he was trying to recover people from alcohol addiction, and music was a trigger for its re-occurrence. Triggers start craving, and craving leads to gratification, i.e. relapse.
Similarly, after the Pharaoh and his army was destroyed in the Red Sea, God did not return the Israelites back to Egypt. In fact, by closing the sea behind them after the passage, He made sure that they will not be able to return. This precaution was there to make sure that they are not going to find themselves in an environment that is full of memories of the old days and, by which, is going to trigger the notions of submission (i.e. slavery) to human beings instead of God. This teaches us that changing the outside does not warrant a change in the spirit. A reform is not well-established unless and until it is engraved into the characters, and so, until that time, triggers must be avoided to ensure a clean cut between the old and the new.
In this regard, people of Noah had developed a habit of closing their ears and minds whenever he tried to tell them something. This did not change even when the messenger of God approached them individually or collectively. This tells that their situation is not just about herd mentality, but a personal addiction as well. Remember that an addiction persists because of its pleasure to the person, no matter how deceptive and short-lived it may be. So, the people of Noah must be enjoying the way they treated him, and this process was triggered by Noah's address to them. That is they had an addiction of making fun of him. The drought and shortage of produces from the fields did not change their status. This meant that they were not able to see the harms of their addiction, even when shown explicitly. When God instructed Noah to make the ark, the only thing they did was continue with their addiction and mock at him.
Now, as you are about the step on the land after the cleansing of the land, you must ensure that people are not going to be allowed to grow deep enough in their daily routines and evade empathy with others. The instinct to self protection is one of the strongest ones, and avoiding the strangers, in this regard, means the gratification of this instinct, hence a pleasure. However, in this age, the same attitude leads to the formation of enemies in the long run. This situation is not readily visible to those who cannot think critically, i.e. mental myopics. So, again to avoid the trigger, that is meeting the stranger, you must make sure that people are going to meet each other at all levels and corners of the society.
The gratification of the self protection instinct also gives the impression of power, hence an addiction to power. We know that power is not just about muscular ability. There are variations of it, social, economical... Having and keeping power also is linked to self isolation, which is alarming as we discussed before. So, acquisition of power, in this regard, is also an addictive trigger, and must be managed so that it is not going to lead to an evil addiction.
The list of things to be done can be extended, but this is a short list of essentials in my humble opinion. To guide these and other actions you may come up with before you step again on the land, the following is a list of five principles that can be observed, which I call IDEAL principles:
Innovation
Diversification
Education
Authenticity
Labor
If something is weakening the prevalence of these principles in life, it must be re-assessed. For more details on these, you can read this blog specifically on them.
In fact, by introducing the subject through the use of the term addiction carries with it several components of the solution. Think of what you would do to heal an addict. The same procedures can be employed to hinder a replay of the evils that took place before the flood. So, what are they?
Broadly speaking, first, one has to admit the fact that they have a problem. Without this, nothing can be accomplished, because the situation would be not the addict's but your problem. In other words, the addict must embrace themselves, which necessitates a look from outside to themselves. That is, they must be able to objectively evaluate their situation and realize that they are in trouble.
Unfortunately, before the Great Flood, this did not happen. The people did not listen to the warnings and lessons from Noah. They did not assess their actions when obeying the evil leaders and when following the crowd. In short, they did not accept the fact that they had a problem. So, they missed the ship, both figuratively and literally. They could not even realize things when the destruction was unfolding around them. So, after the ark lands, you must take such actions to establish emergency routes for people's minds to escape the psychological avalanche of a herd.
Second, formation and continuation of an addiction requires an environment that not fosters it. This environment is not necessarily physical but also social. Circle of the like-minded people is a dangerous object in society, if they grow impenetrable. That is, it is inevitable and very natural that people hang around with those who are like themselves. This fact of nature, however, becomes prone to evil as it becomes isolated from other circles or individuals. "Us and them" duality has always been an exquisite tool for evil.
Before the Great Flood, we understand from the descriptions of Noah pbuh that the disbelievers had formed a kind of cult that avoided any intrusion and had achieved a state of continuity over generations. If a person is unable to step aside from the cult, they are not able to think independently and critically. And, in the Quran, we are repeatedly told that God does not guide the disbelieving communities.
Say, "I only advise you of one [thing] - that you stand for Allah , [seeking truth] in pairs and individually, and then give thought." (34/46)
... and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. (2/258)
... and Allah does not guide the unbelieving people. (2/264)Bottom line is you have to make sure that every individual is going to be, at least sometimes, forced to step outside their cocoon and join the circles of others and live with them.
Third, a crucial component of recovering from an addiction is to avoid its triggers. That is, whatever the preceding or surrounding conditions are for the re-occurrence of the addiction, those must be completely abolished. This is exactly what was done by prophet Muhammad pbuh, when he unconditionally prohibited the making of statues, because at the time, presence of a statue anywhere was not acceptable due to its triggering effect on the addiction of idol worshiping. Again the same was his rigid stand against musical instruments and performances, because he was trying to recover people from alcohol addiction, and music was a trigger for its re-occurrence. Triggers start craving, and craving leads to gratification, i.e. relapse.
Similarly, after the Pharaoh and his army was destroyed in the Red Sea, God did not return the Israelites back to Egypt. In fact, by closing the sea behind them after the passage, He made sure that they will not be able to return. This precaution was there to make sure that they are not going to find themselves in an environment that is full of memories of the old days and, by which, is going to trigger the notions of submission (i.e. slavery) to human beings instead of God. This teaches us that changing the outside does not warrant a change in the spirit. A reform is not well-established unless and until it is engraved into the characters, and so, until that time, triggers must be avoided to ensure a clean cut between the old and the new.
In this regard, people of Noah had developed a habit of closing their ears and minds whenever he tried to tell them something. This did not change even when the messenger of God approached them individually or collectively. This tells that their situation is not just about herd mentality, but a personal addiction as well. Remember that an addiction persists because of its pleasure to the person, no matter how deceptive and short-lived it may be. So, the people of Noah must be enjoying the way they treated him, and this process was triggered by Noah's address to them. That is they had an addiction of making fun of him. The drought and shortage of produces from the fields did not change their status. This meant that they were not able to see the harms of their addiction, even when shown explicitly. When God instructed Noah to make the ark, the only thing they did was continue with their addiction and mock at him.
Now, as you are about the step on the land after the cleansing of the land, you must ensure that people are not going to be allowed to grow deep enough in their daily routines and evade empathy with others. The instinct to self protection is one of the strongest ones, and avoiding the strangers, in this regard, means the gratification of this instinct, hence a pleasure. However, in this age, the same attitude leads to the formation of enemies in the long run. This situation is not readily visible to those who cannot think critically, i.e. mental myopics. So, again to avoid the trigger, that is meeting the stranger, you must make sure that people are going to meet each other at all levels and corners of the society.
The gratification of the self protection instinct also gives the impression of power, hence an addiction to power. We know that power is not just about muscular ability. There are variations of it, social, economical... Having and keeping power also is linked to self isolation, which is alarming as we discussed before. So, acquisition of power, in this regard, is also an addictive trigger, and must be managed so that it is not going to lead to an evil addiction.
The list of things to be done can be extended, but this is a short list of essentials in my humble opinion. To guide these and other actions you may come up with before you step again on the land, the following is a list of five principles that can be observed, which I call IDEAL principles:
Innovation
Diversification
Education
Authenticity
Labor
If something is weakening the prevalence of these principles in life, it must be re-assessed. For more details on these, you can read this blog specifically on them.
Have We not comforted your heart, And removed from you your burden, Which weighed heavily upon your back, And granted you an exalted reputation? Surely with difficulty is ease. Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up, And strive to please your Lord. (94/1-8)
We should also note that, overdoing things to avoid triggers might risk liquidating the efforts taken. falling victim of one's own wit.
ReplyDeleteCan you expand on that a bit more?
DeleteI meant, by excessive focusing and over analyzing the elements innovation, diversification...etc, the individual or society will fall victim of their own wit. focusing on micro and forgetting the fact all what they are doing is to change the bigger picture. and they end up being lost in details. like a student that realizes his grades are bad. he decides to make a change in his studying techniques and he focuses on the classes that he is bad at, and he ends up messing up other lectures.
DeleteThis suggestion is rather to simplify things to precisely avoid the pitfall you are describing. One can simply look at the conditions they are in or where they have been headed in the near past, and think whether they are progressing in terms of these values or not. You don't need an external source to make this evaluation. If there is a negative trend, then you can look at why and how. But of course all of this is a matter of choice, and my suggestion is, after all, my suggestion. There can be many more, and perhaps more effective, ways of achieving the same goals.
DeleteA totally irrelevant comment to my previous one, but seemingly relevant to the topic. I read qur'an surah luqman, ayah 31. "Do you not see that the ships sail 'smoothly' through the sea by the grace of Allah so that He may show you some of His signs? Surely in this are signs for whoever is steadfast, grateful."
ReplyDeleteGod here tells us to look at the arks in the sea. And then uses the adjectives of steadfast (or patient) and grateful. I really can't get my head out of the relation between these!
If you actually look at the words of this verse, you can also understand it as the ship is going to sail loaded with sustenance, and that the sail is going to be long, implied by the use of "tajree" and "sabbaar". And only at the end of this long sail, the signs promised in the verse are going to be visible. Then, a person who is strained under long lasting pressure, but who remains patient, will be exhilarated and won't help but thank Allah upon seeing the signs of Allah. Similar to a mother giving birth to a baby and filled with joy upon seeing the baby. This is what comes to my mind at the moment.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea that came to my mind is that if you read the following verses, Allah talks about the comparison of those who are on such a sail. Some of them "sabbarin shakur" as told in the previous verse, and some others who are unlike the first group are "khattarin kefuur". The rhyming of the two opposites is really exquisite, just like they are loaded on the same ship and struggling for survival. Furthermore, this last group is depicted as those who fight against the signs of Allah, which means their psychology or state of mind is such that they are trying not to see the signs of Allah or forget about them very quickly even if presented to them explicitly. Allah knows best.
Delete