Appendix 2: An Introduction to Akhlaq (4)

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II. GOD — the Be-All and End-All of Akhlaq

The Character of GOD

Read these ahadith with the eye and ear of your heart:

GOD, says the proverb, works in mysterious ways. And nothing is quite as mysterious as this clear intent of His to dissolve the mystery, to pierce the veils of inscrutability in which we think He hides, and to reveal Himself to us personally. We can never understand this, but we can feel it. And we can feel it only because we, too, are persons.

GOD has breathed into us the spirit of personality because only with that can we turn to Him and recognize not only What He is, but also and especially Who He is. Will, intelligence, affection, faithfulness, responsiveness – all the attributes that go towards the making of human character – are possessed in perfection by GOD, and only partially by man. The fuller our personalities become, the closer we get to the Personality of GOD. And the closer we are to Him, the more His Character becomes ours. This, of course, is the plain meaning of the third hadith quoted above. Whatever (good) character we have is a gift from Him, and ultimately His.

The Face of GOD

Many readers will object that this line of thought is dangerous and possibly even heretical, as it seeks to liken GOD to man. Most exalted is AL-LAH above all their attempts to limit Him! AL-LAH is far more than a mere person, as we normally use the word. But just as we cannot comprehend His Sight by ours, nor His Mercy by what stirs in our hearts, and yet all these terms are freely used by Him, neither can we understand what GOD’s Character is by reference to our own. On the other hand, to deny GOD His Character is to confine Him to existence as merely a concept, an abstraction, while virtually every verse in the Qur’an moves and breathes with the authentic Voice of a Supremely Living Being.

This personable aspect of GOD is clearly conveyed by the use of the term “face”, or wajh in Arabic. Just as a man is much more than just his face, and yet that is where we automatically look to discover clues to his character, so is GOD much more than just Absolute Personality. Yet to what other aspect of Him should we turn, if not to that? Let us look at how He expresses Himself by His “Face” in His Book:

One of the beauties of this last verse is that the pronoun he can refer equally well to both the soul seeking satisfaction and the One Whose Countenance and Contentment are sought. Here, and in several other verses, the Countenance of GOD is represented as the loftiest form of motivation.

Another aspect is metaphysical:

Theologians have employed the above two verses to understand Face as meaning Essence. But there is one more verse to consider.

Without groping for any meaning beyond that evident in the text, we can see that GOD’s Face:

1. motivates His servants to perform their noblest acts of self-sacrifice.
2. is the source of the highest imaginable contentment.
3. is distinguishable from created existence by its imperishability.
4. appears in this world as a kind of spiritual direction, beyond space and time.

Human faces have similar characteristics. It is their beauty or nobility that makes an impression on the observer, producing ‘love at first sight’ or feelings of veneration for one in whose countenance shines spiritual light. When all other aspects of a person have decayed and turned to dust, it is the memory of that person’s face that we readily associate with his or her character. And the human face has one important feature crucial to our discussion of akhlaq: it signifies direction, and can only be seen by those who themselves are facing it.

AL-LAH’s use of the term the Face of GOD has profound implications for our study of akhlaq as good interpersonal relations. Just as our worship is lifeless if we relate to GOD as a Thing rather than a Person, so is bad character often traced to what we very rightly call inhumanity, the tendency to treat people like objects. And true communing with GOD inculcates in us many of the skills we need in dealing with our fellow men, as the Prophet (may AL-LAH bless him and give him peace) declared:

Defacing GOD

A sensitive, serious believer in GOD has good reason to proceed with caution in discussing the Divine Personality. Over the ages, GOD’s Mercy and His Wrath have both been abused by bishops, monks, rabbis, scholars, and imams who confuse their personal interests with His Will. People have been cursed and blessed, judged and jeered at, all in the Name of GOD, and without either due thought or proper fear. The result is that the very mention of GOD loses credibility. Believers would rather see Him aloof from all worldly concerns than dragged into the sordid affairs of every spoiled pope or petty priest. Hence a division of His Attributes is made, perhaps unconsciously. The remote and rational aspects of His Being are emphasized, and His closer, caring qualities are discounted.

The rise of modern science has hastened this devaluation of personal reality. Truth is now regarded as above merely personal concerns. The word “personal” itself is usually taken to mean prejudiced, peevish, spiteful, and self-interested. The scientific world-view, on the other hand, is regarded as all-comprehending, detached, objective, lofty, and beyond passion and partiality. Muslims are among the most eager to remake their Maker in the image of Science. The depersonalization of GOD has been achieved with, it seems, the noblest of motives.

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