Chapter Seventeen
The Problem of the Imbalance between the Cultures of Production and Consumption
From the Ant Culture to the Bee Culture
The problems dealt with so far are together a basic obstacle to the resumption of our nation’s civilization. They keep the nation from its duty to make a contribution to the efforts to remedy and rectify the painful security situation of the international community today. These problems, together with what was mentioned in the course of the above-quoted conversation with a U.S. official, confirms for me the extent of the responsibility we, Muslims, have towards ourselves first of all, and then towards the other who is searching for the truth and seriously listens to anyone whom he feels to have something related to it or helpful in the search for it. They also confirm for me that one of the reasons that makes us unable to renew and reform the deplorable conditions in most Arab and Muslim countries and that keeps us from having mutual stimulation, racing, and exchanging services with the other in the fields of creativity, refinement, and battling corruption and backwardness is our self imprisonment, when we are at our best, in the treasures and the lush gardens of our heritage, without making any significant effort for renewal, creativity, development, and refinement.
The other, and in my estimation worse, reason for the suspension of our rational progress is the neglect, in most countries, of our heritage altogether and moving to the situation of begging from the other. Yet, we have not even mastered the art of begging or the skill to borrow from the other and benefit from everything positive and useful that he has. Unfortunately we end up with empty pockets; we have neither held to our heritage nor benefited significantly from the other. Now we, except for the few that have received mercy from our Lord, are in an unenviable state, a state in which the identity of most of our societies is unintelligible; they have no color, taste, nor scent, unless, in some cases, there is a rather offensive smell.
All this calls for a serious initiative and a sincere, qualitative revival which moves the nation from the culture of consumption to that of production. If we want to be more modest and objective, we can say, taking a gradual approach, we need to move ourselves and our condition from the culture of dependence on others to that of self-sufficiency and self-dependence. We need at least to be imitative, to a certain degree, of ants and their approach of collective responsibility and diligence in securing their needs and life requirements. They live a proud and honorable life, without being captive to anyone as regards their food or their social security. Probably we will later manage to raise ourselves to the culture of production and creativity in areas that contribute to and refine the benefits of humanity as a whole. Later perhaps, we can reach the level of a culture which God has given us as an example, namely the culture of the bees.
Your Lord inspired bees to make homes for themselves in mountains, in trees, and in structures made for climbing plants, ◘ “then eat of all fruits, and then follow the smoothed paths of your Lord.” A drink issues out of their bellies of different colors; it has a cure for people. There is a sign in this for people who think (Al-Nahl XVI: 68-69).
What draws attention here is that God has honored bees by His direct inspiration to them. To my understanding, this is an honor and glory for this insect, nay this beautiful creature. It is an exaltation of their task, system, and way of life, which is based on collective cooperation. They work and perform in a tightly-knit collective system. God, the Most Glorious, goes further in honoring this wonderful creature by outlining for it a full system of life: where to dwell and how to make it living, giving it full authorization to eat any fruit. Next, He makes it qualified to serve as a source of benefit and a factory of food and cure for human beings. Undoubtedly, the world, nation, and culture of bees is worthy of being contemplated and studied, as well as of being followed as an example, as asserted by God, the Most Sublime, when he says, “There is a sign in this for people who think.”
Furthermore, is it not something disgraceful for human beings, when God has honored them and preferred them over many of his creatures to be lower in rank, less determined, less diligent and persistent, less faithful and thankful, and less committed and obedient to God’s Will and commands than the nation of bees. God, the Most Glorious and Sublime, has favored us with much more than He did the bees. He sent us revelations, prophets, and messenger. Therefore, there is nothing more embarrassing, and no shortcoming greater, than the fact that the nation of Muslims – whose sacred book is the Glorious Qur'an and who are followers of the leading messenger, our Master Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him – should be lower than the nation of bees, and even lower than the nation of ants, in their status, their unity of stand, and their combined efforts. It is highly distressing that our culture, competence, and skills are below those of the bee nation, and even below those of the ant nation.
Undoubtedly, it is an embarrassing and painful situation that our nation is not up to the level of Islam’s best-of-nations quality and of its immortal, sublime, international mission. It is regrettable and painful that our nation has abandoned the middle position among nations and has failed to hold the honor of the task of acting as witness for the civilizations of others.
Today, the human race is in a very bad need for a cure for consciences and minds, and for a light to illuminate insights and hearts. People are in a very bad need for someone to present to them objectively and skillfully the values of the great Islam and to simplify for them, using a contemporary lexicon and constitutional regulations, the principles and basics of its international mission and its lofty objectives. We still deal with our Islam and with our great and exalted treasures of values according to the ant culture, and that is when we are at our best. Ants work hard, determinedly and diligently, to garner what meets their needs and provides them with sufficient food, sparing them the need to beg from others or to be dependent. Undoubtedly, this is a commendable case and a high rank in the style of life lived by nations and in their history. It is a style that allows a nation to rise, do its best, and mobilize its energies to achieve self sufficiency and reach a state where it has no need to beg from others or where it frees itself from being captive to what these others own at the expense of its dignity, might, and sovereignty. I have no doubt that the glorification of ants which God, the Most Sublime, expresses in the Glorious Qur'an is a glorification of their style in their drive to reach self-sufficiency through constant efforts, refined collective performance, and coordinated movements in close ranks and successive units that never tires, feels board, or yields to anxiety or despair.
I have contemplated the sura of Al-Naml (The Ants) and wondered, repeatedly and since long ago, why it is called by that name. The ant is a small insect, weak in appearance and so small that it can hardly be seen. The sura mentions the ants in one single verse.
When they arrived at the valley of ants, an ant said, “Ants, get inside your houses, lest Sulaiman and his soldiers unintentionally destroy you (Al-Naml XXVII: 18).
The rest of the sura speaks with wonderful detail about the universe and many other profound matters that are not related to ants. After some contemplation, I realized the rationale and reasons of giving it this title. It, as I understand it, is called by that name in appreciation of the ants’ system and diligence, in glorification of their cooperation and collective performance, and in respect for their skills, patience, persistence, and swift toil in the fields of life where they make their living and are self-sufficient, without the need to ask any other party for anything, and free from any factor that would make their sustenance and their life necessities captive to something owned by some other party.
It is as if God, the Most Sublime, wants through these two great examples and through His glorification of two of His weakest creatures to alert the hearts and mind of His faithful servants to be up to the level of the blessings of faith and of Islam with which He honors them, and up to the level of the distinction He favors them with by making them the best of nations known to mankind. It is as if He wants to remind them that great numbers and large sizes are meaningless without a content of competence, skill, and fine performance. For these things are the basis of success, goodness, and refinement in the fields of life. This applies equally to the weak and strong, young and old, believers and unbelievers, and skinny and huge.
Once some of the Prophet’s Companions laughed at a sight of the leg of Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood shaking when the wind blew while he was on a tree branch, and that was because of his small size and weak constitution. God’s messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, looked at these Companions while they laughed, and said:
By Him Who holds my soul in His hand the foot of Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood is weightier in God’s consideration than the Mountain of Uhud.
“Nations will almost call each other against you as eaters call each other to a bowl.”
Someone asked, “Will we be too few then, God’s messenger?”
God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “No … but you will be scum, like the scum of a flood.”
Therefore, while we reflect upon our state of backwardness and helplessness in general, we should consider and realize, with utmost seriousness and objectivity, that the proper approach to change our condition and improve the conditions of our nation can only be accomplished through full complementarity between learning and belief, and between the skills of creativity and the ethics of performance.
Yes, we are in an urgent need to move from the culture of dependence to that of self-sufficiency and from the culture of consumption to that of production, creativity, and refinement, in order to be able to move next to the culture of giving and contribution in the fields of correction and rationalization, and that of competition in the fields of a secure and civilized human construction. The least we should do is to be like ants in their toil, patience, and responsible collective performance, and the least we should do is to be like bees in applying the culture of production, creativity, and giving, and in climbing up the levels of refinement and contributing to the mission of remedy, correction, and physical construction in the fields of life. “A drink issues out of their bellies of different colors; it has a cure for people.”
We, in fact, should be the most qualified party to activate the culture of sufficiency and the most capable to realize the culture of production and refinement, and to enter the fields of competition in the various levels of creativity and giving. Next, we will be worthy of revival and resumption of our contribution in fields of correction and rationalization of civilization and of those of secure and civilized construction. It is my conviction that humanity has a more pressing need for a cure for the conscience and the mind than for the body and the digestive system, though both are good. “A strong believer is dearer to God than a weak one.” Today people have a more urgent need for the remedy of values and principles than of honey and delicacies, though both are good.
Is there no group of our nation that can find and pave their way through religious texts and through the values and principles of Islamic Law, delve into their treasures, and read them the same way that previous scholars read them, to bring out of their depth things similar to what previous scholars brought out. With such efforts, the minds and hearts of people would be cured, their souls would be purified, their potentials and energies released, and performance in the fields of life would be improved. The nation then would move from the culture of consumption to that of production and from the culture of dependence and imitation to that of self-sufficiency, creativity, and refinement, or, if you prefer to put it in fewer words, from ant culture to bee culture.
From His Book (Partners ... not Guardians) Part Four / Chapter Seventeen
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To the Nation’s leaders - To the Nation’s scholars and intellectuals - To leaders of the world |
All Rights Reserved For The Author Prof. Dr. Hamid Al-Rifaie