Public Policy and the Two desires

 by:Dr Sani Badron

What exactly is the relation between pleasure and good life, between satisfaction and happiness, between contentment and felicity, between ladhdhah and sa‘adah? According to al-Ghazali, pleasure is "the attaining of the object of desire, while desire is the soul's inclination to possess the object of its yearning (shawq)."

When sensitive and rational faculties function well, they are accompanied with a glow, as it were; such radiance is called "pleasure" by Aristotle. Hedonism asserts that pleasure do not differ in kind or quality. For hedonist, pleasures differ only in degree or quantity, and in duration or intensity; hence their propagation of the expansion of the sensate life. In reality, however, pleasures are of different kinds, and they differ as do the human activities they accompany. 

Pleasures are of three kinds. Firstly, pleasure related to the life of the mind, such as the pleasures of learning, scientific investigation, intellectual contemplation, and wisdom. Secondly, the biological pleasure, which is common to man and the other animals, such as eating, drinking and sex. And thirdly, the socio-political pleasure, such as the lust for conquest or the desire for social position. Of all the three kinds of human pleasure, however, the noblest and the most exclusive to him is the pleasure related to the life of the mind, which endures forever and is rewarded by everlasting bliss in the life-to-come.

According to al-Ghazali, the following eight varieties of pleasure-pleasures of eating, drinking, sex, attire, habitation, smell, hearing and sight-are followed in ascending order by the pleasures of social status (jah), accumulation of wealth, rivalry and competition.

The desires for the pleasures of eating, drinking and sex, if left uncontrolled, are particularly nefarious from religio-ethical point of view. In relation to these two desires, Aristotle and al-Ghazzali observe that most men err on the side of excess. As such, training these two desires is the starting point of all character building. Al-Ghazali, al-Makki and Miskawayh observe that gluttony is the root of all the vices, since satiety in food increases the power for lust (al-hawa), and lust is the principal aid of Satan in destroying reason, and in exciting the beastly passions.

On the contrary, moderation in desire for food is the source of all good. Although taking food in quantities sufficient for survival is imperative, any excess is downright harmful. Admittedly, specifications of the quantity of food, the length of time between meals, and its types, vary according to one's age, physical condition and activities. The basic idea is that one should not eat unless one is truly hungry: one should eat so as to avoid the pangs of hunger, without making oneself suffer the pain of overindulgence. Appropriate training for moderation in eating involves, first and foremost, taking only lawful food-there is no question of moderation concerning unlawful types of food: intoxicant, dead meat, swine, food illegally acquired including through corruption and bribery, and so on.

Taking only lawful food has a great effect in illuminating the soul; unlawful food only darkens the soul.

It is important to note the fact that the last Qur'anic verse revealed chronologically, begins with teaching on what are the forbidden foods in Islam, before ends with the statement that God had perfected the religion for those who truly want to submit to Him (al-Ma'idah, 5:3). 

Likewise, as far as sex is concerned, any such a relation outside marriage is forbidden. Within the bonds of matrimony, sex practiced in moderation is essential.Indeed, marriage is instituted for the preservation of the species and the prevention of diseases which otherwise can harm the body that has no lawful outlet for sexual desire. Marriage is also essential for guarding one through lawful union against the temptation of fornication, which affects one's soul very badly. When sex reaches the inordinate length of amorous passion (‘ishq) leading to debauchery, it brings man to a condition lower than that of the brute and reduces him to the level of slavery and humiliation.

This is well reflected in the recent case of world's most successful golfer, who was involved in multiple infidelities allegedly related to over a dozen women. The most effective way of combating sexual lust is not to yield from the start to the concupiscence of the eye and that of the mind-or lustful sight and thought. This is because, once lust has taken hold, it is extremely difficult to eradicate.In this context, the call for censoring all pornographic material on the internet should be strongly supported by the authorities. It will be better for one to engage in something which is able to divert one's mind from lustful thought.

At the personal level, the Prophet Muhammad exhorts one to abide by the rules of abstinence and self-control, reinforced by prolonged fasting which involves hunger and other recommended religio-spiritual measures. But if such practices prove to no avail, one is thereupon advised to marry.

Through the institution of marriage, not only one is enabled to satisfy the urgent demand of sexual desire, but the possible offspring can also be sufficiently cared for by the family. Upon marriage, one enters new challenges - of providing for a family through lawful earnings, of fulfilling the rights of spouse and offspring, and of tolerating the weaknesses of each other. This requires that the issue of the basic material needs of poor families is adequately addressed in socio-economic policy.

Children will not get the love which they deserve if their parents are occupied only with subsistence-works.

Informed by the universal principles outlined above, national development policy should better support the growth of the inner man rather than the expansion of the sensate life.