Angels vs Demons – Our Moral Compass
The writer, Sameer Murad Kermalli (Nairobi, Kenya) is a graphic designer, photographer and has been involved in leadership and community service positions.
F
rom cultural influences to neurosciences, when it comes to morality within all these aspects, it is deeply embedded with instinct, knowledge, learning, interactions, and experiences. The Holy Prophet (pbuh), was probably chosen to be the final messenger of the Lord, for he attained a level to be deemed the essence of morality.
Delving into Maslow’s hierarchy, it is clear that strong foundations are necessary to achieve what can only be termed as Nirvana[1]. Physiological needs may seem mundane, but without them one cannot excel through to safety and towards love after that. What happens after love and belonging is all about the self that has been nurtured, strong and stable. Despite being an orphan, the Holy Prophet (pbuh), was fortunate to have a support structure, unlike the likes of those who plotted against everything to gain what is referred to by Ali Ibn Abi Talib and those before him as but a blink of an eye[2].
The Holy Prophet (pbuh), was given the title of trustworthy, and everyone knew this. Integrity is the first cornerstone that builds on someone’s character, stemming from an exemplary upbringing that blossoms into self esteem. Inferiority complex arises from dejection and wanting to be validated, egos run amuck, trodding on whatever or whoever in order to ascertain dominance, something that made a great angel into a demon.
Self esteem comes just before the zenith of Maslow’s pyramid, made up of confidence, achievement, respect of others and being unique. Imagine two people, one brought up by an abusive parent; reprimanded and unappreciated, while the other loved and taught; the latter knows how to respect and always strive to be more, for they are not doing it for anyone but themselves. When one realizes that only they are responsible for themselves, they cease to be a selfish, feverish clod of ailments and grievances[3] but an upright and moral person. When one attains this level of responsibility, their prayers become that of a freeman. One must ponder and wonder about the prayers of those who slay the grandson of the prophet, for there was no compassion in their hearts and their minds filled with malice.
Compassion and forgiveness complete the cornerstones of morality, examples of characteristics shown by those revered throughout time, those who brought the message of oneness. The lord is compassionate and forgiving, and made those he trusted with his message like Him. And even after grave misdeeds, a man is given time to revert, for sincere repentance is a lesson learned, a shift towards morality. Maslow depicts this as self actualization, where morality, creativity, acceptance (of decree), meaning and inner potential are what matter the most, the world within, not what is out there, the world beyond inside. Removing the elements that obstruct, so pure is this state, that words uttered would be, “why have you forsaken me”[4], very similar to “By the lord of the Kaaba, I have succeeded.”
After this, it’s transcendence. For everything one does, sees or hears is what frees them more, for they see in everything the signs of the lord. Forgiveness taught by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) came from his compassionate soul, from a strong upbringing filled with morals, allowing the inner moral compass to point to Him who has made humans in His vision. The decisions made by mortal humans given all that has been endowed to them in terms of knowledge and understanding would lead them to transcend and become angelic, or then fall deep into demonic demeanor, all this power in their own hands.
[1] L. S. Cousins said that in popular usage nirvana was “the goal of Buddhist discipline,… the final removal of the disturbing mental elements which obstruct a peaceful and clear state of mind, together with a state of awakening from the mental sleep which they induce.”
[2] If a thousand years with God is as a day, how much is seventy years, the life of a human being? Nothing more than the blink of an eye. How many blinks of an eye—human lifetimes—end every day? Tens of thousands of them! 2 Peter 3:8-9, John W. Ritenbaugh, The Awesome Cost of Salvation
[3] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/649680-this-is-the-true-joy-in-life-being-used-for
[4] https://www.gotquestions.org/forsaken-me.html
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