Socrates and Luqman the Wise - 2
By Dr Basheer Ahmed Khan
Garden Grove, CA
Religious beliefs and intellectual inquiries are both essential for a balanced life. If someone tries to force something wrong in the name of religion, then intellect comes to our rescue to repulse it. Conversely, if someone wants to convince us of the permissibility of something loathsome through crafty arguments, then religion comes to save us from the evil consequences of it. Thus religion and intellect are two wheels of the cart which facilitate our journey in life and they should be perfectly balanced for us to advance in this journey.
If one of these wheels dominates the other, we will be working like a bull around the mill, coming back to the same place where we started. The fact that we are human beings and not bulls only exacerbates the results; for the wasted effort has its own adverse psychological, economic and social consequences on us and on society. Socrates knew this well and he advanced the cause of both religion and intellect to work in unison for the benefit of man and society.
Explaining that real wisdom is with God and what we enjoy is what is given to us by God, Socrates says: I have found that a poet does not write his poetry by his wisdom but by a sort of inspiration. The same is true of an artisan; a politician, etc.; but the poet, the artisan and the politician think that they are wise and all their achievements are because of their wisdom. In the process of showing these accomplished men of society the reality of their intelligence, I have made many dangerous enemies. Socrates goes on to say: “He, O men, is the wisest who like Socrates knows that his wisdom is worth nothing, God only is wise” (HOWP). This is the reality of our knowledge and our wisdom which is epitomized in Verse 255 of Ch 2 of the Qur’an: “You do not encompass anything more from Allah’s knowledge other than what He bestows upon you
Socrates further emphasizes that knowledge is not only obtainable, but is of the utmost importance to differentiate between vice and virtue and to live a virtuous life. This fact was emphasized on Nabi SA in the very first revelation (Ch 96), and Nabi SA was asked to pray: O Allah increase me in my knowledge (Ch 20 V114).
All of us repent and return from our sinful lives after learning about the short-term and long-term consequences of our mistakes the hard way. Speaking on this subject, Socrates says: “No man commits sin wittingly.” Therefore, he advocates the search for knowledge in order to become virtuous. Socrates’ life was a life of this search, so much so that he cared less for his personal upkeep and was seen lost in himself, spending his time in contemplation of solutions to the problems that plague both individuals and societies. He was a teacher, but was not making money from his teaching. In fact, he pokes fun at sophist and disclaims the knowledge that they advance to seek material benefit (HOWP). This was in consonance with the prophetic tradition where every prophet and messenger has said: I do not seek any reward from you for my reward is with Allah, Who takes care of everyone and everything (Ch26 V109).
Oligarchs of Socrates’ time, who had to protect their interest through unjust practices, did not like the talk of morality and virtue and condemned Socrates to death onthe excuse of “protecting the interest of the State.” Bertrand Russell contends that “if Socrates had pursued dialectic the way Plato describes in Apology the hostility towards him is easily explained, all the humbugs in Athens would combine against him”.
The charge(s) leveled against Socrates was that “he was an evil-doer; a curious person searching into things under the earth and above the heavens, making the worse appear the better cause and teaching all this to others. He was also charged with not worshiping the gods of the state, introducing new divinities and corrupting the young minds through his eloquence (HOWP).”
It is odd that Socrates, who was a Godly man, was accused of not worshiping the gods of the state and introducing new divinities. The fact was that his accusers were only willing to accept gods who had no power to restrain them in their greed for possession and power; and gods who only served as objects of solace in moments of distress. An Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent God; the One whose worship was advocated by Socrates in order to motivate his fellow countrymen to refrain from inequitable pursuit of power and possession out of awe and reverence for such a God, was not acceptable to those who put Socrates on trial.
Socrates said to the court trying him: “If you think that by killing men you can prevent someone from censuring your evil lives, you are mistaken, that is not the way of escape which is either possible or honorable; the easiest and the noblest way is not to be disabling others but to be improving yourselves.” He further said: “The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die and you to live. Which is better God only knows.” (HOWP). This was the same reply which Nabi SA gave to his detractors who ridiculed him and tortured him and his companions (Ch46 V9& Ch67 V28-29).
Socrates further said: I would have you know that if you kill (a gadfly) such a one as I am, you will injure yourself more than you injure me. You may think that you may easily strike me dead and then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless God in his care of you sent you another gadfly (HOWP).
The popular view about the end of Socrates’ life is that the alternative fine of thirty minae was rejected by the court; however, Socrates preferred death to the shackles that restrained him from speaking the truth. As he did not want to bring discredit to the state by allowing it to execute him, he agreed to take his own life by consuming poison. The tragic death of Socrates is immortalized for the Urdu-speaking people forever by this couplet of Faiz Ahmed Faiz which means; As you get a goblet of poison for speaking the truth don’t muster courage to speak the truth if you desire to live long:
Such Baath peMiltahaiyahanZahrkaPiyala
Jeenahai to phirjur’atheIzharnamaango
The Roman mindset forcibly ended the life of Socrates under the alibi of “the good of the state,” and attempted to “crucify” Jesus (Peace be upon him) under the alibi of “atonement for the sins of mankind.” Yet, men continue to sin grievously and states continue to err dangerously.
The Cross, which was the instrument of Greco-Roman persecution is displayed on our bodies and in places of our worship as an object of reverence. The tablets of Ten Commandments which struggle to maintain their presence in public places, sneer at us.
Socrates was a man who was very self-assured, high-minded, and indifferent to worldly success. Mr Russell contends that if we have to believe in what Plato has mentioned about Socrates as true, then Socrates is a perfect Orphic saint in the dualism of heavenly soul and earthly body. His indifference to death is the final proof of the mastery of his soul over his body. At the same time, he is not an orthodox Orphic; it is only the fundamental doctrines of Orphism that he accepts and not the superstition and ceremonies of purification (HOWP).
To me Socrates was not only a heavenly soul in an earthly body but also a person who had the capacity to strike a healthy balance between intellect and intuition; to understand the truth not as it appears but as it actually is. In religion ethics is associated with pure heart but Socrates' links ethics to knowledge. The two approaches are not contradictory but complementary. When the heart misleads, knowledge comes to our rescue and when knowledge is misleading then pure religion leads us on. Allama Iqbal has succinctly put this interrelationship in the following couplet, which means that emotions of heart and intuitions of mind should always be questioned by the intellect except in rear cases (where intellect is confused and heart is satisfied):
La’Zim Hai DilKe Pass RahePasban-e- Akh’l
LaikinKabhiKabhiIseTanhaBhiChor De
It is true that the interest of the State is supreme. But when individual and group interests are projected as “national interest” by the Sophist of our time through 24/7 media channels, then nations suffer at the altar of greed of the vested interests.
The world is in a dangerous conflict with the truth that governs the universe while the oligarchs in every country are promoting their self-interest in the name of state and religion. In an attempt to safeguard the interest of the oligarchs, we have put our values and our ideals to great risk. If it was not for the few honest and sincere leaders, which God is still sending to awaken us from our slumber, our problems would be much worse. Martin Luther King had to give his life to awaken us to establish the civil rights that were enshrined in the constitution to all the constituents. President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about the dangers looming on the world by the Military Industrial Complex. Abraham Lincoln told us that civilizations are not destroyed by the strength of the adversaries but by our own weaknesses. Thomas Jefferson cautioned us adequately when he said: I shudder for my country when I know that God is a just God.
In the spirit of showing reverence to our leaders, and in the spirit of atoning to the wrong we have done to Socrates, we should work to erase the wrong mottos we have set for ourselves by pronouncing that Greed is Good and Morality is relative and irrelevant. Greed and immorality are at the root of all the dangers that threaten the peace and security of both the Muslim world and the Western world and we should jointly work towards fixing it. For this we should revisit both religion and the life of Socrates with a clean heart and an open mind. A healthy heart and an open mind alone are privy to truth which is essential for personal happiness, and social harmony.
In conclusion, I want to recount a scene from one of the films made on the life of Jesus (PBUH) which I watched on Trinity Broadcasting Network recently. It very well summarizes the situation now. I am only paraphrasing the dialogues as I don’t have access to that film. The Roman governor of Jerusalem returns to his home after ordering the crucifixion of Jesus (PBUH) when his wife asks him about the commotion taking place outside their palace. He says: This guy (Jesus peace be upon him) says his God speaks to him but his coreligionists say that it is blasphemy; then he asks his wife: Does your God speak to you? She says: Of course! The governor says: But my God never speaks to me. His wife responds to this and says: God speaks only to those who want to listen to Him. At this the Roman Governor Pilates says: I only listen to the command of Caesar who wants me to maintain peace in Jerusalem.
Sound reason and sound religion are both essential for peace both in the Holy Land and all over the world. Unfortunately, this is what is missing to cause unimaginable misery to millions of innocent people in our world.
Back to Pakistanlink Homepage
