Imagine there was a society that no longer had any laws, that there was no one to administer punishment whenever unjust acts were committed. Naturally to live in such a place would be uneasy to say the least because our safety and possessions will be at the mercy of other people’s goodness. Now since not everyone has our best intentions in mind and since unjust acts are still committed despite the threat of punishment, one can only imagine the escalation of crime if ever that threat of punishment suddenly disappeared.
However we can see that despite this sad condition of our moral servitude, the threat of punishment can nonetheless go to some lengths in curbing what would otherwise be mass deviant behaviour and this in turn translates into a relatively safe and cohesive society. Relative however is the key word as someone who was a victim of a horrific crime such as rape would most likely not consider the society in which they live as being cohesive and safe.
So although the threat of punishment may stem the tide of crime, it clearly does not stop it. The question is why?
Political parties world wide have been arguing over what needs to be done to solve this social evil. A popular solution that is always put forward is the need to get tougher on crime. Now although harsher penalties may be a significant influencing deterrent, crimes nonetheless continue to occur. Not only do crimes still occur, but because many crimes go unpunished, we have no option but to conclude that all political and judicial systems are simply unable to administer this concept of justice. It is precisely this inability that reveals why crimes still occur.
For instance, if it was known justice was able to be carried out each and every time, there would rarely be a crime let alone a major crime. The reason for this is simply because if our law enforcement bodies was always able to catch every crime committed and if our judicial system was always able to administer the appropriate punishment for those crimes, then there could no longer be the belief that one can commit a crime and get away with it. But it is because of this belief that one can indeed get away with a crime that inevitably results in the decision to go ahead with that crime.
And here lies the priceless benefit of believing in God. That is, even though our law enforcement bodies are incapable of always administering justice, those that believe in God nonetheless believe that they still cannot get away with a crime for they understand that such actions will be punished in the hereafter.
That is not to say those that believe in God do not commit crimes nor is it saying those that do not believe in God are bad people. However this does not mean God belief is no longer a priceless asset for society.
For instance, just because our laws that threaten punishment do not prevent people from committing crimes, does not mean it provides no benefit for society for without these laws the state of society will be that much more miserable. And so the same must be said for the belief in God, the only difference being that this belief is more of an effective deterrent than any man made threat because such man made threats cannot be carried out if the person believes he or she can get away with the crime. Yet when it comes to the belief in the hereafter where God will punish all crimes, one can no longer believe they can get away with it. Even a staunch atheist must concede that irrespective of whether God exists or not, a belief no crime will go unpunished is better to have than not to have.
Sure an atheist may well argue that they do not need God or any form of punishment to behave. Yet this is besides the point as we cannot expect everyone to adhere to our intuitive moral awareness. The condition of human beings as a whole is such that we need all the help we can get and so the stronger the belief in the hereafter, the less likely one will commit a crime, at least a major one. Yet to encourage this idea that there is no afterlife and so there is no recompense for our actions is to simply give a green light to those who want to take advantage of the inability of our law enforcement bodies to catch and punish all crimes.
Recall that we began this discourse by imagining a society that had descended into lawlessness. Who would you prefer your neighbour to be in such a scenario? Someone who believes they can commit a crime and get away with it? Or someone who believes that no crime goes unpunished? In fact, who would you prefer your neighbour to be now?
said...
Salam alaykum,
This is yet another intelligent and well-developed article. I love the fact that your articles make me think and see situation in a new light.
You are absolutely right, it is sad that we must resort to jailing people, which some people may consider a cruel and unusual punishment by the way, in order to maintain a "relatively safe and cohesive" society. And yet, society is still not nearly safe enough and it probably never will be.
Jailing and isolating criminals may be beneficial for the rest of society. However, how does it affect a criminal himself? Not being free is extremely difficult; however, mental anguish of a guilty conscience is probably the worst punishment. If a murderer, for example, feels remorse, he or she is a prisoner of his own mind: mind that will torture them and remind them that what they have done cannot be corrected. There is no escaping your conscience, one cannot separate from his mind without completely losing it.
Nevertheless, not all people have a conscience. Some easily label themselves as victims of their "cruel" destiny or as victims of society; they find it easy to justify their ill deeds. Such individuals are dangerous, but there is more of them around than one may think.
This brings us to benefits of belief in God Almighty. Islam is an effective way of preserving social order, on big and even very small scale. Allah swt is all Gracious, all Merciful and He readily responds to believer's pleas for forgiveness. However, Allah swt will hold us accountable for everything that we have done to our brothers and sisters in humanity. Allah swt will not forgive us on their behalf. The only way towards inner peace and harmony is to be sure we deflate our egos and humbly beg them for forgiveness. Even if we are not guilty, but we have caused someone some anguish, we should still be first to apologize. We don't want to wait until The day of Judgement...it will be too late.
I pray to Allah swt to make our hearts humble, so that we may forgive and be forgiven.
Please keep writing dear brother! May Allah swt reward you and bring you (even)closer to Him.
Allahuma salli 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad:)
Wa Salam
Revolutionary said...
salam alaykum..
thanks again for ur contribution, i really look forward to it.
you mentioned a great point about our conscience and how it is both a deterrent for crimes as well as a tormenter of crimes already carried out.
now if we placed emphasis on our spiritual development, our conscience will have a greater say in the actions we do and do not do.
this is one of the advantages of a theocracy, that is, if the home is not teaching these moral ideals, the government can step in and make sure they are taught in schools, in addition, the government can remove the tools that numb the conscience, like alcohol for instance.
yet such steps cannot be carried out in secular nations due to both the priority of profits over social well being and the seperation of religion from state.
also, u mentioned an important islamic perspective regarding the accountablity of our actions. this keeps the individual on their toes, however, if for example we were to say Allah will unconditionally forgive all our sins like the christians say, than this concept is no different from atheism in the sense that there is still no accountablity for our actions.
inshaAllah all of us will keep reading and writing and may Allah reward u for ur kind words inshaAllah.
salams.