Concepts, Islamic Culture, Side Feature

Every Action has a Value that a Person Takes into Account to Achieve it While Doing the Action

Question:
Assalam Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

Our honourable Sheikh, may Allah protect you and support you with the people of his support,

The question is related to the topic of values included in the book, The Concepts of Hizb ut Tahrir:

Does working for the Khilafah (Caliphate) by attending circles and da’wah work achieve a humanitarian value or a spiritual value?

Do state actions also achieve a spiritual, humanitarian, moral or material value?

May Allah bless you and benefit us with your knowledge.
Imad Az-Zaghal (Abu Muhammad)

Answer:
Walaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

First: As stated in your question, the subject of values was mentioned in the book The Concepts of Hizb ut Tahrir, and I will quote something from the book to help clarify the question and to answer it. The following is stated in the book The Concepts of Hizb ut Tahrir:

[…Concerning the aim of the action, every person must have an aim for the sake of which they performed the action. This aim is the value of the action. Therefore, every action must have a value that human beings seek to achieve when they undertake that action; otherwise, it would be in vain. Human beings shouldn’t undertake actions in vain and without purpose, but rather they must observe achieving the intended values of the actions undertaken.

The value of the action is either maddiyyah (materialistic), such as commercial, agricultural and industrial actions and the like; since the aim of undertaking these actions is to achieve materialistic benefits from them which is profit, a value which has importance in life. The value of the action could be insaniyyah (humanitarian), such as saving a drowning person and helping a person who is needy or disturbed, with the aim to save the human being, regardless of their colour, race, religion or any consideration except humanitarian. The value of the action could also be khuluqiyyah (moralistic), such as truthfulness, trust, and mercy, with the aim of the moral aspect regardless of the benefits or humanitarian considerations. This is because morals could also be towards creatures other than humans, like kindness to animals and birds. A materialistic loss could occur from the moral action, but the achievement of its value is necessary, which is the moral aspect. The value of the action could be roohiyyah (spiritual) such as ‘ibadat; accordingly, the whole objective of it is not materialistic benefits or humanitarian aspects, nor moral matters; rather, its aim is worship. Therefore, only its spiritual value should be achieved irrespective of all other values.

These are the values of all actions which human beings strive to achieve when they undertake all of their actions]

Second: This is what was stated in the book The Concepts of Hizb ut Tahrir, p. 30-34 in the Word file:

[Evaluating the human societies in their worldly life is undertaken according to these values, and the evaluation would be in accordance of the level of achievement of these values in society and what their achievement secures of comfort and tranquility. Muslims have to exert their efforts to achieve the value sought for every action they undertake when they perform actions, so as to contribute to the prosperity and elevation of the society, and to secure – at the same time – their own prosperity and tranquility.

These values are not preferential over each other or equal, by themselves, because no common qualities exist among them in order to be equated with each other or to prefer some of them over the other. They are but results human beings sought when they undertook their actions…

People who are highly influenced by and inclined to spiritual emotions and ignore the materialistic value prefer the spiritual value over the materialistic one. So they accordingly turn to prayer (individual ‘ibadat) and renounce the material world and its aspects. They neglect life because it is material, and they account for materialistic backwardness, and because of them, the standard of living in the society they live in declines due to what prevails in it of laziness and lethargy.

People who are highly influenced by materialistic inclinations, are taken over by their whims and neglect the spiritual value prefer the materialistic value and seek to achieve it. Therefore, the ideals to them become numerous, and because of them, the society they live in becomes disturbed and wickedness and corruption spread in it.

Accordingly it is wrong to leave human beings to evaluate these values; instead, they must be evaluated by their Creator, Who is Allah (swt). Therefore, it is necessary that the Divine Law (Shar’a) itself determines for them these values and assigns to them the time of their performance and according to Shari’ah, man selects them.
The Shar’a has shown the solutions of life’s problems through the commands and prohibitions of Allah, and has obliged man to proceed in this life according to these commands and prohibitions. It has also shown the actions that achieve the spiritual value which are the Fard (obligatory) and mandub (recommended) worships. It has also clarified those qualities that achieve the moral value, and left human beings to achieve the materialistic value necessary for them so as to satisfy with it their necessities and basic needs and what is even beyond their necessities and basic needs in accordance with a certain system (Shari’ah) and commanded not to deviate from it. What human beings have to do is only to achieve these values in accordance with the commands and prohibitions of Allah (swt), and to evaluate them as the Shar’a has demonstrated…] end of quote.

Third: As for the role of the state in realizing these values, the answer to that is to clarify the following matters:

1- The value of the action is the intent for which the person did the action, so the value is the intent of the action, and the one who has a purpose in the action is the human being, i.e. the person identified as Muhammad, Zainab, Fatimah and Khaled. It is when they perform an action, they intend to achieve a certain value from this action. If Muhammad does the action of trade, he intends to achieve a material profit, which is a material value. And if Zainab performs prayer, she means to achieve a moral value, which is the spiritual value. And if Fatima is truthful, then she means to achieve a value that is the moral value, and if Khaled helps a needy person, then he means to achieve a value that is the humanitarian value. Thus, the value is the individual’s intended intent to do the action. That is, the person who performs the action with the intention of achieving a value is the human being (the individual), as stated in the topic of values in the book of The Concepts that values are carried out by the individual by the person of so-and-so, and not the state.

2- With reference to what was mentioned at the end of the aforementioned from the book of Concepts, item two:
Accordingly, it is wrong to leave human beings to evaluate these values; instead they must be evaluated by their Creator, who is Allah (swt). Therefore, it is necessary that the Divine Law (Shar’a) itself determines for them these values and assigns to them the time of their performance and according to Shari’ah, man selects them.

The Shar’a has shown the solutions of life’s problems through the commands and prohibitions of Allah, and has obliged man to proceed in this life according to these commands and prohibitions. It has also shown the actions that achieve the spiritual value which are the Fard (obligatory) and mandub (recommended) worships. It has also clarified those qualities that achieve the moral value, and left human beings to achieve the materialistic value necessary for them so as to satisfy with it their necessities and basic needs and what is even beyond their necessities and basic needs in accordance with a certain system (Shari’ah) and commanded not to deviate from it. What human beings have to do is only to achieve these values in accordance with the commands and prohibitions of Allah, and to evaluate them as the Shar’a has demonstrated…] end of quote.

3- Here emerges the state’s mission to control these values in accordance with the rulings of the Shari’a, and man has nothing but to work to achieve these values in accordance with Allah’s commands and prohibitions in all kinds of spiritual, moral, humanitarian and material values.

This is the task of the state and its role in controlling individuals’ realization of values in accordance with the rulings of the Shari’a, whether the value is spiritual, moral, humanitarian or material. It uses the necessary methods to control it, such as guidance or statement in accordance with the rulings of the Shari’a. Individuals have these values and the punishment was required to do so in order to ensure that individuals implement these values in accordance with Allah’s commands and prohibitions…

This is what I think in this matter, and Allah Knows Best and is Most Wise.

Your Brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

26 Jumada Al-Akhir 1443 AH – 29/1/2022 CE

The link to the answer from the Ameer’s Facebook page
(Translated)