ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Man and the Holy Quran Iii. Universal Self-consciousness It means the knowledge of self in its relation to the world - the knowledge of the answer to such questions as: Where have I come from? Where am I going to? In this kind of self-consciousness man discovers that he is a part of a whole called the world. He also discovers that he is not an independent being, but he is dependent on some other being.

He has not come on his own; does not live on his own; will not go on his own. At this stage man tries to determine his position in this whole known as the world. These significant words of Imam Ali visualize this sort of self-consciousness: "May Allah bless the man who knows wherefrom he has come; where he is and where he will go". This kind of self-consciousness creates in man the highest and the most subtle kind of longing for truth which does not exist in animals or in any other being.

It is this self-consciousness which makes man inquisitive, and persuades him to look for satisfaction and conviction. It inflames him with the fire of doubt and denial and makes him waver from one course to another.

It is the same fire which impassions the souls of the "Gazalis", makes them so restless that they can neither sleep nor eat, brings them down from the seat of the head of the Nizamiyah, and makes them wander about in the deserts and pass many restless years of their lives away from their hearth and home. It is the same fire which makes the 'Inwan Basris' run after truth from house to house, from street to street and from town to town.

It is this self-consciousness that draws the attention of man to the idea of destiny. IV. Class Self-consciousness: Class self-consciousness is a form of social self-consciousness. It means a consciousness of one's relation to the class to which he belongs.

In a class-dominated society from the point of view of the style of life and its blessings and miseries everyone has to belong to a particular stratum or class self-consciousness is the realization of one's class position and class responsibilities. According to certain theories man has no ego beyond his class. The ego of everyone is the sum-total of his psychic forces that is the sum-total of his feelings, thoughts, intentions and desires.

These all take shape within the framework of a particular class. The proponents of this theory are of the view that man as a mere human being does not exist.