Self-development

:Muhammad Mahdi al-Naraqi

2013/05/25

848

At the end of this section, the conclusion that we draw is that justice means the complete mastery of the intellect overall other faculties and powers of the human soul, so that all are employed towards the ultimate goal of human perfection and the end of making oneself Godlike. In other words, the intellect is the sovereign of the body; if justice prevails within it, it will also prevail in the domain under its jurisdiction. Just as if the ruler of a society is just, justice shall expand throughout that whole society, whereas if the ruler is unjust, then there will be no justice in that country. This is expressed in a narration:

Whenever a sovereign is just, he shares in the reward and merit of all the good works done by his subjects; but if he is not just, he will be considered an accomplice in all their sins and evil deeds.

Another conclusion that can be drawn is that one cannot reform others as long as he has not reformed himself. That is, if an individual is unable to make justice prevail within the domain of his own individual self, how can he put it into effect amongst his partners, family members, fellow citizens, and finally, the whole society? Therefore, self-development is necessarily prior to all else, and this is impossible except through the science of ethics.

Ethics