Blindspot!
From Issue: 992 [Read full issue]
Upbringing
Individualists believe in man's conversion, in inner renewal; positivists believe in the change of his behaviour. The philosophy behind these views is clear: if a crime is a result of free choice or of an evil will, then re-education by some outside measure has little chance of success. On the contrary, if the offence is the consequence of bad conditions and habits, the offender can be reeducated by changing these conditions or forming new habits. This is the difference between an inner conversion and a drill. Every re-education technique enforced by clerks and government officials, and especially by the army or the police, always consists of drill and never of upbringing.
Upbringing is an immeasurable and subtle influence upon man's soul. It is completely indirect through love, examples, forgiveness, and punishment with the intention of initiating an inner activity in man himself. Drill, being essentially bestial, is a system of measures and action taken to force a certain behaviour, the so-called right behaviour, upon a human being. Upbringing belongs to man; drill is designed for the animal. By means of drill, it is possible to form citizens who obey the law not out of respect but out of fear or habit. Their insides may be dead, their feelings withered; yet, they still do not break the law because they have been drilled. The stories about so-called blameless citizens who are morally empty and trespassers who are essentially good and noble very often appear in literature. Hence, there exist two kinds of justice: man's and God's, the first looking at deeds and the other at the essence of being.
The inner span of man is huge, almost infinite. He is capable of the most abominable crimes and the most noble sacrifices. The greatness of man is not primarily in the doing of good deeds but in his ability to choose. Everyone who reduces or limits this choice debases man. Good does not exist beyond one's will, nor can it be imposed by force: "There is no force in faith." The same law applies to ethics. Drill, even when it imposes the correct behaviour, is essentially immoral and inhuman.
Compiled From:
"Islam Between East and West" - Alija Ali Izetbegovic, p. 115