Ethics and Training

Purification of carnal soul or the greater warfare
Calling purification of carnal soul as “the greater warfare” suffices for its importance, and this interpretation is derived from the famous tradition in which Prophet (S) told to the warriors of his companions after returning from one of the battles:
Bravo to the crowd who performed lesser warfare and the greater warfare is still left undone. They told: what is the greater warfare? He answered: warfare and conflict with rebellious sensual desires. 3
This phrase too is narrated from the Prophet following this tradition:
The highest warfare is warfare with rebellious desires, which are inside man’s chest. 4
This statement can explain Islam’s logic in this critical issue and after studying and reviewing, following facts are found out thereof:
1- There are always antagonistic powers in man like a battlefield, and destiny of man depends on the dominance of one of these two parts of powers.
2- This warfare is called “the greater warfare” since it is an eternal and unceasing one. Moreover, an internal battle is always more dangerous than an external battle, and more importantly, defeat in this warfare has no result save misery and misfortune, while defeat in common warfare may result in acquiring the honour of “martyrdom”. That is to say, warfare with external enemy has never a real defeat, but there is a high possibility of defeat in inner warfare.
3- Although this warfare is painful, it is the code of man’s perfection, because perfection is usually the outcome of conflicts and struggle of “negative” and “positive” powers, and this is the reason why man does not become experienced and trained unless he is involved in the events and struggles with problems as Imam Ali (A.S.) says: The wood of forest trees (which are always exposed to a lot of incidents) is stronger and their fire is more durable.
And herein the mystery of creation of these antagonist powers and sensual desires is manifested.
4- Warfare with outward enemy may occasionally be performed for material purposes (collecting booties or achieving fame and such like), but inner warfare will always be for gaining perfection and achieving virtue. So overcoming therein indicates decision, will and belief power as well as prominence of ambition and greatness of man’s personality.
Prosperity and happiness
Ethic scholars have mentioned prosperity and happiness as the final end of ethics. This is the same reality that men are always trying and struggling for prosperity and happiness, and are often complaining for not gaining it.
What is prosperity?
We can define prosperity in one short phrase: gaining any possible perfection that man has capacity and competence for achieving, and in other words, correct utilization of different material and spiritual powers being available for man.
But since to the same extent that “perfection” and “utilization” are clear in view of general sense, they are ambiguous and complicated in view of partial concepts, most often people have mistaken the path of prosperity so that for example, one egoist rich man, who has exchanged the heart’s ease and relief of his spirit and body with accumulation of a massive wealth, may consider himself prosperous, while his capricious child, after death of father, deems scattering of this wealth for satisfaction of his lusts as prosperity, and in the meantime both of them are wrong.
Anyway, herein we shall recognize man’s real perfection and the correct way of utilizing these material and spiritual favours, although this recognition may need a great deal of study and inconvenience.
Does prosperity have only a spiritual aspect?
A number of Greek ancient philosophers like Cynics believed that prosperity has only a spiritual aspect and whatever corporeal and material condition may be, it does not have the least effect on man’s prosperity, and therefore considered acquiring moral perfection and virtues as the only way of prosperity.
Rather, they believed that absolute prosperity for man would not be possible in this world and as far as the spirit is connected to this material body, and tainted to corporeal impurities, it is deprived of real prosperity. Only when it is disconnected from body, it may achieve absolute prosperity. On this end, they spurned and neglected all material affairs.
The conditions of Dewjanse, the famous physician of Cynics, and his life in a jar! Instead of house and room, and his contentment to one drinking cup from all life facilities is well-known. Even it is said that once he saw someone drinking water from a water course with his hands, then he threw away that cup too.
Existentialists are on the opposite side to this idea and consider prosperity only in an unconditional utilization from material pleasures and condemn any obstacle on this way.
They assume absolute happiness only through material pleasure and go ahead in this way till the threshold of insanity, and practically disregard all social and moral limits and habitudes for achieving it.
It is obvious that we cannot call this ideology, which is unfortunately spread nowadays among some nations, a doctrine. Rather, it is a sort of delusion and mental disease. However, we can assume it a reaction to the extremist doctrines like Cynics who have totally ignored corporeal aspects in prosperity.
Moderate doctrine: since man is not merely a body or a soul, and the reality of his essence is composed of two parts, he should seek prosperity too in both parts and surely any program focusing in one part of his essence, shall not guarantee his prosperity, because it is not in conformity with the outward realities.
Among Greek philosophers, the first teacher, Aristotle and his followers advocated this doctrine and Islam’s superior instructions have explicitly supported it, and have mentioned new principles for it. This reality is reflected in Qur’an and sayings of our great leaders, and motto of Islam in this regard is summarized in the following verses:
But of mankind is he who saith: “Our Lord! Give unto us in the world,” and he hath no portion in the Hereafter.
And of them (also) is he who saith: “Our Lord! Give unto us in the world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and guard us from the doom of Fire.”
For them there is in store a goodly portion out of that which they have earned. Allah is swift at reckoning. (2:200-202)
The point, which should be carefully considered in such discussions, is that the relation and connection of soul and body is so close that the effect of any deviation in one of them is manifested in the other.
Today psychoanalysis has proved that a part of moral and mental deviations is caused by incorrect satiation of corporeal and material instincts.
Repressed desires and instincts always emerge as mental complexes. Such complexes are a big problem for ethic scholars, and removing them through the ways available for training souls, is usually not possible. Rather, they should be treated in the same way they are created, that is, physical instincts should be satiated in a correct manner.
There are a lot of people suffering from suspicion, fear, jealousy, pride and hatred and such like vices and its cause is deprivation and repression in correct satiation of their physical instincts. Thus for being successful, now it is necessary for all ethic scholars and mental trainers to consider both physical and mental conditions for treating moral diseases.
Islam has studied this issue subtly and it explicitly says:
Say: Who hath forbidden the adornment of Allah which He hath brought forth for His bondmen, and the good things of His providing? Say: Such, on the Day of Resurrection, will be only for those who believed during the life of the world. (7:32)