Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 71
Social Peace 71 unabashed discussion and confession are considered only as public expressions of truth. Nobody seems to take the trouble to extend the same argument to other natural human urges. Is it not a natural animal urge, common to humans as well, to possess that which one likes? Is it not, again a natural animal urge to feel angered and agitated and to release these emotions in the wildest possible terms? A weaker dog would be impelled by the same urges as the stronger but whereas the stronger would bite, the weaker one would bark at the least. What are those taboos in society—the codes of civil behaviour, the concept of decency, etc, which keep interfering with the free expression of natural urges? Why must sex be the only motive force which should be given a free licence to express itself without regard to tradition, norms, decency, appropriateness, and the question of belonging or otherwise? What we observe today is a phenomenon, which has to be carefully discerned and analysed. What we call permissiveness in sexual relationship is being expressed in the form of a growing tendency to steal and rob in other areas of human activity, and to injure and hurt others. The uninhibited pursuit of pleasure with perverted tastes emanates from the same decadent tendencies which are demolishing the noblest edifices of civilization and returning mode of life back to square one. Not only do we observe a prolific growth of rites, taboos and do’s and don’ts imposed upon individuals by societies, but also we find an indulgence in romance and courtship playing a vital role in this area. Poetry, literature, art, music, styles, fashions, displays, love of fragrance, and growth of decent and cultivated behaviour are all by- products, if not entirely, at least to a degree, of the same fundamental urge in the form of social responses. A time may come when a future