Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani, lecturer of advanced jurisprudence and legal theories and the president of the Porch of Wisdom Institute underscored the role of media in promulgating moral and religious values and in raising awareness against violence. He said that violent behaviors emanate from lack of religious and moral training. “The aggressive urges and dispositions that we see in society originate in the fact that the society has distanced itself from Islamic morality,” he said.
Speaking to Mehr reporter about the role of Islamic morality in preventing and curtailing violence, Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani said, “Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, is the best role model in terms of morality. In regards to the Prophet’s status as a role model, God, the Exalted, says (لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِيهِمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ) Assuredly you have in God's Messenger an excellent example to follow for whoever looks forward to God and the Last Day.”
Islamic morality amounts to peace, tenderness and kindness
The president of the Porch of Wisdom Institute said, “The Holy Prophet’s moral status was such that God described him by saying “انک لعلی خلق عظیم" [And surely you have great morals.] Or the Quran says, ‘Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you deal with them gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you.’[1] According to this verse the Prophet is kind and gentle and not rough, harsh and hard-hearted because these latter qualities repel rather than attract.”
He stressed, “The Prophet (S) was kind even to those who did not believe in him; he behaved with them politely and with respect. The story of the man who threw dirt everyday on the Prophet (S) is well-known. The Prophet (S) visited him when he fell sick. He converted to Islam upon seeing the Prophet’s kind behavior.”
“The Prophet’s morality is based on friendship and kindness with others as the Quran says: ‘Then maybe you will kill yourself with grief, sorrowing after them, if they do not believe in this announcement.’[2] It is for the same reason that we believe that Islamic morality is based on peace, tenderness and kindness,” he reiterated.
Violent behaviors in society emanate from staying away from Islamic morality
Referring to the role of religion in curbing and curtailing individual and social violence, Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani stressed, “The violent behaviors which we witness in society are the outcome of staying away from Islamic morality. Unfortunately, this indifference or lack of attention to Islamic morality has emanated from the spread of false and non-Islamic cultures in the society.”
He further added, “One of the causes that have contributed significantly to violence in society is the media. The impact of media violence on society, in particular on young children and adolescents, has been a matter of concern ever since the media came into being. There is no doubt that portrayal of violence by various media causes violence in society. When our children and adolescents are continuously exposed to violent scenes on TV screens, then they gradually grow violent. There is association between media violence and violent behavior.”
He stressed, “If our society gets acquainted with Islamic moral concepts such as love and kindness towards others, our adolescents will become familiar with this morality directly or indirectly through the family or educational environments especially the media. Once they become familiar with Islamic morality, then we will no longer witness criminal violence in the Islamic society.”
Courtesy and kindness are the two axes of family and human relationships in Islam/ Tolerance is half of intellect
Referring to the role of religious doctrines in keeping away from violence, Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani said, “Our traditionists (muhaddetheen) have collected some narrations under the title ‘Kitab al-‘Ashrah’ which is a book of life. Late Shaykh Hurr Amili has gathered these traditions in his Wasail al-Shi’ah under the same title.”
He added, “The traditions bear lessons for us. In fact, the Ahlul-Bayt (A.S.) have taught us how to live a life. When we go through these narrations, we see that certain concepts have been repeated in them now and then. One of those concepts is the concept of ‘tolerance’ which is the capacity to endure or the ability to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. According to some narrations, tolerance is half of intellect. That is to say, the human intelligence requires man to put up with others.”
The president of the Porch of Wisdom Institute noted, “We have many traditions about family relationships which tell us how the parents should behave with each other and with their child and how the child should behave with them. Courtesy and kindness are the two axes of family and human relationships in Islam. We have been advised (by Islam) to maintain good conduct towards each other.”
He further stressed, “The atmosphere of the Islamic society should be replete with love and all should behave with each other with love and affection. If such an environment spreads in society, there is no doubt that we shall no longer witness any violence. When we see a person being attacked violently while he is fulfilling a religious obligation e.g. bidding good and forbidding evil, then it shows that the Islamic atmosphere, one that is portrayed by the narrations, has not been created.”
Love and respect are the bases of child education in Islam
Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani expressed regret over what he called ‘child abuse’ in the Islamic society of Iran. If we are witnessing some cases of child abuse in some families, be sure that these incidents are never compatible with Islamic concepts and doctrines. According to Islam many of these behaviors are considered to be a part of the major or greater sins. In Islam, child education is based on love, affection and respect so that the child’s human character may develop and he be acquainted with his human dignity. According to a narration, ‘the child is the master for seven years…” shows that we must be affable and lenient towards the child so that he may grow up to become mentally mature.”
Ayatollah Hadai Tehrani added, “The stages of moral training and the concepts which have been narrated by traditions should be portrayed by the media. Our problem is that we get religious doctrines either from a pulpit or from a text. That is not enough. In fact, we must produce various materials and feedbacks especially artistic templates based on these concepts. We must depict Islamic family indirectly and through an artistic medium. How much have we portrayed Islamic family emotional relationships? How far have we acquainted our young generation in schools, universities and media (which are by itself a public university) with these concepts?”
“The serious problem we are facing is that we have distanced ourselves from religious concepts and doctrines. In most cases, we simply suffice to delivering those doctrines on occasions, albeit in an incoherent and irrelevant way. We just submit these abstract religious teachings in the form of explicit and straightforward pieces of advice that lack any effect in society. But if they are introduced to society in an indirect format in the form of concepts, norms and values, then they will be effective. When we present and promulgate violent norms through our media, then we are not going to attain the Islamic morals with a few pieces of moral advice,” he stated.
Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani reiterated that long term cultural measures would be productive but short term strategies to prevent violence require legal actions and direct confrontation, a method which Islam also prescribes. “Islam makes use of two internal and external tools in order to materialize its concepts. The internal tools of Islam are these moral and faith-related concepts which help man control himself internally. However, if for any reasons he does not want to exercise this internal control measures, then it is the society that is responsible to control him externally. Here the judiciary power, the police force and the public as the bidders of good and forbidders of evil are responsible to prevent the occurrence of such violent behaviors so that those who resort to violence should not feel secure in society; they should feel that they shall be held responsible by the law,” he noted.
The president of the Porch of Wisdom Institute stressed, “It does not mean we are allowed to break the law and violate other people’s rights in the name of eradicating violence because it would by itself help spread violence, lawlessness and insecurity in society. The law enforcement agencies and the general public are responsible to curb violence. There is no doubt that our media can help reduce violence in the society by doing cultural work and presenting moral and Islamic concepts. Our media experience shows that we can easily change the norms by working out and implementing a series of programs.”
He further noted, “Many people were not prepared to carry out traffic rules in the past. Perhaps, some 10 to 15 years back, using seat belts was not very common in the Iranian society but with the cultural work done, now it has become a normal practice. It was not difficult for the traffic department to make it a norm. As we can change people’s behavior in such areas with cultural work, we have more chances of success in moral and Islamic related concepts which people believe in.”
Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani emphasized at the end, “If we are faced with any drawbacks or deficiencies in this regard, it is all because of the setbacks existing in precise, scientific and artistic presentation of these concepts especially in the media circumstances. I hope all these setbacks and deficiencies are removed soon. Perhaps, they may have little impact in the short term but what definitely has long term effects is cultural work. Legal actions as control measures can have short term effects but if we are going to institutionalize values in the society, we need to do cultural and media work.[3]
Office of Ayatollah Mahdi Hadavi Tehrani
[1] - فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لاَنفَضُّواْ مِنْ حَوْلِكَ Aal-e Imran: 159
[2] - « لعلك باخ نفسك الا يكونوا مؤمنين » Al-Kahf, 6.
[3] - Related link: Mehr News Agency