Liberal Hedonism vs Islamic Fulfillment: The True Measure of Pain and Pleasure

The liberal world today aims to make the pursuit of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain the main goal of humanity and the ultimate purpose of life. However, its worldwide imposition by imperial forces such as the U.S. has seen nothing but widespread death, destruction, and societal collapse in many countries around the world. One has to wonder, why doesn’t this ideology work? What’s the major underlying problem here that makes it so difficult to impose and impossible to succeed? Well, one of the main factors are faulty definitions being used to describe certain terms, specifically terms like “pain” and “pleasure.”

Because liberal secularism subscribes to an atheist materialist worldview, they only measure reality in the physical sense, not being able to see even an inch beyond that. And so, when pleasure is to be maximized, physical pleasure takes precedence above everything else, and the same is true for when pain or harm are to be minimized. This faulty application of physical pleasure and harm is what leads liberalism to fail miserably.

Metaphysical benefit and metaphysical harm, which are tantamount to consider when pursuing true fulfilment, are completely ignored. This is because, in the blindfolded eyes of liberalism, the supernatural doesn’t exist. For instance, liberal secularism rejects the existence of the human soul. As such, the effects that certain actions might have on it, whether it be positive or negative, are never factored in. One example is prayer.

Praying to Allah regularly, five times a day, leads to continuous spiritual replenishment, which is obviously a great metaphysical benefit. However, according to the liberal worldview, it would be better to avoid Salah entirely as you could instead just lie down somewhere and relax physically. No need to shackle yourself with the strict routine of being on time, washing and purifying yourself multiple times a day, having to stand and focus in prayer, and if you’re a male, having to also go to the masjid. Why force yourself to wake up and come out from under your warm blanket to pray the Fajr prayer when you can just enjoy some extra sleep? What are you receiving in exchange for your actions besides inconvenience and interruption?

Not realizing that upholding the covenant with Allah and spiritual replenishment are far greater metaphysical benefits than the harm caused by physical inconvenience is the mistake that a liberal would undoubtedly make here. In addition, the metaphysical benefits lead to many physical benefits too, such as the development of discipline, mental clarity and focus, an early motivating start to the day, etc. The same can be said for fasting. Liberalism would have Muslims avoid the pain of prolonged hunger whilst completely missing the metaphysical and even physical health benefits that it brings.

Because of the limited scope of pain and pleasure for a liberal, they are also unable to see things in the long-term, often only focusing on the immediate. For example, liberalism is highly in favour of men using pornography to fulfil their sexual urges. However, this clearly ignores the long-term reality, which is that these men are at risk of ending up as lonely demotivated degenerates. Similarly, liberalism is highly in favour of women having as many sexual partners as they want instead of having to go through the trouble of being loyal to one. However, this again ignores the long-term reality of such women ending up as useless, unloved, and unwanted when they reach their sexual expiry date.

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So, what’s the solution? How do we fix the faulty definitions of pain and pleasure to best incorporate metaphysical benefits and harms too? Well, since we’re only limited human beings who can assess the physical realm and make judgements based off of it, we would have to refer to information from a being who has complete knowledge of the metaphysical and the Unseen. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a set of clear instructions from this All-Knowing source that us inferior humans could use to derive the ultimate formula for maximizing true pleasure and minimizing true pain?

Yes, I am of course referring to the Holy Qur’an, the Word of Allah Almighty that was Revealed to His Final Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ, the only revealed book that remains preserved in an unadulterated and unchanged state to this day, and thus the only Source of Truth that can be relied on with 100% certainty to offer us the formula for total and everlasting success.

Allah Knows everything, whether it is hidden or apparent, whether it is seen or unseen, whether it is physical or metaphysical. He Created us and Knows exactly how we function and what way of life is best for us, both in this life and the next. This is precisely why, in the examples mentioned above, having access to the full picture, Islam would forbid men from consuming pornography and women from being polyandrous. Let’s take an example of a Muslim who follows Islam in a land where doing so will get him punished by the authorities. Such a Muslim goes on to get imprisoned, tortured, and even executed, but he doesn’t let go of his beliefs. Liberalism would label such a person completely insane. So much pain and suffering, and all he gets in return is death? Instead, he could have easily denounced his faith, perhaps even been handsomely rewarded for doing so, and lived a life of comfort.

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But this Muslim would know what the liberal won’t: That this life is merely a fleeting moment, a test, full of responsibilities, difficulties, and hardships. That true success lies in the next life, which is the attainment of Allah’s pleasure and His Paradise, with never-ending bliss, contentment, and happiness. That is the ultimate victory.

Allah has promised his servants one of two things, the ultimate pleasure or the ultimate pain: Jannah and Jahannam. And with the bigger picture that the Qur’an and Sunnah provide us with, even a blind person can clearly see that the endured suffering of a few measly decades is most certainly an unfathomably huge bargain when in return you are given eternal happiness and satisfaction, the ultimate pleasure; and that comfort and lavishness for a few measly decades, even a few centuries, is not even infinitesimally worth it if the consequence was eternal suffering and torment, the ultimate pain.

So, for someone who sincerely wants to follow the concept of maximizing true pleasure and minimizing true pain, the only logical thing to do is to accept Islam and strive for Paradise in this fleeting world.

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