3 Characteristics of an Ignorant Society in Nahj al-Balagha's View
This is according to Bakhshali Ghanbari, a Nahj al-Balagha researcher, who discussed this topic in a series of lectures. Here are excerpts from the first session:
Imam Ali (AS) based his life on the Quran and the Prophet's (PBUH) teachings. In his social actions and interactions, he followed the divine and prophetic commands, which can be a perfect model for us.
One of the main keywords of Nahj al-Balagha is “Jahiliyyah” or ignorance. There are some keywords that are very important in the book. In fact, the way to understand this book is to understand these keywords, and one of them is ignorance.
Ignorance in Nahj al-Balagha is not opposed to knowledge; that is, it is not like saying that someone who is not educated is ignorant. Ignorance in Nahj al-Balagha and in general in Islamic culture and in the early period of Islam meant being distant from civilization (social life), morality and culture. So ignorance has three characteristics; it is distant from civilization, it is distant from morality, and it is distant from culture.
Sermon 2 of Nahj al-Balagha deals with this issue. I am presenting a part of this sermon that relates to this area and describes the characteristics of an ignorant society, which if we reverse them, we can identify the characteristics of a civilized society.
Imam Ali (AS) mentions several characteristics in this sermon. The first one is that people “are lost and astray” in this society. That is, they don't know how to reach their goals, because there is no culture in this society.
The second characteristic is that members of this society are “confused” about their path and goal.
The third characteristic refers exactly to the word ignorant; “Ignorants are deceived,” reads the sermon before highlighting that “They live in God's best land, Mecca, but they are the worst neighbors".
Therefore, in the ignorant society, there is a lot of chaos and disorder and these people do not enjoy security.
Who can have security? Those who have intellectual security. Therefore, Imam Ali (AS) says: “They live on lands where their tears always flow, their sleep is restless, they have put a muzzle on the mouths of the scholars and the ignorant are the leaders of the gatherings and the judges of the circles”.
Therefore, whenever these characteristics manifest themselves in any society, that society is considered an ignorant one which is far from civilization and culture.
