‘AWÂM - عوام

 

A class of community that does not have profound knowledge. An unlettered person. In tasawwuf, one who could not reach complete haqiqah and not learn the profound haqiqahs of Tawhîd.

There are differences between the ‘awâm of an Islamic community and the ‘awâm of a fitnah community. For in the Islamic community, most of the conversations are about religion and the âkhirah, the understanding of goodness and badness is according to the laws of the Sharî’ah and community inculcates virtues like the sense of responsibility and religious zeal. For example, concerning the abode of Islam that is the Islamic community:

“In the Abode of Islam, the environment gives the instruction of the abbreviated meanings of those sacred words to the people of Islam through the language of being. The conversations of people of Islam about Islamic traditions and Islamic history and all the shaâ’er of Islam and all the pillars of Islam, continuously instil into the people of îmân the concise meanings of those blessed words. In this country, besides the places of ‘ibâdah and the madrasas, even the gravestones in the graveyards are like teachers instilling those sacred meanings in the people of îmân and recalling them to them.” The Letters (507)

As a comparison of the Islamic community and the community of fitnah:

Just as different merchandise are sought after in the market according to the season. From time to time, different merchandise is in demand. So in the exhibition of the ‘âlam and the market of human social life and civilization of mankind, every age, different merchandise is sought after and in demand; it is displayed in the market of that age; it attracts demands, gazes turn toward it, minds are drawn by it.

For example, at the present time, the demand for merchandise of politics, securing the worldly life and philosophy. And at the age of Salaf as-Sâlihîn and in the market of that time, the most sought-after merchandise was deducing from the Word of Khâliq of the samâwât and the earth, His wishes from mankind and the things with which He will be pleased, and through the nûr of nubuwwah and the Qur'an, obtaining the means to gain eternal happiness in the ‘âlam of the âkhirah, which had been opened to such a degree it could not be closed…

...At this time, due to the domination of European civilization and the hegemony of natural philosophy and the conditions of worldly life becoming heavy, minds and hearts have become scattered, and endeavour and attention divided. Minds have become strangers to the ma’nawî matters.

The Twenty-Seventh Word-The Third