The main thesis of this paper is that bad life styles lead to social failure which in turn is associated with spiritual and physical ill health. It describes the manifestations and causes of social failure.

DEFINITION OF SOCIAL FAILURE

The Qur’an uses several terms to convey the meaning of failure or weakness ‘ajz[1], wahn[2], dhull[3], kasal[4]. Failure may be physical, psychological, or social. In practice one type of failure leads to or is associated with other types. Our main concern here is social failure.

Social failure may also result from inability to maintain moderation even in lifestyle behaviors that are innately good. Islam is a religion of the middle. Muslims are encouraged to enjoy the good things of the world[5]. They are however warned against excesses[6].

SOCIAL FAILURE IS ADOPTING A FAILING LIFESTYLE.

Social failure is a result of wrong choices of what life-style to follow. Islam defines what is haram leaving the rest halal. Humans are free to enjoy good life. Balance and equilibrium are needed; an excess of the halal can turn out to be harmful. An Islamic life-style is not monolithic. It has general defining principles but the practical manifestations obey spatio-temporal circumstances. Imperfections are human and have to be dealt with. Humans attempt their best but may not be able to live a perfect Islamic life-style. They are rewarded for their efforts. They start sinning when they give up the effort to reach the ideal. It is important to know the Islamic life-style but also equally important to recognize what is not Islamic in the society so that it can be avoided. An Islamic life-style cannot exist in isolation; ability to deal with and interact with non-Islamic aspects is inevitable. The interaction is an opportunity to strengthen the Islamic ideals in the person by seeing the misery and problems of those who follow a non-Islamic life-style. The interaction also presents a threat because it may a temptation for a person to fall over and be taken up by the non-Islamic life-style. A non-Islamic lifestyle leads to sins, social and health problems.

MANIFESTATIONS OF SOCIAL FAILURE

Personal failure can manifest in many ways. Persons may become addicted to bad habits and sins. They become socially incompetent or lazy about their basic responsibilities in the family and society. This failure is a cause of sadness and distress to the individual concerned, the family, and the whole society. Failure may manifest as lack of seriousness and neglect of duties to Allah. A person who indulges in earthly concerns and forgets the hereafter soon becomes a failure because the earth is described as mere amusement, al duniya lahw[7]. A person may thus be distracted from remembrance of Allah, allahw ‘an dhikr al llaah[8]. A person also may neglect religion, al lahw fi al al ddiin[9]. Lack of seriousness may also manifest in activities of daily living such as conversation, al lahw fi al hadiith[10]. Failure also manifests as miserliness[11], sloth[12], decriptitude[13], sorrow[14], helplessness[15], laziness[16], cowardness[17], indebtedness[18], being under the control of others[19], vain talk[20], extravagance[21], and begging[22].

CAUSES OF SOCIAL FAILURE

Personal failure is a manifestation of a sick heart. If the heart is well the person is well, idha salaha al qalb salaha al jasad. If the heart is sick the person fails[23]. Denial of Allah, kufr, is the ultimate cause of human failure. Forgetting Allah and neglecting His commands is the start of failure. Individuals or communities that deviate from the moral path laid by the creator will find themselves sooner or later in several social problems. Thus we can say that there is an underlying moral failure in several cases of personal failure.

Being under the control of the base human desires, ghalabat al shahawaat[24] is a cause of weakness and failure. This applies equally well to individuals and whole communities. Neglecting to respect and follow Allah’s laws causes failure. This applied equally well to social laws that regulate the family and society and physical laws of the universe. We however should not forget that some persons with manifestations of failure are actually victims of circumstances that are beyond their control or are suffering from psycho-social diseases that impair their social functioning. These are also cases of failure that can not be attributed to any fault of the person but to unfortunate circumstances. However even in such cases Allah usually helps such people when they turn to Him and ask for help.

A human is a social being and is greatly influenced by those around him or her. It is therefore very important to have good friends, rifaaq al khair, and avoid bad ones, rifaaq al suui / sahbat al suui[25]. Peer influence could be from within the family. The spouse or the children could be a temptation for a person.