To the question of what are the foremost things a man should do,situated as he is in this world of enigmas and fluctuations, thereply must be made that there are four things to be done or fourjewels never to be lost sight of: first, he should accept the Truth;second, bear it continually in mind; third, avoid whatever is contraryto Truth and the permanent consciousness of Truth; andfourth, accomplish whatever is in conformity therewith. All religionand all wisdom is reducible, extrinsically and from thehuman standpoint, to these four laws: enshrined in every traditionis to be observed an Immutable Truth, then a law of “attachmentto the Real,” of “remembrance” or “love” of God, andfinally prohibitions and injunctions.The ultimate motivating cause for homo Islamicus is not happiness or“utility,” but the Truth. For although happiness accompanies confomityto the Truth, it is an effect rather than a motivating cause. As FrithjofSchuon states, “our willing is not insphd by our desires alone, fundamentallyit is inspired by the truth, and this is independent of our immediateinterests.”* Islamic economics recognizes the need for homo Islamicus to conform to the Truth that God is the Absolute and that allthat is relative is attached to the Absolute by integrating all of life arounda Sacred Center. Accordingly, this realizes the meaning of the funda-mental witnesses (shahadatayn)-‘’There is no divinity but Allah” and“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ...
