Religions—and consequently God—view coming together as natural and justified; indeed, they have encouraged it. The anxiety and desire for existence is not an acquired emotion, but a bestowed one.
Whether in a spiritual or physical sense, the human impulse to belong to someone or somewhere is considered both normal and healthy when one contemplates human nature and its essence. This is something expected of him. Above all, the sense of belonging and being accepted bestows upon man the consciousness of “being.” He exists because someone or somewhere has accepted him. This feeling begins in man at a very early age. This existential anxiety manifests itself at the very beginning of school years in a playgroup, in study or similar small groups at school, in a spouse upon marriage, in one’s family, and as one grows older, in dozens of other domains through the impulse of belonging and having been accepted. Religions—and consequently God—view coming together as natural and justified; indeed, they have encouraged it. The anxiety and desire for existence is not an acquired emotion, but a bestowed one.
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
“If we walk in the light, we have fellowship (a bond) with one another…” (1 John 1:7)
Hillel (Ancient Jewish Sage): “Do not separate yourself from the community, and do not trust in yourself until the day of your death.” (Pirkei Avot 2:4)
“Man cannot be human alone. Man is human only through his relationships with people and his place (belonging) in the community.” — Confucius
“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided…” (Quran, Surah Ali ‘Imran, 3:103)
These examples are numerous. As can be seen, the Creator and wise individuals alike have consistently impelled man away from solitude and toward the collective.
These encouragements aim to elevate man to his most perfect state: the station of the Perfect Human (al-Insān al-Kāmil). For man is the mirror of man, and to behold his own state, he requires a mirror—that is, he must look upon others. Those residing in the station of the “elite of the elite” (khāssat al-khāss), the ultimate degree of progression, are exempt from this. This station is no longer a rank, but a state of being (hāl). Since everything has an end, belonging, too, has an end. This subject will be addressed shortly.
At the foundation of the “sense of belonging” lie three distinct motivations: man’s concern solely for his own interests, solely for the interests of others, or for both his own and others’ interests. Although this proposition might be perceived as the product of a narrow and incomplete understanding, whatever alternative or counter-idea you may add will ultimately lead to either a positive or a negative outcome. Since negative outcomes evoke unwanted and feared emotions in man, avoiding fear is itself a self-interest. Moreover, that which is positive is already desired, and this constitutes a direct self-interest. Thus, the matter invariably arrives at the concept of interest. If you look at yourself or the people around you, you will see that every form of belonging is rooted in either desire or fear. The existence of three distinct motivations stems from the division of humanity into three distinct groups:
1. The Masses (The Avām / The Common Folk) All their impulses toward belonging or acceptance arise entirely from their own personal desires or fears. Their desire to belong to a community is strictly for their own self-interest: to gain respect, to have a voice, to build a network for the future, or to have it said that they “succeeded” rather than “failed.” Even if none of these apply, there remains the underlying anxiety to join a herd for sheer safety. Is not the mere desire to be accepted a self-interest in itself? A person detached from self-interest and fear experiences no anxiety for acceptance.
2. The Elite (The Havās) They harbor the anxiety of belonging and acceptance both for themselves and for others. Beneath their impulses for belonging and acceptance lie not only their own interests, but also the interests of others. They believe they will be beneficial to the specific place or community to which they wish to belong and be accepted. Even if they cannot be as beneficial as they envision, their intention alone renders them elite. They measure the continuity of their belonging in a community by the benefit they provide to it. They consider themselves belonging and accepted only to the extent of the utility they provide to others as well as to themselves—not merely by the benefit they derive, as the common folk do.
3. The Elite of the Elite (Khāssat al-Khāss / The Elect of the Elect) The number of rare individuals in this group is extraordinarily small. They possess no expectation or desire to belong to any community or to be accepted; on the contrary, they actively avoid it. Emerging into public view only enough to attend to their own necessary tasks or those of others, these individuals prefer turning inward toward their own breasts and occupying themselves with their Creator and His works above all else. Belonging to a community is a deeply burdensome affair for them. Existing in a state beyond formal religion, far from belonging to a community, they do not even view themselves as belonging to a single religion. As for acceptance, even if they knew they would be ostracized by all created beings, they choose acceptance by God alone. The belonging of these people originates not from themselves, but through inspiration or divine invitation. If there is a benefit to any creature of God, they accept this invitation; yet, even then, they do not feel they belong there, and once their work is done, they depart.
In the final stations of this state, they perceive neither people nor anything else. There is only Him, and there is God. Nothing else. What, then, are belonging and acceptance? If a drop of water falls into the ocean, who can say, “That drop exists, and it is right here”? Only the ocean knows the existence and the location of that drop.
Thus, it becomes evident that while the sense of belonging and being accepted is initially a necessity for progressing on the path toward becoming a perfect human, it eventually transforms into sandbags cast overboard from a hot-air balloon to enable further ascent toward the ultimate end.
Meister Eckhart states that for the soul to unite with God, man must strip himself not only of material possessions, but even of his own piety, reputation, and desire for approval. He notes that the true spiritual solitary is one who asks for nothing—not even from God—and in whom no desire for acceptance remains.
According to Ibn ‘Arabi, the saints (awliyā’) of the highest degree cannot be confined to any single idea, school of thought, group, or place. Like the “heart” (qalb), they are in a state of continuous transformation (taqallub), and belonging to a single place represents a limitation for them. Their sole belonging is to Absolute Existence (al-Wujūd al-Mutlaq).
Thus, it becomes evident that while the sense of belonging and being accepted is initially a necessity for progressing on the path toward becoming a perfect human, it eventually transforms into sandbags cast overboard from a hot-air balloon to enable further ascent toward the ultimate end. Beyond a certain point, the human soul must feel attached to nothing, so that it may become free and unburdened—unburdened so that it may be claimed by God. For He does not claim any soul that finds consolation in anything other than Himself. What would He do with someone who finds happiness in His creations while He Himself is present?
