A person is driven to action according to the strength they possess. Therefore, it is essential to explore the nature of these strengths and understand their impact. Why do people’s actions vary so much? Some accomplish great feats, while many are incapable of them.

A person is driven to action according to the strength they possess. The greater their strength, the greater their drive. The extent of their accomplishments is proportional to the strength they possess. However, humans possess multiple strengths: material strengths, represented by their bodies and the means they use to satisfy their desires; moral strengths, represented by the moral qualities they aspire to acquire; and spiritual strengths, represented by their awareness of, or feeling of, their connection with Allah (swt), or both.

Each of these three strengths influences a person’s actions. However, these strengths are not equal in their impact on a person; instead, their impact varies. Physical forces are the weakest in their impact, while moral forces are more influential than physical forces. Spiritual forces, however, are the most impactful and effective.

Limited Motivation:

Material forces, whether bodily or material, only motivate a person to act to the extent that they are valued, and no more. They may not even motivate action at all, even when available, because the person sees no need for it. Thus, these forces have limited motivation, and their mere existence does not necessitate action. When a person wants to fight an enemy, they weigh their physical strength and examine their material resources. If they find them sufficient to fight their enemy, they advance; otherwise, they hold back and retreat. They may find their material strength sufficient to crush their enemy but imagine they can achieve victory through someone stronger, thus becoming cowardly. Or they may think it best to expend their strength on personal comfort or improving their standard of living, thus becoming complacent. Fighting the enemy is an action that a person desires to undertake. However, since one's motivation is limited by the physical strength one possesses, one's drive becomes restricted by that strength. One becomes hesitant to act, even when the necessary resources are available, when faced with obstacles that instill cowardice or inaction.

Moral Strength:

Moral strength, on the other hand, initially instills in the soul the impulse to act. It then strives to acquire sufficient strength to accomplish the task, without being confined by existing capabilities. It may propel one beyond one’s physical strength, or it may stop at the limits of the strength one has amassed. In any case, it will accomplish more than one's physical strength allows. For example, someone who fights an enemy to liberate themselves from oppression, to seek vengeance, for valor, to champion the weak, or for similar reasons, will be more motivated than someone who merely fights for plunder, colonialization, mere control, or similar materialistic motives. The reason for this is that moral forces are a motive linked to concepts higher than instinctual ones, and they require a specific fulfillment. This drives the forces to find the means for this fulfillment, thus controlling instinctual concepts and harnessing material forces, thereby acquiring a power that surpasses material forces. This is why all peoples of the world strive to cultivate moral forces within their armies, alongside their material forces.

Immense Strength:

As for spiritual forces, they have a stronger impact on humanity than both moral and material forces. This is because spiritual forces emanate from a person’s awareness of their connection to Allah (swt), the Creator of existence and the Creator of all forces. This intellectual awareness, feeling, and emotion of this connection to Allah (swt) makes a person’s motivation commensurate with what the Creator asks of them, not with their own strength or the strength they can accumulate. Instead, it is commensurate with what is asked of them, whatever that request may be, whether it is within their material capacity, more, or less. The request may explicitly entail sacrificing of one’s life, or it may lead to sacrificing one’s life. In such cases, one will perform the action even if it exceeds their capacity or the strength they can muster. Hence, spiritual forces are more impactful than all other forces within a person.

However, if these spiritual forces stem solely from emotional feelings, they are susceptible to decline and alteration due to the dominance of other emotions, or their misdirection into actions other than those for which they were originally intended. Therefore, it is essential that spiritual forces arise from a firm and unwavering intellectual conviction in humanity’s connection with Allah (swt). Only then will these forces be established, and their flow will continue uninterrupted, as required. When spiritual forces are present, solely moral forces become redundant, for then a person acts not out of their own motivation, but solely out of spiritual motivation. They do not fight their enemy for spoils or the glory of victory, but because Allah (swt) has commanded it, regardless of whether spoils are obtained or not, whether victory is celebrated or not, because they act only because Allah (swt) has commanded it. Material forces, then, become mere instruments of action, not driving forces.

Islam has emphatically ensured that the driving forces of the Muslim are spiritual, even if their manifestations are material or moral, as it has made the spiritual foundation the sole basis for all of worldly life. It has made the Islamic Aqeedah the foundation of life, the Halal and Haram the measure of actions, and attaining Allah’s Pleasure the ultimate goal he strives for. It has obligated the Muslims to perform all their actions, great and small, according to Allah’s commands and prohibitions, based on their understanding of their relationship with Allah (swt). This understanding and feeling of connection with Allah (swt), with certainty and conviction, is the foundation upon which the Muslim’s life is built. It is the force that drives Muslims to perform any action, whether small or large; it is the spirit that sustains their worldly life in all their actions. The degree of their spiritual strength is proportional to the degree of this understanding and feeling they possess. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the Muslim to make their strength spiritual, for it is their inexhaustible treasure and the secret to their success and victory.