"and from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and prevent the wrong and these are those who shall be successful." (Qur'an 3:104)

Islam does not condone a life dedicated to a monastery. The divine plan set social dependencies in place to guarantee that people living together would positively influence one another. Humanity collectively must progress to higher levels of civilisation just like a person would reach higher levels of being. Therefore, humans must be in the thick of life and establish good social structures. In this way, a person on the path of development gets a chance to confirm what he may have learned in theory and hence completing the development cycle.

Social development is most effectively achieved through service for a cause that is greater than the self. Service, then, can only be the service of other people and only expecting to be rewarded by no other person but God. The first level of social interaction is the service of people irrespective of their religious affiliation through charity, benevolent institutions and foundations. Islam also enjoins Muslims to exalt and promote the Word, which is "there is no other deity but one and only God". The third duty of a Muslim in the social domain is to promote what is right and good and to prevent what is wrong and evil. "and from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and prevent the wrong and these are those who shall be successful." (Qur'an 3:104). The last verse also ensures a social auto-control mechanism.

Of course, to achieve mental, spiritual and social development, a person has to be physically and faith-wise healthy, otherwise the system would not function and may even collapse. The reverse is also true. In its November 2000 issue, the Medical Journal of Australia mentions that spirituality has a protective effect on both physical and mental health. The journal number of scientific studies which demonstrate a range of positive effects of spirituality, including:

• Reduced incidence of depression and reduced recovery from depression.

• Better recovery from surgery.

• Improved ability to cope with disability, illness and stress.

• Reduced substance misuse.

• Reduced suicide risk in adolescents.

• Greater longevity.

• Reduced mortality from all causes.

• Reduced incidence of heart disease and hypertension.

• Reduced incidence and longer survival from cancer.

• Modification of physical risk factors with associated reductions in lifestyle-related illness.