Causation:
Divergent views were held by different factions of the then Muslims about the cause and effect. The view held by the philoso­phers was that the phenomenal world is governed by a sequence of cause and effect and, therefore, there is a permanent and essential correlation between the two ; the effect proceeds from its cause in the same way as the cause is immanent in the effect. The Mutazilites too generally subscribed to the same view and held that since the effect was an inevitable outcome of the cause, there was hardly any possibility of any change in it. As a natural conse­quence, they denied miracles and viewed the effect proceeding without a cause as a 'breach of custom' which was an impossibility. The Asharites, on the other hand, subscribed to a view diametri­cally opposed to the Mutazilites and did not recognise any cause whatsoever for an effect to follow it. All causes were, in their view, of only secondary importance in determining the production or non-production of the effects. Similarly, their view was that no substance has any property whatsoever ; all causes and substances were merely instruments for manifesting the effects and accidents in accordance with the will of God. The divergent views held by the different sections of the- Muslim community were also proving harmful inasmuch as these were employed by the free-thinkers and libertarians to accept or reject whatever they liked or disliked according to their wishes and sweet-will.
The view propounded by Rumi in this regard is a middle path between the two extremes of the Mutazilites and the Asharites. He recognises causation and accepts that there is a sequence of cause and effect in this phenomenal world which cannot be denied. He says that God has appointed effect to pro­ceed from the cause just as He has made the properties immanent in the substances. At the same time, miracles are possible and these have also been worked by men of God from time to time,
"Most happenings come to pass according to the (customary) law, (but) sometimes the (Divine) Power breaks the law.
He hath established a goodly law and custom ; then He hath made the (evidentiary) miracle a breach of the custom.
If honour does not reach us without a (mediating) cause, (yet) the (Divine) Power is not remote from the removal of the cause."
Normally the people see the cause and erroneously consider it to be the real agent. They are helpless for they cannot draw any other conclusion from what they have been made to witness in this phenomenal world.
"In short, thou are entangled in the cause, But there is an excuse, for thou knowest it not."
Rumi says that the causation is decidedly a fact but the "Cause of all causes" is still a greater reality. He is the only Real Agent, Creator of all causes and Omnipotent Lord, and, therefore, it does not behove man to recognise the phenomenal causes and forget the First Cause.
"O thou who art caught by the cause, do not fly outside (of causation) ; but (at the same time) do not suppose the removal of the Causer.
The Causer brings (into existence) whatsoever He will: the Absolute Power tears up (destroys) the causes, "
Rumi repeatedly stresses the fact that the causes of effects we ordinarily come to know are those which are capable of being perceived through our senses. In addition to these external causes there are some others too which are latent and hidden from our view. The causes known to us are immanent in the hidden ones in the same way as the effect proceeds from its evident cause. The hidden cause is thus an instrument for using the manifest cause in accordance with the Will of God which is really the Prime Mover and the Real Cause behind every incident.
"If you strike stone on iron, it (the fire) leaps out; 'tis by God's command that it puts forth its foot.
The stone and the iron are indeed causes, but look higher, O good man !
For this (external) cause was produced by that (spiritual) cause: when did a cause ever proceed from itself without a cause ?
That (spiritual) cause makes this (external) cause operative; sometimes, again, it makes it fruitless and ineffectual."
Just as we perceive the external causes, the prophets are able to see the latent causes.
"And those causes which guide the prophets on their way are higher than these (external) causes.
(Ordinary) minds are familiar with this (external) cause, but the prophets are familiar with those (spiritual) causes."
The external causes are merely secondary and dependent on the latent or spiritual causes :
"Over the (secondary) causes there are other (primary) causes : do not look at the (secondary) cause ; let thy gaze fall on that (primary cause)."
And, again he stresses the superiority of latent causes to the external ones:
"These causes are (linked together) like the physician and the sick : these causes are like the lamp and the wick.
Twist a new wick for your night-lamp (but) know that the lamp of the sun transcends these things."
The prophets are sent by God at a time when the entire community has accepted the external causes as the real and ultimate ones, and discarded the Creator of all causes. In other words, people become materialists or pagans by rejecting the Ultimate Cause or associating external causes with Him. The prophets have, therefore, to strike at the root of this slavery to the external causes and call attention to the Creator of all causes and effects. This is also the reason why the prophets are allowed to work miracles, for, God wants to demonstrate through them that every incident depends entirely on His Will, whether the ordinary sequence of cause and effect is maintained or not.
"The prophets came in order to cut (the cords of secondary) causes : they flung their miracles at Saturn (in the Seventh Heaven).
Without cause (means) they clove the sea asunder; without sowing they found heaps of corn.
Sand too, was turned into flour by their work; goat', hair became silk as it was pulled (from the hide).
The whole of the Qur'an consists in (is concerned with) the cutting off of (secondary) causes: (its theme is) the glory of the poor (prophet or saint) and the destruction of (those like) Abu Lahab."
Still, the sequence of cause and effect is the ordinary law or the way of God prescribed for the phenomenal world. It is intended to create an urge in man for making effort and striving to achieve his ends.
"But, for the most part, He lets the execution (of His will) follow the course of causation, in order that a seeker may be able to pursue the object of his desire."
These are some of the examples how Rumi solved those problems of philosophy and religion and elucidated the tenets and doctrines of the Faith which had been turned into a spell of ideas and thoughts by the wordy wrangling of the Mutazilites and Asharites. Rumi turned these dry as dust philosophical discourses into lively and interesting issues and illustrated them by means of anecdotes, fables and parables. He thus made the problems clear enough for his readers to grasp the truth underlying these intricate questions.

Rank and Worth of the Mathnawi :
The Mathnawi is one of the greatest mystical poems which has left a lasting and indelible mark on the thought and literature of the Islamic world. It would be no exaggeration to claim that there is hardly any other literary composition which has so influenced the Muslim peoples, and that too, for such a long time. The intellectual and literary circles have been drawing inspiration from the Mathnawi for the past six hundred years. In poetic merit and originality of ideas, in sublimity of thoughts and inten­sity of feelings, in the raptures of love and ecstasy, the Mathnawi has proved to be an unexcelled literary composition. It is an inexhaustible treasure, ever shedding its brilliance and bringing to light new ideas and thoughts, styles and dictions. The dialecticians and doctors of religion have ever since been drawing upon the Mathnawi to solve the problems of dialectics through its direct and easily understandable method of solving these issues. The examples and anecdotes through which Rumi has solved these problems can still satisfy the critical minds of the intelligent youths who do not want to be driven into a common groove. Most of all, the Mathnawi enjoys to this day the widest popularity as a manual of guidance for those who want to be infused with a fervour of Divine love, passionate devotion and spiritual enthu­siasm by gaining access to the mystical subtlities of beatific visions and illuminations, and the esoteric meanings of the Path, Love, Yearning and Union.
No work of the nature, as the Mathnawi is, can be free from faults or can remain beyond criticism. It has not been unoften that the misguided mystics have taken advantage of Rumi's views, or the people with a pantheistic bent of mind have employed certain quasi-erotic expressions used in the Mathnawi for the defence of existentialist monism. The Mathnawi is, after all, a literary composition by a human being who was neither infallible nor in a position to avoid his intuitional knowledge and spiritual illumination being influenced to some extent by his own propen­sities and inclinations of mind and extraneous impressions. Despite these human failings, the Mathnawi excels the literary and poetic works on the subject in its boldness of approach, variety of ideas and wealth of expression. It is indeed a living example of the intellectual superiority and immortality of Islam, establishing beyond doubt that Islam is always capable of breathing new life into in its adherents. It is no mean achievement of Rumi that the Mathnawi pulled out the thinkers and litterateurs of his time from the intellectual stupor into which they had fallen and revitalised them with a ferment of literary endeavour.
The Mathnawi has yet another achievement to its credit-and that belongs to the recent times. When materialism began to make inroads into the world of Islam for the second time during the twentieth century under the cover of western thought, science and philosophy, producing a scepticism and an inclination to dis­believe everything beyond the ken of senses, and the old Islamic scholasticism failed to cope with the situation, the Mathnawi of Maulana-i-Rum was again able to withstand the intellectual onslaught of the victorious and advancing materialistic West, which would have indeed been no less disastrous than its political domination. It again lit the flame of faith in revelation and the revealed truths, filling the hearts with the reverence for the prophets, and inculcating belief in the reality and the unlimited possibilities of the spiritual and the unseen world. It brought back to the citadel of Islam innumerable souls which had been waylaid by the materialistic view of the life and the world, so forcefully propounded by the West. Quite a large number of western educated Muslims, especially in the Indian subcontinent, have acknowledged the debt they owe to the Mathnawi in redis­covering the true content of the faith. The greatest Muslim thinker and philosopher of the present era, Dr. Sir Mohammad Iqbal has repeatedly owned with gratitude that he has imbibed the inspiration of faith and love, inner warmth of spirit and the effervescent dynamism of action from the Mathnawi of his spiritual mentor, Jalal ud-dln Rumi.
"A man of penetrating insight, Rumi, my mentor; The caravan enchanted with love got in him a path­finder.
He has an abode higher than the sun and moon, Of the milky way he makes his canopy's string. With the light of the Qur'an his bosom radiates; His mirror (of heart) puts the cup of Jamshed to shame.
Rejoicing notes of that musician, pure of heart, Within my bosom make a tumult start."
At another place, Iqbal says:
A guide to the path of rapturous love, Rumi indites, Songs, which are a nectar for those dying of thirst.
But, as Iqbal complains, instead of talking to heart the gift of Rumi-his lofty idealism, his intuitive certitude and the glow of rapturous love-a section has been using his verses simply for musical recitals and whirling frenzy.
"They dilated upon his works but cared not to under­stand at all;
The content of his words eluded these fellows like a ghezal.
Nothing they learnt save the chant and whirl, And shut their eyes to the dance of soul."
This was, however, not the fault of Mathnawi which can still be a lodestar to the present materialistic age which is repining for the true and ardent love.
"Thy heart not burns, nor is chaste thy glance, Why wonder, then, if thou art not bold.
The eyes that see by the light of the West, Without a bead of tear, crafty and vile they are."
Iqbal is confident that the Mathnawi of Rumi can still awaken the soul from its slumber of heedlessness. Therefore, his message to the youth of today is :
"Have Rumi as thy guide and spiritual mentor, Thy heart shall be filled, God-willing, with a mighty fervour:
Rumi can cleave the kernel from its shell, Since implanted firmly is his foot in the path of love."