UNGS 2030 : Required reading - Worldviews

ISLAMIC WORLDVIEW
UNGS 2030


Topics outline
• Definition
• Different views towards the world
• Basic elements of worldview
• Three famous worldviews
• Characteristics of Islamic Worldview
• Characteristics of Western Worldview
• Basic differences between them
• Some Western approaches towards the world


DEFINITION
• Islamic worldview deals with the basic fundamental questions of life, realities around us in the universe, man and others.

Definition
• It is the way one perceives the world around him, views his position in it.
• A comprehensive conception of the world from a particular standpoint.
• A set of attitudes on a wide range of fundamental matters.
DIFFERENT VIEWS TOWARDS THE WORLD:
• Weak Creature
• A Place of sufferings
• Place of enjoyment
• Life is a sin
• No freedom
• Totally Free
• Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists
• Islamic concept
Weak Creature
• Some groups viewed human being as a weak creature and is powerless in front of all other creatures.
• Therefore, he vows before all creatures.
A Place of sufferings
• It is a place full of sufferings. People get happy to become sad later. They enjoy life to face sufferings.
• Therefore, they abstained totally from the world and its activities and engaged in a life of asceticism.
Place of enjoyment
• Others view it as a place full of enjoyment and happiness for a very short span of time.
• He should keep himself away from the aspect of distress so that he could enjoy life fully and utilize it properly.
• Once he dies, everything finishes. There is no life after death or no retribution or accountability afterwards.
Life is a sin
• Human being is born full of sins. Life in the world is also full of sins.
• He who wants success in the Hereafter, should abstain from the enjoyments and luxuries of the world.
• If he engages in the worldly enjoyment, then there is no place for him in the Heavenly kingdom.
• Man’s sins are forgiven by the sacrifice of a noble man.
No freedom
• He does not have any freedom, and is totally bound by the natural laws.
• All are predetermined, and the humans are just acting like the “actors” in the plays and dramas to fulfill the Divine Will.
Totally Free
• Others view that he is totally free to do whatever he wants to. There is no law or force which controls his activities.
• He is the owner of the worldly affairs.
• He is not accountable to any power or authority beyond his own government or conscience.
Atheists, Agnostics and Humanists
• Atheists: reject God’s existence.
• Agnostics: do not know whether God exists, and they do not care.
• Humanists: Humans know better what is good or bad for them. They reject any laws claimed to have been from divine sources.
Islamic concept
• Islam views the world not as a place of full enjoyment, nor a place full of sufferings;
• Human being is not a weak creature, nor he is powerful than all the rest;
• Neither the life is full of sins, nor it is perfectly holy;


• nor he is totally free or totally chained by some other beings.
• Islam follows a middle course of action, upon which is based Islamic Worldview.
BASIC ELEMENTS OF WORLDVIEW
• a) Conception of life
• b) Purpose of life
• c) Fundamental creeds and beliefs
• d) Moral trainings for Individuals
• e) Social system
CONCEPTION OF LIFE
• A worldview should give a clear conception of life.
• What is the meaning of life?
• How does he look towards the world?
• What is his role in the world?
PURPOSE OF LIFE
• What is the main purpose and objective of life?
• Why should he strive for? Was it to attain the luxuries, comforts, apartments and beautiful cars and wives?
FUNDAMENTAL CREEDS AND BELIEFS
• What are the fundamental beliefs that Islam wants its followers to adopt and build his character based on them?
• This aspect has a major role to play in shaping the character and personality of a person
MORAL TRAINING FOR INDIVIDUALS
• What a training given to its individuals?
• What kind of values should each and every individual adopt in their personal lives?
• What are the moral attributes, characters it wants to instill in the minds of the people?
SOCIAL SYSTEM/ INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
• What are the responsibilities of each and every individual towards each other?
• What relations they should have towards each other?
• His relation towards his family, parents, brothers, friends and others.
THREE FAMOUS WORLDVIEWS
• A) SCIENTIFIC
• B) PHILOSOPHICAL
• C) RELIGIOUS
SCIENTIFIC WORLD-VIEW:
• It is based on two things:
• Hypothesis, and ii) Experiment
• Scientist forms a hypothesis first, and then proceeds with experiment in the lab. If the experiment proves the hypothesis, it becomes a scientific phenomenon.

• Science is engaged in discovering Cause and Effect. Then it pursues the cause of that cause and the effect of that effect, as far as possible.
• Sun moves or static?
• Lately, the scientists found that ‘Sun’ together with all other planets are circling around the galaxy ‘Milky Way’, and the galaxy also rotates around an axis clockwise.


• وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَهَا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ(38)وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّى عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ(39)لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنْبَغِي لَهَا أَنْ تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ وَلَا اللَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ(40) يس.
ADVANTAGES
• It is exact, precise and discriminating.
• It is able to give thousands of data about slight being.
• It acquaints man with special laws of every being, and to dominate that being.
• It brings about industry and technology.
SHORTCOMINGS
• Experiment based,
• Partial information,
• Unstable,
• Unable to answer questions.

• Experiment:
• The compass of science is limited to experiment. But can one bring all of being in all its aspects within the confines of experiment?
• It goes ahead with cause and effect, but at one point it must say, “I don’t know”.
• Example: Science is like a powerful searchlight which does not know beyond its reach.

• Partial Information
• Scientific World-view is the knowledge of the part, not of the whole.
• From Scientific perspective, Universe is like an old book the first and last pages of it have been lost.

• Unstable
• It is unstable, changeable. For, the hypothesis and experiment change day to day.
• A world-view cannot be based on such a shaky and inconsistent scientific world-view.

• Unable to answer questions
• Unable to answer some basic cosmological questions that every ideology or world-view should answer.
• Science is bound to fail in answering such a question. For, they cannot be subjected to experiment.
PHILOSOPHICAL WORLD-VIEW

• Philosophy is capable to give a world-view as the foundation of an ideology.
• It is stable - for it rests on a series of principles that are self-evident and undeniable to the mind, and are comprehensive and general in nature.
• It provides answers to the ideological questions raised by human mind.
DIFFERENCES
• Scientific world-view contributes to action by giving men the power and capacity to “change” and to “control” nature.
• So, nature becomes subservient to his desires.


• Philosophical World-view provides reasons for certain actions and criteria for human choice based on purpose of their life.
• It is influential in creating a perception of life towards Being and Universe.
• It furnishes a meaningful life or draws him into emptiness.
RELIGIOUS WORLD-VIEW
• Religious World-view and Philosophical World-view have some similarities, as both are stable, eternal and comprehensive. Both give emphasis on rational approach to deal with the issues.
Differences
• The difference between them is that the religious world-view is based on Revelation and Reason, whereas Philosophical World-view is based on reason alone.
• Religious world-view is accorded with sanctification of its sources and values, which lacked in Philosophical World-view.