THE ISLAMIC WORLDVIEW
(UNGS 2030)
STANDARD CONTENTS
The Meaning of Worldview
• ‘Worldview’ is an English translation of the German term “Weltanschauung”.
• It is rendered in Arabic as
رؤية الإسلام للوجود
Worldview Defined:
• A set of attitudes on a wide range of fundamental matters.
• A comprehensive set of propositions about various aspects of the world.
• A unified and comprehensive view of the world around us and man’s place within it.
• Basic assumptions and images that provide a more or less coherent, though not necessarily accurate, way of thinking about the world.
• A worldview is a profile of the way the people within a specified culture live, act, think, work and relate. It is a “map” or culture’s social, religious, economic and political views and relationships
Worldview Structures & Development
IMPACT OF WORLDVIEWS
• Helps to know peoples and cultures comprehensively
• Helps us to interact with nature, individuals, peoples, nations, cultures and civilizations
3. Helps us to correct our own values, perspectives, attitudes and behaviours
4. Helps us to formulate theories of politics, sociology, culture, etc.
• A worldview encapsulates answers regarding broad questions of "life understanding." These questions are lifetime concerns and sources of anxiety. They involve fundamental matters, expressed in the form of queries. Here are some examples of ongoing human concerns:
Fundamental Questions addressed by worldview
• How far out does the universe go? Did it have a beginning and will it have an end?
• How was it that we humans came about here on earth?
• Does life have a purpose? If it does, what can give meaning to my life?
• Does my daily conduct matter in the long run?
• What happens to me at my death?
• What is good and what is bad? How can I know the good and the bad?
• How should I be treating others?
• How can I know?
• Worldview influences all aspects of life
• Some worldviews such as Islam cover all aspects of life including the personal, social, economic, political, cultural, civilization besides dealing with spiritual, moral, and Aqidah issues.
• But there are other worldviews which focus only on spiritual, material, social, or economic aspects of human life.
• Any worldview should be able to answer the ultimate questions not necessary correct answers but at least consistent
The Definition of Islamic worldview
• “ a metaphysical survey of the visible as well as the invisible worlds including the perspective of life as a whole”. Al-Attas in “Islam and the Challenge of Modernity, p. 27.
• Islamic worldview encompasses the issues of universe, creator, prophethood, society, man, and hereafter.
• It is not a worldview that is formed merely by amalgamation or historical concoction of various cultural values. Rather, it is a well established framework derived from the revelation and interpreted by Muslim scholars throughout Islamic history
• This frame of reference provides us with correct and consistent answers to the ultimate questions pertinent to the issues of God, unseen, man, universe, and life. It also guides man as a vicegerent of Allah to the correct belief system, shari‘ah, and ethical values.
• The worldview of Islam encompasses both al-dunia ( الدنيا ) and al-akhirah ( الآخرة ) in which the dunia aspect must be inextricably linked to the akhirah aspect, and in which the akhirah aspect has ultimate and final significance.
The Main Elements of Islamic worldview
• The Conception:
• of God;
• of Revelation (i.e. the Qur’an);
• of God’s Creation;
• of man and the psychology of human soul;
• of knowledge;
• of religion
• of freedom;
• of values and virtues;
• And of happiness.
Al-Attas, . Ibid, 29
The Objectives of Islamic worldview
• To provide the Muslims with the true knowledge and explanation about the world seen and unseen as they are explained in the Qura'n.
• To teach people the way and method how to achieve the main values of Islam in human life.
• To establish the fundamental ethical precepts, such as justice, freedom, trust, and dignity of human life and existence.
Western Perception of Worldview
• Most of the western perceptions of worldview rely more on our existing reality, experience and life. They don’t give much consideration to the issues related to the unseen world and hereafter.
• Most of the western perceptions of worldview consider it as assumption, but this is not true from an Islamic perspective because in Islam, we consider it as a system and truth derived from revelation.
• Most of the western perceptions of worldview consider it as a product of culture and experience. According to them, religion itself is produced by people and culture.
• In the Muslim perspective, Islam or Islamic worldview is not a cultural product of Arab, Indian, or Malay. It is rather derived from the revealed word of God without corruption and change. This revelation is then understood by Muslims through their different cultural backgrounds and experiences.
• worldview of Islam comprises both al-dunya and al-Akhirah aspects, in which the dunya-aspect must be related profoundly to the Akhirah-aspect, and in which the Akhirah-aspect has ultimate and final significance.
• On the basis of this epistemological and anthological premise, Al-Attas defines the Islamic worldview as follows:
• worldview is: the vision of reality and truth that appears before our mind’s eye revealing what existence is all about; for it is the world of existence in its totality that Islam is projecting…The Islamic view of reality and truth, which is a: metaphysical survey of the visible and invisible worlds including the perspective of life as a whole, is not a worldview that is formed merely by the gathering together of various cultural objects, values and phenomena into artificial coherence
• Nor is it one that is formed gradually through a historical process of philosophical speculation and scientific discovery, which must of necessity be left vague and open-ended for future change and alteration in line with paradigms that change in correspondence with changing circumstances.
• It is not a worldview that undergoes a dialectical process of transformation repeated through the ages, from thesis to anti-thesis then synthesis
Classification of Worldview
Another classification
Religious worldview
• There is a universal spirit, god, deity or divine entity
• This divinity has established an eternal moral order that, in part at least, can be known to human beings
• People have the duty to follow eternal moral dictates
• This human conduct has long-term (beyond individual death) significance.
Characteristics of Religious Worldview
• The Religious worldview considers both the world of seen and unseen. It is comprehensive in its perception of the world. It does not undermine any dimension of reality and existence
• Its basis is on the scripture or ‘sacred’, revealed or non-revealed text.
• It is more stable than the scientific and philosophical worldview, in terms of having certain and unchangeable principles of belief system and ethical system.
• The Religious worldview in general imparts to our life the sense of responsibility, meaning, and purpose. This means that life and the existence has a meaning and a purpose. Therefore, it makes our life as a responsibility towards God, and towards other people.
Philosophical worldview
• It derives from philosophy and it means to deal with fundamental questions of life.
• It uses logical reasoning, deduction, induction , mathematic and speculation.
• The Philosophical worldview is more wider in its scope than the scientific worldview. It deals with issues of philosophical and metaphysical world.
• It attempts to give a meaning to creation and life. It does not have the exactness of sciences but it instills in ourselves a sense and meaning.
• Its results and findings are not precise and measurable like scientific worldview’s but they open new ways for human beings to think beyond their physical world.
Main Characteristic
• It is more comprehensive than the scientific worldview, because it deals with physical and metaphysical realties.
• If scientific worldview deals only with certain part of the universe, the Philosophical worldview deals with the entire existence and the universe.
Materialism
• Materialism is a theory that physical matter is the only or fundamental reality and that all beings and processes and phenomena can be explained as manifestations or results of matter.
• Materialism excludes the existence of entities that are radically different from or superior to the matter of our ordinary experience.
• In materialistic worldview, only matter matters. Everything that is not physical and material is not accepted.
• It rejects, therefore, the existence of God or gods on whom the universe would depend for its existence or mode of operation; it denies the existence of angels or spirit; it questions the notion of a soul, if taken to be immaterial entity separable, in principle, from the human body.
• Its two main targets are therefore theism and dualistic views of human nature.
• It negates the existence of all that doesn’t fall within the framework of change and transformation and is not perceivable by sense organs
• All knowledge of the world and of society must be based on sense experience and ultimately on science.
• Like positivism, materialism lays stress on science as the only legitimate source of knowledge about the causalities of the world
Postmodernism
• Belief that individuals are merely constructs of social forces, that there is no transcendent truth that can be known; a rejection of any one worldview or explanation of reality as well as a rejection of the reality of objective truth.
• A view which, for example, stresses the priority of the social to the individual; which rejects the universalizing tendencies of philosophy; which prizes irony over knowledge; and which gives the irrational equal footing with the rational in our decision procedures all fall under the postmodern umbrella.
• A cultural and intellectual trend of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries characterized by emphasis on the ideas of the decenteredness of meaning, the value and autonomy of the local and the particular, the infinite possibilities of the human existence, and the coexistence.
• Postmodernism claims to address the sense of despair and fragmentation of modernism through its efforts at reconfiguring the broken pieces of the modern world into a multiplicity of new social, political, and cultural arrangements
Seven principles and characteristics of postmodernism
No absolute truth, truth is relative, contingency is everything. The ONLY ABSOLUTE TRUTH is that there are NO ABSOLUTE TRUTHS (Feyerabend)
No reality: there is no ultimate reality behind things: we see largely what want to see, what our position in time and place allows us to see…
Only Simulacrum: Imagination and speculation
Meaningless and valueless.
Total Doubt
Multiplicities of truth, ethnicities, cultures …
Equal representation for class gender sexual orientation
Secularism
• The English word secular derives from the Latin word saeculum, meaning “this present age”, “this world” of change as opposed to the eternal “religious world”.
• It is defined as “the liberation of man from religious and metaphysical tutelage, the turning of his attention away from other worlds and towards this one.”
Components of secularization
• Disenchantment of nature
– freeing of nature from its religious overtones. Nature is not a divine entity.
– This provides an absolute condition for the development of natural science. However highly developed a culture’s powers of observation, however refined its equipment for measuring, no real scientific breakthrough is possible until man can face the natural world unafraid.
• Desacralization of politics
– No one rules by divine right.
– Significant political and social change is almost impossible in societies in which the ruling regime is directly legitimated by religious symbols.
• Deconsecration (relativization) of values
– The disappearance of securely grounded values
– There are no longer the direct expression of the divine will.
– They have ceased to be values and have become valuations
Scientific worldview
• It is based on the premises and findings of science,
• Science is the source of all explanations pertaining to the issues of creation, life, men, and other issues
• Based on 4 important foundations:
– Materialism, logical positivism, empiricism, skepticism
The main steps of scientific method
• Identify the problem or question through observation
• Propose hypotheses and assumptions that should explain the problem posed
• Collect data and information
• Test the hypotheses. If any of hypotheses are wrong reject it, or modify it, or replace it until you get the correct one.
• If your hypotheses are correct. You accept and provide a full explanation of the problem. Repeat the test in similar situations and if the result is the same, then you may proceed to construct a scientific theory. The latter provides a consistent and rational explanation of the phenomenon or the problem. If this scientific theory stands and resists many tests, then it becomes scientific law.
• The fact usually remains intact for long period of time but they can be questioned with development of human understanding and the new data and tool of research. And once a fact is questioned the process of research takes the same course as mentioned above.
Positive and Negative Aspects of Scientific Method
• Because it is based on experiment and empirical research, its findings are more exact and authentic and they can be verified through using statistic, mathematics, and measurement.
• However, these exact results only apply to a certain part of our existence, the physical world. The scientific worldview cannot give us exact and authentic knowledge or interpretation of the metaphysical world.
• Therefore, the scientific worldview is not capable of providing comprehensive and consistent explanation of the entire world.
• The Scientific worldview is very important, because it allows human reason to exercise its ability and to produce knowledge in many fields.
• The Scientific worldview also allows man to discover many laws and pattern of God in the universe.
• However, the scientific worldview passes its limitation when it gives human senses and reason a role beyond their capacities. In scientific worldview, Aql and senses become the only source of knowledge that can be accepted; any other source including revelation cannot be accepted.
• Scientific worldview allowed the human mind to produce industries, sciences and technologies. It opened many ways for human mind to exploit nature and discover its laws.
• However, the scientific worldview failed to protect man and nature from destruction. One of the main reasons of this attitude of scientific worldview is because it undermines the moral, ethical, and religious factors.
• According to the scientific worldview, the only sources of knowledge are reason, experiment, nature, senses, and human experience. It does not consider revealed knowledge as a source of knowledge that can provide guidance to people and answer their questions. In this sense, the scientific worldview was unable to discover the sense and role of morality in human life.
The place of man in the mechanistic-materialistic view is clearly portrayed by Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) in the 1903:
The philosophy of nature is one thing, the philosophy of value is quite another….Undoubtedly we are part of nature, which has produced our desires, our hopes and fears, in accordance with laws which the physicist is beginning to discover. In this sense we are part of nature, we are subordinated to nature, the outcome of natural laws, and their victims in the long run… But in the philosophy of values the situation is reversed… We are ourselves the ultimate and irrefutable arbiters of values and in the world of value Nature is only a part…In this realm we are the kings, and we debase our kingship if we bow down to Nature. It is for us to determine the good life, not for nature – not even for Nature personified as God.
• Therefore, the scientific worldview failed to give meaning to life and existence. It only gives power of controlling nature, but it lacks the sense of meaning to our life. Therefore, the scientific worldview should adopt new approaches which involve values, moralities, and ethics in the process of scientific research.
General Overview of Islam and Its main Characteristics
• Islam: Salm or Silm, from which Islam derives its root, means submission, surrender, safety/protection and peace.
• As a religion, Islam stands for “complete submission and obedience to Allah”. It is the religion of Allah (S.W.T) which is revealed to mankind.
• It was so named by God. (Qur’an, المائدة: 3)
• Yet islam as a total submission has been the name of religions brought by early God’s messengers.
Four Meanings of Islam الإسلام
• There are four basic meanings for the word islam (as submission), moving from the broadest to the narrowest:
The submission of the whole of creation to its Creator (3:83;
The submission of human beings to the guidance of God as revealed through the prophets (3:85;
The submission of human beings to the guidance of God as revealed through the prophet Muhammad (5:3;
The submission of the followers of Prophet Muhammad to God’s practical instructions.
Only the third of these can properly be translated as Islam with an uppercase Islam
Islam also means ‘peace’ and this signifies that one can achieve real peace of body and of mind only through submission and obedience to Allah. Such life of obedience brings in peace of the heart and established real peace in the society at large.
• Every Muslim has to utter this word at least 5 times a day at the end of each of the five daily prayers.
• Always every Muslim salutes one another with: al-Salamu ‘alaykum, meaning ‘peace be unto you.
• Not only in this world would the Muslim exchange this salutation but also in the hereafter “and ‘Peace’ will be their greeting therein” (Qur’an, 10:10).
• Allah (swt) calls into the abode of Peace (Qur’an, 10:25).
• Paradise is nothing but the abode of peace “They shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourses. Only the saying: ‘Peace, Peace” (Qur’an, 56:25-26).
• Muslims are enjoined to enter into peace wholeheartedly (Qur’an, 2:208).
• In fact, the enjoinment of peace is not just within the Muslims but extended to non-Muslim communities (Qur’an, 8:61)
الإيمان: al-Iman
• Iman is the state of security and safety that a person enjoys when he is attached to his creator
• Technically:
• Iman is the belief in the main articles of the Islamic faith:
– Believe in God and his attributes and names بالله الإيمان
– Believe in angels بالملائكة
– Believe in books بالكتب
– Believe in prophethood بالرسل
– Believe in hereafter الأخر باليوم
– Believe in predestinationوالقدر بالقضاء
الإحسان al-Ihsan
• Everything we do should be put in Ihsan form, that is, in beautiful manner.
• In Had'ith : ( أُعبد الله كَأنّكَ تراهُ فإِنّ لم تَكُن تَراهُ فإِنهُ يَراكَ )
“Ihsan means to worship Allah as if you see Him, or if you don’t see Him, He is seeing you”.
• It also means: to do, or worship Allah in the manner He likes.
• To fear Allah and be certain that He is present, and watching every deed, and everything one does.
• Ihsan in the Qur’anic context\
• “ ذَلِكَ عَالِمُ الغَيبِ والشَّهَادَةِ العَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ لذَّي أَحسَنَ كُلَّ شَيءٍ خَلَقَهُ وَبَدَأَ خَلقَ الإِنسَانِ مِن طِين “ (32:6-7).
– In this verse, if God does what is beautiful through creating and making everything, including men, beautiful, then man has the obligation to do what is beautiful particularly in his relation with Allah and with other creature.
• Ihsan is everything in our life and in fact, when we become Muhsinin, we become protectorate servants of Allah (S.W.T).
• “ إِنَّ اللهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوا وَّالَّذِينَ هُم مُّحسِنُون “ (16:128).
In this verse, Allah promises support to those who beautify their deeds.
• وَأَحسِنُوا إِنَّ اللهَ يُحِبُّ المُحسِنين (2:195).
This verse, Ihsan is related to Allah, to what we do in all our life.
• “ وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهدِيَنَّهُم سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللهَ لَمَعَ المُحسِنِين “ (29:69).
– In this verse, Allah makes Ihsan as a condition for providing guidance to us and showing us the right path, the right way and correct deed which will make us successful in Dunia (الدنيا ) and Akhirah ( الآخرة ).
• وَمَن أَحسَنُ دِيناً مِّمَّن أَسلَمَ وَجهَهُ للهِ وَهُوَ مُحسِنٌ وَاتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفا “ (4:125).
– In this verse, Ihsan is linked with the perfect and correct religion the most perfect person in the religion is the one who is Muhsin, meaning he does things in very beautiful manner.
Hadith Jibril on Islam, Iman and Ihsan
On the authority of Omar, who said : One day while we were sitting with the messenger of Allah there appeared before us a man whose clothes were exceedingly white and whose hair was exceedingly black; no signs of journeying were to be seen on him and none of us knew him. He walked up and sat down by the prophet. Resting his knees against his and placing the palms of his hands on his thighs, he said:"O Muhammed, tell me about Islam".
The messenger of Allah said: "Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and Muhammed is the messenger of Allah, to perform the prayers, to pay the zakat, to fast in Ramadhan, and to make the pilgrimage to the House if you are able to do so.“
• He said:"You have spoken rightly", and we were amazed at him asking him and saying that he had spoken rightly. He said: "Then tell me about iman.
• He said:"It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny, both the good and the evil thereof.“
• He said:"You have spoken rightly". He said: " Then tell me about ihsan.“
• He said: "It is to worship Allah as though you are seeing Him, and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you".
• He said: "Then tell me about the Hour".
• He said: "The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner.“
• He said: "Then tell me about its signs.“
• He said: "That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and that you will see the barefooted, naked, destitute herdsman competing in constructing lofty buildings.“
• Then he took himself off and I stayed for a time. Then he said: "O Omar, do you know who the questioner was?" I said: "Allah and His messenger know best". He said: "He was Jibril (Gabriel), who came to you to teach you your religion.” (Muslim)
Taqwa (تقوى)
• Taqwa is perhaps the most important single term in the Qur’an.
“And make provision for yourself; the best provision is taqwa". (Quran, 2:197).
• Taqwa is one of the many words in Islamic vocabularies whose exact equivalent cannot be found in English. It has been translated as "fear of Allah", "piety", "righteousness", "dutifulness" and "God-wariness",
• The word taqwa is derived from the Arabic root (waqa), whose verb signifies “to guard or protect against something.
• Taqwa has the sense of protecting oneself from moral peril, preserving one's virtue, and guarding oneself against the harmful or evil consequences of one’s conduct (and thus the displeasure of the Almighty).
• Taqwa is thus a kind of awareness or consciousness by means of which one protects oneself from sliding into evil.
• the Qur'an teaches that both the sinful tendency and taqwa are inspired into the soul of man by Allah. This is not to say that Allah inspires us to be sinful.
• One who has taqwa has wariness of associating others with Allah, wariness of sin and evil, and even wariness of that which is dubious.
• We learn from the Qur'an that the outward observance of ritual is not sufficient for taqwa.
• Taqwa thus seems to have practical social and political implications. It is not a meditative state which isolates one from the world, but a provision for finding one's way through the world, which in its social and political dimensions requires justice and fairness.
• Indeed, the historian, Marshall Hodgson. attributes the success of early Islamic civilization not to favorable economic conditions or military power. but to the Taqwa of the Muslims
• The command issued to the believers "Ittaquallah", is a command to be vigilant over oneself with awareness of the presence of Allah, a religious form of the admonition "Watch Yourself" directed to one whose misbehavior is imminent.
Main Characteristics of Islam
• Divine nature of Islam ربانية
• Comprehensiveness الشمول
• Universality العالمية
• Moderation/Balance التوازن
Divine nature of Islam ربانية
• Its origin is from God
• It is based on the concept of the unity of God
• It was so named by God
• It calls people to the unity of lordship ( ربوبية ) , unity of worship ( ألوهية ) , and unity of names and attributes (والصفات وحدانية الأسماء).
Comprehensiveness الشمول
• It covers all aspects of life
• It deals with spiritual and material aspects, dunia ( دنيا )and akhirah ( آخرة ), seen and unseen, social, economic, political, and cultural, aspects of human life
• Islam contains many legislations with regard to personal and social lives as well as national and international aspects of human life. It covers ‘Ibadah, transaction, relation between man and man, between man and God, between man and the universe
• Comprehensiveness in belief system, ‘ibadah system, and moral code.
Universality العالمية
• Islam is not meant only for a particular group of people or a particular period of time, but it is addressed to all mankind, regardless of their social strata, races, colors, languages, cultures, and civilizations.
• There is a unity of religion within a diversity of cultures and ways of implementing the teaching of Islam.
Giving things their due measures التوازن
in:
• Human nature
• Human needs
• Belief system
• Ritual
• Islam is a religion that gives to each aspect of human life its due without any imbalance or exaggeration. The material, social, spiritual, cultural, and intellectual aspects of human life are treated in a balance manner.
• Islam never asks people to focus only on the spiritual dimension or on the material dimension of their life. But it puts each dimension in its right place and legislates the necessary instruction to fulfill and meet the need of that particular dimension of human life.
• وابتغ فيما أتاك الله الدار الآخرة ولا تنسى نصيبك من الدنيا
But seek, with the (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good, as Allah has been good to thee, and seek not (occasions for) mischief in the land: for Allah loves not those who do mischief."
Michael Hart in The 100, A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History' New York, 1978
• My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the secular and religious level. ...It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on Christianity. ...It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history
For the sake of Allah
Saturday, July 21, 2007
UNGS 2050 : lecture
Things which nullify one’s Islam
Following are some beliefs and deeds that may nullify one’s Islam. Every Muslim should be aware of them and do his best to avoid them.
1. Associating partners with Allah (shirk). Allah (swt) says:
إِنَّهُ مَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ(72)
“Truly, whosoever sets up partners with Allah, them Allah has forbidden the Garden for him, and the fire will be his abode. And for the wrongdoers there are no helpers.” (5: 72)
Calling upon the dead, asking their help, or offering them gifts or sacrifices are all form of shirk.
2. Setting up intermediaries in this life between oneself and Allah, making supplication to them, asking their intercession with Allah, and placing ones trust in them is a kind of shirk.
3. Not considering the polytheists (mushrikeen) to be unbelievers, or feeling doubt concerning their unbelief, or considering their religions to be correct.
4. Believing that any guidance is more perfect than the revelation of Allah and the Sunnah of Prophet. This applies to those who prefer the rule of Evil (Taghout) to the Prophet’s rule. Some examples of this are:
(a) To believe that systems and laws made by human beings are better than the Shariah of Islam; for example:
- That the principles of Islamic jurisprudence / law are not suitable for modern life.
- That Islam is the cause of the backwardness of the Muslims.
- That Islam is a mere relationship between Allah and people; and it should not interfere in other aspects of life.
(b) To believe that something which was definitely prohibited by Islam is permissible, such as adultery, drinking alcohol or usury … etc.
(c) To believe that something which was definitely enjoined by Islam is not an obligation, such as Prayers, Fasting, hijab (Islamic dress for women) ….etc.
5. Anyone who hates any part what the Messenger of Allah (saw) has declared to be lawful has nullified his Islam, even though he may act in accordance with it. Allah (swt) says regarding hypocrites:
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَرِهُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ(9)
“This is because they hate what Allah has sent down, so he has made their deed fruitless.” (47:9)
6. Anyone who ridicules any aspect of Islam, or any of its rewards or punishments, becomes an unbeliever. Allah (swt) says :
قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ(65)لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ
Say: "Was it at Allah, and His Signs, and His Messenger, that ye were mocking?" . Make no excuses: you have rejected Faith after you had believed it.” (9: 65-66)
7. The practice of magic that is causing a rift between a husband and wife by turning his love for her into hatred, or tempting a person to do things he dislikes using black arts. One who engages in such a thing by practicing or seeking it is considered to be outside the fold of Islam. Allah (swt) says:
وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولَا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ
“ But neither of these two (angels, Harut and Marut) taught anyone (magic) till they had said: "Indeed ,we are only a trial; then do not disbelieve." (2: 102)
عن أبى هريرة رضى الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: اجتنبوا الموبقات الشرك بالله والسحر" (البخارى)
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said: “Avoid the Mubiqat (gross sins), i.e shirk and witchcraft.”
In this tradition witchcraft id combined with shirk. This indicates that they may carry the same rule and consequences.
8. Supporting and aiding polytheist against the Muslims. Allah (swt) says:
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ(51)
“Whoever among you takes them (Jews and Christians) as allies is surely one of them. Truly, Allah does not give guide the wrongdoers.” (5: 51)
9. Anyone who believes that some people are permitted to deviate from the shari’ah of Muhammad (saw) is an unbeliever by the word of Allah Most High:
وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ الْخَاسِرِينَ(85)
“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be from among the losers.” (3: 85)
10. To turn completely away from the religion of Allah neither learning its precepts nor acting upon it. Allah (swt) says:
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ ذُكِّرَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِ ثُمَّ أَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا إِنَّا مِنْ الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُنتَقِمُونَ(22)
“ And who does greater wrong than he who is reminded of the revelations of his Lord and turns aside therefrom. Truly, We shall exact retribution from the guilty.” (32: 22)
It makes no difference whether such violations are committed as a joke or in seriousness except when they are done under compulsion. (i.e. from threat of loss of life). In this case, when it is done under compulsion, the doer will be forgiven.
Following are some beliefs and deeds that may nullify one’s Islam. Every Muslim should be aware of them and do his best to avoid them.
1. Associating partners with Allah (shirk). Allah (swt) says:
إِنَّهُ مَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ(72)
“Truly, whosoever sets up partners with Allah, them Allah has forbidden the Garden for him, and the fire will be his abode. And for the wrongdoers there are no helpers.” (5: 72)
Calling upon the dead, asking their help, or offering them gifts or sacrifices are all form of shirk.
2. Setting up intermediaries in this life between oneself and Allah, making supplication to them, asking their intercession with Allah, and placing ones trust in them is a kind of shirk.
3. Not considering the polytheists (mushrikeen) to be unbelievers, or feeling doubt concerning their unbelief, or considering their religions to be correct.
4. Believing that any guidance is more perfect than the revelation of Allah and the Sunnah of Prophet. This applies to those who prefer the rule of Evil (Taghout) to the Prophet’s rule. Some examples of this are:
(a) To believe that systems and laws made by human beings are better than the Shariah of Islam; for example:
- That the principles of Islamic jurisprudence / law are not suitable for modern life.
- That Islam is the cause of the backwardness of the Muslims.
- That Islam is a mere relationship between Allah and people; and it should not interfere in other aspects of life.
(b) To believe that something which was definitely prohibited by Islam is permissible, such as adultery, drinking alcohol or usury … etc.
(c) To believe that something which was definitely enjoined by Islam is not an obligation, such as Prayers, Fasting, hijab (Islamic dress for women) ….etc.
5. Anyone who hates any part what the Messenger of Allah (saw) has declared to be lawful has nullified his Islam, even though he may act in accordance with it. Allah (swt) says regarding hypocrites:
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَرِهُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ(9)
“This is because they hate what Allah has sent down, so he has made their deed fruitless.” (47:9)
6. Anyone who ridicules any aspect of Islam, or any of its rewards or punishments, becomes an unbeliever. Allah (swt) says :
قُلْ أَبِاللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ كُنتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِئُونَ(65)لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ
Say: "Was it at Allah, and His Signs, and His Messenger, that ye were mocking?" . Make no excuses: you have rejected Faith after you had believed it.” (9: 65-66)
7. The practice of magic that is causing a rift between a husband and wife by turning his love for her into hatred, or tempting a person to do things he dislikes using black arts. One who engages in such a thing by practicing or seeking it is considered to be outside the fold of Islam. Allah (swt) says:
وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولَا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ
“ But neither of these two (angels, Harut and Marut) taught anyone (magic) till they had said: "Indeed ,we are only a trial; then do not disbelieve." (2: 102)
عن أبى هريرة رضى الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: اجتنبوا الموبقات الشرك بالله والسحر" (البخارى)
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said: “Avoid the Mubiqat (gross sins), i.e shirk and witchcraft.”
In this tradition witchcraft id combined with shirk. This indicates that they may carry the same rule and consequences.
8. Supporting and aiding polytheist against the Muslims. Allah (swt) says:
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ(51)
“Whoever among you takes them (Jews and Christians) as allies is surely one of them. Truly, Allah does not give guide the wrongdoers.” (5: 51)
9. Anyone who believes that some people are permitted to deviate from the shari’ah of Muhammad (saw) is an unbeliever by the word of Allah Most High:
وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ الْخَاسِرِينَ(85)
“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be from among the losers.” (3: 85)
10. To turn completely away from the religion of Allah neither learning its precepts nor acting upon it. Allah (swt) says:
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ ذُكِّرَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِ ثُمَّ أَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا إِنَّا مِنْ الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُنتَقِمُونَ(22)
“ And who does greater wrong than he who is reminded of the revelations of his Lord and turns aside therefrom. Truly, We shall exact retribution from the guilty.” (32: 22)
It makes no difference whether such violations are committed as a joke or in seriousness except when they are done under compulsion. (i.e. from threat of loss of life). In this case, when it is done under compulsion, the doer will be forgiven.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
UNGS 2030 : Secularism - (Required Reading)
Secularism
Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi
From 'Al-Hulul al Mustawradah wa Kayfa Jaat `alaa Ummatina'
("How the Imported Solutions Disastrously Affected Our Ummah"), pp 113-4
Secularism may be accepted in a Christian society but it can never enjoy a general acceptance in an Islamic society. Christianity is devoid of a shari`ah or a comprehensive system of life to which its adherents should be committed. The New Testament itself divides life into two parts: one for God, or religion, the other for Caesar, or the state: "Render unto Caesar things which belong to Caesar, and render unto God things which belong to God" (Matthew 22:21). As such, a Christian could accept secularism without any qualms of conscience. Furthermore, Westerners, especially Christians, have good reasons to prefer a secular regime to a religious one. Their experience with "religious regimes" - as they knew them - meant the rule of the clergy, the despotic authority of the Church, and the resulting decrees of excommunication and the deeds of forgiveness, i.e. letters of indulgence.
For Muslim societies, the acceptance of secularism means something totally different; i.e. as Islam is a comprehensive system of worship (`ibadah) and legislation (Shari`ah), the acceptance of secularism means abandonment of Shari`ah, a denial of the divine guidance and a rejection of Allah’s injunctions; It is indeed a false claim that Shariah is not proper to the requirements of the present age. The acceptance of a legislation formulated by humans means a preference of the humans’ limited knowledge and experiences to the divine guidance: "Say! Do you know better than Allah?" (2:140).
For this reason, the call for secularism among Muslims is atheism and a rejection of Islam. Its acceptance as a basis for rule in place of Shari`ah is downright riddah. The silence of the masses in the Muslim world about this deviation has been a major transgression and a clear-cut instance of disobedience which have produces a sense of guilt, remorse, and inward resentment, all of which have generated discontent, insecurity, and hatred among committed Muslims because such deviation lacks legality. Secularism is compatible with the Western concept of God which maintains that after God had created the world, He left it to look after itself. In this sense, God’s relationship with the world is like that of a watchmaker with a watch: he makes it then leaves it to function without any need for him. This concept is inherited from Greek philosophy, especially that of Aristotle who argued that God neither controls nor knows anything about this world. This is a helpless God as described by Will Durant. There is no wonder that such a God leaves people to look after their own affairs. How can He legislate for them when He is ignorant of their affairs? This concept is totally different from that of Muslims. We Muslims believe that Allah (SWT) is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the Worlds. One Who "…takes account of every single thing) (72:28); that He is omnipotent and omniscient; that His mercy and bounties encompasses everyone and suffice for all. In that capacity, Allah (SWT) revealed His divine guidance to humanity, made certain things permissible and others prohibited, commanded people observe His injunctions and to judge according to them. If they do not do so, then they commit kufr, aggression, and transgression."
Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi
From 'Al-Hulul al Mustawradah wa Kayfa Jaat `alaa Ummatina'
("How the Imported Solutions Disastrously Affected Our Ummah"), pp 113-4
Secularism may be accepted in a Christian society but it can never enjoy a general acceptance in an Islamic society. Christianity is devoid of a shari`ah or a comprehensive system of life to which its adherents should be committed. The New Testament itself divides life into two parts: one for God, or religion, the other for Caesar, or the state: "Render unto Caesar things which belong to Caesar, and render unto God things which belong to God" (Matthew 22:21). As such, a Christian could accept secularism without any qualms of conscience. Furthermore, Westerners, especially Christians, have good reasons to prefer a secular regime to a religious one. Their experience with "religious regimes" - as they knew them - meant the rule of the clergy, the despotic authority of the Church, and the resulting decrees of excommunication and the deeds of forgiveness, i.e. letters of indulgence.
For Muslim societies, the acceptance of secularism means something totally different; i.e. as Islam is a comprehensive system of worship (`ibadah) and legislation (Shari`ah), the acceptance of secularism means abandonment of Shari`ah, a denial of the divine guidance and a rejection of Allah’s injunctions; It is indeed a false claim that Shariah is not proper to the requirements of the present age. The acceptance of a legislation formulated by humans means a preference of the humans’ limited knowledge and experiences to the divine guidance: "Say! Do you know better than Allah?" (2:140).
For this reason, the call for secularism among Muslims is atheism and a rejection of Islam. Its acceptance as a basis for rule in place of Shari`ah is downright riddah. The silence of the masses in the Muslim world about this deviation has been a major transgression and a clear-cut instance of disobedience which have produces a sense of guilt, remorse, and inward resentment, all of which have generated discontent, insecurity, and hatred among committed Muslims because such deviation lacks legality. Secularism is compatible with the Western concept of God which maintains that after God had created the world, He left it to look after itself. In this sense, God’s relationship with the world is like that of a watchmaker with a watch: he makes it then leaves it to function without any need for him. This concept is inherited from Greek philosophy, especially that of Aristotle who argued that God neither controls nor knows anything about this world. This is a helpless God as described by Will Durant. There is no wonder that such a God leaves people to look after their own affairs. How can He legislate for them when He is ignorant of their affairs? This concept is totally different from that of Muslims. We Muslims believe that Allah (SWT) is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the Worlds. One Who "…takes account of every single thing) (72:28); that He is omnipotent and omniscient; that His mercy and bounties encompasses everyone and suffice for all. In that capacity, Allah (SWT) revealed His divine guidance to humanity, made certain things permissible and others prohibited, commanded people observe His injunctions and to judge according to them. If they do not do so, then they commit kufr, aggression, and transgression."
Monday, July 16, 2007
UNGS 2030 : Topics for group presentation
TOPICS FOR PRESENTATION AND ASSIGNMENT for UNGS 2030
THE APPLICATION OF ISLAMIC SYSTEM.
1. Family
- Pre-marriage
- Partner selection
- Right and duties – husband, wife, parents and children.
- Pregnancy
- Divorce and talaq
- Inheritance
- Education
2. Social
- Neighbourhood
- Justice
- Khalifah @ Amanah
- Social welfare @ justice.
i. Compulsory act ; zakat, rikaz, fai`, jizyah, sadaqah, fitrah , kaffarah, nazar
ii. Recommended act ; waqaf, wasiat, gift, hibbah, sadaqah, ithar.
3. Economy
- Islamic economy – theoretical foundations
- Islamic banking – comparison / characteristics.
- Islamic financial
- Islamic investment
- Islamic terms in banking; mudharabah , wadiah, bai’ bi al-ijarah , etc
- Islamic takaful
- Islamic insurance
- Islamic transaction (mualamat) ; transactions, al-rahn, wikalah, kafalah, khiyar, etc
- Baitul mal
- Capitalism
- Etc
4. Politic
- syura
- criteria of imam (leader)
- ministry (wazir)
- constitution ( sahifah madinah)
- wala`
- systems of administration : democracy , autocracy, republic, pragmatic, etc.
5. Law
- Islamic law
- Criminal law
- Hudud
- Qisas
- Ta’zir
- Objective of syariah (maqasid syar’iyyah)
- International laws
- Hisbah
-
6. Islamic characteristics
- Rabbaniyyah
- Syumuliyah (comprehensiveness)
- Waqi’iyyah (realistics)
- ‘Alamiyyah (universal)
- Tawazun (balanced)
- Murunah (flexibility)
- Etc
7. Contemporary issues
- liberalism
- feminism
- extremism
- hedonism
- apostasy
- globalization
- etc
8. ideology
- secularism
- materialism
- pragmatism
- nationalism
- atheism
- Darwinism
- Etc
9. others
- Tawhid ans its division
- eschatology
- sunnatullah in Allah’s creations.
- Etc
THE APPLICATION OF ISLAMIC SYSTEM.
1. Family
- Pre-marriage
- Partner selection
- Right and duties – husband, wife, parents and children.
- Pregnancy
- Divorce and talaq
- Inheritance
- Education
2. Social
- Neighbourhood
- Justice
- Khalifah @ Amanah
- Social welfare @ justice.
i. Compulsory act ; zakat, rikaz, fai`, jizyah, sadaqah, fitrah , kaffarah, nazar
ii. Recommended act ; waqaf, wasiat, gift, hibbah, sadaqah, ithar.
3. Economy
- Islamic economy – theoretical foundations
- Islamic banking – comparison / characteristics.
- Islamic financial
- Islamic investment
- Islamic terms in banking; mudharabah , wadiah, bai’ bi al-ijarah , etc
- Islamic takaful
- Islamic insurance
- Islamic transaction (mualamat) ; transactions, al-rahn, wikalah, kafalah, khiyar, etc
- Baitul mal
- Capitalism
- Etc
4. Politic
- syura
- criteria of imam (leader)
- ministry (wazir)
- constitution ( sahifah madinah)
- wala`
- systems of administration : democracy , autocracy, republic, pragmatic, etc.
5. Law
- Islamic law
- Criminal law
- Hudud
- Qisas
- Ta’zir
- Objective of syariah (maqasid syar’iyyah)
- International laws
- Hisbah
-
6. Islamic characteristics
- Rabbaniyyah
- Syumuliyah (comprehensiveness)
- Waqi’iyyah (realistics)
- ‘Alamiyyah (universal)
- Tawazun (balanced)
- Murunah (flexibility)
- Etc
7. Contemporary issues
- liberalism
- feminism
- extremism
- hedonism
- apostasy
- globalization
- etc
8. ideology
- secularism
- materialism
- pragmatism
- nationalism
- atheism
- Darwinism
- Etc
9. others
- Tawhid ans its division
- eschatology
- sunnatullah in Allah’s creations.
- Etc
UNGS 2030 : Required reading 1
Al-Tawhid
The Causes Responsible for Materialist tendencies in the West I of IV [1]
Translated from the Persian by Mujahid Husayn
Martyr Murtadha Mutahhari
(Vol XII and XIII)
Materialism:
The topic of the present study are the causes that lie behind materialist tendencies. Before we proceed with the discussion it is necessary that we first define the word 'materialism,' as a term current in common usage, and specify its exact meaning for the purpose of the present discussion.
The word 'materialism' has various usages and all of them are not relevant to our study while studying the cause for materialist inclinations. For example, at times 'materialism' is used to refer to the school of thought which asserts the principiality of matter in the sense that matter is something fundamental (asil) and real in the realm of existence and not something imaginary and mental, an appearance and a product of the mind. In this sense it is opposed to 'idealism' which negates the real existence of matter and considers it a mental construct. In this sense of materialism, we would have to categorize all theists, both Muslims as well as non-Muslims, as 'materialists,' because all of them consider matter-as a reality existing in space and time and subject to change, transformation, and evolution, and which is also perceivable and tangible-as an objective reality existing externally and independently of the mind and having its own properties. Being a 'materialist' in this sense does not contradict with the concept of God or monotheism. Rather, the material world and nature as a product of creation constitute the best means for knowing God. The workings of Divine will and wisdom are discovered in the transformations which take place in matter, and the Holy Qur'an, too, refers to material phenomena as the 'signs' of God.
Sometimes this word is used to imply the negation of supra-material being, as an exclusivist school of thought which considers existence and the realm of being as confined to matter, confining being to the realm of the changeable and limiting it to space and time. It negates the existence of all that does not fall within the framework of change and transformation and is not perceivable by the sense organs.
Our present discussion centres around the causes for inclining towards this exclusivist school of thought, and the reasons why a group of people became protagonists of this exclusivist and negative theory, negating God and imagining anything outside the ambit of the material world as non-existent.
Is Man by Nature a Theist or a Materialist?
This manner of posing the issue, i.e with the question 'What are the causes for inclining towards materialism?,' suggests that we claim that man by nature would not incline towards materialism, and that materialism is an unnatural tendency opposed to human nature (fitrah). And since it goes against the rule, it is necessary to seek its cause and to investigate the reasons which have led to the violation of the rule.
To put it more simply, it implies that faith in God is equivalent to the state of health, and the materialist tendency is equivalent to disease. One never asks about the reasons of health, because it is in accordance with the general course of nature. But if we come across a person or a group which is sick, we ask as to why they are sick. What is the cause of their illness?
This viewpoint of ours is completely opposed to the view usually expressed in books on history of religion. The writers of these books generally tend to pursue the question, 'Why did man develop the religious tendency?'
In our opinion, the religious tendency does not need to be questioned, because it is natural; rather, the question that needs to be examined is why do human beings develop tendencies towards irreligion?
Presently we do not intend to pursue the argument whether being religious is something natural and the lack of religion unnatural, or if the converse is true, because we see no need for doing so from the point of view of the main topic of our discussion.
However, it is worth noting that we do not mean that, as the monotheistic tendency is natural and innate (fitrah), no questions arise when the issue is dealt with at the intellectual and philosophical level. This is certainly not meant. This matter is just like every other issue that naturally- and despite affirmation by natural instinct-gives rise to questions, objections and doubts in the mind of a beginner when posed at the rational level, and satisfying answers to them are also available at that level.
Therefore, we neither intend to disregard the doubts and ambiguities which do in fact arise for individuals, nor do we consider them consequences of an evil disposition or ill-naturedness. Not at all. The emergence of doubts and ambiguities in this context, when someone seeks to solve all the problems related to this issue, is something natural and usual, and it is these doubts that impel human beings towards further quest. Accordingly we consider such doubts which result in further search for truth as sacred, because they constitute a prelude to the acquisition of certitude, faith, and conviction. Doubt is bad where it becomes an obsession and completely absorbs one's attention, as with some people whom we find enjoying the fact that they are able to have doubt concerning certain issues and who consider doubt and uncertainty to be the zenith of their intellectual achievement. Such a state is very dangerous, contrary to the former state which is a prelude to perfection. Therefore, we have said repeatedly that doubt is a good and necessary passage, but an evil station and destination.
Our present discussion concerns the individuals or groups who have made doubt their abode and final destination. In our opinion, materialism, although it introduces itself as a dogmatic school of thought, is in fact one of the sceptic schools. The Qur'an also takes this view of the materialists, and according to it they are, at best, beset with a number of doubts and conjectures, but in practice they flaunt them as knowledge and conviction. [2]
The Historical Background:
This mode of thinking is not new or modern. It should not be imagined that this mode of thought is a consequence of modern scientific and industrial developments and has emerged for the first time during the last one or two centuries, like many other scientific theories which did not exist earlier and were later discovered by man. No, the materialist thinking among human beings is not a phenomenon of the last few centuries, but is one of the ancient modes of thought. We read in the history of philosophy that many ancient Greek philosophers who preceded Socrates and his philosophical movement, were materialists and denied the supra-material.
Among the Arabs of the Jahillyyah contemporaneous to the Prophet's ministry there was a group with a similar belief, and the Qur'an, while confronting them, quotes and criticizes their statements:
They say, 'There is nothing but our present life; we die, and we live, and nothing but time destroys us.' (45:24).
This statement, which the Qur'an ascribes to a group of people, involves both the negation of God as well as the Hereafter.
Materialism in Islamic History:
The word 'dahr' means time. Due to this verse and the term dahr occurring in it, those who negated the existence of God were called 'dahriyyah' during the Islamic period. We encounter such people in Islamic history who were dhari and materialists (maddi), especially during the reign of the Abbassids, when various cultural and philosophical trends entered the Islamic world.
Due to the freedom of thought which prevailed during that period with respect to scientific, philosophical and religious ideas (of course, to the extent that it did not contradict the policies of the Abbassids), some individuals were formally known as materialists and atheists. These individuals debated with Muslims, with the adherents of other religions, and with believers in the existence of God, and presented their arguments and raised objections concerning the arguments of the monotheists. Thus they did enter into dialogue and freely expressed their beliefs, and we find their accounts recorded in Islamic works.
During the lifetime of Imam Sadiq, may Peace be upon him, there were certain individuals who used to gather inside the Prophet's Mosque and express such views. The book al-Tawhid al-Mufaddal is a product one of such episodes.
A companion of Imam Sadiq ('a) named al-Mufaddal ibn 'Umar narrates: "Once I was in the Prophet's Mosque. After prayer I became engrossed in thought about the Prophet (S) and his greatness. Just then 'Abd al-Karim ibn Abi al 'Awja', who was an atheist (zindiq), came and sat down at some distance. Later another person holding similar views pined him, and both of them started uttering blasphemies. They denied the existence of God and referred to the Prophet (S) simply as a great thinker and a genius and not as a Divine emissary and apostle who received revelations from an Unseen source. They said that he was a genius who presented his ideas as revelation in order to influence the people; otherwise there was no God, nor any revelation or resurrection."
Mufaddal, who was greatly disturbed on hearing their talk, abused them. Then he went to Imam Sadiq, may Peace be upon him, and narrated the incident. The Imam comforted him and told him that he would furnish him with arguments with which he could confront them and refute their views. Thereafter Imam Sadiq ('a) instructed Mufaddal in the course of a few long sessions and Mufaddal wrote down the Imam's teachings. This was how the book al-Tawhid al-Mufaddal came to be compiled.
Materialism in the Modern Age:
As we know, during the 18th and 19th centuries materialism took the form of a school of thought which it did not have earlier. That which is ascribed to some schools of ancient Greece does not have a proper basis. Usually the writers of history of philosophy do not know philosophy, and when they come across certain statements of some philosophers concerning the pre-eternity of matter or some other opinions of the kind, they imagine that this amounts to the negation of God and the supra-natural. It has not been established for us that there existed a materialist school of thought before the modern age. Rather, what did exist earlier in Greece and elsewhere were individual tendencies towards materialism.
However, this is what has led many people to suppose that perhaps there is some direct relation between the emergence of materialism as a school of thought and science and scientific advancements.
Of course, the materialists themselves make a great effort to present the matter as such, and they try to convince others that the cause of the growth and prevalence of materialism during the 18th and 19th centuries was the emergence of scientific theories and that it was the spread of science which resulted in mankind being drawn towards it. This observation resembles a joke more than any noteworthy fact.
The inclination towards materialism in ancient times existed both among the educated as well as the illiterate classes. In the modern age, too, the case is similar. Materialists can be found in all classes, and likewise there are theistic, spiritual and metaphysical inclinations in all classes and sections, especially among the learned. If what the materialists claim were true, in the same proportion that advances are made in science and great scientists are born in the world, there should be an increase in the inclination towards materialism among the scholarly class, and individuals possessing more scholarship should be greater materialists, while in fact this is not the case.
Today, we see on the one hand some well well-known personalities like Russell, who, to a large extent, present themselves as materialists. He says, "Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms." [3] Thus Russell rejects the existence of a conscious and intelligent power ruling the universe, although at other places he avers to be a skeptic and an agnostic. [4]
On the other hand, we find Einstein, the twentieth century scientific genius, expressing an opinion opposed to that of Russell; he says "You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a religious feeling of his own ... His religious feeling takes the form of rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work, in so far as he succeeds in keeping himself from the shackles of selfish desire. It is beyond question closely akin to that which has possessed the religious geniuses of all ages." [5]
Can it be said that Russell is familiar with the concepts of modern science whereas Einstein is ignorant of them? Or that a certain philosopher of the 18th or l9th century was familiar with the scientific concepts of his age whereas the theist Pasteur was unaware and ignorant of them?!
Or can we say that William James, the monotheist or rather the mystic of his time, Bergson, Alexis Carrell and other such thinkers were ignorant of the scientific ideas of their time and their thinking was in tune with the ideas of a thousand years ago, while a certain Iranian youth who does not possess a tenth of their knowledge and does not believe in God is familiar with the scientific ideas of his age?!
At times one sees two mathematicians, one of whom believes in God and religion while the other is a materialist, or for that matter two physicists, two biologists, or two astronomers, one with a materialist and the other with a theistic bent of mind.
Therefore, it is not that simple to say that the advent of science has made metaphysical issues obsolete. That would be a childish observation.
We need to centre our discussion more on the question as to what were the factors that led to the emergence of materialism as a school of thought in Europe, attracting a large number of followers, even though the 20th century, in contrast to the 18th and 19th centuries, saw a decline in the advance of materialism and in it materialism even met with a kind of defeat?
This large-scale drift has a series of historical and social causes which require to be studied. I have come across some of these causes during the course of my study which I shall mention here. Perhaps those who have done a closer study of social issues, especially in the area of European history, would identify other reasons and factors. Here I only intend to discuss the results of my study.
Inadequacies in the Religious Ideas of the Church
The Church, whether from the viewpoint of the inadequacy of its theological ideas, or its inhuman attitude towards the masses, especially towards the scholars and freethinkers, is one of the main causes for the drifting of the Christian world, and indirectly the non-Christian world, towards materialism.
We will analyze this factor in two sections:
1. Inadequacies in the ideas of the Church relating to God and the metaphysical.
2. The violent conduct of the Church.
Section 1:
In the Middle Ages when the clerics became the sole arbiters of issues relating to divinities, there emerged amongst them certain childish and inadequate ideas concerning God which were in no way consonant with reality. Naturally, these not only did not satisfy intelligent and enlightened individuals, but created in them an aversion against theism and incited them against theist thought.
Anthropomorphic Conceptions of God:
The Church painted a human picture of God and presented Him to the people in an anthropomorphic form. Those who were brought up to conceive God with these human and physical features under the influence of the Church, later, with advances in science, came to find that these ideas were inconsistent with scientific, objective, and sound rational criteria.
On the other hand, the vast majority of people naturally do not possess such power of critical analysis as to reflect over the possibility that metaphysical ideas might have a rational basis and that the Church was wrongly presenting them.
Thus when they saw that the views of the Church did not conform to the criteria of science they rejected the issue outright.
There is a book titled The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe, consisting of forty articles by forty scientists belonging to various fields of specialization, wherein each scholar has presented arguments proving the existence of God in accordance with has own specialized area of study. This book has been translated into Persian.
Among these scholars is Walter Oscar Lundberg, who presents a scientific argument for the existence of God. In the course of his study he examines why some people, including scholars, have developed a materialist tendency.
He mentions two causes of which one has been already mentioned by us, inadequate ideas taught on this subject to the people in the church or at home.
Our singling out the churches in this regard does not mean to imply that those who give instruction on religious issues from our pulpits (manabir) and mosques have always been informed and competent individuals who know what is to be taught and possess an in-depth knowledge of Islam. One reason why we mention only the church is that our discussion is about the causes behind materialist inclinations and these tendencies existed in the Christian world and not in the Islamic environments. Whatever materialism is found in Islamic societies has been, and is, the result of copying and imitating the West. Secondly, there existed in the Islamic milieu a school of thought at the level of philosophers and metaphysicians, which satisfied the intellectual needs of the researchers and saved the scholars from the fate of their counterpart in Europe, while there existed no such school within the Church.
In any case this is what Walter Oscar Lundberg says
There are various reasons for the attention of some scholars not being drawn towards comprehending the existence of God while undertaking scientific studies; we will mention just two of them here. The first (reason) is the general presence of oppressive political and social conditions or governmental structures which necessitate the negation of the existence of God. The second (reason) is that human thinking is always under the impact of some vague ideas and although the person himself may not undergo any mental and physical agony, even then his thinking is not totally free in choosing the right path. In Christian families the children in their early years generally believe in an anthropomorphic God, as if man has been created in the image of God. These persons, on entering a scientific environment and acquiring the knowledge of scientific issues, find that this weak and anthropomorphic view of God does not accord with scientific concepts. Consequently, after a period of time when the hope of any compromise is dashed, the concept of God is also totally discarded and vanishes from the mind. The major cause of doing so is that logical proofs and scientific definitions do not alter the past sentiments and beliefs of these persons, and it does not occur to them that a mistake had taken place in the earlier belief about God. Along with this, other psychic factors cause the person to become weary of the insufficiency of this concept and turn away from theology. [6]
Summarily, that which is observable in certain religious teachings-and regrettably is also found amongst ourselves, to a more or less extent-is that a characteristic concept is projected in the minds of children under the name and label of 'God.' When the child grows up and becomes a scholar, he finds that this concept is not rational and such a being cannot exist, whether it be God or something else.
The child on growing up, without reflecting or critically concluding that perhaps there might exist a valid conception, rejects the idea of divinity altogether. He imagines that the concept of God he is rejecting is the same as the one accepted by theists, and since he does not accept this creature of his own mind, which is the product of popular superstition, he does not believe in God. He does not notice that the concept of God which he is rejecting is also rejected by the theists, and that his rejection is not the rejection of God but is the rejection of something that ought to be rejected.
Flammarion in the book God and Nature observes: "The Church presented God in this manner: 'The distance between his right and left eye is 12000 leagues.' " It is obvious that persons with even a meagre knowledge of science cannot believe in such a being.
Auguste Comte's Conception of God:
Flammarion quotes a statement of Auguste Comte, the founder of positivism and what is known as scientism, which offers a good view of the way God was pictured by such scholars as Auguste Comte living in the Christian environment of that time. Flammarion says: Auguste Comte has said: "Science has dismissed the Father of nature and the universe from his post, consigning him to oblivion, and while thanking him for his temporary services, it has escorted him back to the frontiers of his greatness."
What he means is that earlier every event that took place in the world was explained by relating it to God as its cause. For example, if someone got a fever, the question why the fever had come about and from where it came had the answer that God had sent the fever. That which was commonly understood by this statement was not that it is God who governs the universe and that to say that He had caused the fever implied that He was the real and ultimate mover of the world. Rather, this statement meant that God, like a mysterious being, or a magician engaged in sorcery, had all of a sudden decided to cause fever without any preparatory cause, and so the fever came about. Later science discovered its cause and it was observed that fever was not brought about by God, but by a certain bacteria.
Here God retreated one step. Henceforth the theist was forced to say that we will shift our argument to the bacteria: Who created the bacteria?
Science also discovered the cause of bacteria by identifying the conditions in which they come to exist. Again God had to retreat one step, and the argument proceeded by asking the cause of that cause. God's retreat continued, and, at last, with the spread and expansion of science the causes of a large number of phenomena were discovered. Even those phenomena whose causes were not yet discovered were known for certain to possess causes belonging to the category of causes already known. Thereat man had to dismiss God for good with an apology, because there no longer remained any place and post for Him.
The state of God at this stage was that of an employee in an office in which he was initially given an important post, but with the recruitment of more competent individuals his responsibilities were gradually taken away, and eventually, when he was divested of all his earlier responsibilities, there remained no post and place left for him. At this time the manager of the office approaches him, thanks him for his past services, and with an excuse hands him the dismissal orders and bids him farewell once and for all.
Auguste Comte uses the term 'Father of nature' for God. His use of this term for God shows the influence of the Church in his thought. Although he was against the teachings of the Church, his own concept of God was derived from the Church's ideas, from which he was not able to free himself.
Taken together, the observations of Auguste Comte suggest that in his opinion God is something similar to a part and factor of this world, albeit mysterious and unknown, by the side of other factors. Moreover, there are two types of phenomena in the world, the known and the unknown. Every unknown phenomenon should be linked to that mysterious and unknown factor. Naturally, with the discovery of every phenomenon and its becoming known as a consequence of science, the domain of influence of the unknown factor is diminished.
This mode of thinking was not characteristic of him, but it was the thinking that prevailed in his environment and era.
The Station of Divinity:
Hence the main thing is that we ascertain the station of Divinity and comprehend the place, position and 'post' of God. Is the position of God and the Divine in the realm of being such that we may consider Him to be one of the beings in the world and a part of it? May we allot Him a certain function among the various functions that exist in the world, thereby affecting a division of labour, and then, for determining God's special function, examine the various effects whose causes are unknown to us, so that whenever we come across an unknown cause we have to attribute it to God? The consequence of such a mode of thinking is to search for God among things unknown to us. Naturally, with an increase in our knowledge, the area of our ignorance will continually diminish and the domain of our theism, too, will diminish to the point where if some day, supposedly, all the unknown things become known to mankind, there would remain no place for God or any theism.
In accordance with this line of reasoning, only some of the existing realities are signs of God and manifest and mirror His existence, and they are those whose causes are unknown. As to those things whose causes have been identified, they lie outside the realm of signs and indications of the Divine Being.
Hallowed be God! How wrong and misleading this kind of thinking is, and how ignorant it is of the station of the Divine! Here we should cite the words of the Qur'an, which observes in this regard:
They measured not God with His true measure. (6:91)
The ABC of theism is that He is the God of the entire universe and is equally related to all things. All things, without any exception, are manifestations of His Power, Knowledge, Wisdom, Will, and Design, and are the signs and marks of His Perfection, Beauty and Glory. There is no difference between phenomena whose causes are known and those whose causes are unknown in this regard. The universe, with all its systems and causes, is in toto sustained by His Being. He transcends both time and space. Time and time-bound entities, and similarly space and spatial objects, irrespective of their being finite or infinite-that is, whether they are temporally limited or extend from pre-eternity to eternity, and regardless of whether the universe is limited in its spatial dimensions or infinite, and, ultimately, whether the entire expanse of existents is finite or infinite in time and space-all these are posterior to His Being and Existence and are Considered among His emanations (fayd.)
Hence it is extreme ignorance to think in a Church like manner and to imagine, like Auguste Comte, that while looking for the cause of a certain phenomenon in some corner of the universe we would suddenly discover the existence of God, and then celebrate and rejoice that we have found God at a certain place. And if we do not succeed and are unable to so find Him, we should become pessimistic and deny God's existence altogether.
On the contrary, it is precisely in this sense that we must reject the existence of God, that is, a God who is like any other part of the world and is discoverable like any other phenomenon in the course of inquiry into the world's phenomena is certainly not God, and any belief in such a God is aptly rejected.
In more simple terms, we should say that this kind of quest for God in the universe is like the conduct of someone who when shown a clock and told that it has a maker wants to find its maker within the wheels and parts of the clock. He searches for a while and on finding nothing except its different parts, says: 'I did not find the maker of the clock and this proves that he does not exist.' Or it is like one who on being shown a beautifully stitched dress and told that this dress was stitched by a tailor, says, 'If I find the tailor in the pockets of this dress I will accept his existence, otherwise I won't.'
This kind of thinking is totally wrong from the Islamic point of view. From the viewpoint of Islamic teachings, God is not on a par with the natural causes so that the question should arise whether a certain external entity has been created by God or by a certain natural cause. This kind of dichotomy is both wrong and meaningless, because there cannot be a dichotomy or an intervening 'or' between God and natural causes for such a question to be posed. This form of thinking is anti-theist. Theism means that the whole of nature in its entirety is a unit of work and an act of God in its totality. Hence it is not correct to ask concerning a part of it whether it is a work of God or nature, and then to consider it to be a work of God on failing to identify its cause, and as related to nature and with no connection with God when its natural cause is known.
Auguste Comte's Three Stages of Human History:
Auguste Comte suggests a classification of the stages of the historical development of the human mind, which, most regrettably, has more or less been accepted, though from the point of view of those acquainted with Islamic philosophy it is mere childish talk. He says that mankind has passed through three stages:
1. The Theological Stage:
In this stage man explained phenomena by resorting to supernatural forces and considered God or gods to be the cause of every phenomenon. In this stage man discovered the principle of causality, but was not able to identify the causes of things in a detailed manner. Since he had grasped the principle of causality, he considered the cause of every event to lie within Nature. In this stage he postulated the existence of forces in Nature with the judgement that certain forces exist in Nature which are ultimately responsible for the occurrence of phenomena.
2. The Metaphysical Stage
In this stage, in view of the fact that man thought in metaphysical and philosophical terms, he could not go beyond the assertion that a certain event had a cause without having any answer to the question about the nature and character of the cause itself.
3. The Positive Stage:
In this stage man identified in detail the causes of things in Nature. During this stage, man turned away from thinking in general philosophical terms and adopted the experimental approach to the study of phenomena, discovering the causal links between them. It became completely evident to him that the phenomena are related to one another in a chain. Today science considers this approach to be correct, and, therefore, we call this stage 'the scientific stage.'
These three stages suggested by Auguste Comte could be possibly correct when viewed from the angle of the common people and the masses, in the sense that at one time the common people considered the cause of an event, such as a disease, to be some invisible being such as a demon or a jinn, and there are such persons and groups even today among educated Europeans. At a later stage they were able to recognize the order present in Nature and henceforth they attributed the cause of illness to the causes surrounding the sick person, believing that natural factors were responsible for it. Also, all those who have not studied medicine and have no medical knowledge but believe in the general order of nature have a similar kind of understanding.
During another stage the relationships between the various phenomena was discovered by the means of scientific experiments. This was not a new thing in itself and existed in the ancient period as well, although the eagerness to study natural phenomena and their causal relations is greater in the modern era.
However, this manner of classification of human thought is incorrect, because if we were to divide human thought into stages, our criterion should be the ideas of thinkers and not the thinking of the masses and common people. In other words, we should take into consideration the world view of outstanding individuals. Here it is that we find the classification of August Comte to be wrong through and through. Human thought, whose real representatives are the thinkers of every age, has certainly not passed
One of the eras or stages of thought is the stage of Islamic thought. From the standpoint of the Islamic method, all these ways of thinking can possibly be present simultaneously in a certain form of thought. That is, in the form of thought which we call 'Islamic,' all these three kinds of thought are capable of coexisting. In other words, a single person can at the same time have a mode of thought which is theological, philosophical, and scientific. From the point of view of a thinker cognizant with Islamic thought, the question does not arise as to whether the cause of an event is that which science tells us, or that which philosophy explains in the form of a force, or that which is named God. Hence, those like Auguste Comte need to be reminded that there exists a fourth mode of thought in the world of which they are unaware.
The Violence of the Church:
To this point we have pointed out the role of the Church in the process of inclination towards materialism from the point of view of the inadequacy of its theological concepts. Yet in another way, which was more effective than the inadequacy of its theological ideas, the Church has played an important part in driving people towards adopting an anti-God stance. This was its coercive policy of imposing its peculiar religious and scientific doctrines and views and depriving the people from every kind of freedom of belief in both these areas.
The Church, apart from its peculiar religious beliefs, had incorporated a set of scientific doctrines concerning the universe and man, which had mostly their philosophical roots in Greece and elsewhere and had gradually been adapted by major Christian scholars into its religious dogma. It not only considered any dissent in regard to the 'official sciences' impermissible, but also vehemently persecuted those who disagreed with these dogmas.
Presently, we are not concerned with the issue of freedom of religion and religious belief and that religious beliefs should inevitably be studied freely because otherwise that would go against the very spirit of religion, which is to guide to the truth. Islam supports the thesis that belief in religious doctrines ought to be based on research and not on conformity or compulsion, in contrast to Christianity which has declared religious dogma a prohibited zone for reason.
There were two other aspects in which the Church committed a major mistake. Firstly, it placed certain scientific notions inherited from the earlier philosophers and Christian theologians in the rank of its religious tenets, considering opposition to them to be heresy. Secondly, it did not stop at exposing the heretics and excommunicating those whose heresy had been proven and confirmed, but instead, like a violent police regime, it investigated the beliefs and convictions of persons by employing various tactics and tried to detect the faintest signs of dissent to religious beliefs in individuals and groups and persecuted them in an indescribably ruthless manner. As a result, scholars and scientists did not dare entertain any ideas opposed to what the Church considered as science; that is, they were constrained to think in accordance with the Church's thinking. This intense repression of ideas which was a common thing from the 12th to the 19th century in countries like France, England, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Poland and Spain, naturally resulted in the development of a general extremely negative reaction towards religion. The tribunals held by the Church and known as the Inquisition were initiated with an objective reflected in the very name given them. Will Durant says:
The Inquisition had a special procedure of inquiry and prosecution. Before the inquisition held its tribunal in a city, the summons of faith were communicated from the church pulpits. The people were asked to inform the inquisitors of any heretics or pagans that they knew of. They were encouraged to denounce and accuse their neighbours, friends and relatives. The informers were promised total secrecy. Anyone who knew a heretic and would not denounce him or hid him in his house faced denunciation and excommunication ... The methods of torture varied from time to time and from one place to another. Sometimes the accused was left to hang with his hands tied behind his back. Or he would be bound in say a way that he could not move, then water was poured into his throat so as to suffocate him. Or his arms and fists were so tightly bound with ropes that they cut into his flesh and reached the bones. [7]
He also says
The number of victims between the years 1480-1488, that is in eight years, exceeded 8800 burnt on stakes, and 96,494 condemned to severe punishments According to estimates, from the year 1480 to 1808 more than 31,912 were condemned to death by fire and 291,450 were condemned to severe penalties. [8]
George Sarton, the distinguished scholar and famous authority on history of science in his book Six Wings: Men of Science in the Renaissance, has a discussion under the caption 'witchcraft,' where he relates the crimes committed by the Church in the name of campaign against witchcraft:
Divines and religious scholars, consciously or otherwise, considered apostasy to be the same as witchcraft. Men quickly conclude that those who disagree with them are bad people. Magicians were men and women who had sold their souls to the Devil. On the assumption that heretics and irreligious persons also communed with the Devil, their persecution and torture were readily permitted and those who were orthodox in their faith could say to themselves: These trouble-making and disruptive people are magicians and they should be dealt with in this way, because they are neither capable of a straight faith nor eligible for pardon.
George Sarton refers to the book Hammer of the Magicians, which was written by two Dominican priests on the instructions of Pope Innocent VIII (r. 1484-1492) and which was, in fact, a practical manual on how to conduct the Inquisition of those accused of heresy and witchcraft. He says:
The book Hammer is a practical handbook for the Inquisitors and in it are found the details of the methods of detection, prosecution and punishment of magicians.... The fear of the magician was the real cause for killing them and these killings themselves became the reason for a heightened fear. In that period, a psychic epidemic had developed the like of which has not been seen until the present age of enlightenment. The proceedings of some trials of the Inquisition recorded in precise detail have survived. The Inquisitors were not bad people. They imagined themselves to be better at least than the ordinary people, because was it not that they were ceaselessly striving to uphold the word of truth and the name of God?! Nicolarmy, the inquisitor of Lourn was the cause of 900 magicians being burnt to death during a period of fifteen years (1575-1590). He was a conscientious man, and during the last years of his life he had a sense of guilt for having overlooked to kill some children. Has anyone the right to desist from killing the young of a viper? Bishop Tersepeter Binzfold issued verdicts for the death sentence of 6500 people.
He goes on to observe:
When the Inquisitors arrived in a new region, they used to announce that anyone suspecting someone of being a magician should provide information about it. Anyone concealing information was liable to exile and fine.
Providing information in this regard was considered a duty, and the names of those who provided information were not disclosed. The accused-among whom were possibly persons whose enemies had slandered them-were not informed of the crime they were accused of and were kept in the dark concerning the evidence of their culpability. It was assumed that these people were sinners and criminals, and the burden of proof lay upon them to prove their innocence. The judges adopted all kinds of mental and physical means for exacting a confession of sin and identifying collaborators. For encouraging the accused to confess, they were promised pardon or extenuation. But the judges imagined that honouring a promise given to magicians and heretics involved no moral obligation and the promise was kept for the short time which the accused took to say what had to be said. Every act falling outside the limits of honourable behaviour was committed against the accused and was justified as it was done for a holy cause. The more they tormented and tortured the people, the more they thought it necessary. What we have said can be easily confirmed by referring to the Hammer and other books and can also be pictured more vividly by studying the proceedings of the trials, of which there are plenty. [9]
After discussing this issue for three or four pages, George Sarton observes:
Belief in magic was truly a mental illness more dangerous than syphilis, and was the cause of the terrible death of thousands of innocent men and women. Apart from that, an attention to this matter reveals the dark side of the Renaissance, less appealing than other things which are usually said about this period, but knowing which is necessary for a correct understanding of the events of this age. Renaissance was the golden age of art and literature, but at the same time it was also a period of religious intolerance and cruelty. The inhuman character of this period is such that, excepting the present age, it has no parallel in history. [10]
Religion, which should have been a guide and a harbinger of love, acquired this kind of countenance in Europe. The very notion of religion and God came to be associated in everyone's mind with violence, repression, and tyranny. Obviously, the reaction of the people against such an approach could hardly be anything except the rejection of religion and the negation of that which constitutes its very basis, God. The severest blow is struck on religion and to the advantage of materialism whenever religious leaders, whom the people consider as the real representatives of religion, put on a leopard's skin and wear a tiger's teeth and resort to excommunication and accusations of heresy, especially when private motives take this form.
Notes:
[1] That which appears here is a translation of 'Ilal e gerayesh beh maddigari, 8th edition (Qum: Intesharat e Sadra, 1375 H. Sh.) There is a long introduction, dated rajab 1, 1398 H by the author written for the 8th edition of the book titled 'Materialism in Iran', this will appear at the end of the serial.
[2] ... they follow only surmise, merely conjecturing. (6:116)
[3] Irving William Knobloch, The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe, cf. Russell, Mysticism and Logic (Penguin Books 1953), "A Free Mans Worship"
[4] See Russell, Mysticism and Worship, (Penguin Books 1953), "A Free Mans Worship", pp.50-59
[5] As the original source of Einsteins statement quoted by the author was not accessible to the translator, a parallel statement of his has been cited here from Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein (Calcutta: Rup & Co, 1984, first published by Bonanza Books, New York), based on Mein Weltbild, edited by Carl Seerling, trans and revised by Sonja Bargmann, pp. 40 (Tr.)
[6] Irving William Knobloch, op. Cit, the article by Walter Oscar Lundberg
[7] Will Durrant, The Story of Civilization, Persian transl. Tarikhe Tamaddun, v18 p350
[8] Ibid., p360
[9] George Sarton, Six Wings: Men of Science in the Renaissance (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1957), Persian transl. Shish Bal, pp296-8
[10] Ibid, p303
The Causes Responsible for Materialist tendencies in the West I of IV [1]
Translated from the Persian by Mujahid Husayn
Martyr Murtadha Mutahhari
(Vol XII and XIII)
Materialism:
The topic of the present study are the causes that lie behind materialist tendencies. Before we proceed with the discussion it is necessary that we first define the word 'materialism,' as a term current in common usage, and specify its exact meaning for the purpose of the present discussion.
The word 'materialism' has various usages and all of them are not relevant to our study while studying the cause for materialist inclinations. For example, at times 'materialism' is used to refer to the school of thought which asserts the principiality of matter in the sense that matter is something fundamental (asil) and real in the realm of existence and not something imaginary and mental, an appearance and a product of the mind. In this sense it is opposed to 'idealism' which negates the real existence of matter and considers it a mental construct. In this sense of materialism, we would have to categorize all theists, both Muslims as well as non-Muslims, as 'materialists,' because all of them consider matter-as a reality existing in space and time and subject to change, transformation, and evolution, and which is also perceivable and tangible-as an objective reality existing externally and independently of the mind and having its own properties. Being a 'materialist' in this sense does not contradict with the concept of God or monotheism. Rather, the material world and nature as a product of creation constitute the best means for knowing God. The workings of Divine will and wisdom are discovered in the transformations which take place in matter, and the Holy Qur'an, too, refers to material phenomena as the 'signs' of God.
Sometimes this word is used to imply the negation of supra-material being, as an exclusivist school of thought which considers existence and the realm of being as confined to matter, confining being to the realm of the changeable and limiting it to space and time. It negates the existence of all that does not fall within the framework of change and transformation and is not perceivable by the sense organs.
Our present discussion centres around the causes for inclining towards this exclusivist school of thought, and the reasons why a group of people became protagonists of this exclusivist and negative theory, negating God and imagining anything outside the ambit of the material world as non-existent.
Is Man by Nature a Theist or a Materialist?
This manner of posing the issue, i.e with the question 'What are the causes for inclining towards materialism?,' suggests that we claim that man by nature would not incline towards materialism, and that materialism is an unnatural tendency opposed to human nature (fitrah). And since it goes against the rule, it is necessary to seek its cause and to investigate the reasons which have led to the violation of the rule.
To put it more simply, it implies that faith in God is equivalent to the state of health, and the materialist tendency is equivalent to disease. One never asks about the reasons of health, because it is in accordance with the general course of nature. But if we come across a person or a group which is sick, we ask as to why they are sick. What is the cause of their illness?
This viewpoint of ours is completely opposed to the view usually expressed in books on history of religion. The writers of these books generally tend to pursue the question, 'Why did man develop the religious tendency?'
In our opinion, the religious tendency does not need to be questioned, because it is natural; rather, the question that needs to be examined is why do human beings develop tendencies towards irreligion?
Presently we do not intend to pursue the argument whether being religious is something natural and the lack of religion unnatural, or if the converse is true, because we see no need for doing so from the point of view of the main topic of our discussion.
However, it is worth noting that we do not mean that, as the monotheistic tendency is natural and innate (fitrah), no questions arise when the issue is dealt with at the intellectual and philosophical level. This is certainly not meant. This matter is just like every other issue that naturally- and despite affirmation by natural instinct-gives rise to questions, objections and doubts in the mind of a beginner when posed at the rational level, and satisfying answers to them are also available at that level.
Therefore, we neither intend to disregard the doubts and ambiguities which do in fact arise for individuals, nor do we consider them consequences of an evil disposition or ill-naturedness. Not at all. The emergence of doubts and ambiguities in this context, when someone seeks to solve all the problems related to this issue, is something natural and usual, and it is these doubts that impel human beings towards further quest. Accordingly we consider such doubts which result in further search for truth as sacred, because they constitute a prelude to the acquisition of certitude, faith, and conviction. Doubt is bad where it becomes an obsession and completely absorbs one's attention, as with some people whom we find enjoying the fact that they are able to have doubt concerning certain issues and who consider doubt and uncertainty to be the zenith of their intellectual achievement. Such a state is very dangerous, contrary to the former state which is a prelude to perfection. Therefore, we have said repeatedly that doubt is a good and necessary passage, but an evil station and destination.
Our present discussion concerns the individuals or groups who have made doubt their abode and final destination. In our opinion, materialism, although it introduces itself as a dogmatic school of thought, is in fact one of the sceptic schools. The Qur'an also takes this view of the materialists, and according to it they are, at best, beset with a number of doubts and conjectures, but in practice they flaunt them as knowledge and conviction. [2]
The Historical Background:
This mode of thinking is not new or modern. It should not be imagined that this mode of thought is a consequence of modern scientific and industrial developments and has emerged for the first time during the last one or two centuries, like many other scientific theories which did not exist earlier and were later discovered by man. No, the materialist thinking among human beings is not a phenomenon of the last few centuries, but is one of the ancient modes of thought. We read in the history of philosophy that many ancient Greek philosophers who preceded Socrates and his philosophical movement, were materialists and denied the supra-material.
Among the Arabs of the Jahillyyah contemporaneous to the Prophet's ministry there was a group with a similar belief, and the Qur'an, while confronting them, quotes and criticizes their statements:
They say, 'There is nothing but our present life; we die, and we live, and nothing but time destroys us.' (45:24).
This statement, which the Qur'an ascribes to a group of people, involves both the negation of God as well as the Hereafter.
Materialism in Islamic History:
The word 'dahr' means time. Due to this verse and the term dahr occurring in it, those who negated the existence of God were called 'dahriyyah' during the Islamic period. We encounter such people in Islamic history who were dhari and materialists (maddi), especially during the reign of the Abbassids, when various cultural and philosophical trends entered the Islamic world.
Due to the freedom of thought which prevailed during that period with respect to scientific, philosophical and religious ideas (of course, to the extent that it did not contradict the policies of the Abbassids), some individuals were formally known as materialists and atheists. These individuals debated with Muslims, with the adherents of other religions, and with believers in the existence of God, and presented their arguments and raised objections concerning the arguments of the monotheists. Thus they did enter into dialogue and freely expressed their beliefs, and we find their accounts recorded in Islamic works.
During the lifetime of Imam Sadiq, may Peace be upon him, there were certain individuals who used to gather inside the Prophet's Mosque and express such views. The book al-Tawhid al-Mufaddal is a product one of such episodes.
A companion of Imam Sadiq ('a) named al-Mufaddal ibn 'Umar narrates: "Once I was in the Prophet's Mosque. After prayer I became engrossed in thought about the Prophet (S) and his greatness. Just then 'Abd al-Karim ibn Abi al 'Awja', who was an atheist (zindiq), came and sat down at some distance. Later another person holding similar views pined him, and both of them started uttering blasphemies. They denied the existence of God and referred to the Prophet (S) simply as a great thinker and a genius and not as a Divine emissary and apostle who received revelations from an Unseen source. They said that he was a genius who presented his ideas as revelation in order to influence the people; otherwise there was no God, nor any revelation or resurrection."
Mufaddal, who was greatly disturbed on hearing their talk, abused them. Then he went to Imam Sadiq, may Peace be upon him, and narrated the incident. The Imam comforted him and told him that he would furnish him with arguments with which he could confront them and refute their views. Thereafter Imam Sadiq ('a) instructed Mufaddal in the course of a few long sessions and Mufaddal wrote down the Imam's teachings. This was how the book al-Tawhid al-Mufaddal came to be compiled.
Materialism in the Modern Age:
As we know, during the 18th and 19th centuries materialism took the form of a school of thought which it did not have earlier. That which is ascribed to some schools of ancient Greece does not have a proper basis. Usually the writers of history of philosophy do not know philosophy, and when they come across certain statements of some philosophers concerning the pre-eternity of matter or some other opinions of the kind, they imagine that this amounts to the negation of God and the supra-natural. It has not been established for us that there existed a materialist school of thought before the modern age. Rather, what did exist earlier in Greece and elsewhere were individual tendencies towards materialism.
However, this is what has led many people to suppose that perhaps there is some direct relation between the emergence of materialism as a school of thought and science and scientific advancements.
Of course, the materialists themselves make a great effort to present the matter as such, and they try to convince others that the cause of the growth and prevalence of materialism during the 18th and 19th centuries was the emergence of scientific theories and that it was the spread of science which resulted in mankind being drawn towards it. This observation resembles a joke more than any noteworthy fact.
The inclination towards materialism in ancient times existed both among the educated as well as the illiterate classes. In the modern age, too, the case is similar. Materialists can be found in all classes, and likewise there are theistic, spiritual and metaphysical inclinations in all classes and sections, especially among the learned. If what the materialists claim were true, in the same proportion that advances are made in science and great scientists are born in the world, there should be an increase in the inclination towards materialism among the scholarly class, and individuals possessing more scholarship should be greater materialists, while in fact this is not the case.
Today, we see on the one hand some well well-known personalities like Russell, who, to a large extent, present themselves as materialists. He says, "Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms." [3] Thus Russell rejects the existence of a conscious and intelligent power ruling the universe, although at other places he avers to be a skeptic and an agnostic. [4]
On the other hand, we find Einstein, the twentieth century scientific genius, expressing an opinion opposed to that of Russell; he says "You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a religious feeling of his own ... His religious feeling takes the form of rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work, in so far as he succeeds in keeping himself from the shackles of selfish desire. It is beyond question closely akin to that which has possessed the religious geniuses of all ages." [5]
Can it be said that Russell is familiar with the concepts of modern science whereas Einstein is ignorant of them? Or that a certain philosopher of the 18th or l9th century was familiar with the scientific concepts of his age whereas the theist Pasteur was unaware and ignorant of them?!
Or can we say that William James, the monotheist or rather the mystic of his time, Bergson, Alexis Carrell and other such thinkers were ignorant of the scientific ideas of their time and their thinking was in tune with the ideas of a thousand years ago, while a certain Iranian youth who does not possess a tenth of their knowledge and does not believe in God is familiar with the scientific ideas of his age?!
At times one sees two mathematicians, one of whom believes in God and religion while the other is a materialist, or for that matter two physicists, two biologists, or two astronomers, one with a materialist and the other with a theistic bent of mind.
Therefore, it is not that simple to say that the advent of science has made metaphysical issues obsolete. That would be a childish observation.
We need to centre our discussion more on the question as to what were the factors that led to the emergence of materialism as a school of thought in Europe, attracting a large number of followers, even though the 20th century, in contrast to the 18th and 19th centuries, saw a decline in the advance of materialism and in it materialism even met with a kind of defeat?
This large-scale drift has a series of historical and social causes which require to be studied. I have come across some of these causes during the course of my study which I shall mention here. Perhaps those who have done a closer study of social issues, especially in the area of European history, would identify other reasons and factors. Here I only intend to discuss the results of my study.
Inadequacies in the Religious Ideas of the Church
The Church, whether from the viewpoint of the inadequacy of its theological ideas, or its inhuman attitude towards the masses, especially towards the scholars and freethinkers, is one of the main causes for the drifting of the Christian world, and indirectly the non-Christian world, towards materialism.
We will analyze this factor in two sections:
1. Inadequacies in the ideas of the Church relating to God and the metaphysical.
2. The violent conduct of the Church.
Section 1:
In the Middle Ages when the clerics became the sole arbiters of issues relating to divinities, there emerged amongst them certain childish and inadequate ideas concerning God which were in no way consonant with reality. Naturally, these not only did not satisfy intelligent and enlightened individuals, but created in them an aversion against theism and incited them against theist thought.
Anthropomorphic Conceptions of God:
The Church painted a human picture of God and presented Him to the people in an anthropomorphic form. Those who were brought up to conceive God with these human and physical features under the influence of the Church, later, with advances in science, came to find that these ideas were inconsistent with scientific, objective, and sound rational criteria.
On the other hand, the vast majority of people naturally do not possess such power of critical analysis as to reflect over the possibility that metaphysical ideas might have a rational basis and that the Church was wrongly presenting them.
Thus when they saw that the views of the Church did not conform to the criteria of science they rejected the issue outright.
There is a book titled The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe, consisting of forty articles by forty scientists belonging to various fields of specialization, wherein each scholar has presented arguments proving the existence of God in accordance with has own specialized area of study. This book has been translated into Persian.
Among these scholars is Walter Oscar Lundberg, who presents a scientific argument for the existence of God. In the course of his study he examines why some people, including scholars, have developed a materialist tendency.
He mentions two causes of which one has been already mentioned by us, inadequate ideas taught on this subject to the people in the church or at home.
Our singling out the churches in this regard does not mean to imply that those who give instruction on religious issues from our pulpits (manabir) and mosques have always been informed and competent individuals who know what is to be taught and possess an in-depth knowledge of Islam. One reason why we mention only the church is that our discussion is about the causes behind materialist inclinations and these tendencies existed in the Christian world and not in the Islamic environments. Whatever materialism is found in Islamic societies has been, and is, the result of copying and imitating the West. Secondly, there existed in the Islamic milieu a school of thought at the level of philosophers and metaphysicians, which satisfied the intellectual needs of the researchers and saved the scholars from the fate of their counterpart in Europe, while there existed no such school within the Church.
In any case this is what Walter Oscar Lundberg says
There are various reasons for the attention of some scholars not being drawn towards comprehending the existence of God while undertaking scientific studies; we will mention just two of them here. The first (reason) is the general presence of oppressive political and social conditions or governmental structures which necessitate the negation of the existence of God. The second (reason) is that human thinking is always under the impact of some vague ideas and although the person himself may not undergo any mental and physical agony, even then his thinking is not totally free in choosing the right path. In Christian families the children in their early years generally believe in an anthropomorphic God, as if man has been created in the image of God. These persons, on entering a scientific environment and acquiring the knowledge of scientific issues, find that this weak and anthropomorphic view of God does not accord with scientific concepts. Consequently, after a period of time when the hope of any compromise is dashed, the concept of God is also totally discarded and vanishes from the mind. The major cause of doing so is that logical proofs and scientific definitions do not alter the past sentiments and beliefs of these persons, and it does not occur to them that a mistake had taken place in the earlier belief about God. Along with this, other psychic factors cause the person to become weary of the insufficiency of this concept and turn away from theology. [6]
Summarily, that which is observable in certain religious teachings-and regrettably is also found amongst ourselves, to a more or less extent-is that a characteristic concept is projected in the minds of children under the name and label of 'God.' When the child grows up and becomes a scholar, he finds that this concept is not rational and such a being cannot exist, whether it be God or something else.
The child on growing up, without reflecting or critically concluding that perhaps there might exist a valid conception, rejects the idea of divinity altogether. He imagines that the concept of God he is rejecting is the same as the one accepted by theists, and since he does not accept this creature of his own mind, which is the product of popular superstition, he does not believe in God. He does not notice that the concept of God which he is rejecting is also rejected by the theists, and that his rejection is not the rejection of God but is the rejection of something that ought to be rejected.
Flammarion in the book God and Nature observes: "The Church presented God in this manner: 'The distance between his right and left eye is 12000 leagues.' " It is obvious that persons with even a meagre knowledge of science cannot believe in such a being.
Auguste Comte's Conception of God:
Flammarion quotes a statement of Auguste Comte, the founder of positivism and what is known as scientism, which offers a good view of the way God was pictured by such scholars as Auguste Comte living in the Christian environment of that time. Flammarion says: Auguste Comte has said: "Science has dismissed the Father of nature and the universe from his post, consigning him to oblivion, and while thanking him for his temporary services, it has escorted him back to the frontiers of his greatness."
What he means is that earlier every event that took place in the world was explained by relating it to God as its cause. For example, if someone got a fever, the question why the fever had come about and from where it came had the answer that God had sent the fever. That which was commonly understood by this statement was not that it is God who governs the universe and that to say that He had caused the fever implied that He was the real and ultimate mover of the world. Rather, this statement meant that God, like a mysterious being, or a magician engaged in sorcery, had all of a sudden decided to cause fever without any preparatory cause, and so the fever came about. Later science discovered its cause and it was observed that fever was not brought about by God, but by a certain bacteria.
Here God retreated one step. Henceforth the theist was forced to say that we will shift our argument to the bacteria: Who created the bacteria?
Science also discovered the cause of bacteria by identifying the conditions in which they come to exist. Again God had to retreat one step, and the argument proceeded by asking the cause of that cause. God's retreat continued, and, at last, with the spread and expansion of science the causes of a large number of phenomena were discovered. Even those phenomena whose causes were not yet discovered were known for certain to possess causes belonging to the category of causes already known. Thereat man had to dismiss God for good with an apology, because there no longer remained any place and post for Him.
The state of God at this stage was that of an employee in an office in which he was initially given an important post, but with the recruitment of more competent individuals his responsibilities were gradually taken away, and eventually, when he was divested of all his earlier responsibilities, there remained no post and place left for him. At this time the manager of the office approaches him, thanks him for his past services, and with an excuse hands him the dismissal orders and bids him farewell once and for all.
Auguste Comte uses the term 'Father of nature' for God. His use of this term for God shows the influence of the Church in his thought. Although he was against the teachings of the Church, his own concept of God was derived from the Church's ideas, from which he was not able to free himself.
Taken together, the observations of Auguste Comte suggest that in his opinion God is something similar to a part and factor of this world, albeit mysterious and unknown, by the side of other factors. Moreover, there are two types of phenomena in the world, the known and the unknown. Every unknown phenomenon should be linked to that mysterious and unknown factor. Naturally, with the discovery of every phenomenon and its becoming known as a consequence of science, the domain of influence of the unknown factor is diminished.
This mode of thinking was not characteristic of him, but it was the thinking that prevailed in his environment and era.
The Station of Divinity:
Hence the main thing is that we ascertain the station of Divinity and comprehend the place, position and 'post' of God. Is the position of God and the Divine in the realm of being such that we may consider Him to be one of the beings in the world and a part of it? May we allot Him a certain function among the various functions that exist in the world, thereby affecting a division of labour, and then, for determining God's special function, examine the various effects whose causes are unknown to us, so that whenever we come across an unknown cause we have to attribute it to God? The consequence of such a mode of thinking is to search for God among things unknown to us. Naturally, with an increase in our knowledge, the area of our ignorance will continually diminish and the domain of our theism, too, will diminish to the point where if some day, supposedly, all the unknown things become known to mankind, there would remain no place for God or any theism.
In accordance with this line of reasoning, only some of the existing realities are signs of God and manifest and mirror His existence, and they are those whose causes are unknown. As to those things whose causes have been identified, they lie outside the realm of signs and indications of the Divine Being.
Hallowed be God! How wrong and misleading this kind of thinking is, and how ignorant it is of the station of the Divine! Here we should cite the words of the Qur'an, which observes in this regard:
They measured not God with His true measure. (6:91)
The ABC of theism is that He is the God of the entire universe and is equally related to all things. All things, without any exception, are manifestations of His Power, Knowledge, Wisdom, Will, and Design, and are the signs and marks of His Perfection, Beauty and Glory. There is no difference between phenomena whose causes are known and those whose causes are unknown in this regard. The universe, with all its systems and causes, is in toto sustained by His Being. He transcends both time and space. Time and time-bound entities, and similarly space and spatial objects, irrespective of their being finite or infinite-that is, whether they are temporally limited or extend from pre-eternity to eternity, and regardless of whether the universe is limited in its spatial dimensions or infinite, and, ultimately, whether the entire expanse of existents is finite or infinite in time and space-all these are posterior to His Being and Existence and are Considered among His emanations (fayd.)
Hence it is extreme ignorance to think in a Church like manner and to imagine, like Auguste Comte, that while looking for the cause of a certain phenomenon in some corner of the universe we would suddenly discover the existence of God, and then celebrate and rejoice that we have found God at a certain place. And if we do not succeed and are unable to so find Him, we should become pessimistic and deny God's existence altogether.
On the contrary, it is precisely in this sense that we must reject the existence of God, that is, a God who is like any other part of the world and is discoverable like any other phenomenon in the course of inquiry into the world's phenomena is certainly not God, and any belief in such a God is aptly rejected.
In more simple terms, we should say that this kind of quest for God in the universe is like the conduct of someone who when shown a clock and told that it has a maker wants to find its maker within the wheels and parts of the clock. He searches for a while and on finding nothing except its different parts, says: 'I did not find the maker of the clock and this proves that he does not exist.' Or it is like one who on being shown a beautifully stitched dress and told that this dress was stitched by a tailor, says, 'If I find the tailor in the pockets of this dress I will accept his existence, otherwise I won't.'
This kind of thinking is totally wrong from the Islamic point of view. From the viewpoint of Islamic teachings, God is not on a par with the natural causes so that the question should arise whether a certain external entity has been created by God or by a certain natural cause. This kind of dichotomy is both wrong and meaningless, because there cannot be a dichotomy or an intervening 'or' between God and natural causes for such a question to be posed. This form of thinking is anti-theist. Theism means that the whole of nature in its entirety is a unit of work and an act of God in its totality. Hence it is not correct to ask concerning a part of it whether it is a work of God or nature, and then to consider it to be a work of God on failing to identify its cause, and as related to nature and with no connection with God when its natural cause is known.
Auguste Comte's Three Stages of Human History:
Auguste Comte suggests a classification of the stages of the historical development of the human mind, which, most regrettably, has more or less been accepted, though from the point of view of those acquainted with Islamic philosophy it is mere childish talk. He says that mankind has passed through three stages:
1. The Theological Stage:
In this stage man explained phenomena by resorting to supernatural forces and considered God or gods to be the cause of every phenomenon. In this stage man discovered the principle of causality, but was not able to identify the causes of things in a detailed manner. Since he had grasped the principle of causality, he considered the cause of every event to lie within Nature. In this stage he postulated the existence of forces in Nature with the judgement that certain forces exist in Nature which are ultimately responsible for the occurrence of phenomena.
2. The Metaphysical Stage
In this stage, in view of the fact that man thought in metaphysical and philosophical terms, he could not go beyond the assertion that a certain event had a cause without having any answer to the question about the nature and character of the cause itself.
3. The Positive Stage:
In this stage man identified in detail the causes of things in Nature. During this stage, man turned away from thinking in general philosophical terms and adopted the experimental approach to the study of phenomena, discovering the causal links between them. It became completely evident to him that the phenomena are related to one another in a chain. Today science considers this approach to be correct, and, therefore, we call this stage 'the scientific stage.'
These three stages suggested by Auguste Comte could be possibly correct when viewed from the angle of the common people and the masses, in the sense that at one time the common people considered the cause of an event, such as a disease, to be some invisible being such as a demon or a jinn, and there are such persons and groups even today among educated Europeans. At a later stage they were able to recognize the order present in Nature and henceforth they attributed the cause of illness to the causes surrounding the sick person, believing that natural factors were responsible for it. Also, all those who have not studied medicine and have no medical knowledge but believe in the general order of nature have a similar kind of understanding.
During another stage the relationships between the various phenomena was discovered by the means of scientific experiments. This was not a new thing in itself and existed in the ancient period as well, although the eagerness to study natural phenomena and their causal relations is greater in the modern era.
However, this manner of classification of human thought is incorrect, because if we were to divide human thought into stages, our criterion should be the ideas of thinkers and not the thinking of the masses and common people. In other words, we should take into consideration the world view of outstanding individuals. Here it is that we find the classification of August Comte to be wrong through and through. Human thought, whose real representatives are the thinkers of every age, has certainly not passed
One of the eras or stages of thought is the stage of Islamic thought. From the standpoint of the Islamic method, all these ways of thinking can possibly be present simultaneously in a certain form of thought. That is, in the form of thought which we call 'Islamic,' all these three kinds of thought are capable of coexisting. In other words, a single person can at the same time have a mode of thought which is theological, philosophical, and scientific. From the point of view of a thinker cognizant with Islamic thought, the question does not arise as to whether the cause of an event is that which science tells us, or that which philosophy explains in the form of a force, or that which is named God. Hence, those like Auguste Comte need to be reminded that there exists a fourth mode of thought in the world of which they are unaware.
The Violence of the Church:
To this point we have pointed out the role of the Church in the process of inclination towards materialism from the point of view of the inadequacy of its theological concepts. Yet in another way, which was more effective than the inadequacy of its theological ideas, the Church has played an important part in driving people towards adopting an anti-God stance. This was its coercive policy of imposing its peculiar religious and scientific doctrines and views and depriving the people from every kind of freedom of belief in both these areas.
The Church, apart from its peculiar religious beliefs, had incorporated a set of scientific doctrines concerning the universe and man, which had mostly their philosophical roots in Greece and elsewhere and had gradually been adapted by major Christian scholars into its religious dogma. It not only considered any dissent in regard to the 'official sciences' impermissible, but also vehemently persecuted those who disagreed with these dogmas.
Presently, we are not concerned with the issue of freedom of religion and religious belief and that religious beliefs should inevitably be studied freely because otherwise that would go against the very spirit of religion, which is to guide to the truth. Islam supports the thesis that belief in religious doctrines ought to be based on research and not on conformity or compulsion, in contrast to Christianity which has declared religious dogma a prohibited zone for reason.
There were two other aspects in which the Church committed a major mistake. Firstly, it placed certain scientific notions inherited from the earlier philosophers and Christian theologians in the rank of its religious tenets, considering opposition to them to be heresy. Secondly, it did not stop at exposing the heretics and excommunicating those whose heresy had been proven and confirmed, but instead, like a violent police regime, it investigated the beliefs and convictions of persons by employing various tactics and tried to detect the faintest signs of dissent to religious beliefs in individuals and groups and persecuted them in an indescribably ruthless manner. As a result, scholars and scientists did not dare entertain any ideas opposed to what the Church considered as science; that is, they were constrained to think in accordance with the Church's thinking. This intense repression of ideas which was a common thing from the 12th to the 19th century in countries like France, England, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Poland and Spain, naturally resulted in the development of a general extremely negative reaction towards religion. The tribunals held by the Church and known as the Inquisition were initiated with an objective reflected in the very name given them. Will Durant says:
The Inquisition had a special procedure of inquiry and prosecution. Before the inquisition held its tribunal in a city, the summons of faith were communicated from the church pulpits. The people were asked to inform the inquisitors of any heretics or pagans that they knew of. They were encouraged to denounce and accuse their neighbours, friends and relatives. The informers were promised total secrecy. Anyone who knew a heretic and would not denounce him or hid him in his house faced denunciation and excommunication ... The methods of torture varied from time to time and from one place to another. Sometimes the accused was left to hang with his hands tied behind his back. Or he would be bound in say a way that he could not move, then water was poured into his throat so as to suffocate him. Or his arms and fists were so tightly bound with ropes that they cut into his flesh and reached the bones. [7]
He also says
The number of victims between the years 1480-1488, that is in eight years, exceeded 8800 burnt on stakes, and 96,494 condemned to severe punishments According to estimates, from the year 1480 to 1808 more than 31,912 were condemned to death by fire and 291,450 were condemned to severe penalties. [8]
George Sarton, the distinguished scholar and famous authority on history of science in his book Six Wings: Men of Science in the Renaissance, has a discussion under the caption 'witchcraft,' where he relates the crimes committed by the Church in the name of campaign against witchcraft:
Divines and religious scholars, consciously or otherwise, considered apostasy to be the same as witchcraft. Men quickly conclude that those who disagree with them are bad people. Magicians were men and women who had sold their souls to the Devil. On the assumption that heretics and irreligious persons also communed with the Devil, their persecution and torture were readily permitted and those who were orthodox in their faith could say to themselves: These trouble-making and disruptive people are magicians and they should be dealt with in this way, because they are neither capable of a straight faith nor eligible for pardon.
George Sarton refers to the book Hammer of the Magicians, which was written by two Dominican priests on the instructions of Pope Innocent VIII (r. 1484-1492) and which was, in fact, a practical manual on how to conduct the Inquisition of those accused of heresy and witchcraft. He says:
The book Hammer is a practical handbook for the Inquisitors and in it are found the details of the methods of detection, prosecution and punishment of magicians.... The fear of the magician was the real cause for killing them and these killings themselves became the reason for a heightened fear. In that period, a psychic epidemic had developed the like of which has not been seen until the present age of enlightenment. The proceedings of some trials of the Inquisition recorded in precise detail have survived. The Inquisitors were not bad people. They imagined themselves to be better at least than the ordinary people, because was it not that they were ceaselessly striving to uphold the word of truth and the name of God?! Nicolarmy, the inquisitor of Lourn was the cause of 900 magicians being burnt to death during a period of fifteen years (1575-1590). He was a conscientious man, and during the last years of his life he had a sense of guilt for having overlooked to kill some children. Has anyone the right to desist from killing the young of a viper? Bishop Tersepeter Binzfold issued verdicts for the death sentence of 6500 people.
He goes on to observe:
When the Inquisitors arrived in a new region, they used to announce that anyone suspecting someone of being a magician should provide information about it. Anyone concealing information was liable to exile and fine.
Providing information in this regard was considered a duty, and the names of those who provided information were not disclosed. The accused-among whom were possibly persons whose enemies had slandered them-were not informed of the crime they were accused of and were kept in the dark concerning the evidence of their culpability. It was assumed that these people were sinners and criminals, and the burden of proof lay upon them to prove their innocence. The judges adopted all kinds of mental and physical means for exacting a confession of sin and identifying collaborators. For encouraging the accused to confess, they were promised pardon or extenuation. But the judges imagined that honouring a promise given to magicians and heretics involved no moral obligation and the promise was kept for the short time which the accused took to say what had to be said. Every act falling outside the limits of honourable behaviour was committed against the accused and was justified as it was done for a holy cause. The more they tormented and tortured the people, the more they thought it necessary. What we have said can be easily confirmed by referring to the Hammer and other books and can also be pictured more vividly by studying the proceedings of the trials, of which there are plenty. [9]
After discussing this issue for three or four pages, George Sarton observes:
Belief in magic was truly a mental illness more dangerous than syphilis, and was the cause of the terrible death of thousands of innocent men and women. Apart from that, an attention to this matter reveals the dark side of the Renaissance, less appealing than other things which are usually said about this period, but knowing which is necessary for a correct understanding of the events of this age. Renaissance was the golden age of art and literature, but at the same time it was also a period of religious intolerance and cruelty. The inhuman character of this period is such that, excepting the present age, it has no parallel in history. [10]
Religion, which should have been a guide and a harbinger of love, acquired this kind of countenance in Europe. The very notion of religion and God came to be associated in everyone's mind with violence, repression, and tyranny. Obviously, the reaction of the people against such an approach could hardly be anything except the rejection of religion and the negation of that which constitutes its very basis, God. The severest blow is struck on religion and to the advantage of materialism whenever religious leaders, whom the people consider as the real representatives of religion, put on a leopard's skin and wear a tiger's teeth and resort to excommunication and accusations of heresy, especially when private motives take this form.
Notes:
[1] That which appears here is a translation of 'Ilal e gerayesh beh maddigari, 8th edition (Qum: Intesharat e Sadra, 1375 H. Sh.) There is a long introduction, dated rajab 1, 1398 H by the author written for the 8th edition of the book titled 'Materialism in Iran', this will appear at the end of the serial.
[2] ... they follow only surmise, merely conjecturing. (6:116)
[3] Irving William Knobloch, The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe, cf. Russell, Mysticism and Logic (Penguin Books 1953), "A Free Mans Worship"
[4] See Russell, Mysticism and Worship, (Penguin Books 1953), "A Free Mans Worship", pp.50-59
[5] As the original source of Einsteins statement quoted by the author was not accessible to the translator, a parallel statement of his has been cited here from Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein (Calcutta: Rup & Co, 1984, first published by Bonanza Books, New York), based on Mein Weltbild, edited by Carl Seerling, trans and revised by Sonja Bargmann, pp. 40 (Tr.)
[6] Irving William Knobloch, op. Cit, the article by Walter Oscar Lundberg
[7] Will Durrant, The Story of Civilization, Persian transl. Tarikhe Tamaddun, v18 p350
[8] Ibid., p360
[9] George Sarton, Six Wings: Men of Science in the Renaissance (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1957), Persian transl. Shish Bal, pp296-8
[10] Ibid, p303
Sunday, July 15, 2007
UNGS 2050 : lecture
Tawhid
At-Tawhid consists of three parts (branches) :
1. ( توحيد الربوبية ) : to believe in the Oneness of Allah (swt). That is He only God in this world. He is the only Creator of this world, and everything is this world is subject to His Will.
2. (توحيد الصفات ) : to believe in the uniqueness of Allah (swt).
- to believe in all His attributes which are mentioned in Quran and Sunnah in a perfect way.
3. ( توحيد الألوحية ) : to believe that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah.
- to worship Allah (swt) through the following His guidance, observing His commandments and refraining from all what He has forbidden.
- to turn to Him only for help.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ(5)اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ(6)
“ You alone we worship and to you alone we turn for help. Guide us to the straight path.” (1: 5-6)
At-Tawhid consists of three parts (branches) :
1. ( توحيد الربوبية ) : to believe in the Oneness of Allah (swt). That is He only God in this world. He is the only Creator of this world, and everything is this world is subject to His Will.
2. (توحيد الصفات ) : to believe in the uniqueness of Allah (swt).
- to believe in all His attributes which are mentioned in Quran and Sunnah in a perfect way.
3. ( توحيد الألوحية ) : to believe that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah.
- to worship Allah (swt) through the following His guidance, observing His commandments and refraining from all what He has forbidden.
- to turn to Him only for help.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ(5)اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ(6)
“ You alone we worship and to you alone we turn for help. Guide us to the straight path.” (1: 5-6)
UNGS 2050 : Lecture
The importance of Ethics and Morals in Islam
- The Prophet (saw) summed up the main objective of his message in the following words:
“ I have been sent only for the purpose of perfecting good morals.”
- This indicates that the ultimate purpose of Islam is nothing else but to strengthen the moral character of the people.
- When we examine the teachings of Islam, we can conclude that Islam is the name of two things :
a) Good morality among human beings
b) Good relation between human beings and Allah (swt) in the spiritual sense.
1. The relation between good morals and the pillars of Islam
The obligations enjoined by Islam are designed as continuous exercises and training to enable Muslims to acquire good morals and habit and to live righteously. They aim at inculcating good habits and fine morals for leading a morally bound life.
a) Salat
وَأَقِمْ الصَّلَاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنْ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ
“ And establish regular prayer, for prayer restrains from indecency and evil” (29: 45)
b. Zakat
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِمْ بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ صَلَاتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَهُمْ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ(103)
“Take alms of their wealth, so that it may purify and sanctify them” (9: 103)
c. al-Siyyam (fasting)
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ(183)
O you who believe! Fasting was made compulsory for you, as it was made compulsory for those who preceded you, so that you may become righteous”. (2: 183)
" من لم يدع قول الزرو والعمل به فليس الله حاجة فى أن يدع طعامه وشرابه" (البخارى)
“ Allah has nothing to do so with the fasting of those who did not avoid perjury, lying and false accusation and acting upon them.”
d) al-Hajj
الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَعْلُومَاتٌ فَمَنْ فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلَا رَفَثَ وَلَا فُسُوقَ وَلَا جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ
“ The pilgrimage is (performed in) the well-known months, so whoever determines the performance of the pilgrimage therein, there shall be no lewdness nor abuse nor angry conversation on the pilgrimage”.(2: 197)
2. Making and keeping friends
- There two main ways through which one can get support and friendship of people : a) money , b) good morals and nice treatment.
- No matter who wealthy one is, he would not be able to win the hearts of people around him by means of his wealth. The best and lasting way to this is good morals.
عن أبى هريرة مرفوعا: "إنكم لا تسعون الناس بأموالكم يسعهم منكم بسط الوجه وحسن الخلق"
It is reported that the Prophet (saw) said: “you cannot afford to win the hearts of people through your wealth, but you can win their hearts with a smiling face and good morals.”
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "يا عائشة إن الشر الناس منزلة عند الله يوم القيامة من ودعه أو تركه الناس اتقاء فحشه (الفحش: القبيح من القول والفعل)" (صحيح مسلم)
“ In the eye of Allah (swt), the worst amongst people in rank on the day of Resurrection is one whom the people abandon on order to avoid his indecency.”
3. To build good reputation
Adopting high qualities and fine morals is the best way to build a good reputation. Honesty, sincerity, leniency, helping people and treating them in a good manner will bring respect as well as more customers and clients.
4. Good morals are equal to superfluous rituals ( rituals other than obligatory ones )
عن عائشة قالت: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله زسلم يقول : "إن المؤمن ليدرك بحسن خلقه درجة الصائم القائم" (الترمذى)
“ A believer by virtue of his good morals attains the status of perpetual faster and night-vigiler.”
عن أبى هريرة قال: "قال رجل يا رسول الله إن فلانة تذكر من كثرة صلاتها وصيامها وصدقتها غير أنها تؤذى جيرانها بلسانها قال هى فى النار قال: يا رسول الله فإن فلانة تذكر من قلة وصيامها وصدقتها صلاتها وإنها تصدق بلأثوار من الأقط ولا تؤذى جيرانها بلسانها قال هى فى الجنة" (مسند أحمد)
It is narrated by Imam Ahmad on the authority of Abu Huraira: “One person asked the Prophet (saw) : O Messenger of Allah ! A certain women is famous for the superfluous prayers, fasting and charities, but she harms her neighbours. Tell me, what will be her fate? He replied that she is in Hell. Then that person asked: O Messenger of Allah ! Another women does not much by way of superfluous prayers and fasting and she gives pieces of cheese in charity but she does not harm her neighbours. He replied: She is of the Paradise.” (Ahmad)
5. The best of people are those who possess the best moral qualities.
روى الطبرانى أن أناسا جاءوا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فسئلوه: " من أحب عبادالله الى الله ؟ قال: أحسنهم خلقا" (رواه الطبرانى)
The prophet (saw) was asked: Whom Allah likes most amongst His subjects? He replied : “The one who possesses superior moral qualities.”
عن عبدالله بن عمرو قال: "لم يكن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فاحشا ولا متفحشا، وقال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن من أخيركم أحسنكم خلقا" (صحيح البخارى)
Abdullah ibn ‘umar said: The Messenger of Allah never indulged in indecent talk nor was discourteous. He used to say: “The best amongst you are those who are two owners of the best morality.”
6. Good morals are the weightiest on the scale of deeds
عن أبى الدرداء أن النبي الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: " ما شيئ أثقل فى ميزان المؤمن يوم القيامة من خلق حسن وإن الله ليبغض الفاحش البذىء" (الترمذى )
“On the Day of Judgement nothing will be weightier on the scale of a believer than good morality.”
7. Good morals obliterate the sins as well as bad morals spoil good deeds
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "الخلق الحسن يذيب الخطايا كما يذيب الماء الجليد، والخلق السوء يفسد العمل كما يفسد الخل العسل" (البيهقى)
“Courtesy and good morality melt the sin just like water melts the ice. And immorality vitiates good deeds as vinegar spoils honey.”
8. Attracting people to Islam through exemplifying its noble principles and teachings.
- The Prophet (saw) summed up the main objective of his message in the following words:
“ I have been sent only for the purpose of perfecting good morals.”
- This indicates that the ultimate purpose of Islam is nothing else but to strengthen the moral character of the people.
- When we examine the teachings of Islam, we can conclude that Islam is the name of two things :
a) Good morality among human beings
b) Good relation between human beings and Allah (swt) in the spiritual sense.
1. The relation between good morals and the pillars of Islam
The obligations enjoined by Islam are designed as continuous exercises and training to enable Muslims to acquire good morals and habit and to live righteously. They aim at inculcating good habits and fine morals for leading a morally bound life.
a) Salat
وَأَقِمْ الصَّلَاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنْ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ
“ And establish regular prayer, for prayer restrains from indecency and evil” (29: 45)
b. Zakat
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِمْ بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ صَلَاتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَهُمْ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ(103)
“Take alms of their wealth, so that it may purify and sanctify them” (9: 103)
c. al-Siyyam (fasting)
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ(183)
O you who believe! Fasting was made compulsory for you, as it was made compulsory for those who preceded you, so that you may become righteous”. (2: 183)
" من لم يدع قول الزرو والعمل به فليس الله حاجة فى أن يدع طعامه وشرابه" (البخارى)
“ Allah has nothing to do so with the fasting of those who did not avoid perjury, lying and false accusation and acting upon them.”
d) al-Hajj
الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَعْلُومَاتٌ فَمَنْ فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلَا رَفَثَ وَلَا فُسُوقَ وَلَا جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ
“ The pilgrimage is (performed in) the well-known months, so whoever determines the performance of the pilgrimage therein, there shall be no lewdness nor abuse nor angry conversation on the pilgrimage”.(2: 197)
2. Making and keeping friends
- There two main ways through which one can get support and friendship of people : a) money , b) good morals and nice treatment.
- No matter who wealthy one is, he would not be able to win the hearts of people around him by means of his wealth. The best and lasting way to this is good morals.
عن أبى هريرة مرفوعا: "إنكم لا تسعون الناس بأموالكم يسعهم منكم بسط الوجه وحسن الخلق"
It is reported that the Prophet (saw) said: “you cannot afford to win the hearts of people through your wealth, but you can win their hearts with a smiling face and good morals.”
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "يا عائشة إن الشر الناس منزلة عند الله يوم القيامة من ودعه أو تركه الناس اتقاء فحشه (الفحش: القبيح من القول والفعل)" (صحيح مسلم)
“ In the eye of Allah (swt), the worst amongst people in rank on the day of Resurrection is one whom the people abandon on order to avoid his indecency.”
3. To build good reputation
Adopting high qualities and fine morals is the best way to build a good reputation. Honesty, sincerity, leniency, helping people and treating them in a good manner will bring respect as well as more customers and clients.
4. Good morals are equal to superfluous rituals ( rituals other than obligatory ones )
عن عائشة قالت: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله زسلم يقول : "إن المؤمن ليدرك بحسن خلقه درجة الصائم القائم" (الترمذى)
“ A believer by virtue of his good morals attains the status of perpetual faster and night-vigiler.”
عن أبى هريرة قال: "قال رجل يا رسول الله إن فلانة تذكر من كثرة صلاتها وصيامها وصدقتها غير أنها تؤذى جيرانها بلسانها قال هى فى النار قال: يا رسول الله فإن فلانة تذكر من قلة وصيامها وصدقتها صلاتها وإنها تصدق بلأثوار من الأقط ولا تؤذى جيرانها بلسانها قال هى فى الجنة" (مسند أحمد)
It is narrated by Imam Ahmad on the authority of Abu Huraira: “One person asked the Prophet (saw) : O Messenger of Allah ! A certain women is famous for the superfluous prayers, fasting and charities, but she harms her neighbours. Tell me, what will be her fate? He replied that she is in Hell. Then that person asked: O Messenger of Allah ! Another women does not much by way of superfluous prayers and fasting and she gives pieces of cheese in charity but she does not harm her neighbours. He replied: She is of the Paradise.” (Ahmad)
5. The best of people are those who possess the best moral qualities.
روى الطبرانى أن أناسا جاءوا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فسئلوه: " من أحب عبادالله الى الله ؟ قال: أحسنهم خلقا" (رواه الطبرانى)
The prophet (saw) was asked: Whom Allah likes most amongst His subjects? He replied : “The one who possesses superior moral qualities.”
عن عبدالله بن عمرو قال: "لم يكن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فاحشا ولا متفحشا، وقال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن من أخيركم أحسنكم خلقا" (صحيح البخارى)
Abdullah ibn ‘umar said: The Messenger of Allah never indulged in indecent talk nor was discourteous. He used to say: “The best amongst you are those who are two owners of the best morality.”
6. Good morals are the weightiest on the scale of deeds
عن أبى الدرداء أن النبي الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: " ما شيئ أثقل فى ميزان المؤمن يوم القيامة من خلق حسن وإن الله ليبغض الفاحش البذىء" (الترمذى )
“On the Day of Judgement nothing will be weightier on the scale of a believer than good morality.”
7. Good morals obliterate the sins as well as bad morals spoil good deeds
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "الخلق الحسن يذيب الخطايا كما يذيب الماء الجليد، والخلق السوء يفسد العمل كما يفسد الخل العسل" (البيهقى)
“Courtesy and good morality melt the sin just like water melts the ice. And immorality vitiates good deeds as vinegar spoils honey.”
8. Attracting people to Islam through exemplifying its noble principles and teachings.
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