Theology - 2
(continued)
Creation - Creation comes out of
nothing and takes place gradually in stages and there are levels 7 heavens of
which the lowest contains all the stars and constitutes what we call the
Universe (41:12). The earth reflects this by also having 7 levels (65:12). The
Cause, the Word of Allah, comes down the levels. All creation is a single
harmonious system (65:3, 67:3, 71:15) having sub-systems that have further
sub-systems and so on that are interdependent. The whole is more than the sum
of the parts owing to the order. The parts arise because of their function with
respect to the whole and must adjust to it. The function of the parts with
respect to the whole can be defined as their purpose and the ability to adjust
can be defined as Intelligence, which different entities and creatures have to
different degrees. The implication is that the parts have a degree of
independence which also restricts the power of the whole over the parts. This
means that the power of the whole is distributed on the parts. As far as the
parts are concerned there are three sources of power:- (a) external causes
coming from its environment (b) the inner causes inherent in the part and (c)
causes arising from the relationship the part has with others. Whereas
"facts" refers to the parts, "meanings" refer to their relationships
and "value" refers to the relationship of the part with the whole.
There is
an Involutional process or Descent of increasing coarseness and separation
balanced by an Evolutional process of increasing order and unity or Ascent
(32:5). The Universe has a beginning and will have an end. The universe is
nothing apart from Allah and might be regarded as an image in the mind of
Allah. Allah surrounds all things. He is transcendental (Outside the Universe)
as well as imminent in the universe and He is also personal in that He is in
human beings by His Spirit.
Creation
is bound by space and time and everything has a position and extension in both
time and space. But there is also a third dimension, namely intensity, density
or concentration. This is illustrated by the direction towards the sun which
increases gravity. Space has 3 dimensions and Time could also be regarded as
having 3 dimensions, like a spiral. This is because it is cyclic owing to the
motion of the earth round the sun which gives us the year and produces the
seasons. But things do not return to exactly the same point as the sun also
moves through the galaxy. This gives a total of 7 dimensions which constitute
Accommodation. However, all these are relative notions depending on the entity
under consideration. Different creatures and entities have different sizes and
speeds of life and they will judge the things around them in relation to
themselves. It is, therefore, possible that what might seem an hour or a day
for one entity is like 1000 hours or 1000 years to another.
There
are 9 kinds of creation that can be divided into 3 sets of 3 each:- (a) The
inorganic means (i) the forces of Nature (ii) resources such as air, water
and minerals (iii) material objects (b) the organisms (iv) Plants, (v) Animals
and (vi) Human beings. (c) The super-organic (vii) Jinn (viii) Angels. (ix)
Archangels. Human beings are made of earth, Jinn are said to be made of fire
(perhaps something like plasma as found in the sun or even electronic material
that accounts for mental processes), angels of light (perhaps electromagnetic
material) and archangels of spirit. The last 7 could be regarded as 7 types of
beings in that they are organised. That is they contain Truth they are
bundles of information and that is the definition of the real, not materiality.
The angels are the instruments or agents through which Allah works and can be
regarded as enabling or organising principles but do not have an independent
will. Satan is said to be a Jinn, though not all Jinn are evil or mischievous.
In some traditions Satan is a fallen archangel, Lucifer.
According
to scientific research the Universe began in the Big Bang, an explosion from a
concentrated point and is still expanding. The Universe is as it is and is
known because of the Laws and Constants that describe it, their existence is
unpredictable i.e. they are discovered, cannot be explained and must be taken
for granted. There were no laws before the Big Bang. Therefore, the likelihood
of the Universe arising is one in infinity which is equal to zero. There is,
therefore, a certainty of 100 % that there is a cause for the Big Bang. This
cause must be supernatural i.e. outside the Universe and cannot be bound by the
Laws that describe the Universe. There is, therefore, a complete distinction
between the Creator and the Created.
(Note:-
Chance refers to our ignorance and not to the absence of causes. When we do not
know of a cause that creates certainty, we make calculations of probability.
When dice are thrown then, because we do not know all the forces involved, we
see that there is a one in six chance that it will land with a particular
number uppermost. But we know this because the dice have six faces. Some
information is, therefore, required to make this calculation before hand. We
need to know the number of alternatives. Once the dice have fallen the
probability collapses into a certainty, which means that the appropriate causes
did exist. This refers to knowledge after the event. There is a fallacy in
supposing that because we know that (a) a cause C creates an effect E and (b)
an effect E exists, therefore (c) the cause C is the only possibility. Given
different conditions C could produce several different effects and different
causes could produce the same effect. If time is a dimension then a being who
exists outside time and can see the whole of it there is no uncertainty as
there is for time-limited beings. The probability that the DNA molecule,
containing the information on which living things are formed, should arise
cannot really be calculated because we do not know what all the alternatives
are, but based on present knowledge the probability is extremely small. But
life exists. Therefore, it is certain there was a cause for it. That cause
might come from any of the levels of existence. Quantum Theory deals with the
fundamental particles of the universe in terms of probabilities and these also
collapse into certainties whenever they collide with a measuring device or
observer.)
Man (Quran 2:30-31, 4:1, 23:12-17
71:17, 32:9, and 56:61) Man is made out of the materials of the earth and he
develops by stages just as the Universe did. This gives him his physical body.
But the Spirit of Allah is put into him and this produces consciousness,
conscience and will. It makes him into a Vicegerent (2:30), an Agent of Allah
and the growing point of the evolutional process, the successor to other
creatures. Human beings are able to receive inspiration and revelation through
the spirit. They have been given the potentiality for unlimited spiritual
development but man can and has also degenerated. Whereas the Spirit is a
Universal Principle, the human soul can be regarded as specific to the person
and, therefore, organised and distinct from others. It can develop or atrophy
by gaining or losing its substance, the Spirit and Truth that it carries. Or it
can be disabled by strengthening the shell or crust around it through
attachment to worldly matters that have not been processed and assimilated for
personal growth.
The Mind
which refers to the capacity for thoughts, feelings and action can be regarded
as a third aspect of man that results from the interaction between the other
two and mediates between them. Man can therefore, be described as having three
levels body, mind and soul. It is this Divine Spirit within man that allows
the contact between man and the Creator, and makes him into an instrument
through which evolution of man and the universe continues. Man is able to know
Allah and understand the Universe because of the spirit within him and because
both the Universe and man proceed from the Word and we are formed by the same
materials, forces and laws as the Universe, interaction with which we have also
arisen. Therefore, we can understand the Universe. However, the Allah is more
than the Universe. Man could, therefore, be regarded as an image of God, as in
a mirror. As human beings have these three aspects then they interact with the
world in correspondingly three ways and the world they experience and see is
also divided into the spiritual, mental and physical aspects. It follows that
the world and life can be described in these three different ways.
But the
Spirit has become dormant to various degrees owing to sin and needs to be
re-activated. For this purpose he has been sent to earth where he must learn
and be tested. He has to overcome difficulties and suffering. The mirror has
become dirty to various degrees, except in the messengers and needs to be
purified. Sin is disobeying Allah. This consists of flouting of ones nature as
made by Allah, thereby causing inner contradictions, conflicts, disintegration
and suffering. This suffering is the natural punishment. The contradiction
occurs owing to rebellion caused by arrogance or egotism due to attachment or
addiction to sense objects. These are forms of idolatry whereby a person
worships and surrenders to (adores, serves, subordinates himself to) some
created thing instead of Allah. His self-image is identified with that thing.
Man was originally made a spiritual creature in heaven but owing to sin he was
expelled and incarnated on earth. The cause of the Fall is succumbing to the
temptation by Satan who must be regarded as the agent that is responsible for
the various subjective mechanisms in man that distort perception of truth. This
includes attachments, addictions, infatuation, obsession, fantasies,
superstition, greed, selfishness, egotism, arrogance, vanity, proneness to
sensationalism and gossip, lust, sensuality, envy, laziness, hate, anger,
irritability, impatience, mass hysteria,
suggestibility, gullibility and cynicism, prejudice, illusion and rationalisations based on these. All these
are most certainly real negative features of human beings that are cause and
have caused much psychological, social and environmental damage throughout
history. As all these are common features in man, Satan must be regarded as an
objective entity. It is the overcoming of these that constitutes progress and
success. Satan is unable to tempt those who have faith, but catches the unwary
that is, he works at the subconscious level. He is the real enemy of mankind.
Others only allow themselves to become his agents.
According
to the Quran, the angels knew that mankind would be sinners, and so did Allah,
but He had a plan. Though all things can be regarded as instruments through
which Allah works, He wanted some more powerful agents with initiative,
creativity and responsibility, in whom He could place His own powers but who
would not become arrogant and rebellious and misuse the powers to create chaos
in the Universe. This required a creature that could learn to overcome
opposition and difficulties, but also needed to learn humility. Four things are, therefore, integral parts of
human life:- (a) the negative weakness, (b) the positive potentialities (c) the guidance through the Messengers and
(d) trial, testing and selection.
Mankind
arises from a single soul (4:1, 3:103), and is a single system in the same way
as a human being arises from a single cell which multiplies and differentiates
into millions of cells but still remains a single organism. This means that all
human beings are interdependent to a degree and the whole can be said to suffer
or benefit from whatever happens to, or is done by a person or group just as
happens when an organ, tissue of part of an individual is affected. The
development or degeneration of a few is the development or degeneration of
humanity as whole. The moral law that is built into individuals, therefore, has
to do with the welfare and development of humanity as a whole and particularly
with service to Allah whose spirit provides that moral law. Human beings are,
therefore, required to behave according to their inherent nature as created by
Allah (30:30, 91:7-10). Man can, however be regarded as an organ, the brain, of
the Biosphere which is also an organism, a part of the planet earth which is an
organism in its own right. And so on. This creates a view that differs from the
Tree of Life as described in the scientific Biological Theories. According to
this the Tree exists in time and present day living species are represented
only by the tips of the branches. But the Theological view is more like the
growth of a single organism from a fertilised cell.
The name
Adam is used in the Quran in several senses:- (a) The original creation of
man in Heaven. (b) His incarnation in a body on earth - the first conscious
creature on earth, the original father of all mankind. (c) All human beings.
(d) The first Prophet.
Messengers A series of Messengers has
been sent by God to all parts of the world to guide all mankind (10:48, 16:36,
35:24). The purpose of sending Messengers is the reactivation of the Spirit
that has become dormant (8:24). Their message, the Guidance, consists of both
their example and their teaching which is recorded in the Scriptures.
Messengers are people in whom the spirit is still active - the mirror of the
mind is cleaner - giving them heightened consciousness and allowing contact
with Allah. In so far as the spirit is active in them they also display the
Attributes of Allah. They can be regarded as the image of God on earth and an
example for the rest of mankind. But the image is not God though some people
mistake it for God. That would be trivialising God and is forbidden. Islamic Theology
does not accept Jesus as a god, but as one who represents Allah on earth by
transmitting His Message and displaying some of His Attributes. The Universe
would not have been created, it is said, but for Muhammad (saw). The
implication is that Universe was made in order to allow evolution to take place
by the transmission of the Word of Allah. In fact, the Universe is what it is
because of the process of evolution through the Word of God. It is, of course,
not difficult to see that the same statement applies to all Messengers,
including Jesus who also transmitted the Word of God.
Scriptures - This refers to the Message of God, (i.e.
it is a word of God, not the whole of it). It is not a creation, but something
like the Blue Print or Plans that is integral to the structure of the Universe
rather than the written physical book which is a creation by man. The message
can be orally transmitted to various degrees or it can be recorded in various
ways in books also to various extents. Its most important function is to be
recorded in the human mind to various extents where it causes transformation to
various degrees. It does so by transmitting the Spirit - i.e. it enhances
consciousness, conscience and will. The scriptures are not written in a modern
scientific or technical language but are written to appeal to experience and
the spirit, not to the intellect but the heart. They are concerned with values,
purposes, and ways of living in adjustment to Reality.
Life depends on facts, meaning and
values because we need to know, understand and act and these are inter-dependent.
But values have priority over facts because the universe moves from "what
is" to "what will be", a direction of development and this
process creates facts. We also by our actions create facts. And we interpret
facts by means of values to produce meanings.
Apart from factual and value
statements, exhortations, arguments and instructions, Scriptures also contain
Allegories, similitudes, analogies, and symbolism, some of which depict social
or psychological conditions. This is because they deal with unfamiliar
spiritual matters using language that is connected with the familiar mundane
world. Examples are the descriptions of Paradise
and Hell. There are also formulae that capture certain ideas in a concise
manner, and teaching stories and Myths that may or may not be based on real
events, but which have been interpreted to illustrate the central messages of
the religion. They form capsules at a deep sub-conscious level that connect
with various psychological characteristics and affect behaviour. An example is
the story of Moses and Pharaoh. Ancient religions like that of the Egyptians
used the Sun as a symbol for God and had myths about it symbolising spiritual
death and resurrection. In general Islam tends to demythologise religion by
making the teaching more consciously explicit though the message received will
depend on degree of effort and consciousness.
The Signs - The Quran points to Creation and the order
in it as signs of Allah. But it also refers to the verses in the Quran as signs
of Allah and there are signs of Allah within us. There are, therefore, three
kinds of evidence for Allah:- (a) Allah's Creation, the order in the Natural
World, (b) The Messengers and their Message as recorded in Scriptures and (c)
Awareness of the Spirit within, that is consciousness, conscience and will,
gives direct contact with Allah. Consciousness refers to the awareness of
objective Truth, the ability to see the consistency of a system of facts.
Conscience refers to the inherent Moral Law, the capacity to feel the
consistency in motives. Will refers to the ability for deliberate objective
co-ordinated actions.
Owing to sin, attachment to sense
data, idolatry, or subjectivity, these spiritual faculties are not functioning
correctly. What we normally find is either (a) a partial and occasional correct
functioning in some people, (b) socially conditioned functioning, (c) wholly
subjective ideas, motives and actions that derive from the ego which is a false
idea of self arising from mental attachment to ones body and name, these being
the common factors in all our experiences and the source of the pleasure
principle. In general this attachment is produced by channelling of the sexual
drive which has the characteristic of intensity, replication and forming
attachments. Therefore, an appropriate teaching, incentive and discipline has
to be followed in order to rectify this. That is what Religion provides.
The signs are evidence not proofs,
because proof also depends on the awareness and acceptance of the person to
whom it is proof. It is generally supposed that proof consists of a logical
argument. But that depends on how the terms are selected and understood. A
verbal argument has to connect with experiences to be true. Experience depends
on whether a person has (a) the appropriate abilities, (b) the interest to
focus attention and (c) makes the required efforts to interact with the object
to be proved.
The question is: How, if the
Spirit is dormant, can man know, recognise, accept and obey the Message from
God? Some spiritual awareness is obviously required to recognise and accept the
message. But it is only Allah who can provide the understanding. That is, only
those accept in whom the spirit is not completely dead or in whom it has been
stirred by some event or circumstance, and some kind of inner resonance has
occurred. Or it may be the result of appropriate and sustained efforts and
spiritual exercises. These, of course, will only be undertaken if there is some
faith and intellectual reason for supposing that truth may exist and the goal
of knowing it may be reached. Conversion may take place by slow process
subconsciously or by sustained efforts or by a sudden flash of understanding.
Islam is based on the assumption
that Allah exists and that people know this or accept it, and it requires us to
surrender to Him and His spirit within. Allah is not, therefore, something to
be proved by indirect means. We know Him by His self-revelation in the order of
the Universe, to the Messengers and the message they bring and in the spirit
within man. Proof always depends upon something that is itself taken for
granted that takes priority. And all our arguments are connected with the
created world. No, it is Allah who is proof of all things. Arguments are merely
confirming evidence. If X causes A, B, C, D
N etc. then if we can confirm the
existence of these, then the existence of A is confirmed. But we not only need
facts, we also need a Framework of Reference, a context, within which we
interpret, organise and understand these facts. This is connected with a Way of
Life that incorporates certain attitudes and modes of behaviour that provides
certain kinds of experiences. Some systems are more comprehensive and useful
than others. The framework we need must be comprehensive, self-consistent,
economical (i.e. have no redundant or unnecessary concepts) and maximum
usefulness in that it enables a person to lead a fulfilling life in adjustment
to Reality. Islam provides this framework of reference and way of life and are
consistent with each other and with the World View.
(1) We can argue directly from
nature provided we have an appropriate Framework of Interpretation (FoI) and
Way of Life (WoL). A World View (WV) incorporates and provides these.
(2) We can study and accept the
authority of Scripture. We can recognise the quality of the Messenger and
understand the significance of his message, which exist both in his teachings
and example.
(3) We are required to follow an
appropriate discipline that will develop our faculties for perception,
understanding and spiritual qualities. This requires some perception or faith.
It is supposed that Science looks
for data first and then draws conclusions from these afterwards, wherever they
lead, and does not require a pre-existing framework of reference. But this is
not so. It does have a conceptual system of its own that ignores values and
purpose, though it has unrecognised values and purposes of its own. It is based
on certain assumptions about existence such as the divisibility of things into
independent distinct units and determinism, and these re-appear in its
conclusions. Certain kinds of theories become established through popularity
while others are ignored or discarded because they do not appeal to people for
aesthetic or conventional reasons. Research is obviously also driven by
commercial and political interests.
There is a difference between (a)
Reality (b) the experience of it and (c) the description. We only have
experiences and infer the nature of Reality from that. Obviously the colours we
see only refer to electromagnetic vibrations of certain frequencies, something
quite different from the colour. Reality is also much greater than the range of
our experiences. Different people have different kinds and amounts of
experiences. Descriptions depend on a limited number of words that are signs
representing abstractions from experiences. But they are also experiences that
may be differently understood by people according to their different
experiences. The relationship between words is not the same as between real
experiences. Reality is a single system in which all things are inter-related.
Experiences create isolated systems. Descriptions are meant for communication
and form different systems from experiences. There have been and exist are a
large number of systems of thought that depend on different assumptions,
concepts and selection of experiences. But an experience, though real, is not
the same reality it points to, but it can be said to be true if it corresponds
to Reality it points to. A description, though an experience, is not itself the
truth it points to, but it can be said to be true if it corresponds to the
experience it points to. A statement can be said to be realistic if it refers
to Reality.
Statements, Theories and Doctrines
can be or can be regarded as (a) Propositions about Reality, Type PR (b)
Expressions of experiences, Type EE (c) Lingual, socially or culturally useful
formulae, Type LF. They can each be logically consistent in themselves without
reference to each other. That is, Theological Statements have been regarded in
the West as either Type EE or LF. This is not an Islamic attitude. It has to be
of Type PR, but also of Types EE and LF at the same time. That way comprehensiveness,
self-consistency, objectivity, Universality and unity can also be attained.
When a scientific theory is applied in technology and it works, then that
Theory can be said to Realistic. But the statement itself is a social formula
the purpose of which is communication and consensus. But it based on experiment
or observation which provides experience.
(Note:- Some attempts at PR have
been made in Christian Theology, but not very successfully. This is because
though it is claimed that they want to proceed like in the sciences where facts
come first and theory is based on these, in fact they have taken a theory about
Jesus, his divinity, as a fact though it contradicts his own words about
himself. - John 1:18, 5:37, 6:29,46, 13:16 15:1-2, 4:28 17:3, 20:17. It also
flouts numerous statements by Paul. - 1Corinthians 1:3, 3:22-23, 8:5-6, 11:3,
12:4-6, 1Corinthians 1:3, 3:22-23, 8:5-6, 11:3, 12:4-6, 1Tim2:5, Eph 4:6. This
would be like building a Theology on the basis of any fantasy such as a god coming
down from Venus in a space ship. They have not understood the distinction
between the Creator and His creation. God is invisible, self-existing, without
limitations and pervades all things and this certainly does not apply to Jesus.
Christianity became a religion about Jesus though Jesus himself came to teach
about God - John 17:3, 12, Matthew 7:21-23. The Crucifixion of Jesus became the
central Myth as it shows God's love for mankind, the Messenger's love for God
and mankind, and man's obligation to respond. This Myth, however, is ignored in
Islam because certain errors have become associated with it, namely the
Divinity of the Messenger, Vicarious atonement and the Trinity of God. These
ideas also involve considerable distortion of thought - e.g. a god that dies as
a sacrifice; and yet is resurrected so that there is really no sacrifice; that
God cannot forgive without sacrificing his son; and that people are held
responsible for Adams's sin and someone else
can be punished for their sin. This story has been taken from Pagan sources
that worshipped the Sun, which is connected with the death and resurrection of
daylight and the death of nature in winter and its resurrection in spring. But
these were symbols for spiritual death and resurrection. The Christian doctrine
is based on an error of thought:- As God, being the creator, is supernatural,
it is not possible using natural reason to speculate about Him. He is known by
his revelation to the spirit within. The three interdependent doctrines, namely
the divinity of Jesus, Vicarious Atonement and Trinity, cannot be found in the
teachings of Jesus and are later inventions not revelations. The doctrines seem
to have been thought necessary because of a lack of knowledge or understanding
about the spiritual nature of man. There were originally many theories about
the nature of Jesus, but political conflicts rather than truth caused the
success of one over the others. It may be that this theory was found most
useful in the conditions of the time, not just to a power group but to the
mentality of the people. The Church also found it useful to adapt and
incorporate many pagan ideas and practices into Christianity, thereby changing
the character of the original teachings. Of course, these ideas can be said to
be the results of past Theological efforts by Christian Scholars. But Theology
should be progressive and these ideas should have become obsolete particularly
with the coming of the Islamic revelation. It is supposed that Jesus by his
crucifixion paid the price for the Adam's original sin. This however flouts
God's justice that all are rewarded or punished according to their own deeds.
The Quran gives a simpler answer - Adam repented and God forgave him - Quran
2:37.)
The distinctions made previously
can be stated as a difference between:- (a) Reality - God made creation. (b)
The Social Reality that arises in the community through communication,
interaction and tacit consensus and is often manipulated by cultural, political
or commercial authorities. (c) The Image of Reality in the individual human
mind There is an interaction between these three.
Truth is the result of an
interaction of a person with Reality. This interaction modifies the person and
has three aspects, perception, motive and action. Knowledge is the awareness of
Truth. Knowledge, therefore, concerns not merely having intellectual
information, but is also something that informs the motives and manifests as
action. Theology is the result of the effort to increase knowledge.
It is necessary if it is to be
objective that Theology should be Universal and incorporate or explain the
existence of all systems of thought. The Islamic Theology does just that. The
Islamic position is that:-
(a) All religions are one and came
originally from God through revelations to Messengers (2:213, 5:48, 10:48,
16:36, 5:69, 22:76, 14:4). But they have undergone corruption owing to
misunderstanding, adulteration from extraneous worldly influences, human
proneness to fantasy, prejudice, superstition, addiction, self-deception and
rationalisation. It is only necessary to remove these to purify religion.
However, this is done by the last Messenger who also adapts it, in formulation
and practice, to the needs of the conditions of the times. The Quran is
addressed to all mankind as many verses specifically state.
(b) All human beings have a single
origin, form a single family and have similar basic natures made by God (2:62,
2:213, 4:1, 5:69, 10:20, 23:52-53, 30:30, ). They all have the Spirit of God
within them (32:9) and have the potentiality of receiving inspiration and
revelations from God.
(c) Islam itself, apart from
referring to a State of Being, is a comprehensive, self-consistent Way of Life
that can be described as having the following levels:-
1. A Spiritual aspect - prayer,
charity, fasting etc
2. An Ideological aspect -
theology, philosophy, cosmology etc.
3. An Ethical and Legal aspect -
the Shariat.
4. A Cultural aspect - science,
art, medicine, education, civics, etc.
5. A Social aspect - marriage,
family life, etiquette.
6. A Political aspect.
7. An Economic aspect.
8. The Structures - cities,
buildings, factories, gardens, parks etc.
(d) Islam as a religion or way of
life can also be seen in depth as having the following levels:- (i) The
revealed scripture (ii) The religious experiences (iii) The practices (iv) The
community (v) The behaviour, customs, etiquette (vi) The language, concepts and
attitudes (vii) The institutions (viii) The images, emblems and symbols.
(e) Theology must take into
consideration (i) the origin, (ii) the transmission and (iii) the development
of religion. Indeed of all teachings and doctrines have to be taken into
consideration. Islam is transmitted as follows:-
In origin:- (i) It begins with the
revelation > (ii) the preaching of the spiritual doctrine> (iii) the
formation of the community . (iv) the practical applications for running the
community.
The transmission occurs through
(i) Unaltered Scripture (ii) the interpretation and application of teachers. (iii)
Practices of the community (iv) Example of people (v) Preaching and
proselytising - Islam is not a missionary religion in the Christian sense but
requires Muslims to tell others about their religion when interest is shown
(vi) Marriage and reproduction (vii) migration (viii) Conflict and wars when
communities clash leads to conversions even if Muslims were defeated e.g. the
Mongols. (ix) Victories in war have caused of the enemy males to be killed and
the women to be carried off to increase the population of the victors. However,
the last three do not really directly advance the teaching. Islam allows only
self-defence and retaliation and forbids aggressive wars.
It consists of (i) The Quran (ii)
The Sunna of the Prophet (iii) The commentary by Scholars and Saints.
(f) The teachings of the Quran
also incorporate the fundamental principle on which the Natural Sciences are
based. These are not to be found in Christian or other teachings and differ
from Greek rationalism by requiring empirical proof (17:36):-
The need for proof. (17:36, 6:106
etc.)
The Quran directs our attention to
the processes and rhythms of Nature. (3:190 etc)
The Quran is itself called
"naught else than a reminder to creation." (68:52)
The notion of unity underlying
diversity. (2:163, 2:213, 4:171, 5:73, 10:19, 11:118, 54:50)
The inter-dependence of
things.(because of order and unity)
The Lawfulness and ordering of the
Universe. (13:15, 14:19, 30:30 etc.)
The Universality and consistency
of truth. (39:5, 46:3)
The Stages of development (13:38
10:5 etc.)
Objectivity - the need to submit
to truth and to Allah who is the real.(4:171, 5:77, 6:93, 7:169, 2:42,149,213,
3:17,71 etc.)
The need to search for and apply
knowledge. (6:123 etc.)
The need to observe and think.
(many dozen verses)
The need to discuss and reach a
consensus.(3:159, 42:38, 65:6)
The need to write down or
record.(68:1, 3:181, 10:21, 19:79, 21:94, 23:62, 29:48, 36:12, 69:19)
The need to test and abide by the
judgement of nature rather than follow our own opinions and desires. (10:37
etc.)
Not to accept here say and
tradition.( 2:170)
The notion of measuring.(54:49,
65:3, 6:152, 11:85, 12:59-60,88, 22:74
The importance of language or
conceptual systems.(33:70, 14:4, 4:9, 7:169, 16:116, 44:58)
Occam's Razor - i.e. discouraging
the invention of names for which there is no warrant. (7:71)
Scepticism - Not to attribute
anything to Allah which is untrue or for which we have no evidence. (10:18
etc.) We may also call this the principle of uncertainty as encapsulated in the
word, "Inshallah".
(Note: It should be clear from
this discussion that the triads are characteristics of the created world and
not the Creator.)
----------<O>----------
Contents