Religion, Science and Politics
Question:-
You say:
Islam is a conscious comprehensive self-consistent way of life. How, from the
Islamic point of view, do Science and Politics fit into Religion? How are
science and Politics connected? Do you believe the scientific Theory of
Evolution and does it inform Political ideas or not?
Answer:-
Islam, by
definition is Surrender to Allah and Allah, the ultimate Reality, is the source
of all things. The central idea in Islam is Unity, Tawhid. Religion, as
explained before, is progressive adjustment to Allah, to Total Reality. This
requires correct Knowledge, correct Values (motivation) and correct Behaviour
(Action).
As Allah
is the most basic concept in Islam, the religious argument when it is objective
proceeds from the Whole to the parts as does creation of the Universe itself.
Religion is deductive - the inference follows necessarily - and, therefore,
when correctly understood it produces certainty. Science proceeds progressively
from the parts to the whole. Because it is progressive, at no time can it be
said that it has complete knowledge. It always has partial knowledge and its
knowledge cannot, therefore, be said to be certain. It can change at any time.
Its conclusions have different probabilities of being correct.
It is also
the case that science, in the Western Sense, consists of a certain kind of
knowledge and is, therefore, a subset of total Knowledge. It does not cover the
whole of experience and is mainly concerned with verbal and mathematical
knowledge. It does not cover the knowledge of how to do or the knowledge of
feelings about how to relate and interact with people or the environment or the
psychological knowledge of how to control oneself. To live, we also need hope,
love (interest) and faith and these need to be cultivated.
Science,
moreover, is based on a certain attitude that is pre-supposed, namely the
mechanistic deterministic one that follows from reliance on Logical that
requires that inferences should follow necessarily from premises. When things
proceed from parts to greater wholes, then this is certainly a requirement
otherwise confusion would follow from a variety of conclusions based on whims.
But the result of this is that the assumptions are not recognised as
assumptions, but reappear as conclusions. Another consequence is that real
phenomena do not really fit into the scheme and a distinction has to be made
between Determinism and Chance and events are found to have degrees of
probability to which statistics are more correctly applied. If you
use a verbal logical mode of thought where the conclusion follows necessarily
from the premises then this depends on your definition of the concepts used and
these may not refer to any real object or event but to aspect of things
selected by the perception of the person. Others could choose other aspects.
Things tend to be judged from certain points of view and relative to something
taken for granted as an absolute. At a fundamental level thinking involves a
self-maintaining vicious circle. Having taken the idea that all changes require
a force to cause them, the nature of the change is taken as describing the
force. If you look for what is wholly determined then you will ignore that
which does not conform or invent or look for some other explanatory theory.
Science is not
independent of human scientists and their capabilities or limitations. Though
many try, it is impossible to get away from one way of seeing the Anthropic
Principle in Science - that the World seen by Human beings depends on the
nature of their minds and what they see depends on its capacities but also
depends on what they do and this depends on their motives which direct
attention and affect interpretation. The World we see must, therefore, be seen
as one that allows the arising of human beings. But if, as Physicists now know
from Quantum research, the world we describe is the result of the interaction
of conscious human beings with their environment, then it is more than
reasonable to believe that Total Reality of which the world of human knowledge
is a small part also requires a Conscious being. The Real world is a construct
in Universal Consciousness and human consciousness is a small part of it. Even
if Science were to describe the whole of the experienciable world including
consciousness in a single formula, the existence of that formula would be a
mystery and it would exist in consciousness and only comprehensible by a
consciousness. One would need to explain why the Universe conforms to it.
To illustrate how
bias in science works consider the following case:- A Biologist was giving a
Lecture to a hundred or so students but watched by many thousands on Television
about the factors that facilitated human survival and evolution. An experiment
was conducted using several students to show that people varied as to how much
they sought safety or took risks. The result showed that girls tended to be
more safety minded while boys took greater risks. He concluded that girls were
more intelligent and boys were more stupid. As evolution is regarded by
Biologists to depend on “the survival of the fittest” that
conclusion seems reasonable. But the fact is that human progress has depended
on the risk takers, the adventurers, those who had courage and sufficient
self-control to over come basic biological urges. Human beings are motivated by
more than the urge for self-preservation. Even animals take show behaviour such
as curiosity and love and the desire to dominate that leads them to take risks.
As the
Islamic view of the world is holistic it is concerned with the relationship
between the parts and the whole and of the whole with the part rather than only
between the parts as is generally the case in Science. It is, therefore,
concerned with equilibrium, flexibility and adjustments and here the notion of
intelligence applies.
Science is
a good method of gathering and applying knowledge but from an Islamic point of
view its findings ought to be incorporated into a comprehensive self-consistent
world view that enables human adjustment. That after all is the inherent
purpose of all human activity. The pursuit of knowledge is clearly an ethical
activity as it is driven by a purpose that is judged to be good. The application
of Science must also be ethical both in its theory and the technologies it
gives rise to. The Good, the purpose should be human benefits and these come
from adjustment to Reality.
Do I
believe in the Scientific Theory of Evolution? The answer is neither yes nor no
or both yes and no. It is based on partial knowledge that will change as
knowledge increases. It is also not the best way of interpreting the facts. I
do believe that Evolution has taken place and will continue to do so. Certainly
Islam requires human evolution. But evolution is regarded as being spiritual or
psychological in nature. The physical changes are effects or outer
manifestations of this. I do not see any contradiction between creation and
evolution. Evolution refers to the process by which creation takes place. Each
stage and each mutation is a creation. There is a process of inner selection
within organisms and outside them in the environment. I do not see the process
of change as deterministic and mechanical but as a process of adjustment based
on various degrees of intelligence.
One of the
attitudes of science is that value judgements are ignored on the grounds that
they are subjective. But this obviously is itself a value judgement as is the
desire to do science. By ignoring value judgement science tends to be ignorant
of the value judgements that affect it. For instance it is technological,
commercial and political considerations as that provide the finance, set the
direction of research and affect the interpretation of data. Academic ambitions
also play their part. From the scientific point of view, therefore, Evolution
simply means change and no distinction can be made between progress and
regression. The Islamic position is that true Ethics has an objective basis.
There is a direction to evolution. It is increasing consciousness, conscience
(compassion and empathy) and will (self-control) and a return to Allah from
whence all things come. There is progress and regression, ascent and descent,
and there are cyclical processes that because they do not return to exactly the
same point stretch into spirals.
Human
evolution is known to be not only continuing but accelerating both as to
mutations and selection. Here Values play their part not only in affecting
thought, attitudes and behaviour but also on their affect on organisation and
the changes made to the social, cultural and physical environment. But human
nature is not only affected by genetic changes but also by the culture in which
they are brought up and also by the efforts they themselves make to seek and
process information and stretch their faculties. These aspects are becoming
much more important as genetic changes simply provide greater potentialities
rather than specific behaviour patterns.
Human
affairs, as has been pointed out before, are governed by three interdependent
factors: a physical, a social and a psychological. (i) The physical environment
includes the land, sea, air on this planet; its plants and animal; and the sun
and the moon and the rest of the Universe from which various radiations fall on
earth. All these factors are responsible for their physical existence. (ii)
Human beings live interdependently in communities. Collective they form laws or
rules of behaviour, organisations and cultures and we have different
communities and nations that interact in different ways. There is a history of
development. All this forms human beings mentally. (iii) However, human beings
also have an inherent psychology that has various limitations, capabilities,
potentialities, needs and strivings. This includes their ability to learn and
reason, and their capacity for consciousness, conscience and will and for hope,
love and faith. These constitute their spiritual aspect.
Politics
concerns Social life. It ought to cover all aspects of it including the
adjustment of individuals and groups to the whole of the community and mankind
and the adjustment of human societies to Reality. But in the West it appears to
have a more restricted meaning. In so far as religion is a comprehensive way of
life, Politics is most certainly a part of Religion and must serve the Ethical
goal, namely to benefit mankind by adjusting to Reality. As the Ethical goal is
an objective one to promote true benefits, and not a subjective one based on
whim, it requires adequate Knowledge. This means research respect for truth and
for those who acquire it. This is where Science comes into the picture. But it
must be interpreted in the Islamic comprehensive context; otherwise it
obviously has no ethical value. A life or Social system that simply drifts on
the latest fashion of unprocessed ideas, whims, prejudices or crazes leads
nowhere. It is not ethical. Impulsive and purposeless behaviour are not
intelligent and man ought to transcend them. However, apart from what has a
physical beneficial purpose, there are also certain seemingly irrational
activities such as rituals, ceremonies and entertainment that have social or
psychological purposes. That is why Islam places emphasis on Truth, Awareness
and the search for Knowledge.
Western
Politics, as their sciences and economics, also tend to ignore values as
subjective judgements. This produces the idea of Democracy where everyone's
opinion is regarded as equally valid. Politics, therefore, becomes a matter of
struggle for dominance or compromises between different interests, ideas and
preferences. It becomes legitimate for each person or group to try to
manipulate others by foul means or fair to support them in acquiring the power
to impose their own interests on the rest of the nation. This would not be
tolerated where the welfare and development of the people is universally
recognised as the primary goal and that is seen as requiring Truth, Compassion
and Justice and the control of affairs is submitted by consensus to those with
the maximum knowledge, virtue and ability.
A distinction, therefore, arises between what is
ethically good in an objective sense and should be encouraged and promoted ,
what is neutral but can be catalytical or enabling and what is evil and should
be resisted and neutralise. Islam is sometimes criticised in the West on the
basis of prejudices acquired accidentally by social and cultural conditioning.
For instance, the Shariah Law is misunderstood and condemned as barbaric. But
these judgements can be dismissed as thoughtless, narrow-minded and wholly
subjective. They are obviously not Islamic. On the other hand, much of what is
understood as politicking such as the intrigues, conspiracies, lying,
deception, dirty tricks, subversion, propagation of prejudices, propaganda,
secret manipulation of information and people, mental conditioning, inducing
irrational reactions and hysteria, impositions that unjustly flout human
autonomy and self-determination or deprive them of responsibility and so on
should be considered dangerous criminal activities to be severely punished.
All this
is certainly an ideal that has not been reached anywhere and can only be
reached if the community reaches a certain state of psychological development.
But even if it is not reached it is surely better to have a goal to strive for
than nothing at all. The danger, of course is the ambition, intolerance and
extremism by the fanatic, the stupid and inadequate.
Question:-
How do you as a Muslim see Reality as a whole? Is it
an illusion in the mind? How does the concept of soul fit into it? How do you see the function
of man within this Reality?
Answer:-
For Muslims the fundamental Reality is Allah. He is
the self-existing source of everything else, including matter, energy,
information, intelligence, life and consciousness. It is His attributes that
describe the characteristics of the Universe. As He surrounds all things, the Universe
can be regarded as a construct in His mind. He bestows reality on it. However,
because of our limitations of consciousness and tendency for habits and
fantasies based on desires what we see is partial reality and not the same as
Reality as seen by Allah. Everything comes from Him and returns to Him, like
the waves in an ocean. The Universe itself arises and returns to Him and this
may have taken many times.
We could perhaps
explain things by distinguish between several levels:- The Universe, or the
Multiverse if there are many Universes, could be regarded as a Field, a
spacio-temporal one (it could have any number of dimensions) that has a
structure or pattern. All events in it are limited parts of it and depend on
that structure. Objects are also localised events. But it is the
pattern or structure that is more fundamental than the event or object. From
this point of view Einstein was probably correct when he regarded gravity to be
like dents in the spacio-temporal field, but this implies a fifth
dimension. However, the pattern
itself depends on something much more fundamental, namely a set of causal Laws,
and these depend on certain underlying Principles that create possibilities and
potentialities. The Actual Universe at any one time is a restricted sub-set of
the Causal Field of Laws. It is a surface phenomenon. The Causal Field is a
restricted subset of the Field of Potentialities which is a restricted sub-set
of the Realm of Principles. And these arise from the Word of Allah. We can
think of ourselves as an entity within each of these fields and interacting
with it. We are a microcosm, like a cell in the body of the Universe. Each
individual by his behaviour, in thought, motive or action modifies himself
which then affects his behaviour, and also affects the environment and the
things in it which then also affects him.
As we are formed by the same principle and forces that
form the Universe then there is no essential difference between the way we
behave and the Universe behaves except that human beings can simulate these
processes in their minds to various degrees. They have internalised what is
external to other creatures. There is, therefore, a correspondence between man
and the Universe and each can be regarded in some ways as a symbol for the
other.
One implication of all this is that Causation is seen as
coming from Above or from a deeper level and is not prior to the effect in time
at the same level. It is a vertical rather than a horizontal concept. All
phenomena are embedded in a greater field with which they interact. The
tendency to regard things as dead and inert so that some external enabling
factor is required to bring about change, as in Newton’s Laws of motion, is rejected.
This idea of external determined not only affects Western science but also its
economics and politics. Whereas it makes technology possible it also leads to
coercion, conditioning and manipulation of people which tends to ignoring or
discount inherent tendencies. These, however, assert themselves in
unpredictable and uncontrollable ways. True Democracy requires the recognition
of these inherent causal factors. In fact, when there is an interaction between
“A” and “B”, then the result depends on the nature of
both and also on the conditions in which they exist. This means that it is not enough to know
that some event “A” is causally connected with another event
“B”. We must know the whole of the conditions that gives rise to a
particular phenomenon. And we must also know whether other sets of conditions
could also produce the same phenomenon. The fact is that no two phenomena are
exactly alike but we tend to classify and create concepts in order to reduce
the number and simplify our percepts and make them more mentally manageable.
Our idea of what is similar or dissimilar depends on our capacity for
discrimination and this depends also on motives.
We know that material objects can be divided into
parts which can be divided into cells or crystals, then molecules, then atoms,
then sub-atomic particles and perhaps into further units, but the distinction
and separation between these units tends to disappear the further we go down.
The Universe could be thought of as a field at any of these levels. The Field
consists of a network of forces that connect, converging to and diverging from
the units that are like knots in it..
Every object including ourselves can be regarded as an entity within
these different fields. At the fundamental level reached by Science, we could
speak of a Quantum or even a Sub-quantum field and all objects are structures
within these fields.
But it is also necessary to understand that we human
beings experience and see only a limited part of the Universe not only because
we are localised in a small area but also because of the limits of our
consciousness. This capacity for awareness is variable as we know from the fact
that we go to sleep, sometimes have dreams, exist mainly in semi-conscious
states, but we can also become more alert and concentrate our attention. We can
also expand consciousness through meditation and other practices. There is,
therefore, a level of Reality that corresponds to the level of consciousness.
It has been found by neuroscientists that during
meditation an area around the Pineal gland in the brain becomes electrically
active. It has long been known by Mystics that this gland known as the Third
Eye has connections with transcendental conscious experiences and techniques
have been adopted to activate this gland. According to some people it is the
seat of the Soul. It is probably more accurate to say that it is a physical
manifestation of it or a physical bridge to the higher states of consciousness
and the more fundamental levels of Reality.
The Real Self in
human beings, which contains their potentialities, owing to attachments to
their bodies and senses and sense objects, has been replaced with the Ego, a
False Self, which is an idea of Self based on arrogance. That is, the Spirit,
the source of their consciousness, conscience and will, has become entrapped
and mostly dormant. This has narrowed down their faculties. This condition has
to be reversed and to do this is the function of Religion. That is, the Ego has
to be replaced with Allah, the source of the Spirit and of Reality. This is the
significance of the name Islam (surrender to Allah) and Muslim. (6:123, 8:24,
32:9, 91:7-10 etc)
Question:-
You appear to say that Democracy is inherent in Islam.
The assassination of the leader of a Political Party, Benizir Bhuto
(27.12.2007) shows that Pakistan
is politically in deep trouble. It seems that Democracy is incompatible with
Muslim countries. Strong rulers are required. How can this be compatible with
the Islamic idea of "mutual consultation"?
Comment:-
It all depends on what is meant by Democracy and Islam
and Muslim.
This assassination was entirely predictable. As has
been pointed out several times, it is the USA that supported the regime of the
Dictator Musharraf in Pakistan and when it appeared that he was losing his
grip, the US Government transferred its support to Benizir Bhuto. The question
is: Which people want a government to rule over them that is a puppet of a
foreign power? Especially when its values are quite different? Are they not
regarded as traitors by those who know what is going on and do not submit to
propaganda, information manipulation and brain washing? Is it not obvious that
those who invaded Muslim countries were led by persons who were confessed
Christians? Is a government that is manipulated by alien interests really a
Democracy?
The difference between the West and Islam can be seen
in this, that Islam requires submission to Allah and therefore has as its
values, its idea of the Good, such concepts as Truth, Compassion and Justice.
In the West the notion of the Good has been replaced by such things as
Democracy and Freedom and these terms tend to be ambiguous, confused and
generally meaningless fantasies and unapplied. Note that The US President, as
also the British Prime Minister, condemned the assassination not because it was
murder but because it was against what they call Democracy and Western
self-interests. Muslims do not think that these Western values are the same as
the Good or are necessarily good, especially in the way they are implemented.
Islam requires that all affairs should be controlled through “mutual
consultation” and that is essentially the Islamic meaning of
“Democracy”. This is not what Democracy means in the West. Islam
requires self-regulation and personal responsibility and, therefore also
non-interference with others but retaliation and defence against those who
interfere with Islamic affairs. This requires that people should be well
informed. and that they should acquire the motives and ability to make
beneficial decisions. This certainly cannot take place where secrecy is common
practice or condoned.
People are regarded as equal, but Equality does not
mean similarity. It means equality in Justice that all are judged in proportion
to their deeds and differences.
People are in reality unequal in intelligence, knowledge, experience,
virtue, ability, and strength but Western notions of Democracies tend to be
based on the delusion of equality so that the opinion and vote of each person
is regarded as good as that of another. In fact, of course, the system works
and retains stability because the power passes into the hands of the few who
manipulate all the others through control of resources, organisation and
information. The result is that those who acquire the power and control tend to
be people of relatively low intelligence and inadequate knowledge, ability and
virtue that have primitive motives and little understanding and control over
affairs but are full of opinion, prejudices and arrogance and often cause
greater political harm than good. Politics becomes a matter of personal
ambitions for power, rivalries, conflicts, scheming, lying, deception, manipulating,
intrigue, and conspiracies which ought to be prosecutable criminal offences. People only have the right
to elect their leaders once in several years, from among candidates chosen by
those who control the political parties and who make the policies. And the
Elections are matter of theatre and a farce where the electorate is swayed by
bribes, flattery, threats and distractions with trivialities and frivolous
matters. Vast amounts of money are spent to persuade the people who have no say
in making the policies to elect these candidates. Public opinion is formed
mainly by the media of information (newspapers, magazines and television) which
is owned and controlled by the few for profit and is mainly concerned with
gossip, scandal, entertainment, sport, and fashions. When a political party is
elected by a minority of people, a large proportion not bothering to vote and
only a small percentage of the rest, then obviously that majority of the
population has not even an indirect influence on affairs. In general there is a
cynical attitude towards politics and politicians are not respected or trusted
but seen as self-seeking liars and deceivers.
All this would not, or should not be the case where
the principle of Mutual Consultation is fundamental because that involves
recognising the existence of objective principles such as truth, virtue and
ability. Ability is of course power, but that concept of power is quite
different from that which is usually understood in the West and refers to
control over people.
In Muslim countries, Islamic values also remain
unapplied. The fact is that only a minority of Muslims actually understand,
practice or live by Islam. It cannot be denied that Muslim communities are
largely in a degenerate state. Many have returned to the pre-Islamic tribalism
and ignorance. They are paralysed by internal conflicts, stupid motives and
primitive mindless reactions while there is an obvious global threat from the US
government to civilisation and the Muslim world. As Islam is, and is seen as a threat to the
world domination of the power holders in the Capitalist system, US policy,
after the defeat of communism, is designed deliberately or has the effect of
agitating and inciting countries and religions against Muslims and Islam, to
divide and provoke Muslim communities, and to set Shiahs and Sunnis against
each other. Only one relatively weak supposed Muslim
country takes any action against this US terrorism. The West world is
also in an increasingly degenerate state. And both appear to have self-righteous
groups wishing to impose their will on the other. Both use violence to do so
and are forced to use it in self-defence against the other or as an excuse, a
substitute for intelligence. Both are obviously Terrorist, but the State
terrorism is better financed, much larger and more organised, and better
equipped with sophisticated weapons and manned by professional personnel well
paid and trained while the opposition to it consists of volunteers, poorly
financed and organised but driven by convictions. But the tragedy for mankind
is this that though US terrorism has killed by many times many more innocent
people and done many times more destruction than that of those they call terrorists, the propaganda campaign
against the latter is much more intense and swallowed by a great many more
people, including Muslims. It is always the others who are evil and each side
in its own eyes possess all virtue and is fully justified, but is unable to see
that the other has exactly the same opinion. No intelligent thinking person can
support either of them, but cannot condemn one without condemning the other
also. No progress in world affairs can be expected while such bias reigns
supreme and no third arbitrator with power is recognised.
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