Reformation
Question:-
Having come to the
West and understood the advances made there in the sciences, technologies and
social organisation, and realising the backwardness of Muslim countries, I
became concerned about the future of Islam. I found books that expressed the
need for Reformation and even the belief that Islam was undergoing a kind of
Reformation, not in the sense of rebelling against any kind of centralized
papal authority but rather against the learned and the intellectual centres of
Islam. Do other people agree with this
assessment?
Answer:-
Islam is surrender to God, the creator of all
things. Islam does not require Reformation. It requires understanding and conformity.
But Muslims, who are people that have departed from the understanding and
practice of Islam, certainly do require reformation and regeneration.
Religion, Islam exists to transform people, not
the other way round. If unregenerate people try to reform Islam, then the
product will most certainly not be Islam, but further corruption. They will
form it in their own image as has been happening for a long time. It might even
be worse because these so called reformers might well be conditioned by
extraneous ideas and wish to ingratiate themselves with naive, ignorant and
perverse anti-Muslim critics.
Question:-
It seems to me that what is required in an
objective framework by which we assess the reasons why the Quran and Islam were
introduced in the first place. I have the following proposal:-
1. FACT: The prophet Muhammad was turned-off by the immorality of polytheistic
Arabs. Perhaps that led him to seek a monotheistic path.
2. He found Christians from Arabia
and Northern Africa during his time to be "wishy-washy" with
their beliefs, and thus he saw Christianity as a religious trend with little
redeeming qualities.
3. One can infer that from the Quran's
display of knowledge of the Torah that Muhammad began to study Judaism.
4. Although Monotheistic, true Judaism is
very exclusive when taken literally. The laws found in the Torah are so
extensive that universal exclusion of outsiders is typically enforceable.
5. Muhammad, seeing monotheism as the true
path, was continuously becoming more and more frustrated with Jewish
authorities, except to an extreme greater than even Jesus Christ.
6. During his time, Muhammad's followers
created a "Counter-Jewish Conspiracy" by collecting his writings and
organizing armies to expand into territory where Jews were influencing the
ruling elite. The more the Jews frustrated Muhammad's religious efforts, the
angrier his writings became. Thus emerged a tit-for-tat power game of Jews
consolidating power in idolatrous societies, and Muslims beating up on and/or
converting idol-worshippers so as to alienate the Jews and force them out of
power. …….
I tried to make this as objective as
possible. Does it all sound logical?
Answer:-
There have been many theories about why and
how the Quran arose and why Muhammad wrote it. All this is pure speculation.
Though objectivity is claimed, and speculations might sound reasonable, they
may be false and if true we cannot know this.
Objectivity requires reference to facts. The
fact is that the Quran and Hadith claim that the Prophet Muhammad received
revelation. That is, he obtained his information from the objective source.
Muslims who study the Quran and understand and experience it also find it
objective.
Question:-
How would you bring about regeneration of
Islam in Muslim countries?
Answer:-
There are three
questions:- why, what and how. It is necessary first to know why Reformation is
required and this will also indicate what needs reformation and possibly how it
can be done. I would suggest that that there are three reasons why reformation
is necessary:- (1) That Muslims have departed from Islam owing to erosion of
knowledge and practice, misunderstandings and adulteration from extraneous
matters. (2) That there has been progress in knowledge, technology and
organisation and Muslims have not kept up with these modern developed. (3) That
the modern world has created a number of environmental, social and
psychological problems that need to be rectified.
Reformation
involves not only going back to the essentials of Islam, but also catching up
with modern developments and conditions and thirdly to create conditions that
will create a future civilisation where the present malfunctions can be
eradicated. Human welfare requires correct knowledge, motives and abilities.
From the Islamic point of view the purpose of the Universe is the evolution of
human beings who are regarded as vicegerents or Agents of Allah, the Creator,
beings that have the Divine Spirit in them. This gives them certain powers as
well as responsibilities and privileges. Human evolution is understood as the
increase in their self-determination as Agents of Allah.
“And when your Lord said unto the angels, "I am
about to place a Vicegerent (Agent, Successor, Inheritor) in the earth," 2:30
“Then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His
spirit, and made for you the faculties of hearing, and sight and heart; little
is it that you give thanks.” 32:9
“And those to whom We brought the Book rejoice in
that which We have sent down to you; but among the clans (sects, parties,
sections) are some who deny a part thereof. Say, "I am only bidden to
serve Allah and not to associate partners with Him; Unto Him do I call and unto
Him is my return." 13:36
“Verily, We have placed all that which is on the
earth as an ornament thereof, that We may try them, which of them is best in
conduct.” 18:7
“And I have not created the jinn and mankind except
to worship (serve) Me.” 51:56
“And the soul and Who fashioned it, and enlightened
it with what is wrong and right for it!
He indeed is successful who causes it to grow (or purifies it)! And he
indeed is a failure who corrupts it!” 91:7-10
"Verily, we are Allah's and, verily, to Him is
our return." 2:156
“You shall surely travel from stage to stage!” 84:19
“Say: Verily, my worship and my sacrifice, and my
living and my dying belong to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He has no partner. This I am commanded, and I
am foremost of those who surrender (unto Him)" 6:163-164
“So whatever thing you are given, that is only a
provision of the life of this world, and that which is with Allah is better and
more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord. And those who shun the great sins and
indecencies, and whenever they are angry they forgive. And those who respond to
their Lord and establish prayer, and whose conduct their affairs by mutual
consultation, and who spend out of what We have given them; and those who, when
great wrong afflicts them, defend themselves. And the recompense of evil is
punishment like it, but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward
from Allah; surely He does not love the unjust. And whoever defends himself
after he has been wronged (or been oppressed), for such there is no blame
against them. The blame is only against those who oppress men and revolt
(insolently exceed all bounds) in the earth unjustly; these shall have a
painful punishment. And whoever is patient and forgiving, these most surely are
actions of courage and resolution.” 42:36-43
“Hold fast, all together, to the cable of Allah, and
do not separate (divide or part in sects); but remember the favours of Allah
towards you, when you were enemies and He made friendship between your heart,
and on the morrow you became brothers, by His grace. You were on the edge of an
abyss of fire, but He rescued you there from. Thus does Allah show to you His
revelations; perchance you may be guided; and that there may spring from you a
nation who invite to goodness, and bid right conduct, and forbid what is wrong
(or indecent); these are the successful. Be not like those who parted in sects
and disagreed after there came to them manifest signs; for them is mighty woe.
“3:103-105
“Then set your purpose for religion as a man upright
by nature - the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no
altering (the laws of) Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most
people do not know - turning to Him only, and be careful of your duty to Him
and keep up prayer and be not of those who ascribe partners to Him
(polytheists), of those who split their religion and became schismatic, every
sect rejoicing in its own tenets.” 30:30-32
“And, verily, this your religion (or brotherhood) is
one religion (or brotherhood), and I am your Lord; so keep your duty unto Me.
But they (mankind) have broken their religion (or affair) between them into
sects, each sect rejoicing in its own tenets.” 23:52-53
“Work not confusion (chaos, mischief or evil) in the
earth after it has been rightly ordered, and call upon Him with fear and hope
(longing and earnestness); for, verily, the mercy of Allah is nigh unto those
who do well.” 7:56
“O you who believe! Forbid not the good things which
Allah has made lawful for you, nor transgress (or commit excess); verily, Allah
loves not the transgressors. But use of what Allah has provided you, lawful and
good things; and fear (do your duty to) Allah, in Whom you believe.” 5:87-88
Reformation in
Islam is, therefore, a question of spiritual regeneration of human beings. For
the individual it means an increase in consciousness, conscience and
self-control. A person becomes responsible for himself, his community and his
environment - for all that comes within his sphere of influence. For the
community it means that all affairs are managed through “mutual consultation”.
This can be described as “Islamic Democracy”. But it differs considerably from
what is called “Democracy” in the West.
How can there be
Democracy when the people are so badly educated and motivated that they know or
seek to know little about the world and its affairs and the majority are
interested only in games and sport, fashions, pop-music, gambling, fornication,
alcohol and drugs, gossip and scandal and the pursuit of various illusions,
trivialities and perversion; and when the news media that forms their opinions
and motives promotes the same, is interested only in spinning fantasies,
manipulating public opinion through propaganda and lies for the profit of the
owners; and when all affairs are run usually in secret by a small group of
those who have all the wealth, power and prestige. Indeed, the political and
commercial and to a large extent the cultural system is run, particularly in
the USA that has great influence on the rest of the globe, by a group who would
be regarded in more enlightened times as a gang of criminals such as the
Mafia. If the world is to be saved,
environmentally, socially and psychologically, reformation of this state of
affairs is becoming increasingly urgent.
Regeneration can be
attempted by a 25 Point Program (25-PP).
(1) Human beings
consist of (a) physical bodies, P (b) minds, M that refers to their intellect,
emotions and action and (c) souls, S – the spirit which refers to their
consciousness, conscience and will. A person that is not conscious, for him
nothing can exist, not even himself. The order of priority should be: P serves
M and M serves S. This means that the main aim of the system is human
psychological and spiritual welfare and development and that Social conditions
should be arranged to serve this, This includes the welfare and functionality
of the family, the society being a network of families, where human emotional,
moral, intellectual and physical development best takes place. The Physical and
Economic conditions should be arranged to serve the social welfare.
(2) Human behaviour
depends on their thoughts, motives and action. Thought should be governed by
correct, adequate and appropriate knowledge, motives by morals and values and
action by abilities and skills -all in the physical, mental and spiritual
fields.
(3) Human nature is
governed by three factors:- (a) Inherent genetic information, G (b) Information
acquired from experiences, E in the environment and particularly by the
culture. (c) The results of deliberate conscious human efforts, D through data
processing (thinking) and various disciplines. All three must be taken into
consideration as G enables E and both enable D. In the past G was most
important but gradually E has become increasingly more important. In the future
D must become increasingly more important. It is connected with S.
(4) The development
of humanity depends increasingly on Science and Technology. Not only does this
affect thought, but it also changes economic, political and cultural conditions
and the environment. But this does not refer only to the physical sciences such
as Physics, Chemistry and Biology, but also to Social and Psychological
Sciences. Moreover, Science is only part of knowledge. There is also knowledge
of what and how to do, of skills and self-knowledge. It is increasingly
important to establish a Comprehensive Centre of Research in all kinds of
Sciences, Technologies and Social Policies.
(5) Knowledge is
not sufficient, motives and skills are also important. It is necessary to
create a Centre for Research into Islam in the light of modern developments in
the Sciences, Technologies, Economics, Politics, Law, Civics and Arts and the
converse, and the requirements of the Present and Future that will also undertake
Philosophical and Theological Research based on Islam and propagate its
findings in Muslim communities.
(6) One of the major disasters that has
overtaken Muslims is Sectarianism, though the Quran forbids it. (Quran
3:103-105, 23:52-53, 30:30-32.). It has caused internal conflicts, wasted
resources, diverted attention into futile or destructive channels, exhausted
psychological energies, weakening Muslim nations, made them prone to subversion
and manipulation by others and caused stagnation. It is necessary to insist
that Islam means surrender to Allah and those who surrender to a man made sect
cannot be regarded as true Muslims. They are obviously flouting the Word of
Allah. Everyone has his own understanding of his religion and they have the
duty to expand their understanding. Adherence to a sect, the doctrines produced
by someone else, is therefore an absurdity. Obsession with a dogma is not the
same thing as understanding. It is also an illusion because it is perfectly
possible that members of different sects agree in their understanding while
members of the same sect disagree.
(7) As Islam regards human beings individually
and collectively as Vicegerent, having the spirit of God in them, it requires
personal responsibility and that all community affairs should be settled
through mutual consultation. This means that no human being should be
controlled or manipulated by others provided that they behave in a responsible
manner. That is, they undertake seek and apply appropriate knowledge, motives
and skills.
(8) Reforming the
educational system should be a priority. It should have the following
features:- (a) It is not confined to schools and colleges or children but
involves the whole of life and the whole of the culture. (b) It is not confined
to class rooms but is conducted also in the community and the rest of the
environment and in the farms, factories and offices. (c) It concerns the whole
individual, his perception, motives and actions. It consists of the sciences,
ethics and arts. Art refers to language, mathematics and practical skills.
Practical skills refer to physical skills connected with manipulation of
materials, social skills and psychological skills that concern self-control,
intellectual skills and the attitudes connected with the conduct of life.
(9) Instead of
Commercial Advertisements and purely purposeless entertainment programs in the
media of communication, to create and encourage the creation of articles and
means of propagating:- (a) Ethical motives, values, goals and enthusiasm. (b) Factual
information that will educate about science and technology. (c) Deal with
Political and Social issues and goals.
(10) Collect all
available educational films and programs and make them publicly available.
Translate all useful scientific literature and create a Central Library that
will be accessible to all by means of computers.
(11) Create cheap
computers and alternative operating systems that can be made very widely
available to all.
(12) Creating an
Institute where persons can be educated and trained in a comprehensive manner
and sent out to give lectures and advice to all villages and towns to open
minds, stimulate motives and impart ideas and skills and provide practical
guidance.
(13) Change the
political system by setting up People’s Assemblies - local organisations in all
communities where all members have the right to inclusion and can bring all
information, problems and suggestions, discuss affairs, create, implement and
supervise policies to deal with local problems, and send representatives to
higher level organisations. There will be no political parties. These
Assemblies will (a) set up various departments to run their affairs and (b)
appoint experts to run them who will be responsible to the Assembly; (c) invite
experts to do research on matters of concern and advise the Assemblies, give
lectures and talks, (d) summon heads of departments and other responsible
persons to report to the Assemblies and account for their actions.
(14) The Leadership
and representatives should be chosen according to known and agreed criteria and
qualifications. No individual or group will be allowed to impose their will or
canvass support on the basis of their egotism, ambition, self-will or
vociferousness.
(15) Create and
encourage local industries based on the creation and distribution of
standardised, versatile components that can be combined and adapted to produce
all kinds of machinery of a sophisticated “Do-It-Yourself” variety. This should
be complemented with the invention of methods of generating local energy
sources.
(16) The Industrial
system will have to be reformed so that all workers in it have a share and are
paid a percentage of the Profit rather than wages. They cannot be thrown out of
employment but all will have an interest in the prosperity of the Company. It
will be the responsibility of the company to seek the welfare of the workers
and to train and retrain them, do the necessary research and development and
adapt the industry according to need.
(17) Usury and
gambling on the stock exchange and elsewhere will be forbidden and steps will
be taken to ensure that rewards will be proportional to the usefulness of the
work done.
(18) Remove all
commercial advertisement, political propaganda, and reporting and distribution
of biased and distorted information, gossip and trivia that causes mental
conditioning and atrophies rationality and replace it with objective truths and
ethical principles. A Directory of Goods, Services and Facilities will be
created that describes all goods in a sober manner. Journalists should be
properly trained and licensed and they should be independent, free from manipulation.
The News media will have to be owned by those who work in it. Irresponsible
journalism and the publication or propagation of lies (unsupported allegations
and statements), defamations or what is harmful or designed to incite people to
criminal or immoral activities will be forbidden. Attempts at manipulating
people by emotional means and by deliberate distortion of information and
inadequate effort to ensure reasonable accuracy will be prosecutable.
(19) There will be
a Department of Ethics which will be concerned with Law and its administration
as well as social morality and welfare. The Law must be based on Ethics and
have supremacy. Islam does not allow laws to be made and imposed by the whim of
power seekers, but requires that it be based on what is objectively beneficial
or harmful. The
Legal System will be completely free of Political Control and the Law will be
determined by research and administered by able people having requisite
qualifications in consultation with each other. It will control the Police
which should have a proportion of citizens that in rotation devote a few years
of their life in National Service. A prosecutable criminal act can be defined
as one that has the intention of obtaining personal advantage at the expense of
harm or disadvantage to others without their consent. From this point of view
much that is found in the economic, political and cultural systems at present
is prosecutable.
(20) No political
or industrial secrecy will be allowed in matters that affect the Public, but
individual privacy will be strictly protected. It will be a legal obligation
for any person whose work or activity affects the public to disclose and answer
all questions regarding these activities to those authorised by the Assemblies
to investigate all bodies concerned with such activities. Inventors and
creators can be given patent rights whereby they can receive a percentage of
the profit from the sale of their inventions or creations.
(21) People must be encouraged to take a pride
in their communities and take responsibilities to expose all kinds of
corruption in public affairs which must be severely dealt with. Criminals,
those who harm others deliberately for their own advantage must be made to
compensate their victims. However, those who bring false accusations or cause
unjustified defamation and humiliation will also be prosecuted. Foreign Agents
and Traitors that indulge in subversion and try to undermine a community should
be prosecuted and executed. No separation between Community and State should be
recognised. The Police and Military, should not be owned or controlled by the
State, but should consist mainly of citizens who give up a portion of their
time, say a tenth of their working time yearly in rotation for “National
Service”. Only a small number of professionals will be required to organise and
train them. This will prevent persons from gaining control of the State and
using it against the citizens and for their own ambitions and creating a group
of professional killers or bullies while encouraging public responsibility. The
Military, as the Police, will have powers of maintaining order, reporting
problems, arbitration in disputes, and also have the function of dealing with
national emergencies and will be accountable to the Assemblies. A tenth of the
able bodied citizens could be involved in these functions at any one time,
being gradually replaced by the others.
(22) The Assembly
will set up a Department of Economics and Environmental Planning consisting of
experts though accountable to the Assembly. It will set up community factories,
farms, banks, shops, housing, transport and communication systems, hospitals,
schools and colleges and other institutions as necessary. However, these will
be run independently on a franchise basis.
The citizens will be encouraged to keep all their money in the banks
which can be invested in these community projects and all citizens will be
deemed to own shares in them. Private investment by individuals and groups will
also be encouraged.
(23) The Community
Banks will collect the Taxes approved by the Assembly and also run Insurance
schemes and collect and distribute the Charity (Zakat). Insurance covers
accidents, illness and retirement.
(24) There will be
a Community health, social welfare and advisory system. This should gather all
information, ideas and suggestions and deal with all physical, social,
psychological, financial, legal and cultural problems and needs. It will not be
run by the State, but by private individuals and firms in competition and
responsible to the Assembly. The citizens will claim from their insurance
scheme and be free to take their customs where they wish. A separation should
be made between Consultants - who diagnose problems and recommend solutions -
and Providers - those who supply the solutions such as the hospitals and doctors
that carry out the treatment or firms that supply goods, services or
facilities.
(25) It is
necessary to understand that the condition of the world today, where all people
have become much more interdependent and mixed, is such that it is no longer
possible for Muslims to migrate away from the rest of the world to form their
own independent nation as in the times of the Prophet. But nevertheless they
have to cultivate a separate distinct identity and their own communities that
can support and reinforce the Islamic ideals, disciplines and characteristics
but which interact with and affect the rest of the world. The aim should be to
form self-sufficient communities that also endeavour to reform the rest of the
world by introducing beneficial forces, selective co-operation with what is
good and opposition to detrimental tendencies.
Human beings are dependent on three things:-their own
qualities, their societies and the environment. These three also interact and
are inter-dependent. Whereas the priority in terms of values is the
psychological and spiritual welfare and development, followed by social welfare
and then the physical and environmental conditions that ought to serve the
others, the order of urgency is the reverse. The problems connected with pollution,
wastage and depletion of resources, particularly energy sources, ecological
imbalance, climatic changes are becoming rapidly more severe and these threaten
the functioning and stability of the economic, political and social systems.
These have an impact on the psychological functions of the people and vice
versa. The
solution of the problems humanity is now facing requires scientific knowledge,
but also appropriate political motivation and will and correct concentrated
economic action. But all these depend ultimately on the state of human
development, on their consciousness, conscience and will.
The Muslim world appears to be most vulnerable and
least able to deal with these problems, not only because they live in the more
vulnerable areas, but secondly also because they are less educated and skilful
and thirdly, because they are divided and occupied mentally in conflicts rather
than co-operation. An increase in awareness and reformation is most urgent. The
present global struggles and increasing suffering resulting from unresolved
problems could well stimulate such regeneration. One hopes that it is not too
late.
Critic:-
You wrote:- “It is
necessary to create a Centre for Research into Islam in the light of modern
developments and the requirements of the Present and Future that will also
undertake Philosophical and Theological Research based on Islam and propagate
its findings in Muslim communities.”
I would say the
findings of science are more important than philosophy. I suppose the US is a
big philosophical country, but I would attach a
lot of weight to things like the Templeton Prayer Study which found that prayers (technically Christian prayers)
did not usually affect the outcome of
medical patients, Another biggie is
evolution, which was really a scientific
finding and not philosophy.
Comment:-
In my previous
articles it was pointed out that human life needs three things:- facts,
meanings and values which give us information, motives and action so that we
can live in contact with the world on which we depend. We need data, we have to
interpret it and we need to know its significance with respect to our lives.
There are,
therefore, three corresponding systems:- (a) Science that deals with facts. (b)
Philosophy that deals with meaning, though it depends on facts. (c) Religion
that deals with values, though it also depends on facts and meanings. There are
no facts that have not been interpreted and Meanings arise when facts are
fitted into a system of values. It is values or motives that determine what
facts we see, seek and how we interpret and organise them.
In so far as
Western Philosophy is based on pure verbal speculation it is condemned in Islam
which certainly requires that we observe nature. So when I speak of Philosophy
I do not mean Philosophy in that sense.
As for Evolution,
the Scientific Theory is not just a question of facts, but also of
interpretation of facts and of their significance (though this is not
consciously done). We do not deny the facts - evolution does take place. But to
say it takes place by random mutation and natural selection is an
interpretation and quite meaningless. (The fittest survive? Who are the
fittest? Those that survive! A vicious circle!) Chance simply means ignorance
of causes and natural selection means selection by Nature. Atheists simply
substitute Nature for God.
We can say mutation
is God's creativity and selection is done by God. The fact is that there is a
direction to evolution - increasing consciousness, conscience and will
(control) and we understand this as the purpose of God.
As for the study of
Christian Prayer:- I do not use the word religion to refer to that. Prayer in the Islamic sense is a meditation,
an attempt to contact Reality in a deeper sense. It uses inner emotional
states, thought as well as symbolic posture changes. The effect of prayer is
through self-suggestion as well as through interaction with the sub-conscious
and unconscious minds and through them with the environment.
Islam provides us
with a value system and a unified framework of reference in which we can
interpret all experiences, a value system based on the Divine Attributes such
as objective Justice, Benevolence and Truth, and techniques for the stimulation
and development of the spiritual faculties for consciousness, conscience and
will, the vitalising impulses of faith, love and hope.
Question:-
It seems to me that the desire for Revival of
Islam as anything else depends on (a) having standards and values in mind and
(b) the idea, opinion or perception that existing conditions do not conform to
those standards and (c) that certain methods exist and can be applied that will
modify conditions towards those standards.
I am interested in the ideas of virtue and
desire. Desires are what motivates us, energises the economy and causes
development and progress. According to some people the desires such as greed,
lust, pride, envy etc, condemned by religions are, in fact, good things. It
would paralyse a society if the religious attitude became dominant. I am
curious to hear what you think your faith has to say about these ideas.
Comment:-
Desires refer to the motives that animate
living organisms. The Primary Desires are built-in and account for the nature
and behaviour of the organism. But in human beings, owing to experiences in interaction
with the environment channel these desires to produce Secondary or Tertiary
Desires.
For instance, there is the desire for
self-preservation that manifests as food seeking. But to do this human beings
have to go shopping and even before that they have to earn a living. These
activities are not the same as seeking food or eating it. Desires are also
given particular Tastes. Different people have different tastes. The Secondary
or Tertiary Desires can become independent habits. For instance we can eat
because of the smell or looks of the food rather than because we need it. We
can eat because it is dinner time and in quantities determined by the size of
dinner plate or convention and not because we are hungry. We can even acquire
desires that flout the original desire and harm us. We can acquire tastes for
things that are bitter which we would normally avoid such a fermented beers and
we could poison ourselves even deliberately by committing suicide flouting our
self-preservative instinct. So desires can be good or evil or catalytic (not
itself good or evil but may lead to either depending on circumstances). As evil
refers to what harms us and exists only because of ignorance or unawareness of
what is good for us, we attribute it to Satan - that which deceives and creates
illusions, delusions and hallucinations. The sin Greed, Lust, Envy, Pride etc.
create tension and conflict and, therefore, destruction. It wastes resources,
creates pollution and destroys the ecological balance of the planet.
Virtue refers to what is good and is the
opposite of vice which refers to evil. Good and evil refer to a purpose. That
which leads to the fulfilment of that purpose is good and that which obstructs
or flouts the purpose is evil. The Purpose must be an objective one for virtue
and vice to be objective. The main purposes built into human beings are
self-preservation, reproduction (preservation of the species) and
self-extension (growth, improvement, development, evolution). These built-in
purposes derive from Universal Nature of which we are part, the materials,
forces, and laws of which we are composed, and with which we interact to adapt
and grow and evolve. The cause of these purposes is therefore ultimately
whatever Creation, the Big Bang. Considering the whole of existence which by
definition cannot have an external cause, the Objective Purpose derives from an
Intension. We say, therefore, that virtue consists of conformity or obedience
to Allah, the Fundamental Reality.
A
Christian objects:-
We are seeing only the beginning of the
process, but I would like to inform you that it is a central tenet of Islam
that Muslims must struggle to bring about Islamic supremacy over the whole
world.
Comment:-
Christianity is a Missionary Religion that
sends out missionaries all over the world trying to convert people to
Christianity. It has been targeting Muslims especially for many years now,
spending billions of dollars to do so. And it is not just the Churches that are
doing it but Western governments and their agencies are also aiding them with
massive amounts of finance. Then there are a great number propagandists like
yourself who attack Islam with a stream of prejudices, misinformation and
distortions often presenting quotations out of context designed to create
hatred, mischief and antagonism.
One of their favourite ploys is reading the
verse :-
"Fight in the Cause of Allah with
those who fight you, but transgress not the limits (or begin not hostilities); verily,
Allah loves not those who transgress (or the aggressors). Kill them wherever
you find them, and drive them out from whence they drive you out; for
persecution (oppression or sedition) is worse than slaughter;" Quran
2:190-191
And then ignoring the first part, extract and
present readers with
"Kill them (non-Muslims) wherever you
find them."
Muslims, like Christians, believe that people
should be given the Truth and led to what is beneficial to them. It is part of
Charity. The difference between the Islamic and Christian position, however is
this that unlike Christians they do not believe that bribery causes real
conversion, or that it should be pushed by devious means on otherwise reluctant
people. They, therefore, believe in giving the straight truth to those who wish
to know.
It is then merely a question of comparing the
doctrines and practices of one with the other. There is really no contest! The
choice is between whether you gain salvation by appropriate efforts (Islam) or
simply by believing that Jesus died on the cross (Christianity). The latter is
emotionally tempting as it requires no effort, though it has no justification
in scripture or reason, but the former is more rational and requires no
convoluted arguments.
Question:-
What I am wondering is what would happen if
the masses banded together to condemn such terrorism. Surely this would
convince even the most hardened of hearts, wouldn't it?
Comment:-
Where have you seen complete consensus about anything
by all. It is usually brainwashing that achieves uniformity. Indeed, human
progress is due to the few who escape such conditioning. But criminals have
always existed also. Society pays the price for one with the other.
It is, of course, wholly unlikely that you
can convince all Muslims to give up terrorism when they see Western, especially
US global terrorism. They do not regard themselves as terrorists but freedom
fighters retaliating against US aggression and oppression.
Critic:-
Muslims want the Islamic Shariah to be
recognised in the Laws of Britain and other Western countries. They complain
that Muslim communities are not allowed to live according to Shariah. This is
the problem:- Since Shariah and Islam demands that one day Islam will rule the
world and everyone will be forced to accept Islam it follows that anything less
is "not allowing Muslims to live according to Shariah". If more
people understood the truly imperialist nature of Islam they would be less
willing to grant concessions to Muslim minorities unavailable to religious
minorities in Islamic States.
Comment:-
You are confused.
(1) There is no question of
"forced". The Shariah is based on the Quran which says:-
"There is no compulsion in
religion." Quran 2:256
(2) The Shariah is about rules of conduct for
Muslims. That does not contain the idea that "anything less than world
domination is not allowing Muslims to live according to Shariah". The
Shariah applies only to Muslims. Others are allowed to live according to their
own laws.
(3) You appear to be ignorant of the fact
that under Muslim rule all other religions also flourished whereas they were
generally persecuted under Christian intolerance. It is only lately when
Muslims began to be attacked that retaliation against the attackers began.
Critic:-
One of the problems
with religion is the promotion of inequality between men and women. This
paralyses half the population. In Christianity, Judaism, and Islam there is a
bias towards men. That is, the tenets of the religion generally favour the
rights of the male over the rights of the female. If we look at the origins of
these faiths we find (surprise) that women and men were relatively equal. But
over the years, the place of women slipped lower and lower. We can measure this
by looking at the degree to which women are covered.
In certain
Christian sects, women wear modest dress and cover their heads. Nuns used to be
completely covered. In Judaism, orthodox women wear modest dress and shave
their heads and wear wigs. That is so that no other man can see her hair. In
Islam, many women cover their heads and even their faces.
Attaturk, the
reformer of Turkey, saw clearly that to allow
women to wear the veil would mean that they became less visible in the society.
He was a Muslim yet, like the prophet, he had no desire to make women less
important. The wonderful Arab poet Gibran (a Christian) saw that by covering
the body, we make it less holy.
Comment:-
It is true that
women have been treated as inferior to men. This is because men had all the
power and control over affairs while women were occupied with pregnancy and
child rearing. It is worldly conditions rather than Islamic teachings or
conscious awareness that gradually took over human behaviour as religions
degenerated.
But it is also true
that the Quran considers men and women equal but different in nature. Justice
demands that things and people should be treated proportionate to their
differences and similarities, circumstances and roles – otherwise nothing what
ever could be recognised or treated fairly according to their needs.
"And they (women) have rights similar to those
of men over them in equity, though men have a degree of responsibilities (or
advantages) over them." 2:228
"O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your
Lord Who created you from a single soul and likewise its mate and from them
twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty
towards Allah from whom ye claim your rights of one another, and towards the
wombs that bare you. Lo! Allah is a Watcher over you." 4:1
"And covet not a thing in which Allah hath made
some of you to excel others. Unto men a fortune which they have earned and unto
women a fortune which they have earned. Envy not one another but ask Allah for
His bounty." 4:32
"They are raiments for you and ye are raiments
for them." 2:187
"I suffer not the work of any worker, male or
female, to be lost. Ye proceed from one another." 3:195
"Lo! men and women who surrender unto Allah, men
and women who believe, men and women who obey, men and women who are true, men
and women who persevere, men and women who are humble, men and women who give
in charity, men and women who abstain, men and women who guard their chastity,
and men and women who remember Allah much, Allah hath prepared for them
forgiveness and a vast reward. And it becomes not a believing man or woman,
when Allah and His messenger have decided an affair for them, that they should
after that claim a say in their affair; and whoso disobeys Allah and His
messenger, he is indeed in manifest error." 33:35-36
It is true that
there is no justification in the Quran for the full veil - the Burqa, but it
certainly teaches modesty in dress and behaviour.
"And say to the believing women that they cast
down their looks and guard their modesty, and display not their ornaments,
except those which are obvious from the outside; and let them pull their veils
over their bosoms and not display their ornaments (and beauty) save to their
husbands and fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the
sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their
sisters' sons, or their women, or what their right hands possess (slaves), or
their male attendants who are incapable (eunuchs or old men), or to children
who do not note women's nakedness; and that they beat not with their feet to
draw attention to their hidden ornaments; but turn you all to Allah, O you
believers, in order that you may succeed (or prosper or attain bliss)."
24:31
The fact is,
contrary to fantasies about theoretical ideals, that men and women are tempted
and distracted by each other. The dress code prevents women from being treated
as sex objects and as prey for predatory men stimulated by physical exposure.
In a society where
greater organisation, education and mechanisation and birth-control exists,
there are more jobs for women and they become financially independent of men.
But this has also made both sexes much more irresponsible with respect to each
other and their families and children. It has also increased the labour force
and depressed incomes. In fact, women have been forced to abandon their
feminine roles and behave more like men. But to compensate for this and
reassure themselves of their femininity and to control men it has become a
common practice for them to expose themselves.
The consequences of
immodesty are wide spread flirtation, promiscuity, prostitution, commercial
exploitation, enslavement and trade in women, adultery, much unhappiness and
domestic tension, psychological stresses and diseases and malfunctions
associated with this, alcoholism, depression and suicide, escapism, desire for
pleasure, all kinds of sexual and other perversion and obsessions, break down
of families, divorce, abortion, neglect and cruelty to children who grow up
often inadequate, unguided, unruly, unstable, neurotic and delinquent; and all
the social problems connected with these and the creation of lopsided
one-parent families that costs the State enormous amounts of money to be
extracted by taxation from the rest of the population.
One must add to
this all kinds of venereal diseases including AIDS, debilities of the immune
system because of stresses that bring organic and psychosomatic diseases, and
the economic consequences of these and of the multiplication of single
households instead of families, and the pursuit of material wealth as a
consolation or substitute for true love. The society has also become more
crude, aggressive, violent and generally uncivilised and without morals or
values. This produces even more social and political and also environmental
consequences.
Reformation most
certainly requires tackling this root problem and its consequences. Certainly a
society where half the population (the female which has the most influence on
the formative period of the next generation) is rendered useless, ineffective
or even harmful, cannot possibly prosper or progress. Women as men also need
education, development and self-fulfilment, but according to their nature,
needs and functions.
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