8. ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY

 

The thesis in this book may be better understood by showing how it fits into the historical sequence of Islamic Philosophy. It has been pointed out, however, that Islam, in the main, does not favour Philosophy as understood in the West. It is either suspicious of it as useless sophistry or condemns it as arrogant speculation, creating fantasies. This is because it recognises only three sources of knowledge - inspiration, experience and analogical reasoning. It has been shown in the chapter on logic that reason does, in fact, have limitations and that it cannot, in any case, be valid without the data of experience and insight, both non-rational elements. The word “Philosophy” will, therefore, be redefined here.

Originally it meant the “Love of Truth”. This is an emotion or motivation which is certainly required, but it is neither a perception nor an activity. In fact, philosophy involves thinking and this is done in words which is a mode of communication, a part of interaction in general. It is an activity and is neither the same thing as the experience of something nor the same as the object of experience. But it certainly engages one of the three human faculties thinking, feeling and action which interact in all experiences. Action depends on motivation and perception, motivation on action and perception, and perception on motivation and actions by which reactions are elicited.

A distinction exists between facts which require perception of external data, values which derive from inner inherent urges, and meanings which relate the two. Religion is mostly concerned with Values, Philosophy with Meanings and Science with Facts. The distinction however is not absolute, since each must have elements of the others. Facts in science are selected, related, interpreted, classified and organised according to value, and meaningfully according to concepts. In all religions the value systems depend on certain cosmological truths regarded as facts. Philosophy must, if it deals in meaning, consider facts and values also. Religion depends on insight (i.e. revelation, inspiration and faith, not to be confused with wishful thinking, sentimentality, fantasy or prejudice); Philosophy depends on reason and methods which aid it; science depends on observation and experiment and instruments which aid it. Again the distinction is not Absolute since even science requires inspiration and reason, philosophy requires inspiration and observation, and religion requires observation and reason. The distinction is one of emphasis. All these systems, however, have this in common, that people differ in their capacities for sense experience as well as for reason and inspiration, and in their direction of attention (interest), activity and conceptual framework. There is no science, philosophy or religion which is independent of the quality of human beings. These will vary according to their qualities. Thus there is a distinction between what is real, what others, especially more conscious people, think is real, and what we think is real.

A distinction should be made in knowledge between information, understanding and consciousness which corresponds to the three levels in man, namely the physical, the mental and the spiritual. Information is impersonal, affecting neither motives nor action; understanding cannot be obtained without inner processing of information and relating it to the person; consciousness, here understood as including conscience and will, affects action as well. Science deals with information, Philosophy with understanding and Religion with consciousness.

Another difference between the three disciplines lies in this that Religion deals with living, and therefore, must engage all three human faculties of thinking, motivation (including feeling) and action, while Philosophy deals in thought and motives, and Science is concerned with the practical. Originally, as in children, no distinction was made between the three faculties and life and religion were one. But the increase of experience, organisation and knowledge produced complexity, to deal with which a differentiation took place between them and between those in whom a particular faculty was most pronounced. A distinction then occurred between thinkers who dealt with Universals and produced Philosophy; the socially orientated such as organisers, administrators, managers, artists; and the physical or practical workers who produced the industries. Further elaboration caused Philosophy also to differentiate into three sections corresponding to the above, namely transcendental things such as Metaphysics (including Theology), Epistemology and Logic, Social subjects such as Politics, Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Sciences. Science, therefore, comes out of Philosophy and must return into it; Philosophy comes out of Religion and must return into it; Religion must become re-integrated with human life, and human life with the World process. It is observable throughout the Universe and in human affairs that there is a process both of disintegration or analysis which is followed by a new re-integration and synthesis. 

There are objects (including things, events or motions and structures or organisation), experiences of them (sensory, emotional and intellectual) and verbal descriptions. We do not know objects excepts through experiences. We reconstruct an idea of the object by means of several experiences. We describe things by abstracting certain common features from experiences. We experience three kinds of things - Thoughts, feelings and sense data, and all three are equally real and must be considered if a comprehensive world view is to be obtained. We perceive organised or integrated Wholes, qualities and relationships between parts. There are three kinds of relationships - between one thing and another, between the part and the whole, and between a thing and the environment of many other things. There are ten kinds of meanings - the relationship (i) between the wholeness of reality and the object (ii) between objects, (iii) between objects and experience, (iv) between experiences, (v) between experiences and words, (vi) between words, (vii) between the experiences and the observer, (viii) between observers, (ix) between the observer and reality as a whole, (x) finally, the relationship between all the previous items.

The word Philosophy will be used as including all systems of meaningful thinking where the emphasis is on the faculty of reason, motivated by the desire to understand. This includes Theology, Metaphysics, Psychology, Logic, the concepts of the Sciences, Art, Mysticism, Politics, Economics, Ethics and Law. It can be divided into three classes, corresponding to the faculties, those which deal with the relationship of human beings with the Cosmos, those which deal with relationships between human beings, and those which deal with human beings and the objects in their environment. This last has not been so far included in Philosophy, except in the East, being left mainly to craftsmen and other workers. In fact, there are techniques and methods involved in all actions which can make them more or less efficient and which can produce much more general consequences. These can also be studied by science and reasoned about by Philosophy. It is a subject which will probably become more important for consideration in the future.

Religion is unlike philosophy and science in that it deals with ultimate Universal truths which are beyond experience but explain all experiences. Ultimately there can only be one Truth, because if there were many they could only be known if there was some relationship between them which points to a still higher unity. But the description of it can vary because such descriptions only refer to different aspects of it owing to the limits of the mind which describes it. Philosophy is not like science where agreement about facts can be obtained to the extent that people have the same capacity for experience, since the relationship between things can vary to a much greater extent then the number of facts and this allows greater choice in selection. There are and were diverse views on the same subject. This ought not to have been a cause for conflicts since all the different ideas could be regarded as referring to different aspects of the same reality and were, in any case, to be held as tentative and useful descriptions to various degrees rather than absolutely true.

 

Islamic thought should be regarded as beginning with the Prophet Muhammad (AD. 570 - 632) during the period beginning with his first religious experience when he was 40 years old (AD. 610) and ending with the time his mission proper began (AD. 613). This was a period of preparation when the fundamental ideas of Islam were laid down. These original ideas were so comprehensive and compact that they were inspirations accessible only to a heightened state of consciousness. All the other Islamic ideas flow from these and can be regarded as the gradual elaboration, extraction, explanations, expositions or actualization of the contents of the fundamental ideas.

 

Stage 1.

While the Prophet Muhammad was alive the Muslim community was guided exclusively by him - that is, by the Quran and Hadith. The ideas, institutions and laws were not explicitly systematized but given in small pieces as appropriate to the circumstances that arose. However, there is an implicit self-consistency among them since they all derive from the same basic origin:- That Allah, the Absolute One, is the ultimate Creator, Lord and Guide of the Universe; that He manifests His Will to man through the Prophet; and that man must Surrender to Him in loyalty and obedience, work on His behalf and with the powers given by Him; and that he will ultimately be judged and rewarded according to his works. He suffers because he has fallen far short of his correct function and needs forgiveness and healing from Allah, who is Merciful and Bountiful. Thus the perfection of man refers to his potentialities not hi actuality. Religion has been provided to lead him to this perfection. But man’s imperfection causes religion to deteriorate. It must, therefore, be regenerated from time through more highly developed individuals. These ideas were simple and self-consistent enough for all to understand and required no great elaboration.

 

Stage 2.

After the Prophet Muhammad’s death the leadership passed in turn to the Four Righteous Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and Ali (AD. 632 - 661). During this time the Doctrines, institutions and Law were progressively systematized and explained. But they remained pure without introduction of extraneous material. Though a distinction could be made between the mystical, the intellectual (theological) and the institutional (Law) elements, and different Muslims placed their emphasis on each according to their nature and qualities, they still formed a unified system. Islamic thinking was confined to Theology and Law. The practical sciences were separate but subordinate according to the words of the Prophet, “If I tell you something about your religion then accept it, but if I tell you something about anything else then I am but a man.” The Quran itself provided the three ingredients corresponding to the three faculties of man, namely the thoughts, the instruction for action, and also the motivational force of feeling and devotion.

Cooperation, mutual consultation and consensus were also required in the running of Islamic affairs. Thus a distinction was made between revealed truths, reason with consensus, and experience. But all human beings were Vicegerents having within them the spirit and faculties given by Allah. The Prophet also said that if the community followed the Quran and his Sunna (Traditions of the Prophet) then they would always be rightly guided. Reason meant, not invention, but measuring or analogy so that the data of experience would be analyzed, compared, related and synthesized. Reason could and was also applied to the interpretation of the revelations of Allah. It was, therefore, thought that when human reason is properly cultivated and applied to these subjects and subjective desires and fantasies kept in check, then there could be no contradiction between these sciences, social consensus and the revelations of Allah. Though this idea persists until this day, most Muslims appear to have forgotten the qualifications under which this would be true.

The Muslim community and Empire grew rapidly, and the original Muslims came into contact with many different peoples, religions, cultures and ideas and were forced into dialogues with them. The process of thinking, itself, required that the various aspects of experience should be unified. Political conflicts often made strategy and expediency more important than truth, and the practical considerations of surviving and making a living in difficult circumstances distracted people from the spiritual life. This was particularly true when the increasing size of the population through conversions diluted the guidance and influence of a relatively decreasing number of men of high spiritual excellence. The development of the doctrine and the increasing variety to which religious principles needed to be applied made, what was originally simple, increasingly more elaborate. Thus complexity as well as unfavourable conditions increased, but the ability to deal with them diminished.

Stage 3.

When Ali (AD. 600 - 661), the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, became the fourth Caliph, he was opposed and eventually murdered by Muawaiyah who founded the Umayyad Dynasty, thereby destroying Theocratic Democracy and replacing it with a secular dynastic power. This episode should be regarded as the end of pure conscious Islam, though it continued to have ever diluting, mechanical social effects until this day at least at the public, political or exoteric level. Pure Islam could be said to have gone underground in that it survives among some individuals or groups in a less obvious or esoteric way.

A separation occurred between three groups - the Secular Powers (including commercial, political and cultural authorities), the Intelligentsia and the Common people who followed their various crafts. The Intelligentsia divided into (a) the Mystics, (b) the Philosophers, and (c) the set of religious authorities who systematized various aspects of Religion, and defined Institutional or Orthodox Religion. This includes the Theologians and the Lawmakers. These may be regarded as corresponding to the human faculties for thought and action, and a measure of rigidity was introduced into both. The third faculty, feeling and emotion, on which motives are based and concern such things as love, hope and faith, appear, unfortunately, to have been mostly ignored though they are an integral part of the Quranic teachings. It was, however, incorporated in the works of Artists such as storytellers, poets, singers and musicians, painters and in the general culture. It came to be heavily adulterated by extraneous un-Islamic elements mainly because the religious authority failed to give it importance or attention. It is this that is responsible for the deterioration of Muslims. Satan found a loophole through which he could enter unobstructed if not unnoticed.

The Shiah sect in Islam regarded Ali as the only legitimate successor (Imam) to the Prophet both as leader and teacher, and remained loyal to him and his descendants. The Khawarij (Succeeders) broke away because they thought Ali had submitted to human institutions rather than the laws of Allah by recognizing the three former Caliphs. In short, they regarded him as a traitor. This sect continued to attack and harass the Umayyad government. The reasoning which lay behind the behaviour of this extremely puritanical and perhaps, fanatical, sect was as follows:- True faith is shown by action. Where action is lacking both in doing good and fighting against evil, there no faith exists. The Muslim community, those who have surrendered and are faithful to Allah, must be led by the most qualified, those who have the most knowledge, righteousness and ability in the religious sense, not those who obtain power through convention or by force. The Umayyad were not, therefore, Muslims but infidels, evil doers and oppressors who had to be fought against by all true Muslims. This was part of the universal struggle against Satan.

Comment:- Here we have a case of the tendency of the human mind to cause division into two extreme positions, the one leading by reaction to the other. The Shiah attachment to Ali, reflecting Christian attachment to Jesus, seems to be justified on insecure speculative grounds. The Prophet had named no successor and Ali himself had accepted the previous Caliphs. Various verses in the Quran are quoted to support their position, but none explicitly name Ali and his descendants. One would presume that such an important matter would be made absolutely clear. For example, Quran 4:59 speaks of obedience to Allah, the Messenger and "those in authority amongst you". The verse has a general meaning that ought not to be interpreted narrowly. Shiah understand it as referring to Ali and the descendants of the Prophet through his daughter Fatima, wife of Ali, the Ahl-ul-Bayt. There is no justification for this, especially as descent was reckoned through the male and not the female line e.g.. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Indeed, the Quran itself states that "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the prophets; and Allah is Aware of all things." (33:40). It also tells us that it is not physical descent from Abraham but spiritual descent (kinship of righteousness) which is important (2:124, 3:68). The Quran requires Muslims to cling to the cable of Allah and not to divide into sects (3:103-105, 6:160 etc..). The Light verses (24:35-37) also indicate that it that Islam requires that Muslims be led by the righteous, the spiritual descendants of the Prophet. Mistaking this for a right by physical descent is a misunderstanding or corruption.

Nor do the teachings of the Quran and the history of Islam under the Prophet show the kind of extreme intolerance shown by the Khawarij. Certainly, the Muslim is required to oppose evil, but he is also required to uphold brotherhood and unity. Faith must show itself in action, but it is correct faith that justifies the action. It is not the action that justifies faith. The idea that the leadership and authority in a community should rest in the spiritually most advanced person does conform to the teachings of the Quran and Hadith, But it is not a hereditary right. As consultation and consensus is always required, such a leader is to be sought and accepted by the people for their own good, not imposed on them. Imposition means tyranny, whereas the leader is to work for the welfare and development of the community and educate them. Nowadays the so-called Terrorists may claim some justification from the Khawarij tradition, though it is doubtful that the Khawarij encouraged indiscriminate and ineffective targets. As invariably happens throughout history and in the Cosmos in general, this sect gave rise to its own opposite.

 

The Umayyad were able to rule because of another sect, the Murjiya (Postponers) who defined a Muslim by faith not deed. The evil deed, including that of the leader or ruler, is not judged here and now, but would be judged by God alone in the Hereafter.

Comment:- Whereas this allowed greater tolerance and social order to be maintained, it also allowed the non-believing, hypocritical or misguided people to get away with their misdeeds with impunity, and corrupt the whole nation. This teaching became a refuge for cowards, hypocrites, doubters, the apathetic and lazy, and those with a weak faith and moral fibre. Unfortunately one extreme always leads to another and the Balance is lost. Things always swing, like a pendulum between one extreme and the other, until they reach a midpoint. It seems to be a Law of nature that eventually, a third middle movement should also arises.

 

Stage 4.

The Mutazilah (Those Who Stand Apart, 8th - 10th century) took a position between these two sects. The believer who sins lies midway between the faithful and infidel. Hasan al-Basri called him a hypocrite, but his disciple, Wasil ibn-Ata (699 - 749) preferred to call him Fasiq (Transgressor). Sins could not be removed except by conscious confession of infidelity. Other contributers to this Philosophy were Ibn al-Mutamir (?-825), Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaf (?-841), an-Nazzam (?-846), They were condemned as heretics and free thinkers by another group, the Hambalis (Traditionalists), because they elevated reason to the highest status as a source of knowledge. They are known for four main dogmas:-

(1) Tawhid, the Absolute Unity and immateriality of Allah. He was completely distinct from His creations and could not, therefore, be known by the senses in this world or the next, but His creations could be known through Aql (Reason) given to man by Him. Evil was created by man. It cannot exist in Allah, since Allah is Unity, and good and evil form a duality. His attributes were divided into (a) the Eternal or Unchanging such as knowledge, power, life which were part of Him, and (b) those of Action such as willing, hearing, seeing and speech which were not Eternal but temporal. The Quran, being the speech of God, was not, therefore, Eternal but created. Ideas, time, space and matter were also creations, not pre-existing.

(2) The Justice and Laws of Allah conforms to reason as opposed to being the Will of Allah to which man must conform without question - they can be known through reason. Repentance is, therefore, a matter of reasoning. Prophets are merely sent because of Allah’s goodness to remind man of what he already knows through inherent reason.

(3) Man had been given free will, otherwise he could not be held responsible for his action and could not be judged, nor could he exercise reason. Allah’s Justice, reward and punishment, Paradise and Hell, were, therefore, logically necessary consequences of man’s own actions, not a punishment by Allah, who wanted only the best for man. However, once free will has been created the range of human activity becomes greater than the activity of God since he can now obey or disobey, do good and evil or between them in many combinations. It is the obligation of every Muslim in private or public, ruler or ruled, to promote and defend faith and the good, and to oppose evil. Though armed struggles are not excluded, this doctrine led to various kinds of legal, political, economic and social opposition, debates, propaganda, teaching, preaching and missionary work.

(4) In order to explain away some of the logical difficulties that the above doctrines produced they also developed an atomic theory, which applied not only to matter but also space, time, energy, movement, rest and accident. Each atom lasted only an atom of time. The world was, therefore, maintained by Allah by continuous recreation. Causality and order arise directly from Him. However, this could not apply to man’s power to choose between good and evil. Later thinkers, however, also accepted that human free will was being continually recreated by Allah, otherwise the unity of the Universe and the omnipotence of Allah could not be maintained.

This emphasis on reason allowed the Mutazilah to contribute to the development of ethics, law, politics, administration, commentaries on the Quran and Hadith, and to many sciences. They consisted of a class of independent intellectuals who had a wide interest in all kinds of doctrines and sects, and were always ready to dispute and voice unorthodox opinions. They were not, therefore, easily understood by the masses and did not constitute a popular movement. Owing to their independence they also broke up into several sub-groups some of them professing extreme ideas. Ibn ar-Rawandi even went so far as to state, as some modern philosophers do, that prophecy, revelation and divine laws were superfluous and harmful, and that reason alone should reign.

The Mutazilah did not oppose dynasties as such but did judge each ruler on his merits. They allied themselves with sections that opposed the Umayyad and were instrumental in overthrowing them. This dynasty was replaced with the Abbasid Caliphs among whom was al-Mamun who espoused their doctrines and tried to force it on the rest of the population. This caused great agitation and unrest. As the distinction between the two kinds of Attributes presented logical difficulties, Ibn Kullab modified the Mutazilah doctrine by saying that the Attributes of Allah are one with Allah if seen in relation to Allah, but separate if seen in relation to man. For instance, the Quran is the speech of God but when it is read or recited by a person it is clearly not. Allah is Compassionate in His Eternal Nature, but an act of compassion is something which takes place in time and is a creation, though it derives from the former. But he was opposed both by the Mutazilah and the Hambalis (Traditionalists) who accepted everything in the Quran as true, but avoided all obscurities, difficulties and anthropomorphism by admitting that ordinary human beings could not understand everything about Allah - there were things beyond reason. And also by the Zahiris (Literalists) who rejected all theology as speculation, which they condemned because religious doctrines are a matter of revelation, and these they took literally.

The Murijiahs (Postponers) managed to convert a later Caliph, Harun al-Rashid to support the community (Umma) against the Mutazilah, and under the next Caliph, al-Mutawakkil, the general population rose up to persecute them and burnt all their books. Under persecution the Mutazilah split up into several groups, including Zaydis and Imamis. The Zaydis included such qualities as Willing, Friendship, Enmity, Pleasure and Wrath among the Essential and Eternal Attributes of Allah. The Imamis believed that Allah was literally Light (though this was more than visible light), and that, therefore, He has a place, time, movement and change, that He responds to man’s actions, that human actions cannot be predetermined if he is to be judged, but also that they cannot be pre-known by Allah. Therefore, they denied that Knowing, Willing etc.. are Essential or Eternal Attributes of Allah. He does not know something before He wills it. They also believed in the efficacy of the intercession of the Prophet and Saints, thereby rejecting the idea that punishment and reward were natural consequences of actions.

Comment:- The main criticism that can be made of these system is that reason is not the only human faculty. They ignored (a) observation (b) inspiration as well as the requirement of (c) exchange of ideas, consultation and consensus. What is more, reason can only function correctly if it was purified so that prejudice, fantasy, self-interest etc.. did not introduce errors into it. It yields correct results if all relevant data is admitted without a selective process. It could not be guaranteed that the advocate of the teaching had considered all the facts or, indeed, that he knew them or could even perceive them. The senses and the conceptual powers are limited. Reason only applies to the relationship between things. The ability to see the pattern that multiple things make is accessible only to consciousness, not to reason, which works with words, and not even to the senses which provide separate bits of data. The doctrine of Unity (Tawhid) is correct. But if Allah is unknowable, how do we know that He exists; obviously, because He reveals Himself. Indeed, the Universe itself must be regarded as a self-revelation of Allah. Reason and experience must be regarded as lower forms of revelation. Another difficulty is that if Allah is completely separate from creation why would He be concerned about His creatures and how could He influence events in the Universe and human societies. The Quran tells us that His spirit is in man.

The insistence on reason led them into the un-Islamic belief in free will. There is no justification for this in the Quran and the Prophet denied it. It is true, of course, that if human thought and action were determined by external causes then it cannot be said that they can find the truth or be responsible and be judged. But if man has free will then Allah must be limited and the individual can do anything without causes or reasons. This is neither rational nor in conformity with facts. The controversy about free will is really like that between whether light is corpuscular in nature or wavelike. It is not amenable to arguments based on an either/or logic. When a ball is in a container is it free or not? It can certainly move in a great many different ways but each requires appropriate impulses. There are also many levels of causes. When you lift your arm are there physical, physiological, social, or psychological causes for this? One could act according to lower or higher cause. Some systems are more versatile than others, and are, therefore, freer. The Quran tells us that all power comes from Allah. Human beings have an inherent urge for happiness, adjustment to Reality, self-perfection, and return to Unity, but there are forces that obstruct this. It is necessary to espouse those causal forces that will remove these obstructions.

Human beings have three faculties - for cognition, motivation and action, and these interact. The Mutazilah Philosophy ignores two of them. By ignoring faith, which refers to motives, this doctrine sterilizes religion - reason is a mental activity and is itself driven by motives, and it produces little physical action. Theology became merely an intellectual exercise. Islam requires thought but also faith and action.

 

Stage 5.

The Shiah believe in hereditary Imamhood, which consists both of spiritual and secular leadership. This appears to be a modification of the Christian belief in Apostolic Succession and kingship, though the Imam is to be a spiritually pure and able person rather than the eldest son. They recognize 12 Imams - Ali, his sons Hasan and Husayn, Ali Zayn al-Abidin, Muhammad al-Baqir, Jafar as-Sadiq, Musa al_Qasim, Ali al-Rada, Muhammad al-Jawad, Ali al-Hadi, Hasan al-Askari, Muhammad al-Mahdi, The last Imam disappeared in 878 AD. and is believed by them to be alive ready to return on the Day of Resurrection and Judgment. The Sunnis divided the religious from the secular, and the word Imam was retained for the former though not in the hereditary sense, while the word Caliph (from Khalifa, Successor or Vicegerent) was used for the later. This division implies that he need not be spiritually upright, and this idea is also a foreign introduction that must be rejected. After the death of Jafar, the 6th Imam recognized by the Shiahs, one section recognize his eldest son, Ismail as the 7th Imam and became known as the Sabiyah (Seveners) or Ismailis while those who recognize the youngest son, Musa, became known as the Imamis or Ithna Ashariyah (Twelvers because they believed in the return of the 12th Imam).

The Ismailis incorporated the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus into their Theology. This synthesis is found in the books of Abu Yaqub as-Sijistani. Some elements of the Hebrew mystic system, Kabalah, and Mithraism also appear to be incorporated. They stressed the dual nature of the Quran, exoteric and esoteric, and made a corresponding distinction between the ordinary and the initiated Muslim. This initiation was only accessible by levels through a hierarchy headed by an Imam. Allah is above knowledge, and above both being and non-being, positive and negative. His first creation is Intelligence, not as an emanation but by His Word (Command or Will). Intelligence knows its creator, contemplates its own being and this causes the emanation of its partner, Universal Soul - they are Adam and Eve. Soul desires Intelligence and receives Forms from it. This causes the emanation of all the individual souls, heaven and earth, matter and all things in nature. Matter and evil are defined as that which is distant or ignorant of Intelligence, and good as that which is close and aware of Intelligence. Intelligence instructs Soul, and gives it the desire to order its life and surroundings in such a way as to escape matter and return to its source, the Universal Soul and to Intelligence. This can only be accomplished by the guidance of Intelligence in human History. Intelligence does this by emanating the Prophets and Imams. The history of the Universe and of the world is seen as ascending cycles, each Great cycle being marked by the advent of 7 Speakers (Messengers of Allah with scriptures), each followed by 7 Silent Speakers (Imams without scriptures), forming 7 Minor Cycles. A Great Cycle contains 7 Major Cycles. The present Major Cycle began with Adam, followed by Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and the 7th, the Qaim or Mahdi, will come on the Day of Resurrection and Judgment. The Ismailis claim that Ismail’s son, Muhammad at-Tamm would return at the end of the world as the Mahdi. After this there must be another Great Cycle beginning with another Adam.

Comment:- The Prophet did say that Intelligence was the first creation and that the Quran has inner meanings apart from the outer obvious ones. According to the Quran the Spirit is by the Command of Allah (17:85). The Command or Word of Allah is not a creation. It is Truth, which is an attribute of Allah (6:74, 38:85, 31:30). The Spirit derives from the Word is not a creation either (15:29). The Universal Soul cannot then refer to Spirit, but to the Soul mentioned in the verse:- "O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord, who created you from one soul, and created there from its mate, and scattered from the twain a multitude of men and women." (Quran 4:1). But this verse tells us that Allah created all the souls from it. Nothing is said about Intelligence contemplating itself or emanation of souls. The Quran also tells us:- "And of all things have We created pairs, that you may reflect." (51:49). Intelligence and Universal Soul may, therefore, be regarded as the first pair. They may, perhaps, be regarded as deriving from the pair Word and Spirit - the Word being Truth or order creating vibrations and Spirit being the receptacle or Ground State of existence which when organized by the former forms, in stages, all other things. The Ismaeli doctrine seems to contradict the Quranic teaching that Heaven and Earth were created by Allah with Truth (15:85, 16:3, 29:44).

The doctrine also denies that Muhammad was the Last of the Prophets, which is the orthodox interpretation of "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the prophets." (33:40). This verse, however, does not say that there will be no further Messengers and the word "Seal" does not necessarily imply that something is closed for ever, and may also refer to the fact that Muhammad (saw) confirms the message of the Prophets. Muhammad (saw) himself forecast the return of Jesus. The idea that humanity is to be abandoned by Allah after Muhammad (saw) does not seem very reasonable, but the times for direct guidance by Prophets as among the Israelites has passed. In so far as Imams are treated by some Shiah as if they were prophets, this must also be regarded as a relic of something which should have become obsolete. Many Ismaeli, however, appear to have replaced Muhammad with Ali and believe that Ali was Allah. In this they are not much different from Christians, who also believe that a man was God. This, however, is said by others to be a misinterpretation, because he, being an Imam, is an emanation of Intelligence - that is, his imamate is a manifestation of Intelligence which reflects the Light of Allah. They quote the Light Verses, 24:35-37, in support of this idea. These verses have a general meaning and refer to any one or any place where true Spirituality can be found. Their doctrine of cycles is compatible with ideas in the Quran, but is not specified. It was later also adopted by Baha-ullah, the founder of the Baha’i religion to justify the idea that there could be Prophets after Muhammad.

The Ismaeli attempts to prove that their doctrines derive from the Quran often seem rather strained and obscure. The claim that this only seems so because the esoteric meaning is not understood by all can be made for any doctrine whatever. However, the Ismaeli doctrine can be taken as a different formulation or point of view of the same truths as taught in the Quran - an attempt at systematization and understanding. But there does not seem to be any good reason for making these changes, especially when notions foreign to the Quran are introduced. It produces inconsistencies, and can be regarded as an adulteration of Islam or it creates a different religion. It is just as much open to misunderstanding as the Quranic formulation.

 

Stage 6.

The Fatamid Caliphs claimed descent from the Prophet's daughter, Fatima, and by a line of hidden Imams, from Ismail, the 7th Imam. But when the Caliph al-Mustansir died, the Egyptian and Yemenese Ismailis, Mustalis recognized his son, al-Mustali, and those of Iran and Syria, Nizaris, recognized the older son, Nizar as Imam. The Egyptian Ismailis were wiped out by Sultan Saladin. The Yemenese Ismailis, Nizaris, who continue to exist, believe that Mustali's grandson would return as the Mahdi. The Nizaris gave rise to such cults as the Assassins and remained in power until deposed by the Mongols and Mamlukes. Other sects which derive from the Nizaris are the one headed by the Aga Khan, the Druze who formed a separate religion and regard the Imams as incarnations of the godhead, the Yazdis, the Nusayris, and the Baha’i who also formed separate religions.

Comments:- We see how rationalism or free thought leads to ever increasing differences of opinion, schisms and conflicts. This is because each is driven by local historical conditions, has different sectarian motives, is based on different selected parts of knowledge and also includes inventions and fantasies.

The Mutazilah, though persecuted, survived and mounted an attack on a new school of Theology, the Ashari. Al-Ashari (AD. 873 - 936), formerly a Mutazilah, noticed that the Mutazilah doctrine caused inaction, and made a public declaration denouncing their doctrines. He, accepted the Traditionalist view, but did not give up Theology. Instead, by giving Theology a rational basis, he incorporated it into Orthodox Islam. In his view Faith comes from the heart where Allah placed it, not through reason. Good and evil cannot, therefore, be known through reason. We cannot make assumptions about Allah, that He has a rational purpose that we can understand, and then try to find it. We have to accept what Allah says. Justice is what Allah commands not what conforms to human ideas of rationality or fairness. Though he tried to mediate between the Mutazilah and the Traditionalists, ibn Hanbal rejected his views.

Comment:- The Quran confirms that Faith is certainly a matter of the heart and not reason (7:179, 8:24, 10:101, 22:46). It is also true that human rational faculties have been corrupted by desires, wishful thinking, fantasies, fixations and so on. But it should be possible, given true faith and an appropriate discipline to purify reason and discern truth because the Quran does instruct us to ponder and think. (24:1, 2:219, 12:2 etc.)

 

Stage 7.

Yaqub ibn Ishaq Al-Kindi (AD. ?-870), known as the first Philosopher of the Arabs, had some knowledge of Greek and Indian Philosophy, and his thinking was influenced by them. His main concern was the relationship between the corporeal sense objects, which were always changing and the permanent forms, which could not be seen, such as the laws and processes of nature. But they could be known only through sense data, they could be understood through mathematics and logic. But he also admitted that there was a third kind of knowledge, that given directly to the prophets by revelations. There were, therefore, three levels or aspects to reality and knowledge.

Comment:- This idea seems to be rationally sound and is also compatible with the Quran. We have Ilm-ul-Yaqin - (102:5), Ayn-ul-Yaqin - (102:7) and Haq-ul-Yaqin - (69:51)

 

Abu Bakr ar-Razi (865-932), who also knew some Greek and Indian Philosophy, recognized 5 ultimately eternal principles - Allah, Soul, Prime Matter, Absolute Space and Absolute Time. Creation was the result of the craving of the soul for matter. God, in His mercy decided to satisfy this desire by allowing the soul to experience the limitation and suffering which unification with matter brings, realize its mistake and repent, and then to show it the way of deliverance. He insisted that because this applied to all men they were equally able to know the truth and did not require any kind of authority over them, including political or religious ones. He rejected the idea of special revelation.

Comment:- This doctrine appears to borrow from some versions of Buddhism. The Quran does not recognize anything co-eternal with Allah. To speak of five original independent principles multiplies the problem of origins by five and makes consistency impossible. There is no explanation why the soul should crave matter and how these five principles are connected. Such a connection would create a system greater than Allah. The idea that all human beings were equally capable of knowing the truth may refer to their potentialities but certainly not to actualities. But it is views that appealed to many and justified revolt against authority especially tyrannies. The idea persists to this day and theoretically underpins Western Democracy.

 

Al-Farabi (878-950) was one of the greatest and most influential of Islamic Philosophers who affected all later Muslim, Jewish and Christians thinkers. He revived Philosophy, which had disappeared elsewhere in the world, and showed how it could be applied to solve the Theological problems which were worrying Muslims. His greatest contribution was the distinction between Theoretical Philosophy and Law. Law, he understood as having a function with the ordering of a community by defining the opinions and rules of actions which will ensure that peace and happiness will be attained in this world and the next. Since this concerns value judgments, it was quite different from considering the truth content of a system. The previous philosophers had made no such distinction and thought that Logic, Physics, Mathematics, Metaphysics, Politics and Ethics belonged to the same category and could all be studied by the same methods. Having made the distinction his work fell into two corresponding parts.

Firstly, he was able to discuss how the community should be ordered without infringing on the Sciences. He constructed a Political Theology that allowed reformation of the society as well as encouraging scientific inquiry and philosophy. He regarded the Prophet-Lawgiver in the same light as Plato’s Philosopher-king and rejected al-Kindi’s view that Prophets and Philosophers have different independent ways to truth, and ar-Rizi’s view that Philosophy is the only way to knowledge. A man could combine the function of prophet, philosopher and lawgiver. But the faculties required were not the same though equally valid. He also rejected Neo-Platonism, which taught that the function of Philosophy was to liberate the soul. Instead, it was the duty of those who had achieved enlightenment to return to ordinary life and make themselves understood to the people and to guide them. There should, therefore, be a period of education and development followed by social application.

Secondly, he acquired and elucidated much greater knowledge of the sciences and a philosophy of his time than former thinkers had done, and was universally regarded as the greatest Philosopher after Aristotle. In particular he made an examination of all the forms of Logical arguments and the foundations and assumptions underlying the sciences. He laid the foundations upon which all later thinkers could build more securely.

Comment:- There is certainly a logical and functional distinction between facts and values since one requires perception and the other action. But they are connected at a level higher than thinking, namely living, which require both thought and action. At this Unitary level Values derive from Facts and Facts from Values. Desires and goals are part of life and actions depend on it, do benefit or harm and create facts. It can also be pointed out that one could make a distinction between three, not two categories - between values, meanings and facts; and also between inspiration, reasoning and experience, the third being concerned with the practical. It is then possible to make a distinction between the spiritual aspect of life, the social and the scientific. One could also divide the periods of life into three - development, application and teaching and that these periods could coincide and could even be mutually helpful. The acts of application and teaching could aid development, which can aid teaching and application. These functions could co-exist in each person and also be distributed between different people. There could be different degrees and levels such that each person according to his achievements would be a pupil of those above him and a teacher for those below while at the same time fulfilling the practical professional function.

Stage 8.   

Ibn Sena (Avicenna 980-1037), was the most influential Philosopher-Scientist-Administrator of Islam. He studied Logic, Metaphysics, Islamic Law, Medicine, and became accomplished in all the sciences and arts of the time while still young, profiting from the greatest sages of the time and the Libraries of his patron the Samanid Ruler in Persia. But his life was disturbed by the turmoil of the times. The Samanids were overthrown by the Turk, Mahmud of Ghazna, and other Persian dynasties were trying to gain their independence from the Abassid Caliphs of Baghdad. Avicenna took to a period of wandering and finally settled in Hamadan where the ruler Shams ad-Dawlah made him into the Court Physician and then Vizier. Later he moved to Isfahan. He continued his studies and wrote “The Book of Healing” (probably the largest book ever written by one man, an encyclopaedia of theology, metaphysics, logic, the natural sciences, psychology, mathematics, geometry, astronomy, and music) and “Canon of Medicine” (the most famous books in the History of Medicine). These affected Western thinking and Medicine until quite recently. His thinking was influenced by Aristotle and Neo-Platonism, which he elaborated and adapted.

He distinguishes between Essence (what a thing is) and Existence (that a thing exists), and between matter and form. Existence could not be inferred from Essence, and form and matter could not interact and account for the events in the Universe. There must be a Cause outside the Universe. He finds that in Allah the two coincide - Allah is Necessary Existence, which gives existence to all other essences and unites form with matter. As a result of Allah’s self-knowledge there is a gradual emanation and multiplication of beings. However, man is aware of the existence of his own soul from direct consciousness when he speaks of “I”. This must, therefore, be indivisible, immaterial and unchanging, hence immortal. It is generated at the same time as the body, but owing to its experiences, the knowledge it gains, the thoughts, actions and the moral habits it forms, it grows and becomes an independent entity after the death of the body. Punishment and reward, therefore, refers to this development, bad or good. The primary function of religion was to assure the happiness of the people, and this justifies all aspects of the Shariah, the ethical and legal, the political, the economic, and the cultural. The second function of religion was to show, the few with special aptitudes, the need to pursue a life of virtue and knowledge based on love of Allah so that they can also lead the development of the rest of the community. The Mystic Saint would be the teacher and leader, though not necessarily in the formal or official sense. Ibn Sena also produced a number of allegorical and mystical works, which are regarded as Esoteric, addressed to this group. He introduced Greek mystical Theosophy into Islam. This system later affected Christian thinking such as that of St. Augustine and the Franciscan school.

Comment:- The theory of emanation is not an Islamic one. The Quran tells us that Allah created all things by His Will, Command or Word out of Nothing. Ibn Sena does not merely state that Allah created all things, but tells us how He did so. Another way of putting it is to say that when the Knower looks upon himself as an object, the Known, then Knowledge is produced. Knowledge is the process of experiencing owing to the interaction between the other two. We get a trinity of Knower, Knowledge and Known, a relativity that derives from the Absolute One. All things may be said to be items in this knowledge, created by the interaction. They are actualization of inherent potentialities. This presupposes the existence of both consciousness and the object, which in the case of Allah, who has nothing outside Himself, are one and the same. Living, which is an interaction between the individual and the rest of Reality is a process of self-construction. But the Quran does not say that the physically dead are spiritually alive in paradise or hell, except in the case of the martyrs. What it tells us is that they will be resurrected, then judged and sent to paradise or hell.

Stage 9.

Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) was a great reformer of Islam. He combined the three streams in Islam, the Traditional (orthodox or institutional), philosophical Theology and Mysticism. He did so by making Greek Philosophical methods of thinking and Islamic Sufism acceptable to the main stream Traditional Islam through critical removal of heretical and inconsistent elements. He attacked Avicenna and others for introducing Greek speculative ideas into Islamic Theology, but accepted his scientific ideas. He thought that mystical experience was superior to Theology. Theology could never lead to certainty but was an important tool with which to combat heresies. He also thought that philosophy (all sciences and logic were included in this term) were good modes of thinking in the natural sciences such as Physics and Mathematics, as well as in Law, Ethics and Politics. He showed how the pious religious life could lead to the higher stages of Sufi experiences where alone certainty could be achieved. As a well-known scholar, he had been invited by Nizam ul-Mulk, vizier to the Seljuq Sultans, to become chief professor at the Nizamiah College in Baghdad, where his lectures were well attended. But he underwent a mystic experience, which caused him to abandon his lucrative and honoured post, give away his wealth, and take up a mystic semi-monastic life where he was joined by many disciples. His teacher was the Sufi, al-Juwayni. But he was eventually persuaded to return to the Nizamiya College on the grounds that the Muslims were promised that in every century a reformer of Islam would appear and that this was he. His greatest books which not only influenced Islam but later also Europe were “The Revival of Religious Sciences”, “Niche for Lights”, “Incoherence of the Philosophers”, and a number of books on Jurisprudence and Theology.

Comment:- Al-Ghazali tried to restore Islam to its original pristine state by reuniting the three aspects of Islam, the Mystic, Philosophic and Legal, which, we have seen had become separated in the early days of Islam after the four Caliphs. This disintegration had caused the conflict between sects, each of which was only able to comprehend and emphasize a limited part of Islam. Unfortunately, though Ghazali had many followers, there do not appear to have been a sufficient number of able men to prevent the further deterioration of Islam.

 

Stage 10.

Ibn Bajjah (?-1138), reinterpreted al-Farabi’s political philosophy. Seeing the wide spread moral corruption in the cities he concluded that the individual can only order his own life, shunning the company of the profane, pursuing the sciences and achieving contact with the Active Intelligence (derived from Allah who was beyond it). The multitude, he thought as did Plato, live as if in a dark cave with little light, seeing only shadows. Religion had been revealed so that man may adjust to this darkness, but the philosopher must seek the light of the intellectual sun. To do this he must leave the cave. But he can do so only through Science, though the goal lies beyond it. He is not, therefore, interested in Politics nor in the environment nor in the social application of science. Philosophy has a purely psychological function and is above religion.

Ibn-Tufayl (?-1185) further elaborated ibn-Bajjah’s philosophy. To illustrate it he wrote a story “Alive son of the Awake”. A solitary hero grows up on a desert island, learns about all things in his environment, then proceeds to learn about the rest of the natural universe and finally achieves a state of Fana (self-annihilation in the Divine). But, because he knows nothing about other human beings, his wisdom is incomplete. He meets another person on a neighbouring island, one who had abandoned society in order to devote himself to meditation and worship. But he cannot at first recognize or communicate with him. Gradually he learns that this person had learnt his religion from a Prophet and that the teaching agreed with what he had himself learnt through observation and reason. However, he does not understand why the teachings were given in an allegorical form and why this religion requires that so much time and effort should be spent on worldly pursuits. So, because of his compassion for men, he persuades this person to take him back to Society in order that he can teach and lead them to enlightenment. This involves him in all kinds of disputation, misunderstandings, cynicism and conflicts with people of limited minds. He learns that there is a limit beyond which the masses cannot be taken without confusion and distress. Now he understands the wisdom of why religion was given in that particular form. His education is complete and he apologizes to the people for the harm he has done, confessing that they were right in what they were doing, and returns to his solitary life. Religion, in other words, being for the masses, must be presented at the level of their understanding. The Philosopher or Mystic must return to the cave he has left, and learn about it lest his actions become harmful to them. The two forms of life, the spiritual and worldly, cannot be mixed and cannot be separated. That is why the great Spiritual leaders withdraw from the world for a period and then return. This return is known as Baqa.

Comment:- Though all this is in the main true, this teaching can be criticized on the following grounds:- (1) What Ibn Bajjah calls Philosophy is not what is normally recognized as such, but really refers to mysticism which should be regarded as one of three aspects of religion. It is true, however, that the word “religion” is normally used for the lower institutional form. (2) It does not distinguish between different levels in the quality of human beings. They are not just divisible into two distinct types. If he had recognized several levels then he could also have seen how each higher level could communicate with and influence the next lower level. (3) It also ignores the evolution or development of man. If everything were to be left as it is by the intelligentsia there would be no progress. It is entirely possible to create a social hierarchy between which there is mobility. Those at each higher level teach those at the second level below them so as to bring them up a stage higher to the intermediate level. It is doubtful that man left to his own devices without the guidance of Prophets and Saints could achieve enlightenment. Human beings learn from the experiences and knowledge that has accumulated over the centuries within the culture of humanity. However, it is also true that they have been conditioned into errors, fantasies and distorted modes of motivation and behaviour by their societies and those who have the fortune of being protected from these influences have a greater likelihood of objective perception and development.

 

Fakhr ad-Din ar-Razi (1149-1209), made a study of Avicenna’s work and that of the anti-Aristotelian Mutazilah, and though he professed Asharism, it was a modified form of it. He separated clearly those ideas in Theology which reason could deal with and those that were accessible only through revelation. This allowed later scholars to deal freely with the former without the danger of being accused of heresy through philosophical speculation.

Comment:- This may have influenced the later division of knowledge and function into the religious and the secular, things into spiritual and physical, and reality into Mind and Matter.

 

Stage 11.

Ibn Rushd (Averroes 1126-1198), a younger friend of ibn Tufayl, a Spanish Arab, was born in Cordoba where he became the Chief Judge and personal physician to two Caliphs. He was well versed in the Quran, Hadith and Fiqh (Law), Islamic theology, Greek Philosophy and Medicine. He integrated Islamic traditions and Aristotelian Philosophy. This synthesis influenced Islamic as well as Jewish and Christian theology. His system was meant to be valid legally, theologically as well as philosophically. At the request of Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub he produced summaries and clarifying commentaries on most of the works of Aristotle and on Plato’s Republic. His books also include “General Medicine”, “Decisive Treatise on the Agreement between Religious Law and Philosophy”, “Examination of the Methods of Proof Concerning the Doctrines of Religion”, “The Incoherence of Incoherence”. All these defend the philosophical study of Religion against Theology and are an answer to Ghazali. He thought that Aristotle was the embodiment of the perfection of man and that Philosophy (reason), was superior to Revealed Religion (not to Revelation), the latter being meant for the simpler minds. He admired the Ideal Republic ruled by philosopher-kings as described by Plato but thought that the Islamic Shariah was a far superior Law which should replace that described by Plato, and the philosopher kings by the Imams. He accepted Aristotle’s division of Philosophy into the Theoretical (Physics and Metaphysics) and the Practical (Ethics and Politics), and regarded the Shariah as a perfect union of these where the Theoretical is presented as the perception of Allah and the Practical is the Law (Fiqh). He wrote:- “The Religious Laws conform to truth and impart a knowledge of those actions by which the happiness of the whole creation is guaranteed.” Religion was the whole and only truth and applied to all three classes of people - the mystic, the philosopher (the Intelligentsia) and the masses. Happiness is the aim of all politics and ethics in this and the next life, and this involves understanding Allah and His creation, which is the aim of Physics and Metaphysics. Averroes distinguishes between degrees of happiness and sees the Shariah as the only system that provides for the happiness of all. He attacks Plato for ignoring this aim. The Philosopher must choose the best Religion, which was Hebrewism in the time of Moses, Christianity in the time of Jesus, and Islam in the time of Muhammad. The Perfect State is, therefore, a Platonic one in which the Shariah is applied and headed by a capable and righteous Imam. This existed in the time of the first four righteous Caliphs and then deteriorated both politically and ideologically, in a way similar to that shown by Plato.

The aim of Philosophy was to establish the true inner meaning of religious beliefs. But only the philosopher employing the rules of logic was capable, competent and obliged to interpret the prophetically revealed Law (Shariah) and not the Theologian (when regarded as one who clung to dogmas without understanding). But this inner meaning must not be given to the masses because this would be corrupted and falsified by their limited understanding. They can only be given stories and allegories, which they must accept. He applied the three forms of Aristotelian arguments - demonstrative, dialectical and persuasive (rhetorical and poetical) - for the benefit of the philosophers, theologians and the masses respectively. However, he admits that the Shariah contains some teachings that are beyond human understanding but must, nevertheless, be accepted by all believers as revealed truths.

He failed, however, to reinstate Philosophy because the replacement of the Almoravid rulers by the Berber dynasty of Almohads in Spain changed the political situation and caused practical considerations (military, political and economic) to become more important. The Caliph Abu Yusuf, being engaged in a Holy War against Christian Spain, required the support of the Theologians and was forced to dismiss Ibn Rashd, though he later reinstated him.

Comment:- As he does not distinguish between levels of consciousness or understanding and seems to be unaware of the possibility of increasing consciousness, he, assumes that there is an absolute distinction between revelation and reason. Therefore, reason becomes for him the highest goal for man. The consequence of this is that he considers the Philosopher not bound to accept anything that contradicts logical demonstration. He justifies this by the fact that Muslims are bound by the Ijma (consensus) of the learned. Thus, he rejects the idea of creation out of nothing because Aristotle has demonstrated that matter is Eternal. He also rejects anthropomorphism as metaphorical. The difficulties involved in the question of whether Allah knows only Universal Processes or/and also Particular things is solved by saying that Allah’s knowledge is different from that of man. All this involves self-contradiction on his part. However, Aql, often translated as Reason, has a wider and more sublime meaning than Reason hen it is identified with Logical thinking. Logic is after all only one of the products of Reason. It would be better to think of it as Intelligence. Although it is perfectly true that the Prophet is reported to have said, “Speak to every man according to his understanding”, a principle which he applied, he came to educate the people and raise them to a higher level of understanding. This does not seem to be the attitude of Ibn Rushd. There is, however, no trace of the Neo-platonic, un-Islamic theory of Emanation in his Philosophy.

 

Stage 12.

 The reformer Ibn Tumart (1078-1130) tried to restore pure Monotheism which had become diluted. He tried to shift the emphasis of the Law from reliance on previous authorities to a study of its principles and on independent decisions about events based on these in the light of contemporary conditions. He also wanted to teach the masses not merely the facts, but also the meaning and purpose of the Shariah, so that knowledge and correct motivation would inform practice.

Comment:- Though this appears to be a very enlightened and laudable aim, it strengthened the Theologians as well as Jurists, but weakened the Philosophers. It should be remembered that the Sciences were originally a branch of Philosophy and only became separate disciplines later. Thus it caused the decline of Islamic Science as well. The Theologians and Jurists were specialists who confined their attention to the scriptures, were not trained in the instruments of logical thinking and did not widen their experiences and knowledge or keep up with contemporary developments. They remained close minded and failed to adapt and develop their subjects. The tendency to replace faith with reason also weakened morals, knowledge and confidence. This is because reason being an intellectual faculty does not provide motives.

 

Ibn Taymiyah in the 13th and 14th century, seeing the general moral degeneration and decadence around him, mounted an intense campaign of reform employing legal, theological and philosophical arguments for a return to original pure Islam and the removal of all the innovations and extraneous influences which had entered into it. This drove Philosophy underground for a period. But it re-emerged in a new guise as Hikmah (the New Wisdom). This preserved the physical, logical and some metaphysical features from al-Ghazali and Ibn Sena, but the principles by which the relationship of Allah to the Universe and to man was to be understood were to be based only on personal experiences, inspiration and visions.

Comment:- Thus the distinction between sense knowledge, reason and mystical experience was at last accepted. By making religion a personal matter it removed authority, conformity and social unity. It allowed people to practice religion without knowledge or understanding and to justify their superficialities, personal desires, whims and fantasies. It encouraged diversity but also sectarianism. It divided the religious from the secular, which could now flourish unhindered by moral and religious scruples. By allowing the mystics to exist freely, their number increased greatly and a great many cults, often extreme in form, began to flourish. Most or many of them were quite spurious. It was obviously much easier to set oneself up as a mystic since no proof was possible than to undertake the discipline required for philosophy, which could be more easily judged. The effect of this was to make it more difficult to find genuine Mystics and Saints. In short, we could regard this system as an example of what later became the conditions of the modern Western World.

 

Stage 13.

As-Suhrawardi (1155-1191) was the first exponent of the New Wisdom, the Illuminate School. Apart from his Theological and Philosophical works, he was also a founder of a Sufi (Mystic) School. He rejected the Aristotelian distinctions between essence and existence, substance and accidents, possibility and actuality, matter and form, as mere distinctions of reason, not of reality. There was only a distinction between Being and Non-being (Light and Darkness) with gradations of perfection owing to their mixture. There was only one continuum culminating with Allah at one end and dead matter at the other. Movement and change takes place along the continuum either by the power of the higher over the lower or the love of the lower for the higher. He made much of the power of Imagination since this is the creative principle in human beings, and therefore, integral to Being. It has perfection in Allah who created the whole Universe by it. All beings, according to their various states, have this power to various degrees, so that the Universe is essentially a creative process. It is also responsible for Prophethood, visions, miracles and healing. It is activated by faith. The enlightened or purified souls moves towards Allah and, on death, reach the position corresponding to their state. The unpurified, after death, escape to a world of images suspended between the higher light and the corporeal world. Partially purified souls remain suspended but are able to create desirable images for themselves. Evil souls become dark shadows and can create only frightening images and wander about as ghosts, demons and devils. As there was only one continuum emanating from Allah, all religions were one, though they may exist at different points on the continuum.

Comment:- This doctrine is compatible with the Light verse in the Quran. The idea of the continuum can also be found in such verses as "Allah is He Who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them. The Commandment continues to descend among them slowly, that you may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah indeed encompasses all things in knowledge." (65:12). Though his ideas appears to be similar to the Neo-platonic doctrine, it solves some of the difficulties in that doctrine, namely, how the Universe can proceed from the One - Does He disintegrate into the many? Does He diminish by emanation? How can He know the Particular if He is Universal?. Suhrawardi says that the emanation proceeds spontaneously and necessarily out of His self-sufficiency without affecting Him. But if it is a necessary aspect of Him then this would mean that the Universe is Eternal - it has no beginning or end and is not created. One way of getting round this is to suppose that Allah creates it in His imagination and that this Universe is not the only creation, but there were others before this one and there will be others after it. Emanation is something permanent, which comes out of Allah, is part of Him and yet distinct from the main body, while a creation is something that is quite distinct and happens at a particular instant. Emanation could refer to the Spirit, a word which also means the breaths, which like the breathing of Parabrahman in Hindu philosophy, comes out from and returns to Allah. But this would mean that in order to give rise to all the other beings this spirit has to be organized to various levels, so that there are wholes having distinguishable parts. The creative Word, then refers to this organization or order, and Truth refers to this. Organization, however, takes place at different levels - perhaps spirit into electromagnetic photons, which are organized into sub-atomic particles which are formed into atoms, these into molecules, then into cells, multi-cellular organisms such as plants, animals, man and Perfect Man. These organized into communities and so on. There may well be other kinds of organization at each of the levels or combination of levels. And each object at any level contains and is also surrounded by the objects in the previous level. We exist in a field of molecules of air but also contain them, in an electromagnetic field but also contain it, in a field of cells (bacteria) but also contain them. The Quran also insists that Allah comprehends and surrounds all things, and is both the Inner and the Outer. This seems to imply that all things are within Allah - they are not external emanations.

 

Stage 14.

Ibn al-Arabi (1165 -1240) gave a philosophic expression to thee esoteric mystical aspect of Islam. He first devoted his time to the study of traditional exoteric Islam (Theology and Law) and then travelled through Spain and North Africa in search of the Islamic mystics (Sufis). He also met and admired the Philosopher Ibn Rushed. Later he settled to a life of contemplation, teaching and writing in Damascus. He made a distinction between (1) The Absolute One which is indefinable truth, Haqq (2) The self-manifestation of it, Zuhur (3) Creation, Khalq which is always new, in perpetual motion and change, uniting all things. He called it Nature, the Dark Cloud (Ama) or Mist (Bukhar) arising from the breath (or Spirit) of Allah, through which Truth is manifested. It is the primordial substance (Unsur) from which all things arise in sequence:- intelligence, the celestial bodies, the elements, material objects, plants, animals, human beings, angels ending with Perfect Man (Insan Kamil). This Dark Cloud is regarded by him as the female principle, Allah being the male, which gives birth to these creations, the Daughters. Thus, though Intelligence is not the first Principle after Allah because Nature (Primordial matter or Spirit) has been inserted before it, it is the First Born. This explains how Unity gives rise to multiplicity. It is the carrier, firstly, of Potentialities, secondly of Archetypes in Intelligence, and thirdly, because of its desire to manifest them, Actuality, the existing things.

Comment:- The Prophet Muhammad tells us that Intelligence was the First Creation. The Quran, tells us that Allah created all things by His Word which is Truth (3:47, 16:3, 6:74) and denies that He begets (112:3) and that the Spirit is by the Command of Allah (17:85). Truth should be regarded as an attribute of Allah. He, in essence, is beyond it, Absolute Reality (38:66, 112:4, 6:101-104, 37:158, 22:64, 31:12, 39:4 etc..). The Quran also tells us that Allah has created pairs in all things (51:49). These may be called male and female, and are creations. In Arabi's system Nature is a feminine mediator, the mother, fertilized by the Father, and Intelligence (identified with Angels) is the First Begotten. In fact, the Father should be the Word while Mother is Spirit. The Word is the creative principle and the Spirit is the receptacle, which carries the Word. It is thought that in inserting Nature al-Arabi has borrowed a Greek idea, from Empodocles through the mystic Ibn Massarah. Some people say that he borrowed from Christianity because he may have wished to reconcile Islam and Christianity. In Christianity, Allah, His Word (also called Son) and His Spirit (breath) form a Trinity. According to Christian Theology the Spirit emanates from the Word (or Son), not the other way round and the Quran agrees (ignoring the naïve or superstitious interpretation). First Begotten Son does not refer to Intelligence. However, Arabi uses the concept Nature to refer to the whole of Creation, beginning with Intelligence, and all the natural processes that give rise to it. This accords with Quran 65:12. But the Quran in chapter 112 and elsewhere also insists that "begetting" is the wrong concept. This may be because most Christians understand the term in the physical sense, that the man Jesus was a literal son of God, thereby trivializing the concept of God - making Him into a man. In fact, Jesus may be regarded as a manifestation or a carrier of the Word as are other Messengers of Allah. Some Christians because they take Jesus to be God, the Son (rather than "God-with-us"), also speak of the “Mother of God”, identifying Mary with Nature (or Spirit) and Son with Intelligence.

Allah is both separate from and connected to the Universe by His Attributes.

But much of these controversies could be regarded as being based on confusion caused by the different use and understanding of words. From the Islamic point of view, it might be better to describe things as follows:- From Allah emanates the Word which gives rise to the Spirit. His Word is the creative principle, Truth, and the Spirit is the receptacle that carries Truth. It is these that are respectively Father and Mother (symbolically speaking). These two interact to create Intelligence, from which arises the Universal Soul. These two are also masculine and feminine, or active and passive principles respectively. Interaction between these produce further pairs, and so on. All things arise progressively from this process. As there was nothing but Allah and Allah surrounds all things, then all things are in the mind of Allah. If we make a distinction between Truth (order) and Intelligence (adaptation), then we must suppose that Intelligence is the Offspring of Truth and Spirit. It may be better to suppose that the Universe is the result of three interacting principles, namely Truth, Spirit and Intelligence. To say that the Universe comes out of nothing is to say that there is nothing besides Allah from which it could come. When we analyze matter we find nothing but pattern and substance, which can itself be analyzed into pattern and substance. Ultimately, we would find nothing but Allah. It should also be pointed out that, lest the distinction between Light and Darkness be construed as Dualism, Darkness is merely the absence of Light and not its opposite. “Allah, He is Truth, and that which they call on instead of Him it is the False.” (22:62), “Truth hath come and Falsehood hath vanished away. Lo falsehood is ever bound to vanish.” (17:81), “Nay but We hurl the true against the false, and it doth break its head, and lo! It vanishes away.” (21:18)

The main purpose of the theory of Emanation and the notion of "begetting" arises from the inability to understand how something can come out of nothing and how, if Allah is absolutely distinct from Creation, He can affect it. The Universe is, therefore seen as coming out of Allah's substance, thereby denying creation out of nothing. This problem also worries Science. But "begetting" implies that something is created outside, separate from, and like, the original. This idea is false. There is nothing outside Allah. In fact, since all human knowledge refers to relationships, it has to be admitted that we cannot know about the Absolute and pre-existing things. And yet according to the Big Bang Theory there was once no Universe and now there is. It has, therefore, been created from nothing. There was no knowledge, now there is. Even for us, knowledge is something in our mind and nothing can be known which not an affect on our minds. Objectivity means that our minds are constrained by a greater Universal mind. There must be something X, which is fundamental and self-existent, containing the potentialities for all the phenomena which we see, including matter, energy, life, intelligence and consciousness, which is also the cause of the arising of the Universe. That is what has been named Allah. No object, because it has a relative and dependent existence, can be like Allah. He is not an object, but objects, including the Universe, must be dependent on Him by definition.

 

Jalal-ad-Din Rumi (1207 -1273) was born in Balkkh (Afghanistan). But, owing to the threat of the Mongol invasion, his family moved to Nishapur (Iran) while he was still young. Here he met the Sufi, Farid ad-Din Attar, who introduced him to the religious mysteries. Later they migrated to Rum (Anatolia), hence his title, Rumi. Here they found peace under the Turkish rule of the Seljuks. His father, Burhan ad-Din, who also contributed to his spiritual development, took up the post of teacher in a Madrasa (Religious School) in Konya, Capital of Rum. In 1240 Rumi undertook several journeys into Syria and other Middle Eastern countries and met numerous Sufis, including Arabi and his son. On returning to Konya he took up the post of teacher after his father, and gathered many pupils and disciples. Here he met his teacher, Shams ad-Din (Sun of Religion) of Tabriz (1244), association with whom transformed his life. He developed so strong an attachment to Shams that it caused him to neglect his duties. This led to hostility towards Shams and eventually to his disappearance in 1247. (He was probably murdered). Rumi was heart broken, and he seems to have devoted his life to keeping Shams alive in mind, which he did in a book of Poetry, the Divan-e-Shams. Later he transferred his devotion to Hasam ad-Din Chalebi, who became his successor in the leadership of the Mawlawiyah order, which Rumi had founded. This order is known by their spiritual dance, as the Whirling Dervishes.

Rumi is mainly known for his mystical love poetry and dances. Though he has added little new to Islamic Philosophy, his verses incorporate and popularize the doctrines of the Sufis of his time, but in an unsystematised manner. His importance lies in this that he supplied the third, neglected, ingredient of Islam, namely the impulse that dealt with feeling, emotion and motivation (the other two ingredients being Theology and Law, which deal with thought and action respectively). His work, particularly his Masnawi-ye-Manavi (Spiritual Couplets), composed under the influence of Husam ad-Din, is considered by many, to be of the greatest importance for Islam, second only to the Quran. It is this that made him so popular throughout the Muslim World and allowed a revival and deeper general understanding of Islam. He also has appeal and influence in the West to this day. It is to a large extent through his writings that Sufi ideas are known. He also left a book of talks gathered by his disciples known as Fihi ma Fihi (There is in it what is in it).

 

Stage 15.

Mir Damad (? - 1630) was concerned mainly with the nature of Time - The Prophet had said that Allah was Time. He rejected the notion that Time was a measure of motion. On the contrary, Time pre-existed and made motion or change possible. It was neither a separate substance nor an accident of existing things. It was part of the essence of things, of Being, or rather the relationship between beings. There should, therefore, be three types or dimensions to time corresponding to the three orders of being. (1) The relationship of Allah to His Attributes (These were regarded as the Intelligences, Archetypes or Angels by various people). This is known as Everlastingness (2) The relationship of the Attributes or Archetypes among themselves which is reflected in created things, the persisting things such as the laws of nature and classes of objects. This is known as Eternity. (3) The relationship of the Attributes or Archetypes to mutable or changing individual things. This is known as Time. The word “creation” refers to such relationships. Accordingly, we have three kinds of Creation - Everlasting, Eternal and Temporal. Allah’s Eternal Will creates Eternal beings and His ever renewed will or re-creative activity, produces Transient things.

 

Mulla Sadra (1571-1640) was a pupil of Mir Damad. He accepted al-Arabi’s unity of being and thought that beings differed only according to priority/posteriority, perfection/imperfection and strength/weakness. His unique contribution was the assertion that the whole of creation (everything other than Allah) is originated both Eternally and Temporally. Nature is the substance or power of all things, the direct cause of all events and changes. These movements and changes are not accidents but inherent in nature. They produce the new forms. Motion and change, hence Time, is not a property of something called nature, substance or essence, since these are permanent only in the mind, but is permanent activity. Nature is constant renewal. Thus he advances the notion of Energy which became an integral part of Western Science. He distinguishes between (a) this primary inherent movement from (b) accidental or compelled movements requiring an external cause. The former has a direction, the desire or urge towards perfection through constant self-renewal and the latter has none but is haphazard and may produce conflicts and impede the first. It is this inherent urge which produces evolution from the simplest elements through more complex objects, living things, physical man to spiritual man. This upwards motion continues towards unity with the Archetypes, Universal Intelligence, the Attributes. These ideas re-emerged both in Western Science as the Theory of Evolution and in several systems of Western Philosophy.

Comment:- The idea of Time and its three dimensions can probably be accepted, as also the two types of motion, one ordered and directed and the other chaotic. The notion of entropy is connected with these in Physics. Whenever directed energy is used to produce any effect, disordered energy emerges owing to the transfer of order to the new effect. Matter has been found to be reducible to energy, ordered energy. A material object is no different from any other kind of system. We may also see the notion of Satan as being connected with disorder. This planet or any system contains a certain amount of ordered energy and is in exchange of energy with the greater system to which it belongs. Changes in the sub-systems, therefore, depend usually on the introduction of energy from the higher systems. However, if something is done within a system to change this adjustment between the lower and higher, tensions are created which leads to chaos. Any particular entity could cause or be affected by this chaotic energy. Both social and psychological disorders could be seen in this light, and perhaps also physical and environmental ones. It should be noted, however, that this theory turns upside down a fundamental Newtonian principle accepted in science - The Law of Motion is incorrect. Things are not basically constant so that change requires us to find a cause for it. On the contrary, we need an explanation for why things remain constant. Things do not require external causes to change, but when things interact the change depends on all the interacting objects. Mulla Sadra's theory also accords with Taoist Philosophy. This subject requires much more attention, thought and meditation than it has so far received.

 

Stage 16.

It appears that nothing new was added to Islamic thought after this. Ahmad Sirhindi was a reformer who attacked al-Arabi’s Unity of Being in order to re-establish older mystical ideas with little success. The New Wisdom continued to have its adherents in the 18th and 19th centuries with minor modifications. Among its exponents were Shah Wali Shah and Hadi Sabzevari. It became part of higher education in the Islamic colleges, but had little impact on the general public which was either diluting or abandoning its adherence to religion or returning to the simple, practical traditional ritualistic, legal and theological forms. The weakness of the New Wisdom lay in this that it had little to say about social, political and cultural matters. The emphasis was on personal ethics and mysticism, which appealed only to the few. It created no Political Philosophy and reduced interest in the affairs of the world. Ideas and enterprise stagnated and became fossilized. As there was little devotional Art, leisure was devoted to non-spiritual matters. The rulers, authorities, those who had power, control and leadership became self-indulgent lovers of ease and luxury, and devoted their time to the arts, particularly poetry and music. The intelligentsia withdrew into itself leaving the general population to its own devices. The result was intellectual isolation from development in the rest of the World, specially the West, which was now on the march aided by influences which came from Islam. All these factors opened out the Muslim countries to the opportunity for foreign invasion, domination and exploitation.

 

Stage 17.

In the 19th and 20th centuries reformers such as Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh and Muhammad Iqbal, having been educated in Western idea and the New Wisdom, realized the social ineffectiveness of the latter and proposed radical changes. But they were not Philosophers, and concerned themselves with the reawakening of political consciousness in the people and the overthrow of foreign domination through literature. They saw that religion was the only force capable to re-energizing people and set out to initiate a return to traditional Islam. But in doing so they ignored and even encouraged the persecution of mysticism. They do not appear to have possessed the capacity to reconstruct Islam from first principles and reinterpret it in the light of the new circumstances of the age. They were, therefore, unable to do without a certain amount of systematized thinking which they obtained by reviving the obsolete systems of the Mutazilah and Asharis. These systems began to be taught in Muslim colleges. But the narrowness of their interests continued to isolate them from modern developments restricted their understanding of the world they were living in, and rendered them ineffective. More modern reformers understand:- (1) that they must also study, critically examine and adapt Science, Technology, and Social and Political Philosophy as developed in the West, (2) that these are disciplines concerned with truths which transcend national or religious boundaries, (3) that there is a historical process which cannot be reversed.

 

Stage 18

There is currently a New Awakening in Islam, and a new stage is currently in progress.

It is necessary that it should be based on the lessons learnt from all the previous stages. These lessons can be summarized as follows:-

Conclusions:-

From the above accounts the following conclusions can be drawn:-

(1) The interpretation and teaching of Islam vary with the social, political or historical circumstances. They also vary according to what conceptual or ideological tools are available.

(2) The teachings show a progression of their own, each built on what was achieved before.

(3) It could be argued that Islam liberated the mind from superstition, but that this new freedom led it inevitably to experiment and make mistakes from which it had to learn. But the lessons were not always learnt and the same mistakes re-occurred. The whole of Islamic history concerns these mistakes and the learning process. It is as yet incomplete and not guaranteed. It reflects the Fall as well as the Ascent of Mankind.

(4) The various teachings appear to contradict each other not only because of the above mentioned factors, but also because each teacher selects or concentrates attention on some one aspect of the whole which differs from the selection of other teachers. There is no necessity that there should be controversy and conflict between them as long as it is understood by all that they are different angles and partial views not to be confused with the whole.

(5) Some ideas are falsified, distorted or rendered incomprehensible by the use of foreign or extraneous concepts. These destroy the self-consistency of the Islamic teaching and fragment, confuse and render it ineffective. As far as the majority of people are concerned the introduction of foreign concepts or sophisticated systematization causes confusion, bewilderment and eventually cynicism. It does not aid faith.

(6) The available conceptual tools are used deliberately by some teachers to elucidate the religious doctrines, institutions and practices and to aid understanding, but these must be regarded as explanatory tools, pointers only, which should not be confused with the religious truth itself. All this is true not only about Islam, but it can be shown that it is true also of every other religion and to Religion as a whole. The difference between the Religions, therefore, arises in the same way as the different sects and teachings within each.

(7) Adaptation will continue and must continue because the World does develop and cultural changes do continue to take place. Some of the concepts used by the Philosophers have become difficult to understand in this modern age. It is also necessary to try to see religion from all angles.

(8) This history of Islamic thought shows how it causes as well as reflects the gradual degeneration of Islam, though with periods of reformation and revival. We see also how the impulse that was in Islam was transferred to Europe which it regenerated at the same time.

(9) It seems that what is required is that Islam must return to its roots and start again from first principles, but with the benefit of the developments which have taken place in the West. This is necessary for the whole world because the West is now undergoing degeneration and must be replaced, but the peoples to whom power is gradual passing are even more materialistic, ruthless, spiritually dead and godless.

(10) A new formulation of Islam for the modern world is required. It must differ from the Philosophies considered above in that it uses the results of scientific thinking as the conceptual tools. The use of these tools, however, also implies that the method used will be different. It cannot be an ordered dialectical discussion as found in philosophical works.

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