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Your
writings stress two sources of knowledge: the Qur'an
and world history; you emphasize that a person who is ignorant of history
cannot have sound knowledge. So how would you relate world history to the Qur'an? How can world history support the Qur'an? Jawdat Said to
“Current Islamic Issues” |
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I feel bound to repeat that
you put your hand very accurately on the ideas that are of prime importance
to me, though your tone might be redolent with protest against my line of
thought; let me take that to be a wish on your part that I be more explicit
and elaborate. Well, yes, we have to be most explicit, and to give more
examples and to variegate our style. We learn that from Jesus who, as we see
in the Bible, used to teach people with parables, and he did not teach except
through parables. Likewise, we read in the Qur'an:
" And such are the Parables We set forth for mankind, but only those
understand them who have Knowledge (29, 43). It is true, my brother Abdu-Jabbar, that a person who does not know history not
only has defective knowledge; his knowledge is untrustworthy. It is so because
knowledge and the mind are the product of history,
the product of experience and experiments. It is true that without history,
there can be no science and no intellect, for the essence of intellect is
relating causes to effects. The mind is not a device for understanding – it
is a process, relating causes to effects, and a perception of the possibility
of transforming them to reality. I can illustrate that point with the example
of reading and writing: a human being is born equipped with the ability to learn
reading and writing, but that faculty may remain untapped, and he may remain
an illiterate all his life; the potential may never be transformed into an
actual reality. The same is true about the mind. It is for this reason that
the word 'akl = mind' is never used as a noun in
the Qur'an, but verb derivatives are used. The Qur'an does not say of any group that they have no mind 'akl'; it rather says that they fail to think, that is
they fail to relate causes to effects. It is history which
testifies to the truth of the Qur'an. In this way,
history is the evidence, the proof. God commands us in his book to refer to
history for testimony. " Soon will We show them
Our Signs in the regions of the world, and in their own souls, until it
becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your
Lord witnesses all things? (41, 53)." It is so because the outcomes of
actions in history are not subject to manipulation, although many people
confound this fact when they fail to distinguish between what people write in
their interpretation of events, and the outcomes of events. For instance, it
must be clear to us that history is not what people say about communism,
whether they are supporters or opponents of communism. History is the outcome
which accrued from the application of communism. This is not a condemnation
of the idea of equality in communism; it is rather a condemnation of the way
that it was applied. The idea here is not to condemn – otherwise, it would be
valid to say that Islam also failed and declined because its followers are
failures, but that is not so. It is worth our while to carry
out comparison between investigating the laws for physical health and those
for mental health, i.e. the soundness of that which is in the soul (nafs). When people were ignorant of the causes of
diseases, how epidemic diseases came over the world and harvested huge
numbers, and when unjust wars were waged, on a local, regional or world
level, with the intent of robbing people's property, such events reflected
intellectual and conceptual diseases. People used to kiss
their dears and nears, and thereby transmit to them the diseases that
afflicted them, unaware of what they did; and they cried over those dear ones
later when they died. In the same way, we transmit to others deadly ideas,
and most carefully we do that; and then, when, in consequence of our teaching,
they fight and hate each other, and they fail to reach reconciliation with
others, we are not aware of what brought about such tragic events: our poor
understanding of the human situation. We need to work most
diligently over those problems, so that we may haply extract the fallacy and
illusions lying behind them. I once wrote, in the course of a discussion of
the relationship between reality and texts that we may better appreciate that
relationship by thinking of a tree or an organism or even any element in
nature: no matter how much is written, and how admirable is the scholarly
work done about such topics, the real being is the referent whenever people
are in doubt. All the scientists' writings are less than the reality of the
thing, and therefore we need to refer to the subject-matter itself, the tree
or the animal or the human being signified. That is the final referent in
case of any dispute. I wrote also that even if God revealed a book about some
of these phenomena, that material, concrete creature is a more cogent pointer
to God's creation than the book laid down by God the Almighty. It is so
because when God created the universe, He did not include any human element
in it; it was just His Divine work. A book, a scripture revealed by God, on
the other hand, is revealed in the tongue of the people to whom it is
addressed, as we have it pointed out in the Qur'an:
" We did not send a Messenger except to teach
in the tongue of his people (14, 4)." God did not reveal any book until
people learned reading and writing. If is for such facts that
God commands us to refer to His creation to realize the wisdom of His
revelations. Here are some directives from the Qur'an
about that: Now see what was the end of
those who rejected Truth (43, 25) Then see what was the end of
those who indulged in sin and crime (7, 84) So see what was the end of
those who acted corruptly (27, 14) Now behold what was the end
of those who did wrong (28, 40) Then see what was the end of
those who were admonished, but heeded not (37, 73) That is on the side of
wrong-doers. About the well-guided He says: The end is for those who are righteous (11, 49) who gets home in the
end (13, 42) who it is whose end
will be best (6, 135) As I said above, Iqbal notes that for a verification of the soundness of a
civilization or culture, we have to study the kind of individual produced by
that civilization or culture. These are basic matters that we need to reflect
on; they are not too abstruse. They can be apprehended intuitively, since it
is inherent in human beings to discriminate right from wrong when they can
see the outcome of deeds and actual realities. We also find in the Qur'an so many exhortations to direct attention to
consequences, good and bad, and that is drawing lessons from outcomes. If we
turn our attention to the Messenger's, peace be upon
him, traditions we find him say: "That which brought those before you to
their perdition is that when a person of noble family stole, they disregarded
his offense; but when a person of low birth stole, they punished him."
What the Prophet is stating here is a historical law, and history is the
laboratory for checking the soundness of behaviours
and perceptions. The laboratory of history is open to all people, the same as
with a material laboratory, where people can carry out experiments on various
things, from atoms and electricity to chemical and organic compounds, and up
to the most amazing of all creatures, man. For instance, when God says:
"Let there be no compulsion in religion (2, 256),", we can
misunderstand this injunction; and indeed, how deplorably do Muslims blunder
when they reason that should there be no compulsion in religion Muslims will
lose ground, and people will abandon religion. This gross delusion leads them
into pathetic blunders – they fail to notice how in our own age the Indeed, the events which
took place after the Qur'an was revealed are much
more in number and immensity than the events which took place before. Where
is the The right of veto is the
worst and gravest kind of idolatry, and the most glaring type of injustice,
but no one seems to care to see it abolished; the utmost that others wish for
is that they also be granted the same right. This echoes what the Qur'an recounts when Qarun came
out among people, in all his spleandour; and some
people said: "Oh! that we had the like of what Qarun has got (28, 79)." Those who recite the Qur'an are familiar with this story. Many nations are
mentioned by the Qur'an; it tells how they
perished, but perdition here is an intellectual one, not a physical one; it
is a set of concepts that vanished, not the persons themselves – you see that
the progeny of the ancient Egyptians have survived, but their system of
concepts is not the same as the ancient one. One people in the Qur'an to have received respect is
the people of Jonas; they had the sense to take heed and change; in the words
of the Qur'an: "Why was there not a single
township (among those We warned), which believed – so its Faith should have
profited it – except the People of Jonah? When they believed, We removed from
them the Penalty of Ignominy in the life of the Present, and permitted them
to enjoy their life for a while (10, 98)." The common sense did perceive
some inklings of the subject we are discussing here – people would say, as
someone put it in verse: "Contemplate the signs of the world around you;
for what you see is signals sent down to you from Heaven." But at the
hands of Iqbal much insight can be discerned – see
for instance this excerpt from Chapter Five in his The Reconstruction of
Religious Thought in Islam: Another way of judging the
value of a prophet's religious experience, therefore, would be to examine the
type of manhood that he has created, and the cultural world that has sprung
out of the spirit of his message… in order to gain an insight into the
process of ideation that underlies [the ruling concepts in Islam], and thus
to catch a glimpse of the soul that found expression through them .. it is necessary to
understand the cultural value of a great idea in Islam – I mean the finality
of the institution of prophethood… Man is primarily governed by
passion and instinct. Inductive reason, which alone makes man master of his
environment, is an achievement; and when once born it must be reinforced by
inhibiting the growth of other modes of knowledge… Looking at the matter from
this point of view, then, the Prophet of Islam seems to stand between the
ancient and the modern world. In so far as the source of his revelation is
concerned he belongs to the ancient world; in so far as the spirit of his
revelation is concerned he belongs to the modern world. In him life discovers
other sources of knowledge suitable to its new directions. The birth of Islam .. is the birth of
inductive reason. In Islam prophecy reaches its perfection in discovering the
need of its own abolition. This involves the keen perception that life cannot
for ever be kept in leading strings … The abolition of priesthood and
hereditary kingship in Islam, the constant appeal to reason and experience in
the Qur'an, and the emphasis that it lays on nature
and history as sources of human knowledge, are all different aspects of the
same idea of finality … According to the Qur'an, there are two other sources of knowledge – nature
and history; and it is in tapping these sources of knowledge that the spirit
of Islam is seen at its best. The Qur'an sees signs
of ultimate reality in the 'sun', the 'moon', 'the lengthening out of
shadows', 'the alternation of day and night', 'the variety of human colour and tongues', 'the alternation of the days of
success and reverse among people' … And a Muslim's duty is to reflect on
these signs and not to pass by them 'as if he is dead and blind', for he 'who
does not see the signs in this life will remain blind to the realities of the
life to come.' Well, my esteemed
brother Abdul-Jabbar, it seems to me that we suffer from great dearth
intellectually. It is unfortunate that even a man like Al-Ghazali
says: "The task of reason is to guide man to God and the Messenger, and
then it takes no further action." That is then the way they perceived
the function of reason. But how can this go with God's pointing to a person
that “Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought
that they were acquiring good by their work (18, 104)?” And how can it go
with that other Qur'anic statement: “ Is he, then, to whom the evil of his conduct is made
alluring, so that he looks upon it as good (35, 8)”? History is indeed a
patient teacher, never giving up the application of its laws; never losing
patience until we change and start to see the point. I am optimistic about
the future – I feel sure that God will enable those who come later to see the
importance of these issues, that they will
understand them in ways that cannot occur to our minds. |
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