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Arnold Yasin Mol-Human Development using Science, Humanism and Revelation
Arnold Yasin Mol-Human Development using Science, Humanism and Revelation
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A Small Reflection on a Big Question: 'What is the Purpose of Creation?'

The Qur'an mentions several purposes for creation. So to connect them, the main purpose must be identified. Verse 11:119 says that mankind was created for رحم Rahma:

الا من رحم ربك ولذلك خلقهم

11:119 Except those upon whom your Sustainer/Developer has bestowed His grace/unselfish bestowal of potential and growth. And to this end has He created them.


Rahma comes from the root Ra-Ha-Mim and refers to providing to the needs so such persons can grow. Mufsarin at-Tabataba'i says it means 'giving and bestowing to fulfill other's need'1. A womb is called 'rahim' (pl:Arhaam)2, as it bestows everything the foetus needs to develop and grow. Thus development is one of our purposes of existence.

The second most important verse on this subject is 51:56, which says the God created us only to serve Him3. And how do we serve Him? This is explained in another verse that talks about our purpose of creation:


وهو الذى خلق السموت والارض فى ستة ايام وكان عرشه على الماء ليبلوكم ايكم احسن عملا ولىن قلت انكم مبعوثون من بعد الموت ليقولن الذين كفروا ان هذا الا سحر مبين
11:7 He is the One who created the heavens and earth in six periods, and His dominion was upon the water, and to test who from amongst you works the best. When you say, "You will be resurrected after death." those who rejected will say, "This is but clear magic!"

The explaining part is: ليبلوكم ايكم احسن عمل liyabluwakum ayyukum ahsanu AAamalan
li/for yabluwa/To test/trial/experiment/favour kum/you ayyakum/among you ahsanu/conducts the best/most proper/most benefitting/balancing amalan/works/acts/deeds/conduct.

Yabluwa is a verb from the root Ba-Lem-Waw4, and means to test, to trial, to experiment, to esteem, to honour, to favour. Thus the test/trial/experiment of life is a favour and honour for us humans.

Ahsanu is a verb from the root Ha-Sin-Nun5, and refers to something or someone possessing and excells in the qualities of being good, well balanced, properly ordered and being beneficial and pleasing to others.

So these combined explain our purpose of existence:

We are to develop as conscious beings, and our level of development is shown by how much 'حسن Hasana' we have done, how balanced and beneficial we are in this universe.

As expressed by the Qur'an:
لتركبن طبقا عن طبق

84:19 You (Mankind) shall surely embark from stage to stage.

And through this we can understand why God created the universe, as providing development is a manifestation of Him:

يسله من فى السموت والارض كل يوم هو فى شان

55:29 On Him depends all creatures in the heavens and on earth; [and] every day He manifests Himself in yet another way.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

1:1 With the power and definition of Allah, the Absolute. The Ultimate Source of Instant Beneficence and Eternal Mercy. Who encompasses the entire Universe, nourishing and taking care of all things for what they are meant to be; just as a mother's womb nourishes the embryo to completion without any returns.


Footnotes:

1. Edward Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, volume 3, page 221-223. Allamah as-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn at-Tabataba'i, Al-Mizan, English translation, page 22.

2. Hans Wehr, Arabic-English Dictionary, page 384.

3. 51:56 وما خلقت الجن والانس الا ليعبدون I did not create the Jinn and the humans except to serve Me.

4.Abdul Mannan Omar, Dictionary of the Holy Qur'an, page 64-65.

5.Abdul Mannan Omar, Dictionary of the Holy Qur'an, page 124. Oliver Leaman (Ed.), The Qur'an: an encyclopedia, page 252-253. Edward Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, volume 3, page 206-208.


Copyright ©2010 AY Mol

January 11, 2010 | 8:59 AM Comments  0 comments



Parwez's view on God and the universe: a form of Muslim Process Theology

By AY Mol

What is Process Theology? It is a modern form of metaphysics philosophy that tries to understand God from a scientific cosmological point of view. It was first developed by the English philosopher A.N.Whitehead in the 1930's, who broke away from the traditional Jewish-Christian concept of God.


A small summary of the key ideas of Process Theology are:


God is not omnipotent in the sense of being coercive. The divine has a power of persuasion rather than coercion. Process theologians interpret the classical doctrine of omnipotence as involving force, and suggest instead a forbearance in divine power. "Persuasion" in the causal sense means that God does not exert unilateral control.
Reality is not made up of material substances that endure through time, but serially-ordered events, which are experiential in nature. These events have both a physical and mental aspect. All experience (male, female, atomic, and botanical) is important and contributes to the ongoing and interrelated process of reality.
The universe is characterized by process and change carried out by the agents of free will. Self-determination characterizes everything in the universe, not just human beings. God cannot totally control any series of events or any individual, but God influences the creaturely exercise of this universal free will by offering possibilities. To say it another way, God has a will in everything, but not everything that occurs is God's will.
God contains the universe but is not identical with it (panentheism, not pantheism or pandeism). Some also call this "theocosmocentrism" to emphasize that God has always been related to some world or another.
Because God interacts with the changing universe, God is changeable (that is to say, God is affected by the actions that take place in the universe) over the course of time. However, the abstract elements of God (goodness, wisdom, etc.) remain eternally solid.
Dipolar theism, is the idea that God has both a changing aspect (God's existence as a Living God) and an unchanging aspect (God's eternal essence).



The center for Process studies explains it as such:



' A philosophical tradition that emphasizes becoming and change over static being. Process thought helps to harmonize moral, aesthetic, and religious intuitions with scientific insights. It also grounds discussion between Eastern and Western religious and cultural traditions. Process thought offers an approach to the social, political, and economic order that brings issues of human justice together with a concern for ecology.'



The Islamic scholar G.A.Parwez (1903-1985) from Pakistan is sadly rather unknown among Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The immense scope of his writings and insights are groundbreaking and created a new field of Muslim thought. Although a direct follower of Indian philosopher Muhammad Iqbal, Parwez was more inclined to the work of A.N.Whitehead, or better expressed, recognized a similarity to his understanding of the Qur'anic message, as to him Process Theology represented a more realistic understanding based on objective viewing the universe and how understanding the universe explains what God is, and not how tradition defines God, since according to him:



'For ages men lived under the monarchical form of government. Having known no other type of political organisation, they naturally believed that the only alternative to monarchy was anarchy and lawlessness. Kings were usually tyrannical, oppressive and capricious. If a king fell a victim to the fury of his oppressed subjects, his place was usually taken by a tyrant who might be worse. People brought up under such conditions naturally associated power with wilfulness and capriciousness. Believing God to be all-powerful, they also believed that He was more wilful and irresponsible than any earthly king and that His actions were as unaccountable as those of a dictator. In short, God was regarded as a glorified King, or rather as a magnified Dictator. He differed from the earthly dictators only in possessing immensely greater power, and in no other respect. Men of immature mind are impressed by power, especially when it is exercised to satisfy a passing whim. They suppose that God destroys any one, good or bad, for no better reason than to demonstrate His absolute power. '1



But Whitehead's understanding of God lacked certain elements, as it still hinged to speculations and what the aspects of the universe means about understanding God. Reflecting on the Qur'an, Parwez's view of God was less abstract, more alive, and not less absolute in Power, but letting Its Rahmah, mercy and beneficience be dominant in Its Essence:



'God's Will is also free in the sense that it is above law. It is a law unto itself. It cannot be judged by an external criterion. Law, of course, flows from it and regulates its creation, but leaves it untouched. So the questions, why and whereof, cannot be legitimately asked of the Divine Will. It is accountable to none outside itself:

He will not be questioned as to that which He does, but they (everything in the universe) will be questioned (21 : 23).

The sphere of pure will is the sphere of absolute freedom. To subject it to law is to rob the Creator of His creative freedom, and of His omnipotence, and to reduce Him to the status of a created being. Turning to the nature of His creative activity, we find that it consists in self-expression. The Divine Will in creating is really expressing itself. Out of the infinite reservoir of its being, the Will of God is ceaselessly projecting and sustaining a myriad forms sharing reality in some measure and reflecting, to some extent, the urge for self-expression which characterises their source. By regarding creation as an act of self-expression, we dispose of many questions which exercised the minds of former philosophers such as : What was God's purpose in creating ? What induced Him to create? And so on. It is in the nature of an ego to express itself, and as God is the Absolute Ego, in His case, every act of self-expression is, at the same time, an act of creation. The reason and justification for self-expression must be sought within the being concerned and not outside it. It is wrong to look upon the Divine Will as an impersonal force. Will can exist only as an aspect of some ego. The- Divine Will is really God engaged in disclosing the infinite riches of His being.' 2



Deists of the 18-19th century believed God created the universe, and then left it alone. But this view of God creates many ethical problems, as why would God leave us 'as rats stuck on a sinking ship' 3? In Process Theology, God is part of the evolution of the universe, involved with it. But as a guiding Force, Guiding it to complexity, and not as a watchmaker, finishing the clock and leaving it alone, nor as a king constantly forcing his will just to show its power. The universe is an expression of creativity. A supernova explosion has immense force, but is not an expression of power, but an expression of progressive development. Without supernova's, there would be no spread of larger elements in the universe, and these are the elements needed to create life in all its complexity.



As Parwez expresses it from a Qur'anic view:



'After creation, the Divine Will does not withdraw and leave the created world to shift for itself. Priests of the eighteenth century advocated some such view. However, it springs from a misconception of the relationship between God and the world. This relation is not by any means analogous to the relation between the producer of a mechanical device and his product. In the first place, the activity of the Divine Will is not intermittent : it is incessant. Secondly, the Will does not merely create the world but continues to sustain and foster it. These are not disjointed activities but aspects of the same composite, integral activity. Conceived in this way, the Divine Will is seen to be organically and vitally related to the world which literally exists and lives in God, the source of all being and the fountainhead of all life. The world, therefore, and all things in it are in direct and intimate contact with the Will every moment of their existence. '4



It is thus clear that God, as He is conceived in the Quran, is far different from an arbitrary ruler or a wilful despot. Of course, God is omnipotent and His Will, in its creative activity, is not subject to and restrained by any external law or rule. His Will is not a blind force, terrific and irresistible, which sweeps over the universe, destroying everything in its tempestuous course. It is the Will of an omniscient, all-wise, compassionate and benevolent Being. As such, it is intimately associated with wisdom and goodness, compassion and benevolence. In short, the Divine Will does not exist and operate in isolation. It is an aspect of the Divine personality. It may seem presumptuous to apply the term "personality" to God but there is no other word appropriate to the unique unity in the midst of infinite diversity which is God. The unity is transcendental and, to our finite mind, incomprehensible, but a few of its infinite aspects are accessible to our senses and reason.

To sum up, there are three distinct spheres in each of which God's Will works differently. In the realm of "Amr," it is not subject to any laws : it is a law unto itself. In the universe which He has created, His Will assumes the shape of immutable laws to which all physical beings are subject. These laws—the Laws of Nature—are called "Kalimat Ullah" in the terminology of Quran, and, as already stated, are immutable. "There is no changing the Kalimat of Allah" (10 : 64). It is the unchangeability and immutability of these laws on which the entire edifice of science and the predictions we make in the realm of physical world are founded. So far as man, a being endowed with freedom is concerned, there are also laws governing the development of his self, but man is free either to obey them or go against them. In this domain, the will of man operates. Here the initiative lies with man and, in the words of Iqbal, "God Himself cannot feel, judge and choose for me when more than one course of action are open to me. He has, by permitting the emergence of a finite ego capable of private initiative, limited the freedom of His own free will."3 There is thus no place for fatalism in Islam.'5



Rabbi Heschel was known for his Process Theological thoughts6, and his idea of God being in need of man, Parwez's turned this around, but staying in line with the reasons of why there is a cooperation between Man and God:



'The idea of God that the Qur'an presents is both simple and sublime. God is the creative force which is at work throughout the universe. God manifests Himself in the visible world of nature. The Qur’an says, "Whithersoever you turn, you look at the countenance of God" (2:115). The Qur’an calls upon us to reflect and ponder over the grand natural phenomena—the earth and sky, wind and rain, sun, moon and stars. All nature reflects the beauty and glory of God. Special attention is drawn to God's attribute of Rububiyah, according to which He sustains and fosters every being, and thus the lowliest organism develops and attains maturity and relative perfection. Because God controls and governs the world, the world process is not purposeless and meaningless. God guides and directs the cosmic process to a grand destiny. In human history a Divine Plan is being worked out, slowly but surely, and a splendid destiny awaits man. In the Qur’an, God is presented as both Immanent and Transcendent. He works in the world as a creative urge and also exists outside it as its ground. He manifests Himself in nature and yet transcends it. He is eternal and yet in the changing world every day a new phase of His glory is presented to our view (55: 29).

The Qur'an sheds new light on the relation between man and God. It is one of partnership, although one of the partners is immeasurably higher than the other. The wide gulf that separates man from God is, however, not an insuperable obstacle to fruitful co-operation between them. Man is endowed with a self, and we have seen that a self can co-operate only with another self. By virtue of possessing a self, man can, in his humble capacity, work together with God in the carrying out of the Divine Plan. Man has a stake in the future of the world and as a free self has the capacity to determine, however slightly, what that future is to be. It gives man a new sense of dignity to feel that he is actively contributing to the success of the Divine Plan. The Qur'an earnestly appeals to man to work with God in bringing about a world in which justice and goodness are not merely ideas but realities. He can and should contribute to the sum-total of goodness in the universe. Man's acquisitive instincts make him selfish and greedy and bring him into conflict with his fellow beings. As such he cannot fit into the Divine scheme. However, by encouraging and fostering his creative instincts, which enable him to create values, he will be able to work in harmony with the moral order of the universe and will move steadily towards the goal of full self-realization and perfection. At the same time, he will be enriching the world with values and making it a fit abode for men, who are both free and good. He will be taking his modest share in accomplishing the Divine purpose. The Qur'an calls upon man to co-operate with other men in the pursuit of the good. "Help one another in bir and taqwa", says the Qur’an (5:2).

Evolution proceeded at extremely slow pace in the past ages, and, often, a million years passed before a higher quality emerged in the animal world. With the emergence of a free conscious self, the prospect is much brighter. When free men, under the Guidance of God, are participating in the world process and are deliberately furthering it, the pace of evolution is sure to be accelerated. By following the right path, which the Qur'an has shown us clearly, we can develop all our latent potentialities and march forward to the ultimate goal of perfection.

As man owns a self, he has a natural affinity with God, the Absolute Self. This affinity confers on him the right and lays on him the duty of working in harmony with the will and purpose of God. By working in this way man not only realizes himself but also gives an impetus to the progress of human society.

The way in which the Absolute Self manifests its attributes in the Universe evokes feelings of awe, reverence and admiration in man. As man naturally imitates what he admires, he strives to develop himself and be as like God as is possible for a finite being to be. God serves as a model and also as an objective standard with which man can compare himself and judge his progress in self-realization. Man needs God as a co-worker and as an ideal.'7



When looking at Parwez's approach, it can clearly be defined as a Muslim form of Process Theology, whereby he uses the Qur'an and the evolution of Mankind within the universe as a reference to understand God and thus also how to approach the Qur'an:



'The Qur’an inspires a fervid faith (conviction) in us that a glorious destiny awaits man and the universe. We believe that the cosmic procession is moving steadily towards a grand goal. Mankind is in the vanguard of this procession. The directive force comes from God. In the case of nature this force acts mostly from outside, it acts, in the main, from within. It is internalized in man and appears as the urge towards self-realization. External compulsion is supplanted by the sense of duty. Animals are driven by blind instinct in the right direction. Man has to discover it for himself by using his intelligence and has to follow it freely and voluntarily. He can perceive his goal clearly and can , if he likes, bend his efforts to attain it. It is his duty to act as an intelligent, free and moral being. He must freely choose his goal and he must attain it through his own efforts. The only goal worthy of man, as man, is self-development. It means the full unfolding of the self or the actualization of all its potentialities. The aim of moral endeavour is to move nearer to this goal. All actions which lead to self-development are good, and immoral actions are those which hamper and impede the process of self-development. This is the criterion by which we can judge the worth of our actions. It can never fail us. This is the criterion which we derive from the Qur'anic view of human life. The entire system of morality set forth in the Qur’an is centered in the human personality. Right and wrong, good and bad are meaningful terms only in relation to the human self. Even political and economic questions can be settled only in the light of their effects on the self. By freedom we mean the individual's freedom to develop his personality, and subjection implies his inability to do so, for a man may be a member of a politically free society, but he is not free if, he has no scope for self-development and self-expression.'8



A few reflections on his approach to the Qur'an:



'The question as to whether every element in it can be logically proved is inadmissible, because, the teaching, if it is to be true to its nature, cannot avoid reference to realities which transcend reason. In this case, the rational test will take the form of determining whether or not the teaching is in direct conflict with reason and whether it furthers the interests of humanity. It is needless to say that the Qur'an has stood the test of reason and proved itself to be in harmony with the best in man :

Say (O Muhammad! to the unbelievers) : I say not unto you (that) I possess the treasures of Allah, nor that I have knowledge of the unseen, and I say not unto you : Lo I am malak. I follow only that which is revealed to me.

Say : are the blind man and the seer equal? Will ye not then take thought ? (6: 50 ; 11 : 24).

Secondly, the Qur'an invites people to judge it in the light of history. It asks them to ponder over the rise and fall of nations. It assures them that if they seek the causes of the downfall of a people, they will find that the people had contravened the principles of right conduct and permanent values which were communicated to them by the prophet of their age. Right belief and right conduct enable a nation to rise to power, and wrong beliefs and actions lead to its downfall. [...]



Finally we come to the pragmatic test. The unbelievers are repeatedly urged to apply this test and satisfy themselves about the truth and value of the Qur'an. A tree is judged by the quality of its fruit and creed by its effects on the life and conduct of men. The believers who had accepted the teaching and had regulated their lives in accordance with it, provided irrefutable evidence of its value to man. [..]

Again and again the Qur'an exhorts man to think and think hard. The man who uses his reason is held up to admiration:

The blind man is not equal with the seeing, nor is darkness equal to light, nor is the shadow equal with the sun's refulgence; nor are the living equal with the dead (35 : 19-22).

Those who think rightly can find the light of knowledge and can discover the path that leads to success:

Are those who know equal with those who know not ? But only, men of understanding will pay heed (39 : 9).

Again:

Surely those who strive for Us, We guide them to Our ways, and verily Allah is with those who lead a balanced life of goodness (29: 69). [..]



This is Iman ! Not to accept even God's revelations deaf and blind.'9





Parwez's view of God is seeing Him/It as the Absolute, Absolute in everything from Power to Goodness, that created and uses the universe as Its self-expression, and put life into the universe as part of Its creativity and love. It guides the development of the universe towards complexity, and does the same to mankind's conciousness by guiding it through Revelation. As the Qur'an sees itself as the last revelation, it means Mankind is finally mature enough to stand on their own feet. Parwez views the universe as one giant process of evolution, following the Will of God. And this process is beautiful, and although a powerful process, it's purpose is not to be a show of power but of mercy (which is why God calls Himself ar-Rahman and ar-Raheem, the provider of Rahma, mercy and providence). Thus Parwez views God not as a dictator, unreachable and impersonal. God can be approached, but He works through the laws of the universe, and thus we approach God by following the laws in the evolution of the universe and ourselves. We understand God through the universe which expresses His Will.



Process Theology and Philosophy is not a Western product perse, it is an outcome of questions about God which are asked in all religions and cultures. Process Theology uses modern science, a product of Islamic science (Ibn Haytham [965-1039] is considered the first ever modern and real scientist10), and looks at the goodness, evil and problems of the world and tries to understand why God allows this and what is says about God Himself. When looking at the cosmos, we see it is in constant process and development. It is an unfolding. When we look at these things it is clear God gave humans free will to commit good or evil as an expression of their own Self. We decide how we are part of the evolution of the universe. Having free will does not limit God, but is part of God's love. Just as He expresses Himself in the universe, so can we in our own actions. This is the Ruh God gave to Mankind (Qur'an 32:9), the power to move into any direction just as the wind (Rihun means strong wind or storm in Arabic).



Thus the Qur'an is also a Self-expression of God, but with the purpose of helping us in developing into the right direction. It is a guide to further evolution as a species within the immense universe and to explore our enormous potentials God has given us. Thus the Qur'an was not meant to create a religion, but to be a source of Global Ethics, or as Parwez called them, Permanent values11 that are in line with universal global thoughts of right and wrong. And to be a source of reflection on how God explains Himself and how we should approach the universe. As the Qur'an says beautifully:



With the definition of the Absolute Force (Allah), the constant Provider and Fosterer of nourishments and creation (arRahman/the universal womb), the Provider of further development for all that is fit for further evolution (arRaheem).

Say; 'He/It is the Absolute Force (Allah), the unique (Ahad). The Absolute Force which is indepedent of everything (asSamad). He/It did not beget of something similair of sharing its uniqueness, nor is He/It the product of something. And nothing is equal or comparable in being (yakun/act of being) to Him/It. (112:1-4)



Indeed, in the creation of the universes and earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for men and women who will to understand. Those who remember God while standing, and sitting, and on their sides, and they ponder in the creation of the heavens and the Earth: "Our Developer towards maturity, you did not create this without purpose, be You above all things, spare us the retribution of the Fire (by burning away our potentials)!" (3:191-192)12



To view God and His actions in these ways is a logical outcome of exploring the Qur'an, the workings and structure of the universe and the actions and experiences of Mankind. Thus Process Theology/Philosophy is a logical result of researching reality, and shows how Mankind's ideas is evolving positively and more in line with God's Reality. The universe and all of reality is a manifestation of God as Parwez pointed out be quoting this Qur'anic verse:



On Him depends all creatures in the heavens and on earth; [and] every day He manifests Himself in yet another [wondrous] way. (55:29)



Parwez did not try to confirm to Western ideas. He simply did what the Qur'an told him to do, explore the universe, think deeply, reflect on all things and see God manifesting Himself in the universe. That similair conclusions were drawn by people from different cultures is a positive thing and something to be excited about. Muslims have developed a tendency to reject anything deviant from tradition, while never questioning if the traditional views are in line with the Qur'an or not. The great scholar Muhammad Abdu'h, mufti and head of the most important university of the islamic world, Al-Azhar in Cairo, said that every generation must be authentic and true to their own understanding of the Qur'an to prevent being stuck in false ideas13. Parwez can be called the first Muslim Process Theologian, a fact unknown as Parwez is still a treasure to be discovered by most of the Muslim and non-Muslim world.



To end with the Qur'an's own words:



Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an, so that you might encompass it with your reason and intellect (ta'qluna from aql= intellect/to be endowned with reason/to comprehend). (12:2)12





Footnotes



Great works on Process Theology are Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition (Griffin&Cobb), Process Theology: A Basic Introduction (Mesle) and Adventures of Ideas (Whitehead). See also the Center for Process Studies website.
Parwez, Islam: A Challenge to Religion (1968), page 160.
Ibid, page 163-164.
Voltaire, Candide (1759).
Parwez, Islam: A Challenge to Religion (1968), page 164.
Ibid, page 170-171.
Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (1950) etc.
Parwez, Islam: A Challenge to Religion (1968), page 75-77.
Ibid, page 100-101.
Ibid, page 141-144.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Haytham
http://www.tolueislam.com/Parwez/qpv/QPV_.htm
Translations by Arnold Yasin Mol
Tafseer Al-Fatiha, Muhammed Abduh, Rashid Rida (ed.). Cairo: Al-Manar, 1330H, pp 35-53



You can read the full text of Parwez's Islam: A Challenge to Religion here:



Parwez, Islam: A Challenge to Religion (PDF)
http://deenresearchusa-com.web26.winsvr.net/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=BIIe%2bpQEEEI%3d&tabid=58&mid=404&language=nl-NL

Original Blog:
http://www.deenresearchcenter.com/Blogs/tabid/73/EntryId/76/Parwezs-view-on-God-and-the-universe-a-form-of-Muslim-Process-Theology.aspx

September 28, 2009 | 5:59 PM Comments  0 comments

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New book: The Enlightenment Qur'an: The Politics of Translation and the Construction of Islam by Ziad Elmarsafy
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

I have ordered this promising book, which discusses a very important topic; the influence of the Qur'an on the creation of the modern free and tolerant world.

Nowadays it is thought that the Qur'an represents the total opposite of what the free world stands for, but this was not the idea of early Enlightenment thinkers. The contribution of the Islamic culture and the Qur'an for the creation of the Renaissance, Enlightenment and today's modern free world, is enormous. But sadly due to the economical and intellectual decline in the Muslim world after 1500 caused by bad leadership, which caused a wrong direction of Muslim interpretation and thought, and the non-acknowledgement of Western thought of their debt ot Islam; the idea of Islam being the source of the modern world is a strange idea.

But modern academics are starting to acknowledge the contribution of the Islamic intellectual heritage to modern science, law, philosophy and politics. Ibn Rushd (Averroes), the great Muslim philosopher and judge from Andalus, is considered the founding father of secular thought (1). Voltaire, the important Enlightenment writer and philosopher who was a staunch advocate of freedom of religion and thought and who influenced the American and French revolution, said Muhammad was the founder of "a wise, severe, chaste, and humane religion" and he admired the Qur'an (2). Arnold Toynbee, a famous historian called Mohammad one of the greatest benefactors to mankind due to Islam's high religious tolerance and the complete abscence of racism. Because of this he said Islam still has an important role to fulfill in contributing to tolerance and peace among mankind (3).

Although the Muslim contribution to science is almost common knowledge now among academics, the contribution of Islam on Humanism and Freedom are still are relatively unknown or ignored, while Islam has greatly influenced it ,as in Fouad Khatib's words:

"Those who study the Quran for the first time might also reflect on the positive influence that Islam's holy text has had on Western civilization.

The Quran has the unique distinction of causing an ancient Semitic language, Arabic, to thrive as the language of learning for the better part of a millennium. While most ancient languages have either perished or been confined to the hallways of academia, Arabic continues to be a living language in more than two dozen countries. Arabic also formed the linguistic cornerstone of one of the greatest civilizations mankind has experienced.

The Quran and the example of the Prophet Muhammad, which gave Muslims a complete code of life, stimulated a belief in the importance of learning and inspired Arab-Muslim civilization to direct its creative energies into literary and scientific pursuits. Muslim science, mathematics, literature and medicine became the best in the world.

To understand how the Quran influenced civilizations, one should study the evolution of the Renaissance, the great revival of learning in 14th century Europe that had its origins in the interactions between the "Christian" West and the lands of Islam. For centuries preceding the Renaissance, Islamic Spain offered fertile intellectual ground from which sprang an enormous wealth of knowledge.

The famous libraries of Baghdad preserved in Arabic translations great Latin works of literature that were banned by the Church. Muslim Spain preserved the intellectual content of the Greco-Roman civilization that was later rediscovered by the West.

This vast knowledge base became the springboard for the Renaissance. The genesis of the Renaissance lies in the translation into Latin of books in all branches of knowledge then extant in the Arabic language.

Some precepts of law familiar to us today were also inspired by the Quranic code. Its influence on the international law is characterized by strict limitations on warfare, prohibition of harming of civilians or destruction of trees and crops, and adherence to treaties.

Distinguishing criminal intent from criminal action was first advanced by Islamic law. Consequently, children and the insane could not be prosecuted as they were deemed incapable of harboring criminal intent.

The Magna Carta and English common law were also influenced by the Quranic code. Pope Sylvester II graduated from a Spanish university with a degree in Islamic Law. He went on to translate Islamic legal texts into Latin and called it the "New Roman Law." This code became the basis for the French legal system as well as that of Louisiana.

On the social and civic front, a profound contribution of the Quranic code was the explicit banning of racism, which provided a practical framework for thriving multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies exemplified by the peaceful coexistence of different peoples in Muslim Spain.

In the 8th century Iraq, entire schools of grammarians in Baghdad, Basra and Kufa minutely scrutinized the Quran in an effort to elucidate its meanings. This led to the formal scrutiny of the Arabic language itself. Some significant outcomes of this intense linguistic exploration were the development of lexicography, rules of grammar and cryptology.

Only a serious study of the Quran and its influence on history can help one truly understand why more than a billion human beings revere this book as their revealed scripture. Polemics and hostile rhetoric, apart from being distasteful, do little to further understanding or mutual respect."(4)

But "The Enlightenment Qur'an" is a book which can change this ignorance. When the West finally realizes that modern society is a product partially based on the Qur'an, and the Muslims reform their approach to the Qur'an, then the world can finally benefit again from this Guidance, and we can all develop a peaceful pluralistic world society as intended by the Qur'an.

The review and description shows my hopes for this book are right:

Review

"Insightful, convincing and eloquent. Readers will gain a new appreciation of the complex background to our current intellectual and political reality." --Andrew Rippin, Professor of History at University of Victoria, Canada

"Erudite, subtle and profound. Stylishly written and a pleasure to read." --Robert Irwin, Author of 'For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and Their Enemies'

"Exquisitely persuades and provokes. Beautifully written and marvelously learned." --Thomas Burman, Associate Professor of History, University of Tennessee

Product Description

Iconoclastic and fiercely rational, the European Enlightenment witnessed the birth of modern Western society and thought. Reason was sacrosanct and for the first time, religious belief and institutions were open to widespread criticism. In this groundbreaking book, Ziad Elmarsafy challenges this accepted wisdom to argue that religion was still hugely influential in the era. But the religion in question wasn't Christianity - it was Islam. Charting the history of Qur'anic translations in Europe during the 18th and early 19th Centuries, Elmarsafy shows that a number of key enlightenment figures - including Voltaire, Rousseau, Goethe, and Napoleon - drew both inspiration and ideas from the Qur'an. Controversially placing Islam at the heart of the European Enlightenment, this lucid and well argued work is a valuable window into the interaction of East and West during this pivotal epoch in human history.

To purchase the book, got to:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Enlightenment-Quran-Politics-Translation-Construction/dp/1851686525/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245010470&sr=1-1

Footnotes:
1. Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence by Majid Fakhry, 2001.Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1851682694.
2. "Essai sur les Moeurs et l'Esprit des Nations" by Voltaire, Paris 1858, p167 note 175, 179.
3. Civilization on trial by A.Toynbee, London 1953. p 156.
4. The Quran's Influence on Western Civilization By Fouad Khatib.

June 15, 2009 | 5:43 AM Comments  0 comments

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New important book: Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform: A Collection of Articles from Contemporary Thinkers on Islam

This important book is a collection of writings of more then 30 modern writers on Islam. From professional Islamic scholars to individuals writers and thinkers, this collection is groundbreaking and unique as a serious collection of 21st century Islamic thought on critical research, reform and renewal in Islamic and Qur'anic interpretation. With diverse subjects on the interpretation and message of Qur'an and its relation to human rights, freedom and wellfare. History of Islam, society and thought. Modern experience of being a Muslim, the concept of gender and future thought.

To purchase the book, go to:

Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform by Edip Yuksel, Arnold Yasin Mol, Farouk A Peru (Editors)
http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinkers-Islamic-Reform-Yuksel/dp/0979671574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240250823&sr=1-1

Authors include:

Abdullahi An-Naim
Abdur Rab
Ahmed Subhy Mansour
Aisha Jumaan
Aisha Y. Musa
Ali Behzadnia
Arnold Yasin Mol
Ayman Abdullah
Caner Taslaman
Chibuzo Casey Ohanaja
Christopher Moore
Dilara Hafiz
Edip Yuksel
El-Mehdi Haddou
Eman M. Ahmed
Fereydoun Taslimi
Farouk A. Peru
Germaine A. Hoston
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui
Irshad Manji
Kassim Ahmad
Layth Saleh al-Shaiban
Melody Moezzi
Mike Ghouse
Mohammad Mova al Afghani
Mustafa Akyol
Naser Khader
Raymond Catton
Richard S. Voss
Ruby Amatulla
Shabbir Ahmed
T.O. Shanavas
Taj Hargey
Yasar Nuri Ozturk
Yayha Yuksel

April 20, 2009 | 2:59 PM Comments  0 comments

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Hadith as Scripture by prof. Aisha Y. Musa-book review by AY Mol
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

"Hadith as Scripture is the only book that covers both the earliest and most recent discussions on the authority of the Hadith. The authority of Hadith is a concern to Muslims in their daily lives, as well as a question of academic interest. Hadith as Scripture contains the first-ever Western language translation of the earliest extant text on the subject. This work explores the earliest extant discussions on the authority of the Hadith in Islam and compares them with contemporary debates."

In modern Islamic movements, a new trend has emerged, created because of the need to reform the Muslim society to make it progressive and 'to keep up with the times'. Famous reformers, Muhammad Abduh and Sayyid Qutb for example, were more focussed on the Qur'an and its message, than the Hadith and other historical materials deemed important as a basis for Islam. Their reason was that only the Qur'an could be seen as timeless and flexible in its usage and meaning so as to be applicable for modern society and knowledge. This trend was taken further, and eventually many reformers and groups became to renounce all historical material next to the Qur'an as unusable or even as false teachings, and have come to accept only the Qur'an as the major or only source for their ideas of what Islam is about.



These reform ideas have been seen as heretical by the majority of traditional schools in Islam and attacked and labelled as dangerous and blasphemous. As the majority of Muslims are still being deeply controlled by the traditional schools, these reform movements have always stayed a minority among the majority, and have been successful only in certain countries and social classes. But these 'Qur'an alone' reformers and followers kept popping up over the decades in all Muslim countries, and now in the age of the Internet have grown into a large community and are thus being taken more seriously, and are gaining attention and interest among the general Muslim public.



The 'Qur'an alone' or 'mostly focused on the Qur'an' movements are mostly labelled by the traditional Islamic schools as results of Western Orientalist research, who from the beginning of the 19th century have written many books critical of the reliability of the Hadith and other historical materials. Thus the 'Qur'an alone' movements are labelled as apologetic or caused by Western attacks on Islam, and thus are not based on Qur'anic teachings itself, but simply on Western beliefs and methods of viewing Islam. It is labelled as a 'Western caused' movement.



This tactic is similar to the treatment of the Medieval schools of Kalam and Mu'tazilah, who used Reason (aql) to interpret the Qur'an and its doctrines (tafsir bi'l-Ra'y). Most of these schools only accepted Mutawwir Hadith, historical reports that had multiple chain-sources. These were themselves miniscule in number compared to the accepted majority of Hadith based on simpler and more easily falsified transmission chains. And even the Mutawwir Hadith were approached with caution by these schools of Kalam. Many of the rational methods of the Kalam were taken to a certain degree into the later formed traditional schools, but their major beliefs on the Qur'anic message and their approach to the Hadith were rejected and deemed false, and thus non-Islamic (Western) teachings, created through the influence of the Greek philosophy.



When Muhammad Abduh, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, GA Parwez, Muhammad Iqbal and other reformers in the 19th and 20th century came to use the same arguments and conclusions as the Mu'tazilah, while most of the time not ever referring to them, they were labelled as neo-Mu'tazilah, conforming to the Western (and colonial ruler) judgment on Islam and its history.

They were accused of blindly believing Orientalists such as Goldziher, Schacht, Muir and others who attacked Islamic history as unreliable and many Qur'an interpretations as illogical and superstitious. Scholar Daniel Brown in his book "Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought" began to research these reformers and their methods and came to very different conclusions. According to him, many of these reformers based their ideas on the Qur'an itself and their personal research into the historical reliability of Islamic records, and believed to have found contradictions and falsified records. Thus these reformers came to the same conclusions as several Orientalists, but were not influenced by them. The traditional schools still outlawed their works or ordered rulings their work must not be read, and so many of the reformist ideas never gained firm ground in the Muslim mind.



In the late 20th and beginning 21st century, new 'Qur'an alone' reformers and groups have emerged and now have the power of the internet to spread their ideas. Although these were also branded as heretic by the traditional schools, the Internet has created a platform which could be reached easily by the Muslim majority, and thus has more impact. Also the works of Parwez for example, who belonged to the pre-Internet reform movement, have been rediscovered by many Muslims, as they are freely available on the web and translated into English and other languages, which was not possible before. And so the 'Qur'an alone' movement is gaining ground by the anarchistic and almost unbannable word-wide web.



But the same arguments are still used against them; they are Western creations or apologetic movements. Just as Brown, Professor Aisha Musa asked herself: Is this true, is it a Western creation, or is there some truth in their arguments? Having been herself part of the reform movements for a long time, she had seen the many accusations laid against the movement. As a professor having a degree in Islam, and thus having the education and knowledge to perform a professional inquiry, she focused on two areas which were not discussed by Brown in his book. One is a research into the question: If the idea of the Qur'an alone is based on arguments found within the Qur'an itself, shouldn't the idea of the Qur'an alone be the orthodox movement, instead of the traditional pro-Hadith schools? The second question concerned researching the movement of the late 20th and present 21st century movements- the modern day Internet-based groups, which were not covered by Brown. Are they a product of Western society?



The difference from Brown's book is that Musa searched for traces of evidence of similar discussions between the 'Qur'an alone' and 'Hadith accepting' schools and groups in the first centuries of Islam. If the 'Qur'an alone' arguments are sound, these must have been part of almost every age in Islam from day one, and indeed they were she shows.



Caliph Umar, the second ruler of Islam, was known for his rejection of the recording of Hadith. The reformers use this as a proof for their rejection of Hadith, while the Hadith-accepting groups that now form the traditional schools say he only did this because Umar didn't want the Qur'an to be recorded wrongfully, so he only allowed oral transmittal of Hadith. This prohibition of recording Hadith came from the Prophet itself it was said, and was upheld till as late as 70 years after the Prophet. The then ruling Caliph ordered scholars to write Hadith down, but they did this reluctantly. And as much time had passed and much strife had occurred among the Muslim societies, false Hadith were abundant in such a degree that most Hadith scholars in the second Islamic century rejected at least 90% of the Hadith they collected. But these were the historical question-of-reliability arguments which were already discussed by Brown. And so Musa goes on and searches for Qur'an-based arguments against Hadith or outside sources.

She found none, no documents written by a person that could be labeled as 'Qur'an alone' in the first centuries could be found. But the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence; and so Musa used a different tactic by reviewing the earliest pro-Hadith documents, as then we could deduce what arguments the Qur'an-aloners used. This tactic had also been used to deduce the doctrines of early Christian sects, and also for the Mu'tazilah by early 19-20th century scholars as almost no Mu'tazilah documents survived in common main Muslim libraries, and so by reviewing the opponents of the Mu'tazilah it could be understood what the Mu'tazilah believed by seeing what their opponents accused them of or argued against. In the middle of the 20th century, old copies of Mu'tazilah books were found in some libraries in Yemen, and so finally the works themselves could be read. Many of the deduced conclusions of what Mu'tazilah believed turned out to be correct.



Musa uses two main pro-Hadith texts written by two famous scholars of orthodox Islam. Shafi, founder of the Shafi school and labelled as the first scholar who made both Hadith and Sunnah as divine sources in Islam. And the later follower Ibn Qutayba. Both scholars have written books against the Qur'an alone ideology and thus showed that the Qur'an alone movements were present in their lifetimes and even important and known enough to write books for to attack them. She has found the proof she was looking for. Musa breaks their texts down and discusses how the pro-Hadith groups won their arguments over the majority and also which Qur'an verses were used by both sides. Her analysis is thorough and well explained. Shafi's text is not considered as simple, but Musa shows step by step Shafi's method in a very clear way. Next to reviewing their work and arguments, she also delivers the immense work of translating Shafi's Kitab Jima'al-Ilm, the Book of Amalgamation of Knowledge, for the first time into English, which must have been an extremely difficult task since the text's style and Classic Arabic form is not easy to read and understand.



Then she goes on discussing the modern Qur'an-alone movements, their founders and their arguments. She has found that these founders-Rashad Khalifa, Subhy Mansour, Edip Yuksel, Kassim Ahmad and several groups, are not persons coming from the West, but from traditional Muslim backgrounds, and were all brought up in Islam. All of them were highly knowledgeable in the Qur'an and Hadith, as for example, Mansour was a professor in history at the famous Al-Azhar University of Cairo. Also these reformers did not use Orientalist conclusions as proof for their beliefs, but came to their 'Qur'an alone' ideas based on Qur'anic verses. Only after reviewing these verses did they research the history of Hadith to further strengthen their belief that only the Qur'an can be used to understand what Islam is.



So her book is unique in its approach and its conclusions. Not only is the Qur'an-alone a historical and orthodox movement, Musa showed that throughout the centuries, the same Qur'an verses were used as arguments for only accepting the Qur'an as divine and only source for Islam. It is not a Western movement, nor even an Western Orientalist caused movement, but an authentic Islamic movement based on its core text, the Qur'an. Just as the Mu'tazilah writings have been systematically wiped out from the general Muslim libraries when they fell out of favor, the same has occurred with the Qur'an-alone writings over the centuries. Which in my eyes not only shows political influence in the debate (the rulers clearly wanted no traces remained, so the pro-Hadith gave them more wealth and power it seemed), but also that the arguments supporting Hadith were not as strong as the majority believes. Why eliminate a weak threat? The following of Hadith became dominant as there was no literature remaining that attacked this view. Maybe the future will produce some hidden treasures somewhere. But the modern Qur'an-alone writings can not be lost to history because of the Internet and modern printing, and so more and more Muslims will and are reading them and are being influenced by them. The movement is growing, not only because the Qur'an-alone movement has sound arguments from the Qur'an itself and historical proof of false Hadith, but also because the Qur'an is accepted by all sects and movements in Islam, while there are many disputes on what and which Hadith and tradition is accepted. And as mentioned above , the Qur'an is the only timeless, flexible and very open-source text that can withstand the criteria of modern human knowledge and thought.



It is viewed as more gender-neutral, more universal, very humanistic and scientific than the Hadith which reflects mostly 7-9th century mythology and cultural beliefs. Thus the Qur'an alone can not only be the vehicle to modernize and reform the Muslim world, but even start a new revolution of a socio-humanistic scientific faith which is demanded by modern-day scepticism and rationalism. The Medieval scientists of Islam who were the founders of the Renaissance and modern science, were scientific because of the Qur'an. Muslim society was so tolerant and progressive mostly because of the universality of the Qur'an, while the rest of the world was oppressive and backward, stooped in the dark ages. The increasing acceptance of the Hadith as divine source in Islam from the 9th century on, has slowly demolished the revolutionary system of the Qur'an and caused the majority Muslim world to fall into its deplorable state it is in now. The Qur'an alone is not a heresy, it is a revival.



Professor Musa's book is a groundbreaking study into a very important and growing, or as her study shows, a re-vitalized movement within Islam that can positively change the world. This book is superbly written and a must read.


"The role they (the Hadith) have played has been so influential for so long that both Muslims and non-Muslims alike generally assume they have always uncontested authority. However, a survey of Islamic history shows that the Hadith did not always enjoy such widespread acceptance and authority.[...] Ignorance of these early disputes has contributed to the common misconception that opposition to the Hadith as an authoritative scriptural source of law and guidance is a modern-day, Western, Orientalist-influenced heresy," [Introduction to the book]

http://deenresearchusa-com.web26.winsvr.net/Blogs/tabid/73/EntryId/27/Hadith-as-Scripture-by-prof-Aisha-Y-Musa-book-review-by-AY-Mol.aspx

February 22, 2009 | 8:42 AM Comments  0 comments

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