Islam: A Challenge to Religion

213 Pages·0.883 MB·English

by  Parwez G.A.

ISLAM: A CHALLENGE TO RELIGION

by G. A. Parwez
Introduction
Glossary
Chapter 1: WHAT IS RELIGION ?
The So-Called Urge for Religion
The Definition of Religion
The Idea of God
What is Religion?
Chapter 2: THE FUNCTION OF DIN
Deen and Man
The Self
The Quranic Concept of the Self
God and Man
Religion or "Deen"
Islam
Chapter 3: THE SELF OF MAN AND ITS DESTINY
Self and Physical Body
Self and Memory
Survival of the Self
Man
Hereafter
Immorality
The God of Life
Chapter 4: DIVINE GUIDANCE
Evidence of Guidance
Wahi and the World of Creation
Man and Wahi
Nubuwwah
Conclusion
Belief in God without Belief in Revelation
Chapter 5: REASON AND IMAN
Reason and Its Limitations
The Function of Reason
Reason and Faith (Iman) - The Quranic View
Miracles
Approach to the Quran
Chapter 6: THE ROLE OF REASON IN DIN
Reason and Passion
Reason and Revelation
Revelation and Values
Iman is Indispensable
Chapter 7: THE WORKING OF THE DIVINE LAW
God as a Dictator
Divine Will According to the Quran
The Quranic View of God
Chapter 8: THE LAW OF REQUITAL
What is It?
Man and the Law of Requital
Its Working
Chapter 9: SALVATION
Religion and Salvation
The Quranic Concept of Salvation
Life: A Struggle
Conclusion
Chapter 10: SURVIVAL: INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE
Man's Passion for Life
Life and Death
Will and Action
Immorality and Eternity
Chapter 11: THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN PERSONALITY
The Law of Rabubiyyat
Course of Self-development
Chapter 12: THE RABUBIY'AH ORDER (Quranic ECONOMICS)
The Order of Rabubiyyat: Its Nature and Purpose
Jannah
Allah
The Problem of Subsistence
The Mystical Way
Chapter 13: THE RABUBIY'AH ORDER: ITS AIM AND SCOPE
The Rabubiyyat Order of Society
Capitalism and the Rabubiyah Order
Means of Production
Period of Transition
Chapter 14: a: POLITICAL SYSTEM: PART I
Man-Made Systems
Primitive Age
Struggle Between the Rulers and the Subjects
Might is Right
Theory of Contract
Democracy
Democracy's Failure
UNO's Questionnaire
Patriotism
Western Thinkers
Moral Standard
Locke's Mistake
Higher Law
Modern Man in Search of Light
Declaration of Human Rights
Search of Permanent Values
Chapter 15: b: POLITICAL SYSTEM: PART II
Islamic View of Humanity
Universal Humanity
International Humanity
Freedom, Justice and Beauty
Adl and Ihsan
War and Ideological Differences
Sectarianism
Chapter 16: MAN AND WAR
The Distant Past
Christianity and War
Quran and War
Law and the Use of Force
Rules of Conduct
Prisoners of War
Is the Abolition of War Impossible?
Chapter 17: RISE AND FALL OF NATIONS
Quran and History
The Law at Work
The Quranic View of History
Doom of the Nations
Cosmic Process
Chapter 18: MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT
Man and the Universe
The Quran on Man and Nature
Knowledge
Men of Knowledge
Chapter 19: WOMAN
Man and Woman: A Comparative Study
Woman (Mother)
Slave Girls
Sex and Society
Chastity
Conclusion
Religion and Deen
Concept of God
Permanence and Change
Human Personality
Permanent Values
Comparison
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION

T
he history of mankind makes tragic reading. Down through the ages we come across a
series of sequences of the rise, growth, decline and fall not only of nations but even of their
civilizations and cultures. No doubt, man has all along shown a remarkable constructive
genius, having attained many an awe-inspiring success, now and then, despite occasional
set-backs and natural catastrophes. But his constructive genius, was always undermined by
some inherent weakness underlying his ideals or his way of life which ultimately brought
about a disastrous end to his efforts. Nevertheless, there have been some notable exceptions
in the series of sequences when the idea of the universal welfare of mankind took practical
shape, but the main characteristic of the type of the society in all those civilizations,
however, always remained one of frustration.
The same dismal spectacle is repeated age after age. We see a people incessantly striving
towards the creation of a great civilization, which became the focus of their desires and
ambitions, hopes and aspirations. They looked upon their success as the apogee of human
endeavour. This civilisation, they hoped, would finally liberate mankind from the clutches
of tyranny and slavedom, and usher in an era of eternal peace, security and contentment.
They remained lost in the illusion of having built up an unparalleled civilization whose
growth was always a source of pride and happiness for them. Every step they took for its
progress kindled a new ray of hope in their hearts for ultimately attaining human welfare
andadvancement. But the process never reachedthe desired culmination,andthe main
objective ever remained a mirage. Long before the goal was reached, invariably an anti-
climax set in and man himself became instrumental in pulling down the imposing edifice
that he had raised through the ages, shattering all his hopes, ideals and aspirations.
History is replete with such stories of the rise and growth and the ultimate decline and fall
of several human civilizations. Ancient Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Rome, India and even
some parts of the New World are now graveyards of glorious old civilizations. These stand
as living testimony to the story of man's tragic failures. They induce a thoughtful mood in
sensitive spectators and caution them to pause for a while and reflect over this warning of
the Qur’an :
Mind! Be ye not like the old woman who laboured hard to spin her yarn and then pulled it to
pieces (16: 92).
Contemporary Civilization
On the other hand, let us ponder over the state of the contemporary world in which the
leading role is played by the nations of the West. The splendour and brilliance of that
civilization is indeed dazzling. No doubt, this civilization, prosperous and powerful as it
claims to be, has enabled man to harness some of the most formidable forces of nature. The
astounding progress of communication by land, sea and air has brought distant places into
close contact. Never before in his long and chequered history has man enjoyed such power
over the universe and the mighty forces of nature as he does today.
This fantastic phase of human civilization is hardly a century old, but unfortunately, as in
the past, the portents of its collapse and ruin are already in evidence, as Mason says :"
We began our era of scientific efficiency confident that materialistic triumphs would solve
life's problems. We are finding we were wrong . Life is not as simple as that.1
Every thinking man is oppressed by the fear that this civilisation which has already been
shaken to its very foundations by two global wars will not survive a third shock. Not only
will the whole edifice collapse, but it will also crush the whole of mankind under it,
perhaps, totally out of existence.
Why should this be so? Neither ancient civilisations nor the present one are the work of
thoughtless men. In fact, all great civilisations, both past and present, are the manifestations
of a highly developed creative mind. This paradox of progress leads all thoughtful minds
inescapably to the conclusion arrived at by Einstein:
By painful experience we have learnt that rational thinking does not suffice to solve the
problems of our social life. Penetrating research and keen scientific work have often had
tragic implications for mankind, producing, on the one hand, inventions which liberated
man from exhausting physical labor, making his life easier and richer; but on the other hand,
introducing a grave restlessness into his life, making him a slave to his technological
environment, and—most catastrophic of all—creating the means for his own mass
destruction. This, indeed, is a tragedy of overwhelming poignancy.2
Inother words, humanreason can subdue the forces ofnature but cannot findby itselfa
satisfactory solution to the complexity of the problems of mankind. In fact, these cannot be
solved unless and until we first find satisfactory answers to certain fundamental questions:
What is the aim and purpose of human life? Why are the claims of different individuals and
interests of different nations often mutually contradictory, and how can they be reconciled?
What things are conducive and which harmful to the interests of mankind at large? What are
the common values of humanity and how are they mutually related? Why is it necessary to
protect and preserve these values and how? What are the fundamental rights of man and
how can they be safeguarded ? It is clear that human reason and its manifestations—the
sciences—do not and cannot possibly help us to solve these questions. Let me again refer to
Einstein :
For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain
value judgments of all kinds remain necessary.... Representatives of science have often
made an attempt to arrive at fundamental judgments with respect of values and ends on the
basis of scientific methods and in this way have set themselves in opposition to religion.
These conflicts have all sprung from fatal errors. . . .............
For the scientist, there is only "being," but not wishing, no valuing, no good, no evil, no
goal.3
Since the solution of man's fundamental problems depends upon satisfactory answers to the
above questions and since human reason alone cannot properly answer them, it should be
well to investigate some other source of knowledge to which we may turn for the right
answers which might help mankind in solving its fundamental problems.
Divine Guidance
Human intellect helps us little in the matter, because it is not aware of any source of
knowledge other than itself. There is only one guide left for mankind in this difficult quest;
and that confidently proclaims its ability to lead them to their goal:
The God that has created all the objects in the universe has also undertaken to make them
aware of their goal and guide them towards it (The Qur'an, 20: 50).
This Guidance which comes direct from God is known as revelation. It has been revealed all
along to mankind through the agency of various Anbiya. But unfortunately, due to the
ravages of time and human tampering with the texts of the Scriptures, the messages
delivered by the pre-Islamic Anbiya could not be preserved long in their original form.
Eventually, about—fourteen centuries ago, the complete and final version of that Guidance
was revealed to mankind through Muhammad (P), the last of the series of the Rusul. This
version of the Device Guidance is embodied, exactly in its original form, in the Qur'an.
The Qur'an
The Qur’an was revealed from time to time over period of about twenty-three years. Rasul-
ullah had made fool-proof arrangements for its transcription and preservation, and before he
died it had been fully compiled in the form of a book, apart from being memorized by heart
by thousands of men. The Book has thus been inherited in its original form and it is an
historically established fact that not a single letter ofthe Book has been altered in the course
of the fourteen centuries of its existence. This great and incomparable Book is a unique
testament of the eternal truths and ever-abiding universal values, and offers enlightenment
and perfect guidance in regard to all aspects of human life.
Writings of men are the products of their environment and are designed to convey some
idea and serve one or another limited purpose. The life of such writings is, therefore,
transitory, and their interest and utility limited. On the other hand, a book that carries
revealed guidance forever is independent of time and space and circumstance. Its teachings
are never out of date, and there is no limit beyond which it could fail to enlighten and guide
men. It indicates the principles that determine the development and the realisation of
individual potentialities, and explains the laws that govern the rise, decline and fall of
nations. The Qur'an thus is a Divine Book embodying all these attributes, and, being the
final code of life forever prescribed by God for mankind, it is fully comprehensive and
complete in every respect.
This great work of Almighty God tells us that all the failures and frustrations of mankind,
all the destructions and bloodshed that the world has suffered, can be traced back to
fallacious views of life that man had adopted through the distorted vision and perverse
thinking. One of these is the materialistic concept of life according to which man is merely
the most developed specimen of animal life, his being depending entirely upon his physical
body for existence and ending with its decay. Human life, they think, is governed entirely
by physical laws. The preservation and promotion of man's material welfare is the only aim
worth striving for. It is the function of human intellect to help man in achieving these aims.
Those who believe in this view of life inevitably accept the supremacy of the law of jungle
that might is right. This law naturally results in strife and conflict among individuals and
groups, eventually leading to global conflicts and mass destruction of life and property and
tragic human sufferings. In short, all the courses that mankind has adopted for the
organisation of social life have ultimately led, not to security and peace, but to mutual
destruction. In The Making of Humanity, Robert Briffault has brought the root cause of the
trouble clearly into focus when he says:
No system of human organisation that is false in its very principle, in its very foundation,
can save itself by any amount of cleverness and efficiency in the means by which that
falsehood is carried out and maintained, by any amount of superficial adjustment and
tinkering (p. 159).
The Qur’anic View of Life
The Qur'an, on the other hand, holds that man is not merely a physical being but is
composed of something else besides his body, which is called human personality. This
personality, however, is not inherited by man in a fully developed state; it exists in a latent
form and its development is the ultimate object of human life. When properly developed,
the life of the individual becomes capable of evolving into higher forms after its end in this
mortal world. The growth of an individual's physical existence is governed by certain
natural laws; but the development of his personality is subject to a different set of laws
which have been given to mankind from time to time through Divine Revelation, and are
now fully embodied in the Qur'an.
Organization of Human Society
The personality of the individual can grow and fulfill its destiny in and through society
alone and not in isolation. Therefore, the Qur’anic laws relating to human personality also
outline the principles on which the organization of human society should be based. A social
system evolved in accordance with the Qur'anic laws aims at ensuring the progress and full
development of entire mankind. It creates a society free from the clash of interests among
individuals and nations. For, according to its basic principles, the personality of an
individual grows in direct proportion to his contribution towards the development of other
personalities. Thus in a society where each individual does his best to help others (in the
interest of his own personality) conflict among individuals does not arise. And once the
conflict of interests among people is eliminated, all other complications that have been
responsible for the perpetual strife, tyranny and disorder in the world would automatically
disappear. The Qur’an, therefore, lays down a pattern according to which a healthy social
organisation for entire mankind can be formed.
As an outcome of the materialistic concept of life, mankind today faces a crisis which
perhaps has no parallel in history. This crisis, pervading all spheres of human life, has taken
the form of a universal revolt against religion. This is not confined to any particular place or
group of people. It is not directed against any particular religion, but against religion itself.
No doubt, every religion has been subjected to the severest criticism at one time or another
since the advent of civilisation, but a total revolt against religion itself is a peculiar feature
of the contemporary attitude towards life. "All living religions," says William Ernest
Hocking, "are wretched vessels. They are all wrapped in sanctimony, dusty-eyed with self-
satisfaction, stiff-jointed with the rheum-rust of their creedal conceits, so timorous under the
whips of conformity that only a few dare the perilous task of thinking."4 Russell is more
clear on the point when he says:
Religion prevents our children from having a rational education ; religion presents us from
removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us from teaching the ethic of
scientific co-operation in place of the old fierce doctrines of sin and punishment. It is
possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first
to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.5
Our age thus poses an open challenge to religion.
This challenge is not entirely unprecedented. Fourteen centuries ago religion faced a similar
challenge—and a formidable one at that. This challenge was held out by the Qur’an. It
openly challenged the religions of the day: Judaism, Christianity, Manichaeism, idol-
worship, star-worship, nature-worship and superstition. What is more, it not merely
challenged the truth and validity of the elements of a particular form of religion, but also
emphasized that "religion" itself was based on false foundations.
This assertion is likely to cause surprise not only to non-Muslims but even to Muslims. It
may be argued that Islam itself is a religion (and the Qur'an is a book of religion) and to say
that the Qur’an is the standard-bearer of a revolt against religion is a contradiction in terms.
In fact, however, this is not a contradiction but may merely be termed as a paradox, which
arises from a fundamental fallacy and a widely accepted misconception about the nature of
Islam.Islamis generallyregardedas a religion(madhhab) whereas infact it is not a
madhhab but a din. Now madhhab and din, which are generally treated as synonymous, are
not only essentially different concepts but are mutually contradictory. So, the fundamental
difference between the two must be clearly understood before the assertion made above can
be properly appreciated. A proper understanding of this difference is also essential for the
deliverance of mankind from the deadly crisis in which it finds itself today.
The Qur'an tells us that when man began to live in groups, a clash of interests ensued. And
this in turn led to violent strife and bloodshed. Since this mess had been the result of man's
own limitations, it was beyond his power to remedy it. What was needed was a clear
guidance from a source supra-human. Obviously, this source could be none other than
Divine Knowledge, for, in the entire universe there is no body or force superior to man
except his Creator—God Himself. The Divine Guidance that mankind needed to pull itself
out of the morass in which it found itself was available to it through Rusul (the Messengers
of God).
Thus from time to time each of this long succession of Divine Messengers (Rusul) came to
mankind with a Code of Divine Guidance, and established a socio-economic order based on
the permanent values embodied in that Code. The old conflicts and strives in that society
were thus brought to an end. The pursuit of individual self-interests was replaced by the
ideal of the good of the society at large. Oppression and exploitation were abolished and
justice and equity prevailed. The dependence of man upon man and the subjection of one to
another was brought to an end. Every individual was assured the proper satisfaction of his
needs. He was, therefore, satisfied and did not owe obedience to any person or power except
the Divine Laws (or the Permanent Values enshrined in the Divine Code). All the members
of society thus enjoyed true freedom and security; security and freedom not confined to
man's physical existence on this earth alone but also ensured in the life Hereafter. This way
of life, this code of law, this social order was known as din.
This social order prevailed during the lifetime of the Nabi who founded it and for some time
thereafter. But sooner or later, the forces suppressed by din again raised their ugly heads and
began to undermine it, reviving the old evils of injustice, exploitation and tyranny. In their
attempt to re-establish the old order, these forces generally availed themselves of the
services of men who appeared in the robes of piety and spoke in the name of God. They
posed as the interpreters of God's Will and thus distorted the principles and tenets of din
which no longer remained a living force in society and was reduced to a set of soul-less
beliefs and lifeless dogmas and formal rituals divorced from reason and knowledge and the
realities of life in this world. They sought to keep the common people entangled in the
labyrinth of dogma and ritual, and the exploiters, religious as well as temporal, were thus
left free to maintain their stranglehold upon the defrauded masses and to fatten themselves
on the labour of others. This was the metamorphosis of din into madhhab or religion, as in
the old.
But this sort of order, or lack of order, could not continue indefinitely, and before long
another Rasul (Messenger of God) appeared on the scene, challenged the standard-bearers
of "religion" and eventually re-established the din or the way of life revealed to and
established by his predecessor.
This process of thesis and antithesis, of revival and decadence, went on for ages and ended
withtheNabi of Islam,throughwhoma perfect code ofDivine Guidance embodiedinthe