By: Dr. Mohammed Hamidullah
The vitality of any society, people or civilization depends in a large part on its philosophy of life conceived and practised. In his natural state, man scarcely thinks of anything but his own individual interests, and then only later of his close relatives. However, there have been human groups in every epoch who have particularly distinguished themselves. When we study the features and characteristics of past civilizations (and we are now possibly at the dawn of another one) we find that even though one group may become distinguished as the torch-bearer for a civilization in a particular epoch, that does not necessarily mean that all other contemporary groups would be living in a state of savagery. There is instead the relative pre-eminence of one over the other, in the ladder of graded civilizations. For instance, when the Phoenicians appeared on the scene and developed a brilliant civilization, several other contemporary peoples were perhaps almost as civilized, although lacking the occasion in a suitable field of their activity. At the Arabo-Islamic epoch, the Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Indians and others, possessed all the characteristics of civilized peoples. Even so, they did not rise to the heights of the standard-bearers of the civilization of their epoch. In our own time, if the people of the USA and Russia form the vanguard with their nuclear might and other claims, the British, Chinese, French and the Germans follow close behind. Notwithstanding this progress of some, there are, at the same time, even in this second half of the 20th century, in certain parts of the globe, groups still in savagery if not actual cannibalism.
- The question arises as to why the evolution of some is rapid, and others slow? In an epoch when the Greeks enjoyed a glorious civilization, why was it that Western Europe was barbarian? Why did barbarism prevail in Russia when the Arabs had risen to the height of splendour? The same question may be posed with respect to several countries in several epochs. Is it purely and simply a question of chance and circumstance? Or is it due to the fact that some individuals of lofty note and noble personality were born in one human group to the exclusion of other groups? There are other possible explanations which are more complex and depend upon a variety of co-existing causes which govern the accomplishments of some, and the frustration or even extinction of the other.
- There is still another question. After a momentary state of splendour, why do people fall anew into relative obscurity, if not into a semi-barbarous state?
- We propose to investigate these questions in relation to contemporary Islam, and discuss, if possible, its chances for survival.
- If one were to believe Ibn Khaldun, the biological factor is the essential cause. At the end of a single generation, the race exhausts its vitality, and for purposes of rejuvenation there must be a change at least in the family of men at the helm of affairs. This racial theory, even though it may be considered a learned exaggeration, can affect ethnic civilizations and such religions which do not admit conversion. Islam luckily escapes this cycle of decadence, for its followers are found among all races, and it continues to achieve greater or smaller progress everywhere in the world. Moreover, it is unanimously recognized that Islam has almost completely eliminated, inside its community, racial prejudices – a feature which permits it to accept, without hesitation, men of any race to be its leaders and standard-bearers. The systematic emancipation of slaves, which was ordered by the Qur’an, presents another glorious example. As a matter of fact there have been several dynasties of Muslim rulers in history, drawn solely from slaves who had been freshly liberated.
- The life and death of a civilization depends on equal measure on the quality of its basic teaching. If it invites its adherents to renounce the world, spirituality will certainly make great progress, yet the other constituent parts of man, his body, his intellectual faculties, etc., will not be allowed to perform their natural duties and will die even before their season of bloom. If, on the other hand, a civilization lays emphasis only on the material aspects of life, man will make great progress in those aspects at the expense of others. Such a civilization may even become a sort of boomerang which causes its own death. For materialism often engenders egoism and lack of respect for the rights of others, and this creates enemies who await their chance for reprisal. The result is mutual killing. The story of the two brigands is well known. They had captured some booty. One of them went to the town to buy provisions, and the other went to collect wood to prepare the meal. However, each one decided secretly in his heart to get rid of the other and to monopolize the illicit gain. So the one who had gone shopping poisoned the provisions, while his comrade awaited him in ambush and killed him upon his return from the town. Only when he tasted the food, he then joined his companion in the other world.
- There may be another defect inherent in a civilization when its teachings do not contain an innate capacity for development and adaptation to circumstances. However nice its teachings may be for one epoch or one environment, it may not prove so for another. So to be captivated by such a teaching will evidently be fatal to those who come later. An ordinary example would illustrate this point. At a time when there was no electric lighting and when the cultural centres had no stable revenues, it was certainly an act of piety to light a candle in some place of religious interest frequented during the night. Nothing may be said against a belief that an act of piety on the part of a repentant constitutes an expiation and an effacement of the crime committed against God or against man which otherwise was hard to repair. But wouldn’t the continuation of lighting a candle in a place which is already brilliantly lit with electric lamps be anything more than a wastage? Let us study Islam in the light of these circumstances.
Islamic Ideology - It is well known that the motto of Islam is summed up in the expression of the Qur’an (2/101), “well-being in this world and well-being in the Hereafter.” Islam certainly will not satisfy the extremists of either school – the ultra-spiritualists (i.e. those who want to renounce all worldly things and mortify themselves as a duty) and the ultra-materialists (i.e. those who do not believe in the rights of others). Yet Islam can be practised by an overwhelming majority of mankind, who follow an intermediate path and seek to develop the body and the soul simultaneously, thus creating a harmonious equilibrium in man as a whole. Islam has insisted on the importance of both these components of man, and of their inseparability, so that one should not be sacrificed for the benefit of the other. If Islam prescribes spiritual duties and practices, these will also contain material advantages. Similarly, if it authorizes an act of temporal utility, it will also show how this act can be a source of spiritual satisfaction. The following examples will illustrate this.
- One will agree that the aim of spiritual practice is to get closer to the Necessary Being (dhat wajib al-wujud), our Creator and Lord, and to obtain His pleasure. Therefore, man tries to “dye himself with the colour of God,” as the Qur’an (2/138) enjoins, in order to see with His eyes, to speak with His tongue, to desire with His will — as a Hadith says. In short, a believer tries to behave entirely according to His will, and seeks to even imitate Him according to one’s humble human capacities. A believer must fast at the moment prescribed by the Qur’an, because that is an order of God. To obey an order of the Lord is in itself piety, but in addition to that, the fast will weaken the body and that, in turn, will fortify the soul by diminishing material desires. One feels a spiritual uplift, thinks of God and of everything He does for us, and enjoys other spiritual benefits. But the fast does material good as well. The acidity which secrete from the glands when one is hungry and thirsty kills many a microbe in the stomach. Also one develops the capacity to bear privation at moments of a crisis and still remain able to carry on one’s normal duties undisturbed. If one fasts for material ends, it will have no spiritual value. But if one fasts for gaining the good will of God, the material advantages are never lost. Without entering into a detailed discussion, it may be observed that all other spiritual acts or practices of Islam also have the same double effect – spiritual and temporal. It is the same in worship, whether individual or congregational. It is the same with the abnegation of the self at the moment of the pilgrimage to the House of God; in charity to the poor; and in other religious and spiritual practices apart from the obligatory minimum. If one does something solely for the sake of God, it has a double merit – spiritual advantage without any loss of material benefits. On the other hand, if one does the same thing for material aims, one may obtain the desired object, but the spiritual advantage would be completely lost. Let us recall the celebrated saying of the Prophet Muhammad: “Verily actions are entirely according to motives and intentions.”
- Speaking of a strict temporal act, such as a tax or a war, one pays taxes to the government. It should not be astonishing that Islam considers this act as one of the five basic elements of the Faith, which is as important as belief, worship, fasting and pilgrimage! The significance is deep: One unites the spiritual and the temporal in a single whole and one pays the tax not as a corvée [labour exacted in lieu of paying taxes] or even as a social duty, but solely for the sake of God. When this duty of paying the taxes becomes fixed in the mind as something sacred, a duty unto God from Whom nothing can be concealed and Who is, moreover, capable of resuscitating us and demanding our account, one can easily understand with what care and scruples a believer will pay his dues in the performance of this obligation. Similarly, war is forbidden in Islam except in the way of God, and it is not difficult to understand that this type of soldier is more apt to be humane and will not seek any earthly gain in the course of risking his life. By spiritualising the temporal duties, Islam has had no other motive but to strengthen the spiritual side of man who, in this manner, far from seeking the material advantage of a material thing, aspires to obtain only the pleasure of God thereby. The great mystic al-Ghazzali was not exaggerating when he said:
“If somebody worships or fasts for ostentation, that is shirk (polytheism) and a worship of one’s self, not of God Almighty. On the other hand, if one even cohabits with one’s own wife, not for the sake of carnal pleasure, but for the performance of the duty imposed by God, then that is an act of piety and devotion and merits the pleasure of and reward from God.” (to be cont.)