AN UNDERSTANDING OF OUR EXISTENCE
The Messengers God Did Not Mention
THE HISTORICAL MOVE FROM THE SUPERNATURAL TO A UNIVERSE BASED ON LAWS
The Meaning of the Universe & Divine Purpose
Intellectuals: The "Blind Guides"
The Role of Humanity and the Sin of Self Exaltation
THE RETURN TO THE COVENANT OF THE PROPHETS
THE PURPOSE OF LAW AND THE PURPOSE OF RELIGION
We live in a world in which four fifths of its
population live in frustration while the other fifth lives in fear. The United
Nations, our world's "figleaf," does not hide the shame of humanity
but rather scandalizes humanity's malaise. It is troubling that the
In this article, I will shed some light on the root
causes of the historical and religious violence that have afflicted humanity.
Because one cannot understand religion or law without having a true
understanding of humankind, I must first discuss the Islamic understanding of
humanity, whose existence necessitates both the disciplines of law and
religion. Two distinct, but intertwining, foundational perspectives govern the
way in which Islam understands humans' relationship with their reality: a
biological, psychological and historical perspective, which is available to
human reason; and a religious perspective revealed in the Qur'an.
Only through perception can we understand our
existence, and inasmuch as religion is a perception, we can only understand it
through symbols.
The vast difference between reality and our
perceptions can be illustrated in the history of humankind's misinterpretation
of the sun's role in causing day and night. That misinterpretation, held by
humankind at large for centuries, was so deeply rooted that people were ready
to die for it and to send those who publicly doubted it to their death. Indeed,
Galileo Galilee (1564-1642) was eventually coerced to withdraw his dissent to
the common misinterpretation with his hand on the Bible. Ironically, then, the
sun, which is humanity's central metaphor for glaring clarity, is also our
biggest historical metaphor of human misconception.
Given this, can there ever be an interpretation
immune to fallacy, for which people could be sent to their death?
The evidence of our perceptual errors makes it
possible to distinguish two worlds: a world in which we live, of which we are
part; and a world that we construct in our minds. These worlds, real,
biologically perceived, and imagined, have always been central subjects of
debate throughout the history of thought.
Humanity is now keen to understand its own journey,
and its knowledge of itself and of its environment increases daily. Humankind's
potential to exercise control over its environment lies in the nervous system,
which absorbs and transmits experience to others through speech. It is the
nervous system that enabled humanity to expand its knowledge. But what is so
incredible about the human species is our ability to name things, as the French
anthropologist Levi Strauss points out in his writings[1]. Yet, the power of naming,
or attaching symbols to what surrounds us, is also what has created a profound
and deep disconnection of humanity from the rest of beings.
A human being is the only living creature that comes
to life without the knowledge required for his or her survival, acquiring it
later, unlike other organisms that seem to be born with their behavior and
survival needs programmed genetically. Yet, human beings carry the ability to
acquire knowledge through the socialization and upbringing which society provides
to them. This potential to acquire knowledge has engendered a vast expansion of
human understanding of ourselves and our environment. Our knowledge now
stretches to the edges of time and space. Time has expanded to more than 20
billion years. We have reached the molecule as well as the secrets of existence
in its genetic design. We can compare creatures with magnificent huge bodies
and incredibly small brains that inhabited our planet 70 million years ago with
ourselves as a species, with a small fragile body and large brain, and we can
also imagine the kinds of creatures who will inhabit the earth 10 million years
from now.
We now are also aware that humanity stretches back
more than 3 million years, as the bones of Lucy indicate; the life of our species
preexists the discovery of fire, and the domestication of animals and
agriculture. We are aware that there was a time when humans were, like other
creatures, unable to significantly influence or direct their lives, even to
produce their own food. Perhaps that is why we say in Islam that the 8th day of
existence has started with the expansion of our knowledge.
To the extent humanity understands its history, it
will understand its future and its potential capacities. Just as we can see in
an infant who cannot fend for himself the promise of what he will become, so we
must guard against that momentary look at our species that put us in doubt,
confusion and despair, a moment when a holistic vision of the future is
missing. That moment makes so many intellectuals pessimistic because they do
not understand the nature of humanity's journey: they focus on human drawbacks,
refusing to see the incessant creativity and innovation that mark human
history. Yet, with a deep understanding of the past, which stretches into the
future, humankind may gain an optimistic outlook and an admiration for the laws
that govern our universe and thus be lifted from its pessimism. In fact, we
could say that a person is human to the extent that person knows about
humanity: extensive historical knowledge is the soul of humanity.
The decisive evolution that set humanity apart from
the rest of living creatures was our ability to use nervous and vocal systems
to transfer experience or `knowledge' to others, to communicate through an aural
symbol. After our nervous system absorbs things through visual symbols, we are
capable of translating all `visual' experience to `aural' symbols that can be
transmitted to another person, and those symbols, in turn, are turned into
visual ones again through the invention of writing. Writing became the great
human economy, preventing the waste of experience at the death of the one who
carries the experience. It is striking that this invention that saved
individual experience is still relatively new in our history, perhaps 5,000
years old, and paper, which facilitated the progress of writing, is barely over
one thousand years old, while digital preservation of information is only a few
decades old.
Despite this wonder, as we have learned that we must
acknowledge the possibility of error in transmitting knowledge, we have lost
confidence that we can even transmit anything at all accurately. The
possibility for error led our age to nihilism, much like the old Sophists[2]. But such a refusal to acknowledge
the possibility of truth and meaning is an exaggerated response to our ability
to err. For example, we may misconceive of the movement of the sun, but the sun
will not change its course to fit our misconceptions, nor will it be affected
by them. It will continue following its own law. Similarly, we may
misunderstand a spoken phrase or a written sentence, even in a holy book, for
it is only through our perceptions that we connect to this world, and religion
is such a perception, received through symbols.
Yet, the objective reality, the truth that the holy
texts and our reality tell us, does not change because we are mistaken, for the
laws that govern our world do not change to fit our misconceptions. The
inadequacy of our signifying symbols in transmitting the meaning of experience
can be overcome if we turn to contemplate that which is signified, and do not
simply focus on the signifying symbol or our perceptions of it. It is the
objective living world that we must turn to, a world that does not change its
course, for the laws of existence do not err, no matter how mistaken we are in
understanding or interpreting them. Given this, we can analyze the problematics
of text, symbol, and signifier, all which are central in discussing the
religious point of view, and can verify what its signifiers should be by
turning to the sl~jects they signify.
The ability to symbolize distinguishes humans from
the rest of living creatures and enables humanity to move on a course of
continual understanding, expanding information about the laws of the universe
and how it can be utilized by human beings. Symbols permit us to differentiate
between the entities surrounding us and our perceptions of them. The Qur'an and
the Bible both refer to this need for mediating language to differentiate
entities from our perception of them. For instance, the Bible notes:
In all this teaching to the crowds Jesus
spoke in parables; indeed he never spoke to them except in parables. This was
to fulfill the saying of the prophet: `I will open my mouth in parables; I will
utter things kept secret since the world was made.' (Matt 13:3435)[3]
And in the Qur'an we see, "And such are the
Parables We set forth for people, But only those who understand them who have
knowledge." (Surah 29 A1 `Ankabut: 43)[4]
In these passages, we can see the interconnection
between a reality that maintains its laws, our own mental perception of it and
our spoken or written symbols for reality. We cannot benefit from symbols
without experience, and we cannot benefit from experience if we cannot transmit
it through symbols. The center of human creativity consists in the fact that
our species has freed itself from transmitting its experiences genetically and
can transmit them through visual and aural symbols. Hence, neither the truth of
revelation nor that of experience can be transmitted to another human except
through symbols. Because of our capacity for error, we must also acknowledge
that the one sent to prophesy, the revealed book and the person receiving
revelation are all subject to the same misconceptions that affected our
understanding of the movement of the earth and sun. Without returning
constantly to observe the objective world from which we created our
perceptions, we can never fully rely on a mental construct, nor on aural-visual
symbols; nor can we find our own sight and hearing usefizl or reliable.
This continuous connection and disconnection between
our mental perceptions and the objective world is a central issue in the
religious life of humanity, particularly because it is harder to discern the
separation of signifier and signified in religious experience. We could say
that religion, the infinite or the sacred, addresses us in two languages: the
language of laws, which govern our existence, and the language of symbols,
which illustrate the universe through interpretation. But it is important to
distinguish signifier and signified: if the word "fire" were really
fire, it would burn the tongue that utters it and the paper on which it is
written. In order for us to keep in mind both the connection and distinction
between perception and the world, we must continue to refer to and seek out the
external world through symbols or books which put us in touch with the
knowledge which has been already acquired through others' experiences.
As we interact with the outside world, we discover
that it has its laws: beneficial outcomes are sifted through long processes of
classification and counting. Similarly, symbol-making has its laws. And despite
the incredible utility of symbols, the outcome of our search for truth does not
come from the symbols themselves: the real reference is in the outside world to
which they refer.
One of humanity's greatest needs is to both connect
and disconnect the sacred and the worldly just as we connected and disconnected
reality from our own mental constructs of it. We need to see the relationship
between signifier and signified. We might thus look at the entire universe as a
symbol of the creator. In this case the direction of reference is somewhat
different because, in this case, we recognize the sacred through the worldly.
This can happen because it is through the universe that we acquire knowledge
about the sacred.
In the Qur'an, prophets are presented as of one
mold. Their world is one, even if diversified, dispersed, and different.
Indeed, the Qur'an indicates that the Prophets received one and the same call;
they came with one and the same message, and their community (ummah) was one. The
following Qur'anic verse suggests this view by poetically reciting certain
facts repetitively:
We sent Noah to his people. He said: `O my
people! Worship God! You have No Other god but Him.' (Surah 7 Al A'raf: 59) To
`Ad (We sent) Hud, one of their (own) brethren: He said: `Oh my people! Worship
God! Ye have no other god but Him . . . .' (Surah 7 A1 A'raf : 65) To Thamud
(We sent) Salih, one of their brethren: He said: `O my people! Worship God; ye
have no other god but Him.' (
Although the Qur'an recreates the dia]ogue of a
given prophet with his nation, it also groups al] prophets as speaking the same
languagethat which constitutes the essence of their call[6]. The Qur'an, thus, creates
a chain of prophethood[7], and places the highest
emphasis on the unity of this chain of prophets, their message and their
community:
Then, We sent our messengers in Succession: every time
there came to a nation their messenger, they accused him of falsehood; so We
made them follow each other, and then, We made them tales. So away with a
people that will not believe. T'hen We sent Moses and his brother Aaron, with
our verses (signs) and authority manifest, to Pharaoh and his Chiefs: but these
behaved insolently: they were an arrogant people. They said: Shall we believe
in two men like ourselves? And their people are subject to us!' So, they
accused them of falsehood, and they became of those who were destroyed. And We
gave Moses the Book, in order that they might be enlightened (guided). And We
made the son of Mary and his mother as a sign. We gave them both Shelter on
high ground, affording rest and security and fumished with springs. O you
messengers! Enjoy (all) things good and work righteousness; for I am all
knowing with (all) that you do. And verily this community of yours is a single
community. And I am your Lord. Therefore be pious. But they [the followers]
tore off their affair (of unity) between them, into sects: each party rejoices
in that which it has. But leave them in their confused ignorance for a time.
(Surah 23 Al Mu'minun: 44-54)
These verses repeatedly insist on the unity of
prophethood, the unity of prophetic messages, and the unity of the Prophets'
community. We also learn that, once the prophets were gone, this community was
fragmented and torn apart. Yet, those belonging to its various fragments are
content in its fragmentation and brokenness:
These are some of the stories of communities,
which We relate unto you: of them some are standing and some have been mown
down (by the sickle of time).
It was not We who were unjust to them. They
were unjust to themselves. Their deities whom they invoked profited them no wit
when there issued the decree of thy Lord. Nor did they add aught (to their lot)
but perdition.
Such is the chastisement of you Lord when He
chastised the villages (communities) in the midst of their injustice. Grievous
indeed and severe is his chastisement.
In that is a sign for those who fear the
penalty of the hereafter. That is a day for which humankind will be gathered
together. That will be a day of testimony. (Surah 11 Hud : 100-103)
These peoples do not sense that this brokenness
among themselves is evidence that they have lost what the prophets had called
for: God's monotheism, the unity of their community and the unity of the
content of the prophetic message[8].
Then the Qur'an states: "And We sent Moses,
with our clear signs (verses) and an authority manifest unto Pharaoh and his
chiefs. But they followed the command of Pharaoh, and the command of Pharaoh
was not of guidance." (
The Qur'an, therefore, prohibits us from
distinguishing or privileging one prophet above another, for all prophets are
unified and share common traits. In verse after verse, the Qur'an commands that
its followers believe in all prophets, for example:
The Messenger believed in what has been
revealed to him from his Lord, as do the believers each believes in God, his
angels, his books, and his messengers. `We make no distinction (they say)
between one and another of his messengers.' And they say: `We hear, and we
obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness. Our Lord, and to You is all destination[9].' (Surah 2 A1 Baqarah: 285)
Those who deny God and his messengers, and
(those who) wish to separate God from his messengers, saying: `We believe in
some but reject others.' And (those who) wish to take a course midway. They are
in truth (equally) unbelievers (infidels); and we have prepared for unbelievers
a humiliating punishment.
To those who believe in God and his
messengers and make no distinction between any of the messengers, We shall soon
give their (due) reward: for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful. (Surah 4 A1
Nisa': 150-152)
Moreover, the Qur'an expands the circle of
messengers, opening the door for the possibility of recognizing messengers even
if they were not mentioned in the Qur'an. After specifically naming and
describing the traits of messengers, the Qur'an tells us that there are
messengers it had not mentioned.
We did aforetime send messengers before you: of them
there are some whose story We have related to you, and some whose story We have
not related to you. It was not (possible) for any messenger to bring a sign
except by the leave of God: But when the command of God issued, the matter was
decided in truth, and there perished, there and then, those who stood on
falsehoods. (Surah 40 Ghafir: 78)[10]
Admitting the existence of messengers who were not
mentioned in the Qur'an opens the door for the possible recognition of others
who exhibit the traits of messengers. Thus, for example, after establishing
these traits, perhaps we should study Socrates to see whether his determination
to live by his ideas and principles and his sense that he had a duty to
disseminate them suggests that he is a prophet. We are prevented from denying
the possibility of prophecy to other religious and cultural figures.
This approach combats racism and ethnocentrism. It
invites us to recognize from every tradition all those who meet the criteria
defning what it is to be a messenger, such as the call for justice and equity.
It also permits us to agree upon the importance of justice and equity.
Recognizing that there are messengers beyond those mentioned in the
monotheistic religious texts, or the cultural space into which Abraham and Noah
were sent, makes it possible for us to acknowledge the messengers of other
cultures, whether in the Far East, Africa, or among the indigenous peoples of
the new continents. Many nations and peoples are now looking at their ancient
cultural roots as a way of self affirmation and establishing self identity.
This approach of recognizing further messengers puts humanity on the path of monotheism
through the recognition of what is common among our messengers and sages. It
will help foster cooperation and mutual understanding, and it will create the
mutual recognition that we are equal participants in the journey of humanity,
for the Qur'an states that there has never been a nation without a messenger:
For We assuredly sent amongst every people a
messenger, (with the command), `Serve God, and eschew tyranny (evil) ....'
(Surah 16 A1 Nahl: 36)[11] `Never would We visit with
our wrath until We had sent a messenger.' (Surah 17 A1 Isra': 15)
However, I frequently say that the prophetic vision
of the future, which implies competition for the good of humanity, has not
reached human consciousness yet (or emerged as a model for human behavior).
People have not yet acquired the power to leap intellectually into the
prophetic vision, for they get caught in the snares of the past. There, they
subvert prophetic competition so that it becomes a contest in evil, a race
towards destruction. This failing of humanity we must work towards overcoming
at the least possible price.
We must remember the suffering of those who advanced
progressive ways for bringing out the best in human beings. Even if most of
humanity sees only the road blocks, we can look into history to those pioneers
who have been creative in bringing humans to their full potential. The Qur'an
gives support and encouragement to sustain the messengers of reform who face
difficult obstacles[12].
The messages in the Qur'an repeatedly condemn
pessimism, explaining that despair and gloom are not characteristic of
believers[13]. The Qur'an also states:
"They said: `We give thee glad tidings in truth: be not in despair!' He
said: `And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord, but such as go astray?"'
(Surah 15 A1 Hijr: 55-56) Rather, the Qur'an encourages an optimistic
world-view that sees life as subject to human intervention and control, and
considers humans as capable of solving their problems. "And He has
subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold,
in that are signs indeed for those who reflect." (Surah 45 A1 Jathiyah:
13)
The Qur'anic vision encourages humans to strive in
learning the laws of existence so that they can become better equipped to
utilize the resources of the universe, including humanity, for a larger good.
If we fail to do so, it does not mean that the universe around us is beyond
utility. Rather, it means that we have failed to learn to extract the potential
powers in the universe.
The Seal of Prophethood
The Qur'an places emphasis on yet another category
of human beings. Just as the Qur'an expanded the messengerial category, it also
introduced a new category, that of humans who suffer because of their knowledge
and call for justice. The introduction of this category signifies a new
historical shift. In Islam, this shift is known as the "seal of prophecy[14]." "Muhammad is
not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the messenger of God, and the
seal of the Prophets: and God has full knowledge of all thing." (Surah 33
Al-Ahzab: 40) This revelation announces the end of the era of traditional
prophecy and marks the beginning of the role of the people of knowledge who
call for justice and equity. The rise in knowledge and justice makes idealism
realistic. It also makes the transcendental capable of being witnessed, the
divine human, and the supernatural nomothetic. It renders monotheism a call for
justice. Thus, prophecy is merged with knowledge, and reception from God is now
through knowledge. The idea of the seal of prophethood is a singularly valuable
notion, for it recognizes an evolution in the methodology of the transmittal of
knowledge. Its consequences are far-reaching, its prefaces identifiable. It is
a shift towards new ways of knowing.
THE HISTORICAL
"Sunnaniah " (Nomotheticism)
The Qur'an is full of historical laws (or patterns),[15] thus testifying that human
history has emerged from the era of the supernatural to "Sunnaniah,"
the era of nomotheticism; and those with knowledge and call for justice have
replaced those from the world of prophecy. People were able to emerge from the
supernatural into historicity by tracing the decline of nations and
understanding the factors that led to their rise and fall. Even though an
orientation toward a universe based on laws was present in all prophetic
traditions, the reality of a social life based independently on laws, and
departing from the supernatural, arrived late to the lives of people in all
societies.
When we compare the testimony of the people of
knowledge with divine revelation as we have it, we encounter a startling
conclusion: people have reached a new moment in the reception of truth. Unlike
critical moments of truth in the past, modern people receive the word of God
not primarily through prophetic symbols but through observation of events and
the results of history. As those with knowledge inherited the world of prophets
when prophecy ended and knowledge remained, so after the scientific came to
coexist with the supernatural, the supernatural dissolved and the scientific
remained.
Signs of the External World and Verses of the Book
As I have previously suggested, the symbolic signs
and external reality are inseparable, for there is no way of grasping reality
without the means of symbolic signs. These are the signifier and signified. The
Qur'an connects signs of the external world with signs and verses from the
Book.[16]
The Qur'an considers the universe, human events and
the symbols that intercept them all signs to increase human mastery over
existence and even over humanity, permitting humans to understand how to use
laws for good and not ill. The Qur'an says it will show us the universe and
historical events to provide evidence for divine order and its role in bringing
out human potential. Hence, what has been revealed to prophets from the heavens
and what those of knowledge discover by exploring the world will validate one
another: "Soon will we show them our signs in the horizons, and in
themselves, until it becomes manifest to them that it is the truth. Is it not
enough that your Lord does witness all things?" (Surah 41 Fussilat: 53)[17]
Yet, unlike the ancient prophets, modern people of
knowledge do not support each other's causes in calling forjustice. In fact,
the Qur'an foreshadows this crisis in human history, even as it records human
fears about the coming of the moment of knowledge.
It recites what happened when those who lived as
contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked him for the supernatural,
for miracles, like those brought by previous prophets. We hear the Qur'an's
answer: this book is enough evidence for you. As the Surah warns:
They say: `Why are not signs sent down to him from
his Lord?' Say: `The signs are indeed with God: and I am indeed a clear
(articulate) warner.'
And is it not enough for them that We have
sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? Verily, in it is mercy and
a reminder to a people who believe. (Surah 29 A1 `Ankabut: 50-51)[18]
Those who refuse this answer, demanding miracles,
repudiate the prophetic chain through which the end of the era of prophecy is
joined with the beginning of the era of knowledge. The Qur'an tells us to
travel through the history of the nations to see what happened to those liars
who refused justice among the people. Using historical evidence and reference
points as our guide, we see God's condemnation of those of knowledge who give
lie to the important truth of the prophetic chain. This chain repudiates any
privileged access to special sources of knowledge unavailable to others:
"Patterns (laws) have passed away before you: travel through the earth,
and see what was the end of those who were liars." (Surah 3 Ali `Imran:
137)[19]
These liars deny a critical moment in human history,
the moment of the seal of prophecy, which is an absolute, final departure from
the metaphysical, from a style of receiving knowledge through transcendental
means to a scientific method, historical knowledge based on evidence. If we can
trace this chain of prophecy, we are empowered to leave the world of the
supernatural and enter a scientific world with laws and patterns.
The prophets founded and established the idea of
monotheism in their own prophetic style, undergirded by prophetic unity. Those
with knowledge are similarly under the sacred obligation to incorporate the
central ideas of monotheism into a methodical science and practice. The unity
of prophethood is evidenced in the way the prophets confirmed and consolidated
each other's messages, predicting those prophets who would follow them just as
scientists predict what findings could follow from their experiments. To
confirm their unity, the prophets would take a pledge, asking for allegiance
from their people, asking them to have faith, to believe and support the coming
one. The Qur'an demands no less of them today:
Behold! God took the Covenant of the
Prophets, (saying): `I give you a Book and wisdom; then comes to you a
messenger, confirming what is with you; Do you believe in him and render him
help?' God Said: `Do you agree, and take this my Covenant as binding on you?'
They said: `We agree.' He said: `Then bear witness, and I am with you among the
witnesses.'
If any turn back after this, they are then
the perverted transgressors. (Surah 3 Ali `Imran: 81-82)
As I have suggested, just as the Qur'an recognizes
the existence of messengers beyond any religion's exclusive lists, it also
recognizes those who undergo the suffering of messengers in their attempt to
bring humanity out of corruption and bloodshed, those who want to spread
justice and compassion among us[20]. Those who call for justice
are recognized in the class of messengers, for they are faced with the same
call to mission, the most sacred recognized by the Qur'an: "We sent
aforetime our messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and
the Balance (of right and wrong), that people may stand forth in justice . . .
." (Surah 57 A1 Hadid: 25)
The Qur'an also anticipates the same experience of
rejection, enmity, and harm faced by those who call for justice, and pronounces
the same penalty on those who oppose them:
As to those who deny the signs of God, and in
defiance of right, slay the prophets, and slay those calling humankind to
justice, announce to them a grievous penalty.
They are those whose works will bear no fruit
in this world and in the hereafter, nor will they have supporters. (Surah 3 Ali
`Imran: 21-22)[21]
By adding those who call for justice to the list of
messengers, the world enters a new era, a new way of knowing, and a new way of
reception from God. Divine revelation and the testimony of people of knowledge
who call for justice are directly connected: calling for justice is monotheism;
it is the thread of unicity in prophetic messages.
The central message of the Qur'an sums up all the
prophets' message into one unique expression, used in Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH)
correspondence with world leaders of his time.
Say: `O people of the Book! Come to a word of
equity (fair terms) between us and you:
That we worship none but God
That we associate no partners with him
(practice polytheism)
That we take not each other as deities other
than God.' If they, then, turn back, say ye: `Bear witness that we are Muslims
(surrendering to God).' (
This is the word of eguity, light and heavy at the
same time. It is at once apparent and subtle, a stage which cannot be grasped,
for when some believe they have reached it, in fact they have moved away from
it as Adam's flight in terror from the Garden reminds us[23]. At the edge of equity,
civilizations have collapsed and many have been destroyed. Perhaps we can never
approach this world of equity unless we admit our distance from it. For in the
Bible we read: "Enter by the narrow gate. Wide is the gate, and broad the
road that leads to destruction, and many enter that way"; "Narrow is
the gate and constricted that road that leads to life, and those who find them
are few." (Matt 7:13-14)
The word of equity is the message of all prophets.
After the end of prophecy, this message is the responsibility of those who call
for justice, and it is the core of the monotheistic tradition. A devout
person's closeness to God is judged by the degree to which he or she is capable
of comprehending this message, teaching it and committing to it. The status of
any society with God is also dependent on its realization of equity according
to the Qur'an[24]: "For the like of
this, let all strive, who wish to strive." (Surah 37 A1 Saffat: 61)
"Come to a word of equity," the Surah says[25]. The word of equity is to
give the other what you give yourself, and to deny yourself what you deny the
other. In the Bible, the same notion is presented as a law of the universe:
"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled [abased]; and whoever humble
himself will be exalted." (Matt
For We assuredly sent amongst every nation
(community) a messenger, (with the command), "Serve God, and eschew
tyranny . . ." (Surah 16 A1 Nahl: 36)
"(God) committed them to a term of piety; and
well were they entitled to it and worthy of it . . ." (Surah 48 A1 Fath:
26) This is the core of religion, the essence of truth, and the goal of
prophets, messengers, reformers and those of knowledge. This is what is sacred,
what is in all the Books. We read in the Bible: "Always treat others as
you would like them to treat you: that is the law and the prophets." (Matt
for rushd[28] (moral and intellectual
maturity) stands out as clearly distinct from wickedness (ghay). (2) Whoever
rejects tyranny and believes in God (3) has grasped the most secure handhold,
that never breaks loose. (Surah 2 A1 Baqarah: 256)
The word of equity is also the witness that
`there is no god, but God.'
Thus, the Qur'an warns that those who cross the
boundaries of justice into oppression by dominating and overpowering others
(the verb "tagha" is significant since many people, including even
Arabs, do not always understand the relationship between the verb
"tagha" and the term "taghut," and since the term
"taghut" is used throughout the document perhaps a footnote about the
verb should be placed under the first time the term "taghut" appears)
"spread (heap) therein corruption (mischief)." (Surah 89 A1 Fajr:
11-12) The story of Pharaoh and Moses is the paradigmatic story in the Qur'an
of both tyranny and "speaking to power." Mentioned numerous times,
the name Pharaoh ceased to be simply the name of an individual and became
instead a symbolic reference to all domination that violated the precepts of
equity[29]. "Truly Pharaoh elated
himself in the land and broke up its people into sects, dominating (depressing)
a group among them: their sons he slew, their women he enslaved. He was indeed
one of the (class ofJ corrupters (on earth)." (Surah 28 Al Qasas: 4)
The word of equity, the word of monotheism and the
order to avoid domination and eschew tyranny all resonate within each other.
Similarly, in the Bible the connection between monotheism and equity is clear:
the Bible condemns the human mastery over other persons: "And call no man
your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither
be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ." (Matt 23:9-10)[30]
The word of equity implies specifically that there
cannot be compulsion in religious matters. As the Qur'an says, in the
complicated passage quoted below:
There is no coercion in religion: rushd
(moral and intellectual maturity) stands out as clearly distinct from ghay
(domination, wickedness): who-ever rejects taghut (tyranny) and believes in
God, has grasped the most secure handhold that never breaks loose. And God
hears And knows all things. (Surah 2 Al Baqarah: 256)
Thus, the demand that there must be rushd in
religion is clarified by the second sentence that there should be "no
compulsion" or ghay (domination and wickedness) in religion. Compulsion is
thus wickedness and its antithesis, tolerance, is moral and intellectual
maturity. The third sentence further explains that any one who rejects taghut,
(such as by resisting the temptation to impose his or her religion by force
upon others), and believes in God, will have grasped the most secure handhold
of all that never breaks loose.
In this verse, we encounter a profound, essential
notion: religion should never be spread by means of force or compulsion.
Religion is an interpretation of the universe, of existence and everything in
it, including the human person, the relationship between humanity and the
universe, and relationships among people. And it is also an interpretation of
the Supreme Being. The Qur'an demands faith in a particular way that rejects
coercive religion.
The meaning of the universe is evasive. It is
something beyond our comprehension. Nevertheless, we can see pmpose in
everything from the nucleus to the Galaxy, and in every creature and moment in
the evolution of the human species. We can see how the universe is progressing
towards an end that is neither arbitrary nor wrong According to the Qur'an, God
is beyond human perception: "And there is none like unto Him." (Surah
112 A1 Ikhlas: 4) "[T]here is nothing whatever like unto Him." (Surah
42 A1 Shura: 11) "No vision can grasp Him. But his grasp is over all
vision . . . ." (Surah 6 Al An'am: 103) God is the essence of existence,
and the meaning of the universe. Faith in God is the secret of existence.
Nevertheless, we sometimes conceive of the universe
as lacking w purpose because of a fragmented worldview, one that does not
conceive of existence sequentially, nor sees it through time. Many perceive
existence as arbitrary and worthy of rejection. When this sense that the world
is arbitrary overshadows the glory and beauty of existence, we live
disconnected with the world.
Did you then think that We had created you in
jest (arbitrarily), and that you would not be brought back to us (for account).
Therefore exalted be God, the King, the Reality: there is no god but, the Lord
of the throne of honour! (Surah 23 A1 Mu'minun: 115-116)
Consequently, we should reject not existence itself
but those who impose upon others the belief that the world is arbitrary. This
is what the Qur'an and Bible do. Many respected thinkers advocate such
nihilistic ideas and so make others lose their sense of purpose in life and
forego any hope of finding a meaning to existence. Both the Qur'an and the
Bible warn of such tendencies:
`[B]ut who does more wrong than one who
concocts a lie against God, to lead astray people without knowledge . . . .'
(Surah 6 Al An'am: 144) `[A]nd hinder them from the path of God ....' (Surah 9
Al Tawbah: 34)
The Bible confirms this warning: `Alas for
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the
Yet, even those who deny that there is a purpose to
the universe live in ways that contradict their very own ideas. For example,
once one of my visitors argued that the universe is arbitrary. I said to him:
"If what you are saying were true and you believed in it, you would not
have visited me and you would not have discussed this with me. Your own strife
shows your faith in a truth for which you are searching." The Qur'an
contends that unlike most human behavior, which is learned by human beings
after they come into the world, faith in God is something that a human being is
born with, something that he or she is imprinted with, just as other creatures
are imprinted with the behavior appropriate to their species. The searching and
yearning that my visitor experienced is always present because the human body,
by design, requires purpose. Genes in the human nervous system demand meaning.
Thus, humans come to life with a profound curiosity that challenges any
nihilism and loss of purpose[31];' a human being is innately
a creature in search of meaning and order in the universe, a creature who
instinctively responds to the demand of monotheism.
Belief in God implies a rejection of the notion that
the universe is arbitrary, even though it permits a wide and open range of
views about the meaning of the universe that still give honor to God[32]:
Those who celebrate the praises of God,
standing, sitting and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders
of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (with the thought): `Our Lord! Not
for naught have You created (all) this! Glory to You! Give us salvation from
the penalty of the Fire.' (Surah 3 Ali `Imran: 190191)
Justice and the word of equity are not nihilistic
notions, nor is compassion arbitrary. Nihilism lies in the attempt to conceal
or the inability to see the demands of justice, piety and compassion throughout
history. While people despair out of the long whimsical lives they lead and
"many false prophets will rise, and will mislead many; and as lawlessness
(inequity) spreads, the love of many will grow cold," (Matt 24:11-12) the
longing and yearning for knowledge, from which love grows, does not die. It is
true that human beings are willing to give away their lives and fortunes for
the sake of self actualization, and the yearning for self actualization is a
flame that never dies. Yet, it is possible for us to mistake the movement of
the sun, and still we are capable of correcting such wrongs and of moving
beyond them once and for all.
History imposes purpose and meaningfulness. Any
understanding bereft of history is disconnected and arbitrary. History teaches
us this. But history is a vision that includes the present, past and future.
Any person capable of seeing this reality is in perpetual prayer and in touch
with the sacred. S/he is "involved" with the universe, driven to
pursue the best.
History, without weariness, is like a patient
instructor and humanity is like a clever student who finally understands its
lessons. At the end, humanity comes to the call of history and moves forward to
economize and invest in resources. Humanity comes to learn about its capacities
through history. Thus, it is perhaps possible to see why that . which brings
the best out in a human being is never the result of coercion. Human beings
have a longing for the meaning of their own lives and the world around them,
and we must be skilled in investing in this longing, rather than bludgeoning it
with coercion. History exemplifies God's investment in human understanding and
His stand against the waste of coercion: "Soon will We show them our signs
in the horizons, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them
that this is the truth . . . ." (Surah 41 Fussilat: 53)
The signs in our selves and in the horizons (or
universe) reveal the truth, tempting human intelligence to perform its
meaning-making role by reaching for the best outcome with the least effort and
energy. The constant law of history has as its goal keeping that which is the
largest benefit for the greatest number of people who live on earth, and not
that which benefits some of them. This is a significant law; it is what
distinguishes truth from evil in the Qur'an:
"Thus does God (by parables) show forth
truth and falsehood. For the foam (scum) dries out (disappears) like forth cast
out; while that which is for the benefit of humankind remains on the earth . .
. ." (Surah 13 Al Ra'd: 17)
This law is the decisive point of reference. It does
not spare those who slack behind: it will abrogate them. That which is more
beneficial to humankind will supersede that which is less beneficial, whether
in technology or human understanding. "None of our revelations do we
abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something either better or
similar: do you not know that God has power over all things." (Surah 2 Al
Baqarah: 106)
The Qur'an confirms this through a dialogue between
Abraham and his people:
`Behold,' he said to this father and his
people: `What worship you?' They said: `We worship idols, and we remain
constantly in attendance on them.' He said: `Do they listen to you when you
call (on them), Or do you good or harm?' They said: `Nay, but we found our
fathers doing thus.' (Surah 26 A1 Shu'ara': 71-74)
Abraham is demanding a good outcome, benefits that
his people would reap from their pious belief and behavior. In fact we might
consider Abraham the first pragmatist in the sense that he sought the public
good and not private privilege. However, his nation did not share his view;
they followed their fathers' examples. The Qur'an, in contrast, presents the
prophetic standard as a regime of permissions and prohibitions which are based
on whether the outcomes of human behavior are beneficial or harmful:
[F]or he [the Prophet] commands them what is
agreeable and forbids them what is disagreeable (unseemly); he allows them as
lawful what is good (and healthy) and prohibits them from what is vile; he
releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them.
(Surah 7 Al A'raf 157)
The Qur'an stresses and relies on this standard in
deciding what is permissible and what is taboo[33].
The Qur'an presents the laws given for human benefit
as the crux of the call of all the messengers. Monotheism, which is the essence
of these laws, is the message of all prophets, all people of knowledge and all
those who call for justice. The Qur'anic recitation of the prophetic message,
"Worship God and eschew evil" demands that the people come to the
word of equity. The cause of all prophets has thus shifted from the theological
and metaphysical to the social and political, and the religious issue becomes
the secular issue. This movement is an important one to which we must pay
attention, so that we will not separate the sacred from the profane, the divine
from the secular, the world from the hereafter.
The core of the relationship between law and
religion, and the mission of all prophets, is in the solution of the problem of
violence and subjugation. Throughout history we see that the main problem with
the human condition is humanity's rejection of the call for equality, or in the
Qur'anic language, the word of equity[34]. Those who reject the word
of equity have assumed superiority over all humanity, exalting themselves as
gods above others and assuming for themselves all the sacredness and
transcendentalism of the divine[35]. In these examples, we see that the common
message of all prophets was to bring people to worshipping God and taking them
away from obeying wicked tyrannies (taghut) even while the subjugated ones
accept this domination rather than throwing it off. The prophets demanded an
end to this repeated rotation of roles between oppressors and oppressed because
they understood that such a polarized relationship is based on violence and
subjugation. It is easy to argue that the major conflict in human existence is
between theological and humanistic visions, but in fact, the major problem
human beings face is social. It is about oppression and justice, equality and
privileges, an oppressor imposing his earthly divinity and slaves oppressed by
their own ignorance, succumbing to power and accepting domination.
History, too, presses for a solution. So, if we can
respond to the problem of violence and history together, we will give humanity
a forcible push toward solving its greatest dilemma, the schizophrenic disease
of all civilizations. The birth of healing and the end of the crises is near.
Our challenge lies in how to turn the relationship between law and religion
from being destructive and painful to being constructive and healing[36].
It may be more accurate to say that the problem of
subjugation does not lie in the oppressors or their demeaned slaves, but in
their "teachers" or "people of knowledge." The problem does
not lie in the politician; the problem lies in the intellectual, the salt of
the earth, the maker of a culture with all its institutions. We should lay bare
the reality that the politician is the instrument of the intellectual and not
the other way around. This is such a profound shift in our intellectual
paradigms that it is almost Copernican in the cosmos of ideas about power and
society. Comprehension and teaching are the roles of the intellectual. And if
intellectuals fail to understand and take responsibility for the duality of the
world around them, we should, only blame ourselves. Prophet Muhammad (PBLTH)
says, "One who encounters good should thank God. One who finds other than
that should not blame but himself."[37]
We live in an era that witnesses an absence of true
intellectuals. The problem we face is within the intellectuals and "people
of knowledge." They are the resigned ones, those who do not trust what
they possess. They revere the power of body rather than the true power of the intellect.
They are so insecure about their knowledge that they are incapable of
fertilizing people's minds with the understanding that will give them the
vaccine against enslavement. Jesus referred to such guides: "Alas for you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to win one
convert; and when you have succeeded you make him twice as fit for hell as you
are yourselves." (Matt
But, can we disturb the comfort of so-called
intellectuals who exonerate themselves by placing the blame on politicians who
serve interest groups?
The media, who could play a significant role in
showing the problems of power, do not help either: they too absolve themselves
of responsibility. Yet, when those who are responsible absolve themselves of
it, they are absolving themselves of being human. Ordinary people, who do not
understand social dynamics, believe what they hear from intellectuals and feel
despair. The followers of religions are also waiting for a savior, but we do
not need more saviors. What we need is to revive the call of prophets.
It is unfortunate that our intellectuals have
bewitched the world by manufacturing silence. Our intellectuals have nothing to
say, because they are bereft of Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Religion has become a
problematic subject in modern discourse. Only those who arc ignorant about the
history of the evolution of knowledge can deify and sanctify falsehood. So, for
example when God was declared dead in Western thought, it was an indication
that the God of the philosophers' own perceptions had actually become invalid.
But even "Man" died at the hands of nihilism. The reason for the
perceived death of God and humanity (or Man) is that the reality of history is
absent from our judgments. We can not rely on our perceptions to decide the
laws of history, nor can we live on what is being fed to us by secularists or
fake religious people. Their invalid perception or ignorance of the history of
knowledge has misled people and robbed them of meaning, convincing people of absurdity
of the world and humanity.
We are at the mercy of intellectuals who cannot distinguish Jesus from the Church or the Qur'an from the Muslims' interpretations. Jesus embodied Moses' message and the Torah but surpassed the followers of Moses[38]. Muhammad, too, embodied the message of Moses and the Torah, and Jesus and the Bible, but he surpassed their followers. And if there were to be a coming prophet, he or she would embody Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and their message but would surpass their followers and what they now stand for. Our modern intellectuals are incapable of being prophetic, of seeing the messages of these prophets. H.G. Wells points out intellectuals' problematic relationship to Christianity in the modern West, arguing that intellectuals, when dealing with the Bible, ensu