3: The main features Jawdat's project

What are the salient features of your project "The laws of changing the individual and society?"...

Can it be said that this project of yours is based on the project "The crises of civilization" which had been launched by the Muslim thinker Malik bin Nabi?

It might be so. However, I am most concerned to revive the words of the Qur'an, and to revive the Islamic words used by the Qur'an.

The word sunnah (law), for instance is a quite established word, in both the Qur'an and in relation to the Prophet's traditions. One good definition of the word 'sunnah', propounded by Muslim scholars, is "to do in a latter situation the same as in a former situation." There is here ingenious comprehension of the word 'suunah'. The Qur'an says of the 'sunnah': " No change will you find in Allah's 'sunnah: way of dealing': no turning off will you find in Allah's 'sunnah: way of dealing', which asserts that 'sunnahs, or laws' are constant: fire burns by its laws, and a society disintegrates by its laws. The effect of a law is certain; and the Qur'an declares that, too: " It was due from Us to aid those who believed (30, 47), " and " Allah never fails in His promise (3, 9)."

It is worth our effort to discuss this topic, which will regain for this term 'sunnah' its freshness and concreteness. We should investigate the material, intellectual, personal and social laws. One cause for the confusion about the word 'sunnah' is that some take this word to refer to the Prophet's traditions and behaviours, some take it to be the Sunnite Islam; but few are aware of the sense we are interested in here, God's laws and rules that are characterized by constancy. It can be said that the essence of science is the unveiling of 'sunnah: laws'; it is by this that it gives man control over things, and it is for this purpose that man was made viceroy of the earth.

This is just a beginning, a project; I look forward to its development and elaboration and continuation. This will be the task for youthful scholars after us. That it will take place is a certainty: no matter how hard the adversaries try to weaken or extinguish God's light, God's light will spread and prevail. God's law is that His light will spread and shine more despite the rancour of unbelievers and idolaters (reference to the Qur'an, 61, 8, among other locations;) God suffices for Sustainer.

Another word from the Qur'an which is well established as a Qur'anic term is: 'change', in both senses of changing and being changed. Change is a crucial phenomenon, and one can understand that what goes wrong can be put right: that is change. It is true, though, that to have the capacity for choosing right and wrong from the beginning is much less arduous than to employ change in changing wrong to right. To change that which is in the minds is the task of human beings, not God. On the other hand, to change people's fortunes is for God to bring about. The former change is the cause of the latter: when a people change that which is in their minds, God will change their fortunes, from prosperity to misery or vice versa (this is in reference to the Qur'an, 13, 11, and other locations.) When we learn to deal with situations realistically, we can determine how to change that which is in our minds and in our life. The phrase chosen by the Qur'an ' what is in their souls' in the verse ' Verily never will Allah change the conditions of a people until they change what is in their souls (13, 11) ' includes the preposition ' in : what is in', and that is significant, because we do not change the selves, the souls, the minds – the selves are a kind of vessel; we rather change the contents of the selves (or souls or minds); we change the values and concepts, good and bad, right and wrong.

The word 'nafs: self', and changing that which is in the self, which is the responsibility of people – this is a well-established word. It occupies a vital place in the Qur'an: The self as a seducer, the self as a censurer, the contented self. There is now an established science of controlling that which is in the minds or selves: psychology. Muslims are repelled when this science is mentioned because it is associated with Freud and others who in the minds of Muslims are agents of evil. This science, however, endeavours to change that which is in the minds (nafs), and so it deals with human laws, which are neither eastern nor western, not Arab nor non-Arab. And we must try to make of change a science, a solid science, to be consulted without skepticism or hesitation.

Other words like 'society' or 'civilization' as used by Malik bin Nabi are not so well-established as the words we have mentioned above. What such words refer to may be the equivalent to the Qur'anic term 'ummah', although we have other words that have affinity with it, like 'group', as used in the tradition of the Prophet: "God's hand is with the group."

Malik bin Nabi's project is more realistic and law-bound than mine, and it is mainly addressed to modern-type minds. But I find that words like 'civilization' and 'culture' are not Qur'anic, nor were they used by the Messenger or Muslim scholars. Hence, though they have Arabic equivalents, I find words that like 'civilization' and 'culture' have no Islamic uniqueness. Although I am keen on God's 'sunan=laws' and His signs in the world around and in ourselves, I am equally keen to have all that connected with the Qur'an and Qur'anic terms. That trend in me is quite cogent; I had to put in much effort, after having studied Malik bin Nabi, in choosing words from the Qur'an which are suitable to revive and to replace words like 'civilization' and 'culture'.

Well, we have had to labour along those roads for many years, and my hope is that those who follow will be able to elaborate these concepts and words. Al-Ghazali said something relevant here: "He who seeks concepts through words will be misled and will come to grief; he is like a person who wants to go to the west but turns his back to the west. But he who first examines concepts and then finds words to describe them will be well-guided." This is relevant here in the sense that we have first to examine the concepts and then relate them to the Qur'an. That has been my continual quest, as my means to changing the conditions of Muslims through changing their way of thinking. Having taken in Malik bin Nabi's intellectual contribution, I took upon myself to try to come close to the Muslim's conscience, through the Islamic terms and concepts. I have done my best to put right the relation between reality and words, and that leads me to you Question Four.