http://www.religiousconsultation.org/engaged_islam.htm
ENGAGED ISLAM
Asghar Ali Engineer
(Professor Ali
Engineer is a Muslim scholar and the head of the Institute for
Islamic Studies
in Bombay, India)
(Islam and
Modern Age, May 2003)
Islam and Muslims are very much under attack
today for various reasons, chief among them is attack on New York
towers on 9/11/2001. Also, the Islamic world on the whole tends to
take very conservative stands on number of issues and still
implements laws formulated during medieval ages by eminent Islamic
jurists presumably based on Qur'an and sunnah but introducing
considerable changes in them through interpretations to suit their
times. The laws pertaining to women are in great need for change,
specially the way people like Taliban and Saudis implement them
making Islam target of attack.
It seems the very spirit of Islam has been lost
the way Muslims behave. The orthodox 'ulama insists, in Muslim
majority states, to implement Shari`ah laws as they are and even
insist on stoning adulterers to death. This is so from Indonesia
to Algeria. There are very few Muslim states, which can be termed
as liberal and democratic. Millions of Muslims are suffering as a
result of this, particularly women. In countries like Kuwait women
cannot vote, in countries like Saudi Arabia they cannot go out
alone, Taliban did not allow them to go to schools and in most of
the Muslim countries they have to wrap themselves into veil. In
Saudi Arabia recently when a girls school caught fire, some girls
tried to escape but were pushed back to burn alive simply because
they had left their veil behind in a rush. Thus human life has no
value and Islamic dress for women has.
These are such matters that Muslims have to
reflect deeply about and engage themselves in the serious project
of changing society so as to be more progressive in keeping with
Islamic values. A Muslim is, above all, believer in these values.
Islam had conceived of emergence of a new man - a mu'min - who
firmly believed in Islamic values and engaged himself in changing
the world in accordance with those values.
First, I would like to throw some light on
these Islamic values. The most fundamental Islamic value is
justice 'adl and Allah's name is 'Aadil i.e. Just. Allah is Just.
A Muslim cannot be a Muslim without being just himself or herself.
He has to engage himself in promoting justice in the whole world.
Another important Qur'anic value is ihsan - benevolence, doing
good to others and Allah's name is Muhsin i.e. Benevolent. Allah
is benefactor of one and all without any distinction of caste,
creed or colour. A Muslim also has to be benefactor of all Muslim
or non-Muslim. The prophet has also said that a hand of a Mu'min
should not do any harm to the other.
Another significant Islamic value is equality.
All human beings are equal in as much as we share our humanity
with each other. All children of Adam, according to the Qur'an
(17:70) possess honour and dignity accorded by Allah. This is to
be seen in conjunction with freedom of conscience (2:256). Once
cannot think of human dignity without the concept of freedom of
conscience. Thus equality, human dignity and freedom of conscience
all are related with each other and cannot be compromised in any
way. A society which is Islamic in substantial way must ensure all
three to all human beings.
Yet another important value is compassion called in the Qur'an as
rahmah. Allah is called Rahim, Compassionate. He is also referred
to as Rahman which means almost the same i.e. compassionate though
the Muslim theologians make some fine distinctions between the
two. Rahman, according to the theologians is Allah's attribute of
Mercy for all whatever the caste, creed or nationality. Thus a
Muslim must display compassion for all and should be extremely
sensitive to others' suffering. A Muslim cannot be indifferent to
suffering of others including animals.
A mu'min should also strive continuously for
removing suffering from earth. It comes very close to Buddha's
concept of dukkha and its removal from earth. A Muslim must
dedicate himself to removal of suffering in all its forms from
this earth. And any form of injustice causes suffering and hence
establishment of justice is directly related to removal of
suffering from earth. The Qur'an repeatedly condemns oppression
and exploitation what it calls zulm. The word zulm is derivative
of z.l.m. which has meaning of deviating (from right or just
course) and zulmat in Arabic means darkness. Injustice leads to
darkness.
Thus an engaged Muslim must devote himself to
fighting zulm i.e. any form of injustice and oppression on earth.
He should help all those who are victims of injustice. According
to the Qur'an Moses actively helped the Israelites throw away the
bondage of Pharaoh. He rid themselves of the oppression and
exploitation and gave them sense of dignity and honour as free
people.
In our own times we have various forms of oppression and
exploitation be it capitalist exploitation, be it due to
globalization or be it due to any other form of injustice between
two individuals or between two nations or communities.
A real jihad for a Muslim is to fight against
all forms of injustices and all forms of exploitation and make all
forms of sacrifices to remove these injustices to establish real
peace on earth. As long as there is any trace of injustice and
exploitation on earth there will be violence in some form or the
other and it is duty of a mu'min to wage struggle to remove all
traces of injustice. An engaged Muslim has to be committed to
peace on earth and without peace this earth will not be worth
inhabiting for all human beings.
And peace can be established only through jihad
against all forms of zulm on earth. Another important value is
truth called haq by the Qur'an. Allah Himself is referred to as
Haq in the Book. Thus an engaged Muslim has to fight for truth.
Truth is God and thus god cannot be realised without realising
truth in all its forms.
Truth, it is important to note, is much more
than mere conformity with fact or empirical reality. Truth is
nothing if not value-oriented. The given facts of life may not be
conducive to promoting justice and peace. There may be zulm all
around us. An committed Muslim cannot accept such a reality. His
dedication to truth will inspire him to fight against such earth
filled with exploitation and oppression. Being truthful means
being just. Truth is not mere statement but praxis.
A Muslim who is engaged seriously with his
religion and his conscience would never be at ease with himself if
there is gender injustice in his society or country. Today gender
injustice is widespread throughout the world. The Prophet of Islam
both through revelation and through his own words and practices (sunnah)
did all he could not only to improve the status of women in
society but also to accord them equal status to her with that.
The medieval society robbed women once again of
their high status and subjugated them to male domination. And this
persists today throughout Islamic world. Thus an engaged Muslim
would not rest in peace if such bondage of women persists
throughout Islamic world today. The `ulama are constantly
demanding strengthening of medieval practices and trying to rob
women of whatever rights they have won in recent times.
It is not only that. The modernity is so
dominated by the unrestrained capitalist system that women have
been reduced to a saleable commodity. If the conservative 'ulama
demand confining her to four walls of home and putting all sorts
of restrictions on her the modern capitalist system exploits her
body to sale commodities. Her naked or semi-naked body is for sale
everywhere to promote consumerism. Thus the modern capitalist
system has cheated her of her sense of dignity.
Thus an engaged Muslim has to face double
challenge - challenge of orthodox 'ulama on one hand, and that of
modern capitalism and its utterly exploitative attitude towards
women, on the other. Both are not acceptable. If the former is
violation of Islamic spirit of justice the latter is total
negation of her human dignity and is result of capitalist greed.
To call it freedom is misnomer. There cannot be any freedom
without dignity as pointed out before. Both compliment each other.
How can she be free if she is reduced as a commodity and her body
is used or selling consumable items.
In some Muslim countries women are still quite
low on education. The Prophet has said that acquiring education is
obligatory (faridatun) for both Muslim men and Muslim women. Thus
an engaged Muslim has to wage a jihad against high rates of
illiteracy among women in these Muslim societies. It is also to be
mentioned here that in some Muslim countries like Indonesia and
Malaysia the rate of literacy among women is quite high but in
countries like Pakistan, Bangla Desh, India etc. where a very
large number of Muslims reside the rate of literacy among women is
quite low and this should engage Muslims of these countries to
wage jihad against illiteracy.
Illiteracy be it among men or women is to be
removed. The Qur'an describes ignorance (jahl) as darkness and 'ilm
(knowledge) as light (nur). And the first revelation to the
Prophet of Islam (PBUH) began with the word iqra' i.e. recite or
read which is synonymous with knowledge. Knowledge is a value and
Allah is described in the Qur'an as 'Aalim i.e. the Knower.
Thus it is duty of Muslims to engage themselves
with latest developments of knowledge in the world. Even the word
for science in Arabic is 'ilm. It is very comprehensive word
embracing all forms of knowledge religious as well as secular. In
fact an engaged Muslim should always be engaged in knowing what is
created by Allah in this universe. The 'ulama (knowers,
scientists) according to the Qur'an reflect on Allah's creation
day and night. Thus in verse 3:190 the Qur'an says: "Those who
remember Allah standing and sitting and (lying) on their sides,
and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our
Lord, Thou has not created this in vain! Glory be to Thee! Save us
from the chastisement of the Fire." And in verse 35:28 the Qur'an
says that only who are possessed of knowledge really fear Allah.
From both these verses the importance of
knowledge in Islamic civilisation is quite obvious. Islam greatly
encouraged knowledge. In fact as in 3:190 a true believer reflects
on creation of this universe day and night and sitting and
standing and through reflection on His creation they affirm Glory
of God. And an ignorant person cannot even fear Allah and cannot
acknowledge His greatness.
Thus a committed Muslim will spend day and
night on acquiring knowledge and spreading its light among all. Is
it not very sad thing that the record of literacy in Islamic world
is so poor compared to non-Muslim world? And when it comes to
study of science it is even worse. The Islamic world has not
created one great scientist who could have lasting impact on the
world as a whole? Even the Noble Laureate Dr. Abdus Salam though
hailed from Pakistan had worked all along in USA and did all his
research in Physics there. It is an irony that in Islamic world
Pakistan is considered most advanced in science and technology
though compared to even India Pakistan is far behind in this race.
Many orthodox 'ulama even reject science and maintain that when
the Qur'an talks of 'ilm (knowledge) it talks of only knowledge of
religion. Thus after florescence of knowledge during the Abbasid
period in 2nd and third century Hijra (Islamic calendar) when
science and philosophy registered great achievements there has
been not much progress in these fields. Science and technology,
even philosophy became stagnant. The sack of Baghdad in 1258
destroyed what had remained of it.
Ever since the Islamic world remained far behind in the fields of
science and philosophy, even unfortunate as it is, in the field of
Islamic knowledge ('ulum-i-diniyyah). Not much worthwhile
contributions were made by the 'ulama in these fields. They began
to stress only taqlid i.e. imitation, an new contribution was
denounced as heresy. And there were not many heretics.
Only during colonial period one notices some
intellectual stir under the influence of the west. Jamal al-Din
Afghani and his disciple Muhammad Abduh who later became Grand
Mufti of al-Azhar produced fresh thought and egged on Muslims to
think afresh. In India Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded MAO College on
the patterns of Cambridge and Oxford Universities and induced
Muslims to go for western secular knowledge. However, the Islamic
world is far behind in the field of knowledge and still
conservative 'ulama rule the roost particularly in oil rich
countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait etc. In these countries it is
so difficult to challenge even age-old traditions. The rulers are
afraid and any intellectual dissent is suppressed with heavy hand.
A committed Muslim must take inspiration from
the Qur'an and work for spread of all kinds of useful knowledge
systems in the Islamic world. Unfortunately in Islamic madrasas
and universities even today outdated sciences as developed during
early Islamic period and Ptolmian Astronomy are taught and
anything else is considered deviation from religious teachings.
Ours is the age of information and knowledge
and knowledge is advancing at an exponential speed. Any country,
which ignores the rapid advancement of knowledge, will be ignored
by the world. The rulers in the Islamic world strictly control
information as it is threatening to their authority which is based
on the support of conservative 'ulama and the 'ulama in turn
consider any change a threat to their own authority.
Thus commitment to knowledge is commitment to
change and democratic freedoms. Unfortunately most of the people
think that there is no democracy in the Islamic world because
Islam is against democracy and supports authoritarianism and
opposes any.
This is far from true. Islam has never approved
of monarchy or authoritarianism. Monarchy developed in Islam under
the influence of feudalism and under the influence of Roman and
Sassanid empires, not because of Islamic teachings. In fact The
Holy Prophet was not followed by any monarch but by a Khalifa
elected by the Muslims (according to Sunni Muslims) or by Imamat
(according to the Shi'ah Islam). Authoritarianism has no place at
all in Islamic teachings.
In fact all early Islamic thinkers approved of
rebellion if it was inspired by Islamic teachings against any
ruler who was deviating from teachings of Islam. Most of the great
Islamic thinkers and companions or companions of the companions of
the Prophet (PBUH) strongly opposed the Umayyad rule because it
deviated from the system of khilafah and usurped power
undemocratically and converted into a synastic rule. An Islamic
thinker of the eminence of Hasan Basri was opposed to the Umayyad
rule.
Submission to authoritarian rule itself is
un-Islamic. Right to open criticism is a sacred right, not because
the western democracies approve it but in the earliest Islamic
period the Prophet's successors accepted it. The Prophet himself
never discouraged any of his followers to ask him questions even
when they went against some of his practices. He always gave them
satisfactory answer and never allowed, especially in secular
matters, any mystique to develop around him. Similarly his
successors like Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Ali were publicly criticised
and they never took a position that Muslims had no right to
question their conduct. There is a hadith that there is no
obedience in sinful conduct (ma'siyah).
Thus freedom of conscience, as pointed out
above, is a sacred freedom, which every Muslim should guard
jealously and promote fearlessly. Thus a true Muslim should be
strongly committed to democratic values and should refuse to
accept any authoritarian regime be it in the field of religion or
in the filed of politics. The culture of taqlid (blind imitation)
can never be an Islamic culture. Freedom of information and
freedom of action are sanctioned by The Qur'an and practice of the
Prophet.
Similarly a true Muslim must be as much committed to the concept
of human rights as this concept is very closely related to
democratic rights. The greatest violation of human rights takes
place in authoritarian regimes.
Not that there are no violations of human
rights in democratic regimes. There can be serious violations of
human rights in democracies as we so often observe in western
democracies too. It is not sufficient to establish democracy; it
is also necessary to be vigilant to the practice of democratic
rights. A Muslim should engage himself/herself continuously to
oversee implementation of human rights in his/her own society.
Any suppression of ones freedom be it physical
or spiritual is against humanity and hence against Islam. In
Islamic world today we see great violations of human rights. In
fact the Islamic world should have been precursor in the field of
democratic and human rights. But historically the Muslim world
deviated from the Qur'anic teachings and, under the alien
influence of medievalism, it discarded Qur'anic teachings and took
to authoritarian culture and unfortunately maintained it
throughout colonial period and now even during the twenty-first
century.
It is true that western imperialism and now
neo-imperialism is strengthening this authoritarian culture for
its own political vested interests. It has made the situation
extremely complex and one sees very few signs of change. The
Western powers have very high stakes in maintaining this culture
of authoritarianism in the Muslim world. The popular aspirations
and democratic rights are being crushed by the authorities. It is
much more so in case of women. They do not enjoy even right to
vote in some countries like Kuwait in the name of Islam.
Thus those committed to democratic and human
rights have to fight against very heavy odds but fight they must
under inspiration from the Qur'anic culture of openness and
freedom. This has long been lost through the ages. It needs to be
revived. It would be real Islamic renaissance.
For this we need a strong force of committed
Muslims equipped with Islamic values and modern knowledge. It has
to wage jihad against medievalism and authoritarianism and
obsolete knowledge systems. This jihad would be true jihad and it
needs not only utmost efforts but also sacrifices. This jihad
would be for peace, progress and change and has to be waged
against selfish rulers. The Holy prophet is reported to have said
that best form of jihad is speaking truth in front of a tyrant
ruler. We need Muslims to wage this kind of jihad and it is only
this quality of jihad, which would rid Muslim world of tyrants and
authoritarian rulers who suppress all basic rights and deny
democracy to people. It would greatly improve the quality of
governance in the Muslim world and would help greatly in fighting
terrorism of the frustrated youth. It would bring real glory to
Islam and Islamic teachings.