A religion as it is !

 Islam, in fact, is an attributive title.  Anyone who possesses this attribute, whatever race, community, country or group he belongs to, is a Muslim. According to the Qur’an (the Holy Book of the Muslims), among every people and in all ages there have been good and righteous people who possessed this attribute - and all of them were and are Muslims.

Islam.  (Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi - "Towards Understanding Islam" - Chapter 01 -Page 05).

Since all this is now established, and since we, the Muslim community, hold that this divine religion of ours is true, and that it is this religion which incites and summons us to the happiness that consists in the knowledge of God, Mighty and Majestic, and of His creation, that [end] is appointed for every Muslim by the method of assent which his temperament and nature require. ( Ibn Rushd - Avveroes - On The Harmony of Religion and Philosophy - Decisive Treatise (Page 02). 

Evolution of the Fundamentalism and Religious Extremism in Pakistan

As per an estimate 96.4% of total 199 million Pakistanis are Muslims and rest of the population consists of Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and other minority groups. However, diversity in Pakistan is more visible along cultural and ethnic lines and less through its religious distribution. Pakistan is the cradle of Indus Valley Civilization and since those days, Pakistan opened its arms for all the migrants, settlers, traders, invaders and nonetheless preachers from all over the world. Since thousands of years now, people from diverse ethnicities and religions have lived together and involved in all kinds of social interactions with each other. Beauty lies in diversity and so was the understanding of people of this area till 18^th century.

Towards the end of 18^th century and with the decline of social and political stability, many religious reformers started propagating their separatist and anti-social views. Certainly the Hindus were convinced of the unjust Muslim rule and the Muslims felt threatened by the Hindu majority. Religious scholars and opportunists were able to win hundreds of thousands of followers and many political-religious movements started in the subcontinent. Some radical ideologies were imported from different parts of the world. Many of these movements aimed at introducing fundamentalist religious ideologies that gave rise to communal violence and disturbed the religious and social harmony of the subcontinent.  In the wake of political disintegration and social chaos in the subcontinent, people started taking refuge in the religious fundamentalism; radical ideologies and religious extremism started strengthening in the society during 19^th and 20^th century. However, this rise in fundamentalism was not the only social change recorded by the history, there were liberal ideologies and western culture being exported to the Subcontinent by the Europeans.

Liberal and western ideas received popularity in the urban centres of Indo-Pak subcontinent. A new generation of liberal and free thinkers adopted less religious lifestyle as well as propagated an open and plural ideology in the country. These people were not the Sufis but they also, just like the Sufi scholars, understood the cultural diversity of the subcontinent and promoted tolerance and coexistence in this country. Fundamentalist movements also win huge following and established strongholds in various parts of the subcontinent, mostly in rural areas. Some of these fundamentalist movements were not purely religious and rather they aimed to promote ethnic divide. Even the Muslims, the Hindu and the Sikh communities were subdivided on the basis of the ethnicity. Fall of Dhaka is an evidence of this ethnic and cultural divide. Religious and cultural diversity was appreciated, promoted and welcomed either in the literary societies of India and Pakistan or it was seen around the Sufi shrines in both countries. However, this environment of Sufi shrines was going to be polluted by neo-religious movements and extremist groups in post-Zia-ul-haq era.

It is a fact that our intervention in Afghanistan in 1980s was purely politically motivated although it was disguised in the religious intentions. Zia ul Haq wanted to install a Pakistan friendly government in Afghanistan at any cost, only the cost was going to be too high! For centuries religious movements and radical Islam was searching for a political face in the subcontinent, Zia ul Haq provided legitimacy to the fundamentalist groups in Pakistan. It was not only Zia ul Haq, religious seminaries affiliated with fundamentalist ideologies were able to groom a generation of the ‘Molanas’ who were eager to establish their own rule in the society. The Talibans became political and legal face of fundamentalism with a radical ideology at their hearts. Thousands of people in Pakistan provided ideological support to the Talibans and promoted their agenda. However, they were going to be disappointed by an end to the Taliband rule. These people were frustrated by the destruction of the Talibans and felt threatened by Pakistani liberals as well as the westerners. As they have had established themselves well in the society and had thousands of seminaries and many armed organisations, they decided to respond violently.

These people have support from the enemies of Pakistan and people who exported their fundamentalist ideologies to the subcontinent centuries ago. This extremism is threat to political and social stability of Pakistan because these groups are willing to kill anyone without discrimination of colour and creed. They have butchered the children, killed women and attacked almost every religious minority in past 10 years. People involved in recent brutalities in Peshawar, target killing of the Hazaras and attack on Ismaili community in Karachi are equipped with extremist ideologies and this mind-set is product of fundamentalism.  

Religion of Humanity

People have used religion to achieve their personal goals.

Some even used it as an excuse to kill others and even people have been mad enough to take their own lives for the sake of religion !

 They used religion and misused it too... they accepted a new religion and they rejected a centuries old religion too. visit the ancient cities and walk through the ruins of lost cities and distant lands; you may not find a palace, a school, or a hospital but you will always find a temple in these cities.  Homosapien is essentially a "homoreligiouses" by its very nature. Even people with no religion "group" themselves as "atheists"; they have made atheism their belief system and their religion !

So, we would always like to live by a  code of conduct, a religion, a belief system! We need to understand that we should not use our "belief system" to hurt others, humiliate others and kill others, if our "belief system", our "religion" has failed to appease us, how can it help others to live in peace and how can we justify its very "peaceful" nature... !

Oh Children of Adam and Eve !Let us meet in the love of "humanity" and let us be humane..

 

Islam and Medieval Europe: A Perfect Fusion

Europe, which witnessed the glory and spectacle of the Greek and Roman civilizations since time immemorial, was drenched in barbaric atrocities, religious intolerance and a socio-politico and economic quagmire when an infant Islamic Empire by the name of Umayyad was spreading tentacles in the Arabian Peninsula during 8^th century (Yahya) n.d.).  The younger civilization had much of the fresh blood, springing from the divine Quranic teachings and the Prophet Muhammad’s traditions of justice and social equity, to invigorate the veins of once thriving but then stagnant vast lands of Europe (Farmer 1988).  History provides the testimony of this infusion to take place and today the world in general and the Medieval Europe in particular owes much of the credit for its Renaissance movement and its ultimate transformation into modern Europe to the Moorish rule and its advancements in the fields of literature, philosophy and science and technology (The New Encyclopedia Britannica n.d.).

There were traces of minor interactions between traders from these two distinct parts of the world before the exchange of deadly conquests which fused the dominance of Muslim Arabia over the Christian Europe through Iberian Peninsula.  Andalusia, the territory which circumscribes modern Spain, became a mark of splendor and majesty in Europe and its Capital, Cordoba became an icon of world class education, culture, architecture and social harmony.     The major impact on Andalusia came from Islamic teachings which favored social equality regardless of religious, ethnic and cultural differences. Secondly, Greek philosophy and mainly the works of Aristotle were developed and retranslated into Latin in the Islamic universities, which expedited the process of rediscovery in Europe (Grant 2001).  Translation of thousands of manuscripts at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad and Cordoba Library which brimmed with six hundred thousand books sparkled as the beacon of light and illuminated the fields of art, architecture, agriculture, astronomy, geography, music, medicine, mathematics and language (Burnett 2001).

A brief finding of the translations of different manuscripts is as under and it suggests how Muslim discoveries in different disciplines helped Europe to awaken from the drudgery of barbarianism, intolerance and ignorance (Nasr n.d.). 

The translation of Algebra and algorism with Indian-Arabic numerals was developed by the Persian Mathematician al-Khwarizmi, and introduced in Europe by Robert Chester and Leonardo Fibonacci during 12^th century (Katz n.d.).Ibn al-Haytham compiled thesis on optical sciences, which were used as references by Newton and Descartes in the later centuries.  The alchemical works of Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi were also translated into Latin around the same era. Medical sciences were also highly developed in Islam as testified by the Crusaders, who relied on Arab doctors on numerous occasions (National Library of Medicine digital archives n.d.).One of the most important medical works to be translated was Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine during 11^th century, which was translated into Latin and then disseminated in manuscript and printed form throughout Europe.  It remained a standard medical textbook in Europe until the early modern period (National Library of Medicine digital archives n.d.).

In the field of agriculture, Arabs brought an Agricultural Revolution in Europe where farming was restricted to wheat grains; scientific discoveries led the cultivation of numerous other crops including sorghum from Africa, citrus fruits from China, and crops from India such as mangos, rice, cotton and sugar cane (Decker (2009)).  These changes in agricultural production coupled with increased mechanization of agriculture, led to major changes in economy, population distribution, and income levels. Also transmitted via Muslim influence, a silk industry flourished, flax was cultivated and linen exported, and esparto grass, which grew wild in the more arid parts, was collected and turned into various articles("The Sugar Cane Industry: An Historical Geography from Its Origins to 1914 " (1989)).

The marks left on architecture by the Muslims are more vivid and portrayed the zenith of aesthetics and purity of art (Lockard n.d.), and (Qantara 2008).  Where the mansions of Andalusia were sprawled by fragrant gardens, fresh flowing ponds, finely crafted arched-doorways and generously open yards, construction in Paris was restricted to conservative form of architecture focusing narrow entrances, empty spaces and small structures(Cardin 2001).

The smooth transition of merger of two distinct societal groupings and the consequent transmission of knowledge is rooted well within the Islamic teachings of equality and fair play without any prejudice to caste, religion or ethnicity (Chittick 1998).  But the confluence of Arab and Europe was mediated and facilitated by the Sufi Saints, the role of whom is often undermined by the scientific discoveries and headways in arts and architecture of that time (Ahmad 1997).  Nevertheless, their stature stands tall for the noble and selfless efforts of striking a balance between societies which at one end were engaged in crusades and on the other hand mutually depended on each other in cultural advances through learning and development (Fierro 1992).  The role of Sufi scholars such as Ibn Massarah, Ibn Rushd and Ghazali primarily focused on adorning Greek philosophy (Influence of Arabic and Islamic Philosophy on the Latin West 2008) with Islamic concept of spirituality which fascinated the men of learning in Europe and rejuvenated their senses towards the outlook of life and romanticized their understanding on religion and self-discovery based on purified form of love which branched from meditation and intuition(Austin 1971) and , (Mackeen 1971).

Unfortunately, due to the bloody conquests of power struggles and the crusades aimed at suzerainty of the holy lands, the pristine and powerful impact of fusion of two mammoth civilizations is generally not appreciated, even so that efforts of Muslims for the regeneration of European society is almost discarded (O'Neill 2009).  Rather, ulterior agendas are fulfilled by distorting facts and fuelling disharmony.  But if rightly understood, the annals of history of medieval Europe are there to provide a lesson which can pave a way to inter-faith dialogue emulating a peaceful co-existence of distinct religious and cultural groups (Effect of Crusades n.d.).

An Introduction To Early Islamic Philosophy

In Islam there is a cosmic book to be read and deciphered. So Muslims considered it a religious duty to investigate and explore ancient wisdom to quench their thrust for knowledge and to better understand this universe. That is why Islamic intellectual history is rich with names who have ruled the western philosophy and science for centuries. Muslims intlectuals have contributed a lot to the world wisdom.  Here I give an outline of the Islamic philosophy.

Mu’tazilism, Ash’arism and Tahawism:

Mu’tazilites, known as ‘People Of Unity And Justice’, were the pure rationalists in early Islam. By Justice they imply that it is incumbent on God to requite the obedient for their good deeds and punish the sinners for their misdeeds. By Unity they imply that attributes of God are not separate from the divine essence. Wasil bin Ata (699-748) was the founder of this school of thought. Abul-al-Hudhail Allif, Al-Jahiz , al-Mu’tamir and al-Jubai are the prominent names of Mu’tazilism.

Ash’arites maintain an intermediary position between Mu’tazilites who made reason in preference to revelation the only criterion of truth and reality, and the Zahirites who were totally against the reason or ‘Kalam’ in explaining religious dogmas.  Ash’arism was an attepmt to not only to purge Islam of all non-Islamic elements but also to harmonize the religious consciousness with the religious thought of Islam. Ash’arites laid down the foundations of Orthodox Kalam. Ali Bin Ismail al-Ashari (death 945) founded this school at the age of 40. Other prominent names include al-Juwaini ,al-Ghazali and  Ibn Tumarat .

Abu Ja’far Ahmed Bin Muahammad al-Tahawi (Born in 834 AD) laid down the foundation of this traditionalist school of thought. He gave the definition of Muslims as: “who follow Qiblah so as long as they acknowledge what prophet Muhammad (PBUH) brought with him and believe in what he said and what he narrated.

Shihab al-Din Suharwardi Maqtul and Ibn Arabi:

Born in 1153 A.D, Shihab al-Din Suharwardi‘s Ishraqi wisdom has played a great role in intellectual and spiritual life of Islam. His school identifies philosophy with wisdom rather than with rational systemization. According to him Islam unified the wisdom of all previous religions (Hikmat al-Ishraq). He classified the various faculties of soul as vegetative soul (attraction, retention etc) and animal soul (power of lust and anger). His famous works are Hikmat al-Ishraq, Muqawamat  and Talwihat.

Sheikh Muhayi al-Din ibn al-Arabi (born in 1165) is the most influential thinker and mystic in the Sufi world both in the east and the west. He tried to reconcile the pantheistic theory of nature and monotheistic doctrine od Islam. He explained Quranic text and prophetic traditions mystically in his Futuhat and Fusus. His mystical philosophy represents the union of thought and emotion in a highest degree, a curious blend of reasoned truths and intuitive knowledge.

Al-Kindi , Al-Razi and  Al-Farabi : Abu Yousaf Ya’qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi or Alkindus (born in 805) is the first Muslim philosopher by the very definition of philosopher in the modern world; he is called ‘the philosopher of the Arabs’. He conciliated the Hellenistic heritage with Islam. He specialized in almost all the sciences of his times. He insisted that theology is part of philosophy and prophet’s revelations and philosophical truths are in accord with each other so pursuit of theology is logically ordained. His clarified the meanings of ‘Intellect’ and ‘Soul’ and his treatises on such philosophical problems played an important role in medieval philosophy, both eastern and western.

Al-Razi (Rhazes) is a pure rationalist. He believed in reason and reason alone. In clinical studies he revealed a very solid method of investigation based on observation and experimentation. He believed in eternity of soul and matter both. He maintained that life flows from God as light flows from the sun. He also believed in the eternity of time. He believed in God the Wise, in man, in progress, but in no religion whatever.

Al-Farabi or Alpharabius (C.870-950) maintains that it is imperative for great philosophers to be in accord, he believes only in one school of philosophy, the school of truth. He made attempts to revise the Peripatetic philosophy and Platonic tradition. He philosophizes the religion. He gave Theory of the Ten Intelligences (an explanation of Heavens and the earth) and Theory of the Intellect (dealing with psychology). His ideas are amazingly similar to those of Freud, Horney and Murray.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna):

Ibn Sina, known as Aristotle of Islamic world, is the foremost philosopher in the Medieval Hellenistic Islamic tradition. His philosophical theory is a comprehensive, detailed and rationalistic account of the nature of God and Being, in which he finds a systematic place for the corporeal world, spirit, insight, and the varieties of logical thought including dialectic, rhetoric and poetry.

He insisted that reason can allow progress through various levels of understanding and can finally lead to God, the ultimate truth. He stresses the importance of gaining knowledge, and develops a theory of knowledge based on four faculties: sense perception, retention, imagination and estimation. In metaphysics, Ibn Sina makes a distinction between essence and existence; essence considers only the nature of things, and should be considered apart from their mental and physical realization. This distinction applies to all things except God, whom Ibn Sina identifies as the first cause and therefore both essence and existence. He also argued that the soul is incorporeal and cannot be destroyed.

Al-Ghazali (Algazel) :

Al-Ghazâlî (c.1055–1111) is one of the most prominent and influential philosophers, theologians, jurists, and mystics of Islam. Al-Ghazâlî understood the importance of falsafa (Aristotelian philosophy) and developed a complex response that rejected and condemned some of its teachings, while it also allowed him to accept and apply others. Al-Ghazâlî's critique of twenty positions of falsafa in his Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahâfut al-falâsifa) is a significant landmark in the history of philosophy as it advances the nominalist critique of Aristotelian science developed later in 14th century Europe. On the Arabic and Muslim side al-Ghazâlî's acceptance of demonstration led to a much more refined and precise discourse on epistemology and a flowering of Aristotelian logics and metaphysics. With al-Ghazâlî begins the successful introduction of Aristotelianism or rather Avicennism into Muslim theology. Al-Ghazâlî's approach to resolving apparent contradictions between reason and revelation was accepted by almost all later Muslim theologians and had, via the works of Averroes (Ibn Rushd, 1126–98) and Jewish authors a significant influence on Latin medieval thinking.

Ibn Rushd (Averroes):

Abul Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmed Ibn Muhammad Ibn Rushd(C.1126 to 1198) insisited that Quran exhorts man to study philosophy since he must speculate on the universe to better understand it. The proof of creation (Cosmological) and the proof of Providence (teleological) are mentioned in Quran which lead to the way of God. He rejected the Idealism of Plato and believed that the universe exists in realty. He severly criticized al-Ghazali for his Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahâfut al-falâsifa). He is commentator of Aristotle and his interpretations ruled Europe for centuries.

Ibn Rushd was the last of early great Muslim philosophers.  

Note:  This introduction is based on the following source:

Sharif, M.M.(Ed.). (Reprinted 2007). A History Of Muslim Philosophy. Vol. 1. Karachi: Royal Book Company.

A Man Of The Copper Era --- Interesting Piece Of Information From The The Ancient History

Body of a man - the flesh still on the bones – was discovered about 5000 years after he set out on a risky walk in the Tyrolean Alps, near the present borders of Austria and Italy. He was crossing a mountain gap which at 3200 meters was higher than the highest roads across the mountains today.

His Dress:

The season was probably autumn, and he was warmly clad. His head was covered by a cap consisting of many pieces of fur sewn together. His shoulders were protected from snow and cold win by an outer cape neatly woven from reeds or strong grass. His coat, of deerskin, must have kept part of his body warm as he walked, but it is not certain whether the coat had sleeves. Certainly his legs were clad in leather leggings, while his feet were covered by calfskin.

Journey:

He was making a long, rather than a short journey, is suggested by the equipment he carried; an axe with a copper blade, a knife with a cutting edge made of flint and a handle of wood, a quiver with 14 broken or used arrows, and a half –completed bow with which to shoot arrows. Of importance to a mountain man, an area where fuel and kindling were not easily found for the fires so necessary on cold nights, he carried an ingenious birch-bark (the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch tree) container, holding the embers of a past fire. Thereby he could light his own without undue trouble.

He vanished in the snow. Perhaps, when his return home was long overdue, friends and family searched for him. He could easily be identified, for his skin displays several small tattoos and his prized copper axe have been familiar to friends.

The search ceased, and the blanket of ice covered him, century after century. Only in AD 1991 did the melting of ice expose his body.

Works Cited

Blainly, G. (2004). The First green Revolution. In G. Blainly, A Very Short History Of The World (pp. 48,49). Maryborough,Australia.: Penguin Books.

An Oustanding Example Of Religious Harmony Taught By the Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH)

There is a monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai. This monastery has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited monastic establishment in Christendom. It offers a concrete evidence of the inter-religious coexistence-indeed harmony-that has permitted it to remain unmolested in its overwhelmingly Muslim environment for close to fourteen centuries.

Two vivid symbols of this harmony are to be found within the walls of the monastery; the first is the mosque built by the monks for the Bedouins; second is the famous charter of protection granted by the Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). The monks themselves are convinced that this charter, sealed with an imprint of Prophet’s own hands, was instrumental in maintaining security and safety of the monastery. The original document was written in Kufic Script By Hazrat Ali (AS), and taken by the Ottoman Sultan Selim back to Istanbul in the 16^th century. The Ottoman copy of original is on display at the monastery.

The document states that wherever monks or hermits are to be found, on any mountain hill, village or any other habitable place, on the sea or in the  deserts or in any convent, Church or Hosue of Prayer , I shall be watching over them as their protector, with all my soul, together with all my Ummah; because they [ the monks and hermits] are part of my own people, and part of those protected by me.

From:

Kazmi, R. S. (2008). Illumination And Non-delimitation. In M. S. Umer, The Religious Other (pp. 163,164). Lahore: Iqbal Academy Pakistan.