We learn from a tradition of the Prophet that if a believer makes right ijtihad (re-interpretation of religious teachings in changing situations), he will receive a double reward, while if he errs in his ijtihad, he will still earn a single reward. It is sufficient to follow past precedents or traditional thinking when one engages in the work of preservation. However, to engage in intellectual leadership, one must possess a deeper understanding of the times and the capacity to engage in ijtihad, creative interpretation of Islamic sources and their application in changed circumstances. To perform the role of intellectual leadership, the Ulama must possess a deeper understanding of the times and the capacity to engage in ijtihad, creative interpretation of Islamic sources and their application in changed circumstances. Then they will be able to engage in scholarship, reform the minds of the Muslim ummah towards correct thinking and undertake dawah work, conveying God’s message to people.
It is often said that the need of the hour is ‘modernization of Islam’. I myself read a lot about it but was not able to understand its meaning. In the days before partition a man from
According to my study, Mr. AA Faizi was perhaps the first person to write a book on this subject, entitled Modern Approach to Islam. This book however, was rejected by the Ulema.
Pondering over my inability to understand this concept, I realised that every person has his own bent of mind. Unless one is able to understand a concept in accordance with one’s mindset, one would not be able to comprehend it. In other words, it was only after I converted the idea into words of my understanding that I could discern it.
When the person said that Quran has to be re-revealed today, he meant that the Quran has to be redefined in modern terms. This is to say that Quran is actually a statement of universal facts, but being revealed in the seventh century, it followed the idiom or terminology of that period. Today, in the 21st century we need to re-state and re-explain the Quranic statements in modern idiom.
I would cite here an example to clarify my point of discussion.
Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi (1904-1998), an acclaimed scholar wrote the commentary of the Quran in eight volumes. When one of his disciples asked him about his understanding of the gist of Quran, Maulana Islahi replied that it was a “record of divine warnings.” Maulana’s disciple understood this term “divine warnings” but such a term would not be understandable to the modern mind.
As per my understanding, the gist of the Quran is to present before human beings, the Creation Plan of God. This terminology is discernable to the modern man. Accepting it is a different issue but as far as understanding is concerned, today’s mind comprehends this idiom instantaneously.
For all these years, I had wondered the reason for most of the books on Islam being written by non-Muslim authors. An acquaintance, Professor Mujeeb (Jamia Millia Islamia) had once said to me that “Jewish scholars are the representatives of Islam.” Mulling over his words, I realised that books of these scholars could address the modern mind because they were written in modern terminology. It is crucial to understand that terminology is the science of nomenclature and it is the usage of familiar terms that addresses mind. But instead of attempting to present religion in modern idiom, Muslim ulema committed the grave mistake of labelling those who were dissatisfied with the traditional representation of religion, as ‘murtad’ (one who deviates from the religion).
ILLUSTRATIONS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Expansion of Islam
After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the political expansion of Islam began. Muslim scholars have written several books on this subject but, these do not address the modern mind. The reason is that the Muslim writers always explain the expansion of Islam as a phenomenon of political expansion. For example, often they used terms such as ‘Islamic or Muslim Empire’. The word ‘empire’ has a negative connotation, being indicative of imperialist ambitions, an expression towards which the modern mind is disinclined.
I then read a book by the British historian Arnold Toynbee (d. 1975). He writes that modern civilization is nothing but another name for exploration of nature. To explain this, he says that everything that we see today was potentially hidden in nature; when scientists explored nature then industrial and scientific revolutions came about. Further, Toynbee questions why this process of exploration and discovering nature was so delayed. In other words, if nature was potentially the same for millions of years then why did its exploration get delayed?
Toynbee attributes this delay to polytheism or shirk. Elaborating this, he writes that in ancient times, people indulged in nature worship and so they surrendered themselves before it. It was this surrender that made nature an object of worship and disallowed man from scrutinizing it.
The credit of displacing nature from the position of divinity goes to monotheism that was brought about by Islam. Once nature was displaced from divinity, people started exploring it, which led to the scientific or the industrial revolution.
When the mind of modern man is addressed thus, he realizes the significance of Islam. To explain the same phenomenon, Muslim scholars use the language of ‘imperialism’, attributing it as a form of expanding the Islamic ‘empire.’ Toynbee on the other hand, explained Islamic expansion as an ideological revolution which opened the doors to industrial revolution. He thus brought to fore a big contribution made by Islam – of removing the intellectual obstacle that emanated from polytheism – and paving way for the modern world.
Prophet Abraham and Ishmael
Prophet Abraham took his son Ishmael to the
As against this, I got an entirely different perspective when I read the British Orientalist David Samuel Margoliouth (d. 1940). He refers to the generation which emerged from Ishmael as ‘a nation of heroes.’ This expression of Margoliouth gave me a lead to reflect upon. I then read many other books and realized that there was great planning of God in this incident of settling Ishmael in a desert. The generation resulting from Ishmael was not touched by cultural corruptness; the desert had no previous civilisation and therefore the people who emerged from it were on their true nature devoid of any corruption.
This was God’s planning to make a new nation where people were on their nature. So when settling of Ishmael in the desert is attributed to Prophet Abraham’s ishq or love for God, it is not understandable. But when explained as a great divine planning for nation building then people accept it readily.
Here I would like to reiterate that those people who do not get addressed by the traditional idiom, as is used by the Muslim scholars, are considered detracted or deviated. In my view these people have actually not got detracted; rather their case is that of intellectual dissatisfaction. Hence the blame goes to these Muslim scholars who are unable to address then modern mind in the scientific idiom.
Prophet Muhammad
There is a verse in the Quran addressing the Prophet Muhammad thus,
“it may well be that your Lord will raise you to a station of praise and glory (mukam-e-mahmood).”(17:79)
Muslim scholars give a mysterious explanation to the above verse. They think that in the hereafter, there would be a raised platform and Prophet Muhammad will stand upon it. This explanation of mukam-e-mahmood is in terms of a mysterious belief. Modern mind will not understand this.
This point became clear to me when I read a book called The Hundred Most Influential People in History by an American scholar, Dr. Michael Hart. In this book, he placed Prophet Muhammad on the top of the list of the hundred most influential people. Dr. Hart studied Prophet Muhammad as a historical figure. He writes that Muhammad was supremely successful in both religious and secular fields. Dr Hart’s placement of Prophet Muhammad on the top therefore can be taken as an explanation of mukam-e-mehmood. Such an explanation in not in terms of any mysterious belief but as a phenomenon judged in the light of history and is hence convincing for today’s mind.
It is noteworthy that this verse which says that God would make Prophet Muhammad stand at a praise-worthy pedestal was revealed when the Prophet was in
Dajjal
Dajjal is believed to be yet another mysterious and strange creature that will symbolise evil in later times. Dajjal literally means the Great Deceiver. Deceiving is the act of deviating man from the truth. It is important to note here that the phenomenon of deceit is not new to the world of man then why is Dajjal called as a Great Deceiver?
The answer to this lies in understanding that Dajjal is actually a phenomenon of modern age. That is, an age of print and electronic media. In this age, untruth will be beautified and through means such as the media it will be spread vastly. This art of developing evil such that it appears beautiful will be the characteristic of the phenomenon called Dajjal. In this age, the spread of such deceiving philosophies or ideas will be much easier and done on an unprecedented scale by utilising all the modern equipments available. Dajjal therefore will not be a strange animal but an age. But people are still waiting for Dajjal to come, not realising that when the age which describes the Dajjal has arrived, so should the Dajjal. The wait is no longer there.
Mahdi
Similarly, all Muslims are waiting for Mahdi to arrive. Mahdi would be a guided person. It may also be described as the phenomenon of the modern age. He will be the one who would discover Islam as per the scientific norms established during the post-Renaissance period. Mahdi would therefore, come in the scientific age and would discover the relevance of Islamic teachings in the modern age.
Dawah History of Islam
TW Arnold, a British scholar has written the book The Preachings of Islam. This book provides a historical survey of the conditions that led to the spread of Islam. None of the Muslim scholars could write such a book as they explained the phenomenon of expansion of Islam in terms of jihad. Contrary to this, TW Arnold explained the spread of Islam as a result of peace. Islam was held to be a religion of jihad and violence alone until its peaceful teachings were explained by TW Arnold.
According to a Hadith,
“The word or kalima of Islam will spread in every home big or small.” (Musnad Ahmad)
This Hadith remained mysterious in meaning for a long time. The Muslim scholars interpreted this as the prediction of the establishment of an Islamic empire or hukumat in the world. But this explanation was not sufficient to convince the modern mind. A careful study of the Hadith brings to fore that the word used in it is kalmia, meaning ‘word.’ Hence this Hadith is actually a prediction of the age of telecommunication wherein the word of God will spread through modern means of communication into every home.
Hence, to conclude I would like to reiterate that it is not modernization but representation of Islamic teachings in the modern idiom which is the dire need of the hour.
May God guide us and help us spread his message to mankind!
