-
The Problem of the Stock Market
This article has been taken from the book “The turbulence of the stock markets: Their cause & the Shariah rule pertaining to the causes”, written in 1997
The Capitalist economic thought is an expedient thought that leads man to the pits, because it is based on the lowest motives of man, and the reality of the societies that adopt this thought is that they gasp for their living, production and consumption, with the material values as their only concern. Its reality shows also that a small group of capitalists dominate the overwhelming majority who work hard and live in constant anxiety, with most of them living in extreme poverty, unable to make ends meet (fulfil their basic needs). However, it would be wrong to wait for a major economic setback in the Western stock markets for the Muslims to realise that they had been duped by the capitalist thoughts and the stock markets and that they really are nothing but cobwebs. It is imperative to outline their reality now, to expose their corruption and explain that Islam forbids these thoughts and practices.
The stock markets in the West could not have come into being had it not been for three basic systems in the Capitalist economy. These are:
– The public limited companies system.
– The usurious banking system.
– The inconvertible paper money standard.These three systems have come together to split the Capitalist economy into two economies, or into two types of markets: the first represents the real economy where the production, marketing and real services take place, and the second is the financial economy, which some refer to as the parasite economy, where the contriving, buying and selling of various financial papers takes place. These are considered as binding contracts, or cheques or securities, representing a transferable right by one party that can be bought and sold, whether in a company property, its debts, government bonds or real estate or in many other (rights) certified by financial papers that are transferable, and considered as a temporary option to buy or sell another specific right at a price that differs from the current market price (e.g. options contracts). All this has no direct connection whatsoever with the real economy. This parasite financial economy has grown to the point where the value of its transactions have exceeded those transactions undertaken in the real economy by manifolds.
As for the public limited company’ system, it is set up in the first instance to enable businessmen and their businesses to protect their huge capital against the creditors and others who have interests in the business, in the event that some of these business ventures fail. It also enables them to control the ordinary shareholders who invest in these businesses. The distinguishing characteristic of the public company is that it has limited liability; hence if its business fails and losses are incurred, those who have rights upon the company would not be able to claim anything back from the investors, regardless of the amount of their capital (shareholding). They would only be able to claim back what is left in the company in terms of its capital.
It is an established convention in the West that the public limited company is established and declared by the state, not its founders. It is the state that issues the memorandum of association, specifies the nature of its business and the number of its shares. It is also the state that publishes the main articles of association. Hence, the public limited company has a corporeal personality that is totally independent of its investors. It gives the people who have a vested interest in the company the right to account it alone and not the investors. Thus the company’s liability is limited to what is left in the company itself and does not extend to what the investors have in terms of money.
When the state issues the memorandum of association for a public limited company, it appoints an interim board of directors from among the founders, i.e. those who have applied for the company to be established. The board would appoint a chairman and the company would start selling shares in the form of transferable certificates. The holder of such shares has a host of specific and limited rights. These would include his dividend from what the company decides to distribute in terms of profits or his share from the company’s capital if it decided to wind up its business. They also have the right to vote yearly to elect a new board of directors. However, all these rights are in relation to the shares they hold and not in relation to the investors. For instance, when voting for the board of directors, the votes would be according to the number of shares held and not according to the number of persons. Hence, if one person owned half of the shares plus one and if the number of the other shareholders who own the remaining shares were 100,000, that single shareholder with the majority shares would have the decisive vote in electing the board of directors, and the votes of the other shareholders would have no value whatsoever.
Businessmen do not usually need half the number of shares in a company in order to control it, sometimes 5% or 10% is sufficient. This could either be due to the fact that most of the small shareholders are dispersed, or due to co-operation between a group of major shareholders to elect a board of directors, thus controlling the capital of all the shareholders and managing all the company’s affairs. This is a tangible reality perceived by all people, and before such a reality, most of the shareholders would have no power to have any say over the capital they invested in the company, save for the trading in the shares of the company in the
stock market. This in fact does not make them partners in the company, but mere owners of company share certificates, which they buy and sell in the stock market, without the need of permission from either the company or its shareholders.
Furthermore, the stock markets enable the controlling shareholders to sell their shares without seeking anyone’s permission and without having to inform anyone. Hence, they could in fact wash their hands of any liability pertaining to the activities of the company which they controlled and for which they run its affairs. Also, when they wish to buy more shares, be it of the same company or another company, they need not consult anyone. What prompts them to buy some yet sell other shares is the motive for instant profit; thus, if the value of the shares of a company that they control increased, they would sell all or part of their shares, then if the value decreased they would buy their shares back. Therefore, they have no loyalty to the company or to other shareholders, or to the business of the company or its staff. The capitalists’ aim from controlling a certain company through its board of directors is merely to influence its activity in a manner leading to the rise in the value of its shares.
All this has led to a split between the stock markets and other securities, and the real economy, i.e. the reality of the companies whose shares are traded. What confirms this fact is the ratio (price/earnings ratio) that traders constantly monitor in the stock market, using it as a standard to gauge the increase and decrease in the value of shares of a specific company. It is the rate of the current price of a share compared with the annual dividend paid by the company for each single share. For instance if the annual profit of a single share were 2 dollars and the price of the share in the stock market were 40 dollars, the price/earnings ratio would be 20. In other words the profit of the company per share would be 5% of the price of that share. Newspapers publish these ratios daily, for all companies whose shares are traded in the stock markets. By reviewing these ratios, we note that they diverge from each other a great deal. The rate for some companies could in
some cases reach 100, while for others it could be as low as 5.This indicates the split in the relationship between the securities and stock markets, and the real economy and the reality of companies. It also indicates that the stock market has turned into a big casino. Speculation dominates the stock markets with sharp and repeated fluctuations becoming a feature of the market.
This is as far as the system of public limited companies is concerned. As for the usurious banking system, it is considered as the chief calamity of the Capitalist economy. This is so because thanks to it, the banks managed to collect people’s monies under the name of deposits and to dispose of their monies, as if they were the monies of the banks and not the monies of the depositors. They also managed to legitimize what they had collected in terms of funds from depositors by lending these funds to capitalists and businessmen, including traders in the stock markets, and also by lending money to the depositors themselves in some cases, then charging a guaranteed rate of interest for each loan.
However, this legitimizing process is only partial. This is so because the banks’ owners, most of whom happen to be capitalists and their companies, are given priority in acquiring loans, and these loans are at a reduced rate of interest. Other capitalists and businessmen are second on the list under the pretext that the default risks are minimal. Finally come the small businessmen and consumers from among the common people. This bias is clearly reflected in the disparity of the interest rates applied to each. In America for instance, the rate ranges from 5.8%on loans given to capitalists and major companies, to 20% on loans given to purchase a car. In conclusion, the interest system leads naturally to making people’s monies circulated among very few people.
The role of the banks in the stock markets is more dangerous than their role in the real economy. This is so because they lend the dealers of shares loans which exceed what they have in cash by manifolds. For instance, a share whose price in the stock market is $100.00 can be bought with $5.00 from the buyer’s own cash and $95.00 with money borrowed from the bank, or borrowed from brokerage houses who in turn borrow it from the bank. This means that this person who deals in the stock market can buy a number of shares whose price is twenty times more than his cash can buy. However, the bank does not lend this sort of money to anyone except the very wealthy capitalists, this means that only those persons would be able to multiply their purchasing power in the market, thanks to the banks, and consequently increase their influence over these markets and increase their wealth at the expense of the common people from among the depositors or the traders.
Since most of what is bought in terms of shares is financed by loans that hugely exceed their values, a sharp fall in share prices is often followed by a further fall. For instance, if a bank were to agree to lend one of the traders 90% of the value of shares which he wants to purchase, and this trader were to buy shares for$1,000,000 his loan from the bank would be $900,000. Then if we were to assume that the value of his shares fell by 20%, i.e. it became $800,000, the authorized loan would become $720,000, i.e. 90% of $800.000. In this case he would have to repay the bank immediately the sum of $180,000 of his loan, in order to maintain the percentage of the loan at 90% of the value of shares. If he had the money he would not be forced to sell any of his shares whereas if he did not have it, he would be forced to sell his shares immediately to pay off his outstanding debt to the bank. This would increase the supply of shares and would lead to a further decrease in prices. If a host of traders were put in the same situation, this would lead to a constant fall in prices and perhaps to an agitation in the market.
Therefore, the role of the usurious banking system in the stock market shifts between inflating and deflating trading and prices. Hence, when the prices of some specific shares increase, banks tend to offer large amounts of money in terms of loans to those who trade in those specific shares, thus multiplying the amount of cash they have at their disposal. Those traders would in turn rush to buy more shares and the prices would continue increasing to an exaggerated level. However, the situation could change overnight. The prices of some specific shares could fall for any reason, such as a rumor or the failure of a project. The banks in this case would reduce their lending due to the decrease in the value of the shares which acted as securities against the loans they had issued to the traders. Those traders would in turn resort to either selling some or all of the shares and this would precipitate a fall in prices to an exaggerated level. This would consequently lead the banks towards reducing further their lending due to the constant fall in share prices.
In answer to the question of where the banks get these funds from and where do they take them when they reduce their lending, the answer is that these funds belong to the depositors in the first place. Banks in the usurious banking system rely on people keeping their savings in the banks. They also rely on the fact that most of what is withdrawn from one account ends up in another account in the same bank or in another bank, and most of the monies remain in the banks. What the banks lend to borrowers is not in fact money in kind that goes out of the banks’ deposits, but rather a money in an account, that the bank creates by opening two accounts for the borrower, one for the loan that he owes and another as a account holding the sum generated from the loan, for the borrower to withdraw what he needs. If most of the depositors and borrowers were to withdraw their deposits in cash all at once, they would not be able to do so, because most of those deposits are turned into loans which may be losses or may be in other banks, and thus they cannot be cashed in instantly. In such a case, the bank would often have to be shut down and liquidated.
The usurious banking system is based on trust in the banks and based on the fact that people’s deposits are safe, i.e. that they can withdraw all of their deposits whenever they wished. However,
this statement is deceptive and different from the reality of the banks. This deception has been exposed several times in the West and in other parts of the world, when depositors could not withdraw their deposits and lost huge sums of money as a result, and the banks were shut or declared bankrupt. Therefore, the West invented the inconvertible paper money, also known as Compulsory Bills. The supervision of this inconvertible money is assigned by the government to a central bank. And all this is merely to cover up the flaws of the usurious banking system, and to cover up the fact that it is based on deception, to prevent it from collapsing and to maintain people’s confidence in the Capitalist system.
The inconvertible paper money system gives powers to the Central Bank to issue a currency to be circulated throughout the country in the shape of printed papers that have no intrinsic value whatsoever. The government forces people in the country to accept this currency in fulfilling their financial commitments. If any of the citizens were to refuse this paper as a settlement to a debt they were owed, the law and the courts would force him to accept it; otherwise he would lose his claim and his rights.
This means that the Central Bank reserves the right to issue money that it deems necessary to implement the government’s policy. For instance, when the treasury runs out of monies that the government had levied in taxes or other, it resorts to the Central Bank and borrows from it. A loan is recorded against what it borrows and a deposit account is opened so that the treasury could withdraw what it needs to cover its expenditures. This would be considered as new money. Also, if the Central Bank deemed that there was a need for more money in the country, to lend to borrowers, it would purchase a host of exchequer bills or company securities, and it would record the value of these bills in the accounts of those who sell them, either at the Central Bank itself or in the commercial banks. This would also be new money.
An example of this is what took place in October 1987 when the share prices in New York fell by 22% in one single day. The U.S. Central Bank issued at once huge amounts of money and put it at the disposal of the banks in order to redress the effects of the shock. The Central Bank bought billions of dollars worth of bills (securities) and put these amounts at the disposal of the banks, to lend to the dealers in the stock market and ease their hardship; the system succeeded for a while in riding the storm and covering up the flaws of the usurious banking system despite rumors circulating that Citibank, one of the leading banks in New York, was about to shut down.
Issuing money by printing paper money and placing it in the government’s or in people’s accounts is also very costly, and the burden of this cost is laid upon the common people who most of the time fail to perceive its causes. This is so because the increase of the money in circulation leads to a decrease in the value of the currency; hence, one of the flaws of this system is that it always suffers from an increase in the cost of goods and services. The reality of this increase which some refer to as inflation, is that it is a reduction in the value of people’s monies and a reduction in the value of their wages and their standard of living. However, the main flaw in this system is that it is based on a confidence trick, i.e. on the deception that the paper money has a value, whereas it has no intrinsic value; however, the law of the land has imposed it by force and made it a legal tender in the eyes of the judiciary. This is why we note that when the political situation in a weak country is easily undermined and when the State’s reverence is shaken, its paper money becomes very weak and its rulers often resort to reducing the value of the currency vis-à-vis other currencies (devaluing), hoping to start afresh the confidence trick and to deceive people with regard to the value of the currency.
This is the reality of the stock markets in the West and in every country that follows and emulates the West. The stock markets are the hotbeds of the businessmen, for they do not produce any commodity that could be useful to people and there is no other incentive for the traders except a quick and easy profit. Stock markets are more like casinos than anything else. They are like cobwebs that can easily be shaken. They represent the symbol of the capitalist greed and gasping for material values. Had it not been for the Capitalist economic systems, such as the public limited companies, the usurious banking system and the inconvertible paper money, these parasitic markets would not have existed and would not have been able to survive. This is the reality of the stock markets in the West and in every country that follows and emulates the West.
The Shariah rule pertaining to this is as follows:
The public limited company system gives the public company a distinct quality of limited liability, aimed at protecting major capitalists and businessmen in case the company fails and incurs losses, in which case, those who have claims against it would not be able to demand from its investors any compensation no matter how large the personal assets of the investors are. The financial claims are only confined to what is left in the company in terms of assets. This system is contradictory to Shari’ah in every aspect. The Shari’ah rule obliges all to repay debts in full to the rightful owners, and it is forbidden to cut anything from them.
Al-Bukhari reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
“ مَنْ أَخَذَ أَمْوَالَ النَّاسِ يُرِيدُ أَدَاءَهَا أَدَّى اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، وَمَنْ أَخَذَ يُرِيدُ إِتْلاَفَهَا أَتْلَفَهُ اللَّهُ ”
“He who takes money from people with the intention of paying it back Allah will pay on his behalf, and he who takes it with the intention to waste it Allah will waste him.“
Ahmed also reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
لَتُؤَدُّنَّ الْحُقُوقَ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، حَتَّى يُقْتَصَّ لِلشَّاةِ الْجَمَّاءِ مِنَ الشَّاةِ الْقَرْنَاءِ نَطَحَتْهَا
“You shall return the rights to their rightful owners on the Day of Judgement, even the ewe with no horns will get even with the ewe with horns by butting it back.”
Hence, the Messenger of Allah has confirmed the obligation of fulfilling one’s rights in full in temporal life, and if one does not he will do so on the Day of Judgement. This serves as a warning for those who devour people’s rights.
Shari’ah has made it an unjust act for the rich to delay the settlement of their debts. Al-Bukhari reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
مَطْلُ الْغَنِيِّ ظُلْمٌ
“The delay of the rich is unjust”
If the delay in settling the debt is unjust, what would the devouring of the rights and the non settlement of the debts be? Indeed it would be a greater injustice and would entail a graver punishment. The Messenger of Allah has taught us that the best people are those who are best when it comes to settling their debts, for Al-Bukhari reported that the Messenger of Allah said:
فَإِنَّ خَيْرَكُمْ أَحْسَنُكُمْ قَضَاءً
“Truly the best from amongst you are those who are best in settling debts.”
Therefore to restrict the settlement of debts to those who have claims against the company, only after clearance of the public company’s losses, is forbidden. Rather they should be given all that is owed to them in terms of rights or debts in full from the assets of the investors.
This is as far as granting the public companies a limited liability. As for the public limited companies themselves, they contradict the rules of companies in Islam. This is so because the public company according to their definition : “A contract in which two or more persons undertake that each one of them participate in a financial project, by tendering a sum of money, thus sharing what this project yields in terms of profit or loss.” According to this definition and according to the reality pertaining to the founding of the public company or the Joint-Stock Company, it becomes clear that it is not a contract between two people or more according to the Islamic Shari’ah rules, because the contract according to Shari’ah is based on offer and acceptance between two parties. In other words it means that there should be two parties in the contract. One party assumes the offer, i.e. he initiates the offer of the contract by saying: “I enter into partnership with you” or words to this effect; and the other party expresses acceptance by saying: “I accept” or “I consent” or words to this effect. If the contract is lacking the presence of two parties and the presence of offer and acceptance, nothing can be contracted and nothing can be called a legitimate contract.
Taking part in a public company can take effect by merely buying its shares, either from the company itself or from someone who had already bought some of its shares. The partnership of the shareholder does not entail any negotiations or any agreement with the company, or with any other shareholder. What brings the public company into being from the onset and what gives it its corporeal personality, which is independent from its shareholders, is the government. It is the government who issues the “Memorandum of Association”. As for the founders, the only agreement between them is the application they filed with the
government to establish the company. When the “Memorandum of Association” is issued, the company becomes effectively in charge of its own affairs, thus it sells shares to the founders and to other people.
It is evident here that there is no contract taking place between two parties and that there is no offer and acceptance, because any person buying even a single share becomes a partner. Hence, the public company is not an agreement between two parties. It is rather a unilateral decision taken by an individual to become a partner in a company. Hence, he becomes a partner by merely buying a share in the company. Law experts in the West have interpreted this type of action as being an abidance by a contract, even if it were unilateral. According to them, it is one way of disposing of one’s will, where a person commits himself to a matter vis-à-vis another person or vis-à-vis the public, regardless of the acceptance or the refusal of the other person or that of the public. Therefore, the contract of the public company is unlawful according to Shari’ah. This is so because the contract according to the Shari’ah rules necessitates the presence of a link between the offer made by one of the contractors and the acceptance made by the other party, in a manner that bears a direct effect on what is contracted. This is not the case in the public company contract.
The reality of the public company contradicts the reality of the company in Islam. The company in Islam is: “A contract between two or more parties, who agree to undertake a financial venture with the aim of making a profit.” It is therefore a contract between two or more parties; thus it could not be unilateral. An agreement should rather take place between two or more parties. The contract itself should be based on the undertaking of a financial transaction with the aim of making a profit. It is not fitting for the contract to be based on the mere payment of money. It is also not fitting for the aim to be just for the sake of entering into a partnership. Hence, undertaking the financial venture is the basis in the company contract.
This action should either be undertaken by all the contracting parties or at least by one of them, or by some of them on one part, with the capital of the others on the other part. The undertaking of the financial venture by the contractors or at least by one of them leads inevitably to the presence of at least one physical partner who should be party to the contract. Therefore, in every type of company in Islam, the presence of at least one physical partner is a prerequisite. It is also a fundamental element in the company’s contract. If the physical partner is present, the partnership is contracted, otherwise the partnership cannot be contracted.
This demonstrates that the public company lacks the conditions necessary for the partnership to be contracted, because those who find themselves partners in the public company are merely partners in capital and there is no physical partner; though the presence of a physical partner is essential in the contract of the company. In the public companies, partnership is concluded by the mere presence of partners in capital only. The public company assumes its activities without the presence of a physical partner. According to Shari’ah, the partner in capital, has no right to run the company, nor does he have the right to work in the company as a partner. The running of the company and working in the company is confined to the physical partner only. Partnership in the public company, it is based on the partnership of the capital only not on the partnership of persons. Hence, whoever owns more shares, has more votes and whoever has fewer shares, has fewer votes. Besides, according to Westerners, the public company has a corporeal personality that has the power of disposal. Again, according to Shari’ah, disposal can only be given to a person that has the competence of disposal. Any disposal not conducted in this manner will be considered invalid according to Shari’ah.
Hence, assigning the right of disposal for a company’s affairs to a corporeal personality is forbidden. It should rather be assigned to he who has the competence of disposal. Any disposal that is not conducted in this manner is considered invalid according to Shari’ah. Hence, assigning the disposal of a company to a corporeal personality is forbidden. It should rather be assigned to he who has the competence of disposal, and this must be a real person. Therefore, the public company is invalid according to Shari’ah. This is as far as a public limited company is concerned.
As for the shares of such companies, these are financial papers representing a share in the company at the time of purchase or at the time of evaluation. They do not represent the capital of the company at the time of establishment. The share is an integral part of the company’s entity and it is not part of its capital. The value of the shares is not unique nor is it stable. It rather varies according to the profits and losses of the company. They are not unique and fixed at all times, but they are constantly fluctuating. As for the Shari’ah rule pertaining to the dealing in these shares and in securities, whether buying or selling, it is forbidden. This is because these shares are those of a company that is unlawful according to Shari’ah. They are in fact certificates of bills which contain mixed sums from a lawful capital and unlawful profits made from an unlawful transaction. Each bill represents the value of a share, and this share represents part of the assets that belong to the unlawful company. These assets have been mixed with an unlawful transaction which Shari’ah has prohibited. Thus, it is illicit money, whose buying and selling becomes unlawful, and dealing in such money is also illicit. This is also the case for bonds, in which money is invested with interest, and so is the case for bank shares and similar, since they all contain sums of illicit money; thus their buying and selling is unlawful, because the money contained in them is illicit.
This is as far as public companies, their systems and their shares is concerned. As for usury, which is the main calamity in the Capitalist economy and other economies, Islam has forbidden it categorically regardless of the rate. The usurious money is unlawful without any shade of a doubt, and no person has the right to own such money and it should be returned to its rightful owners if they are know. Due to the atrocity of usury, Allah (swt) described those who devour it as those whom Shaitan has driven to madness by his touch.
Allah (swt) says:
ٱلَّذِینَ یَأۡكُلُونَ ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ لَا یَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا یَقُومُ ٱلَّذِی یَتَخَبَّطُهُ ٱلشَّیۡطَٰنُ مِنَ ٱلۡمَسِّۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمۡ قَالُوۤا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡبَیۡعُ مِثۡلُ ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ۗ وَأَحَلَّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡبَیۡعَ وَحَرَّمَ ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ۚ فَمَن جَاۤءَهُۥ مَوۡعِظَةࣱ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ فَٱنتَهَىٰ فَلَهُۥ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمۡرُهُۥۤ إِلَى ٱللَّهِۖ وَمَنۡ عَادَ فَأُو۟لَٰۤئِكَ أَصۡحَٰبُ ٱلنَّارِۖ هُمۡ فِیهَا خَٰلِدُونَ
“Those who devour usury will not stand except as stands one whom Shaitan by his touch has driven to madness. That is because they say: Trade is like usury. But Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury. Those who after receiving direction from their God desist shall be pardoned for the past their case is for Allah to judge; but those who repeat the offence are companions of the fire. They will abide therein forever.” [TMQ Al-Baqarah: 275]
Also, due to the severity of the prohibition of usury, Allah declared war against those who devour it.
Allah (swt) says:
یَٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَذَرُوا۟ مَا بَقِیَ مِنَ ٱلرِّبَوٰۤا۟ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤۡمِنِینَ ٢٧٨ فَإِن لَّمۡ تَفۡعَلُوا۟ فَأۡذَنُوا۟ بِحَرۡبࣲ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦۖ وَإِن تُبۡتُمۡ فَلَكُمۡ رُءُوسُ أَمۡوَٰلِكُمۡ لَا تَظۡلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظۡلَمُونَ
“O you who believe fear Allah and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if you are indeed believers. If you do not, take notice of war from Allah and His Messenger; but if you turn back you shall have your capital sums, deal not unjustly and you shall not be dealt with unjustly.” [TMQ Al-Baqarah: 278-279]
As for the inconvertible paper money standard: money is described as the medium which people agreed to have represent the value of goods and services, whether this was metallic or otherwise. It is the standard by which all the goods and services are measured. The metallic standard was widely used and prevalent long before Islam. When Islam came, the Messenger of Allah adopted the use of the Dinar and Dirham as currencies, i.e. he adopted the metallic monetary standard. He made them the exclusive currencies measure by which all the goods and services were measured.
The world continued to adopt gold and silver as currency until just before the First World War when dealing in gold and silver was suspended. Then in the wake of the First World War dealing in gold and silver partially resumed. Then dealing started to diminish and eventually it was officially abolished on 15th July 1971, when the Bretton Woods standard stipulating that the dollar should be covered by gold and linked to a fixed price was cancelled. Hence, paper money became inconvertible (compulsory) and without any gold or silver cover. It also no longer acted as substitute for gold and silver and had no intrinsic value. The value of paper
money was rather derived from the law that imposed it as a legal tender. The colonial powers used it as one of the means of colonialism and they set about tampering with the world’s currencies to serve their interests. Hence, they occasioned financial upsets and caused economic havoc. They also increased the issuing of inconvertible paper money which led to a soaring of inflation and to a deterioration in the purchasing power of currencies. This was one of the factors that contributed to the shocks in the money markets.
The occurrence of these shocks in the Western world highlights the corruption of the Capitalist economic system, the public companies’ system, the usurious banking system and the inconvertible paper money standard. It also highlights the fact that the world cannot be salvaged from the malaise of the Capitalist economic system and the shocks in the money markets as long as these systems exist. The only thing which will save the world from the corruption of this Capitalist economic system, the public company system, the usurious banking system and the inconvertible paper money standard is the abolishment of this corrupt Capitalist economic system including the abolishment of the public companies system or the transformation of these companies into Islamic companies. To save the world from this malaise, the usurious banking system and the inconvertible paper money standard must be abolished and a return to the gold and silver standard initiated.
This will put an end to the horrific monetary inflation and the usurious bank loans. It will also put an end to the speculations that have caused these shocks in the money markets. The need for usurious banks will also come to an end. Therefore, the economic situation in the world will be stabilized and the financial crisis will disappear. The pretext for having money markets will also disappear and with it the economic crisis.
May Allah’s mercy and peace be upon our Master the Messenger of Allah (saw), his family, companions and those who follow them with goodness till the Day of Judgement.
Rajab 1st 1418 AH,
16th November 1997 CE
-
Sunnah – Between Gross Misunderstanding and Practical Rejection
It is well known among Muslims that the Sunnah of Muhammad (saaws) must be believed in and adhered to. Allah Ta’ala says:
“..So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you, and fear Allah, for Allah is strict in punishment.” (TMQ 59:7)
The one who rejects the Sunnah is a Kafir since it means the rejection of Wahi. The word “Sunnah” has been greatly misunderstood by some Muslims and grossly neglected by others. This article is an attempt to convey the correct concept of Sunnah to those who misunderstand it and explain the importance of following it to the letter to those who neglect it.
What is Sunnah?
Sunnah, in the Arabic language, means way (tariqah). As a term, it is used by the scholars to mean different things. For example, the scholars of Usool ul-fiqh define the Sunnah as “sayings, actions, and silent approvals of the Prophet (saaws). ” Since the scholars of Usool are concerned with the legislative sources and the derivation of laws from these sources, they view Sunnah from a legislative perspective (i.e. what things related to the Prophet are used as legal evidences). Scholars of fiqh, however, use Sunnah to mean the actions performed or commands given by the Messenger of Allah that are below the Fard. In other words, the Fuqahaa’ are concerned with punishment and reward. Therefore, when the Fuqahaa’ use the word Sunnah, they refer to an action for which there is a reward if it is carried out and no punishment if it is not. It is synonymous with mandoub.
Is the Sunnah a Revelation?
It is indeed a wahi from Allah Ta’ala.
“Nor does he say aught of his own desire. It is no less than an Inspiration sent down to him He was taught by one Mighty in Power. “ (TMQ 53:3-4)
and Allah Ta’ala says,
“And if the Messenger were to invent any sayings in Our name, We should certainly seize him by his right hand, and We should certainly cut off the artery of his heart. “ (TMQ 69: 44-46)
Therefore, the sayings, actions, and silent approvals are a wahi from Allah Ta’ala. Similar to the Qur’an, the Sunnah makes things Haram and Halal. This is due to the fact that it is a wahi. As a matter of fact, most of the detailed rules that govern the Muslim’s life as an individual and as part of the society are taken from the Sunnah. Debating this will ultimately lead to the nullification of Sharia at large. The Messenger of Allah said, “Indeed what the Messenger made Haram is like that which Allah made Haram.” (Abu Dawood and At-Tirmizi) He (saaws) also said, “I left two things among you, if you hold onto them, you will not go astray: The book of Allah and my Sunnah.”( AI-Bukhari)
A Gross Misunderstanding
Due to mixing between the Sunnah as a source of legislation that must be followed and Sunnah as an action that is below the Fard, many preferable actions are made obligatory by many people. Many Muslims, for example, consider it a must to pray all Raka’as of salat ul- Dhuhr (2 or 4 Sunnah, 4 Fard, 2 Sunnah and 2 Nafil). They believe they will be punished if they do not pray all the Raka’as in that order all the time. They do not differentiate between the Fard (i.e. an action for which they would be rewarded for doing and punished for not doing) and the Sunnah (Mandub) (i.e. an action for which they would be rewarded for doing and not punished for not doing). Nor do they differentiate between the Sunnah from the fiqh point of view and the Sunnah as a source of legislation.
A similar example of not differentiating occurs with regards to growing of the beard. Some Muslims believe that it is Haram not to grow the beard and it is even worse to grow it and then shave it off, as it is abandoning the Sunnah! One can understand this position if they were of the opinion that growing the beard is Fard. However, since they hold the opinion that growing the beard is Sunnah and yet consider it a sin for shaving it off, reflects confusion over the concept of Sunnah.
Do problems arise from this understanding?
Yes. Muslims cannot perform an action with the wrong intention. Allah’s Messenger (saaws) said in the Hadith reported by AI-Bukhari: “Verily actions by intentions.” Therefore, for the action to be accepted by Allah Ta’ala, the Niyyah must be correct. Also, praying the Sunnah of Thuhr as an obligation, while it is recommended, is Haram since it is changing parts of the Deen. AI-Bukhari reported that the Messenger of Allah (saaws) said: “Whoever initiates something new in our matter [Deenj is rejected.” Also, this misunderstanding often leads to either rushing through the Salah in order to finish it or not praying at all since “there is no time.” Both results are unacceptable.
What about the other extreme?
Some Muslims do have the right understanding of the difference between Sunnah as a source of Sharia and Sunnah as opposed to Fard. They, however, take it very lightly. They only look at one side of the definition, namely that if the action is not carried out, the person will not be punished. They faiI to see the positive side of the definition, “if one carries out the action, he will be rewarded.” So when they are seen not doing Tasbeeh after Salah or not praying the Sunnah and are approached, they rush to ask “why do I have to do it? Is it an obligation?” or “I do not want to do it, it is not an obligation!” or “Am I committing Haram by not doing the Sunnah?!”
While such statements reflect a correct and clear differentiation between Fard and Sunnah, they reflect an extremely poor understanding of some basic issues, some of which are:
1. The Muslim should be constantly striving to get closer and closer to Allah Ta’ala. This is not accomplished by doing just the Fard, but also by performing other actions that will get us closer to Him (such as reading AI-Quran AI Kareem, praying the Sunnah and the Nafil, fasting the recommended days, etc.) Allah’s Messenger (saaws) said in the Hadith Qudsi that is reported by AI-Bukhari: “Allah Ta’ala said.. “There is nothing I love the most than when My ‘Abd becomes closer to Me with that which I obligated him to do. My ‘Abd keeps getting closer to Me with Nafl until I love him. When I love him, I become his hearing which he hears with, and his sight which he sees with, and his hand which he strikes with, and his leg which he walks with. If he asks Me, I will give him, and if he seeks My refuge, I will protect him.”
2. Doesn’t performing the Sunnah help us accomplish the Fard? This is something we all feel, that the more Sunnah and Nafil we do, the easier it becomes to carry out the Fard. It is almost certain that neglecting the Sunnah will impact on our performance of the Fard, such as praying Fajr, controlling ones tongue, lowering ones gaze, etc.
3. When Allah Ta’ala legislated the Sunnah, He did not do it aimlessly. It was designed to elevate the Islamic personality so as to obtain a higher level of closeness to Allah Ta’ala. Doesn’t Allah Ta’ala complement the Sahaba by saying:
“…You see them bowing and falling down prostrate, seeking bounty from Allah and His good pleasure. The mark of them is on their faces [foreheads] from the traces of prostration.” (TMQ 48:29)
4. The Messenger of Allah (saaws), who was guaranteed the highest level of Jannah, used to pray at night till his feet were swollen, would fast till the Sahaba would say he was not going to break fast, would give charity generously, recite the Qur’an constantly, do Tasbeeh extensively…, His Sahaba continued his practice. It was said that Abu Hurrairah would sleep 1/3 of the night, pray 1/3 of the night and review his Hadiths 1/3 of the night. Are we even worthy of comparison?!!
5. We should remember that our destination on the Day of Judgment might be dependent on one good deed (hasanah). This good deed might be in that Salah or that Tasbeeh or that recitation of the Qur’an! Allah Ta’ala says,
“As for the one whose scale [good deeds] is heavy, he will have a pleasant life. And the one whose scale [good deeds] is light, he will be thrown [in hell] headfirst.” (TMQ 101:6-9)
It has to be clear that carrying the Da’wah with a group or labeling oneself with a name does not guarantee one Jannah! Nor does it exempt one from the Sunnah or remove the necessity of needing the rewards of Sunnah. The active Muslims are the ones who need to constantly read the Qur’an and pray the Sunnah and Nafil the most, for this is the source of their strength and determination. Therefore, they should be the most eager to please Allah Ta’ala. We should ask ourselves, How badly do we want to please Allah? How badly do we want to go to AI-Jannah? Are we doing what it takes? These are but a few things to ponder over.
Ar-Raya Magazine, November 1995
-
Q&A: The Angels Harut and Marut in Surat Al-Baqara
Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem
Q&A: The #Angels Harut and Marut in Surat Al-Baqara. (Translated)
To: Ustadhi Kamsokole
=======#Question: Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh
First, I would like to make duaa to you and congratulate you for the hard work you are doing in developing this Dawah work.
My question is regarding Surat Al-Baqara verse 102 (02: 102) the verse is long and I will not repeat writing it. I will ask about what is contained in this verse:
a) Are Harut and Marut angels? Or are they from mankind with angelic qualities? There are sheikhs who say that they are people who have great knowledge, according to the meaning of the Arabic language. And if they are angels, how did they communicate with the humans at that time?
b) The Qur’an says,
(وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَى الْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَٰرُوتَ وَمَٰرُوتَ)
“… but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt” [Al-Baqara: 102]
c) What did Harut and Marut bring or what was brought down to them? ﴿وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولَا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ﴾ “But they [i.e., the two angels] do not teach anyone unless they say, “We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic].” [Al-Baqara: 102]
Can we say that these angels have been sent from heaven to teach people witchcraft?
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh:
The answer to your questions is mentioned in the book, Al-Tayseer fi Usul Al-Tafsir – Interpretation of Surat Al-Baqara for the verses: (101-103), and if you do not have the book, I will quote it to you below:
[The book “Interpretation of Surat Al-Baqarah”, page 119-125, Word file:
Interpretation of the Allah’s (swt) saying:
[(وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ… لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ)
“And when a #Messenger came to them…if only they knew” (101-103)
(وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَهُمْ نَبَذَ فَرِيقٌ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ * وَاتَّبَعُوا مَا تَتْلُو الشَّيَاطِينُ عَلَى مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَانَ وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَى الْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَارُوتَ وَمَارُوتَ وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولَا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنْهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِ وَمَا هُمْ بِضَارِّينَ بِهِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنْفَعُهُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا لَمَنِ اشْتَرَاهُ مَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ وَلَبِئْسَ مَا شَرَوْا بِهِ أَنْفُسَهُمْ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ * وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا وَاتَّقَوْا لَمَثُوبَةٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ)
“And when a messenger from Allāh came to them confirming that which was with them, a party of those who had been given the Scripture threw the Scripture of Allāh [i.e., the Torah] behind their backs as if they did not know [what it contained] * And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of #Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt. But they [i.e., the two angels] do not teach anyone unless they say, “We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic].”1 And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allāh. And they [i.e., people] learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But they [i.e., the Children of Israel] certainly knew that whoever purchased it [i.e., magic] would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew * And if they had believed and feared Allāh, then the reward from Allāh would have been [far] better, if they only knew” [Al-Baqara: 101- 103].
Allah (swt) clarifies in these verses the following:
1- The Jews opposed the Messenger of Allah (saw) and they challenged him with the Torah in which they questioned him from the Torah, asking the Messenger (saw) about the soul, the people of the cave and Zhul-Qarnain. The Messenger of Allah (saw) used to answer them by what Allah (swt) has revealed to him from the #Quran.
Moreover, the Messenger (saw) used to expose the ways they would twist and distort, such as their distortion of the stoning of the adulterer and the #distortion of the description of the Messenger (saw) that came in the Torah, which was the revelation of Messenger of Allah (saw) confirming what was indicating by the Torah. Once they found that the outcome of the challenge using the Torah was not how they wished, they turned away from it and discarded it behind their backs
(كَأَنَّهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ)
“as if they don’t know”, i.e. their #rejection of the Torah was from those who do not believe in it and did not know the truth that came with it, including the description of the Messenger of Allah (saw). This indicates the extreme reluctance to accept what was in the Torah of the signs of the #Prophethood of the Messenger of Allah (saw). They were reluctant with #awareness!
When they failed to show their opposition to the Messenger of Allah (saw) with the Torah, they began looking for other issues in sources other than the Torah to challenge the Prophet (saw) with.
2- When Allah (swt) revealed to His Messenger that Suleiman was a #Prophet,
(إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالأَسْبَاطِ وَعِيسَى وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُونُسَ وَهَارُونَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا)
“We have sent Thee inspiration, As we sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Suleiman, and to David we gave the Psalms.” [Surah An-Nisaa’ 4:163].
The Jews stated that Suleiman was a magician and he was not a prophet; then they collected the books that the #magicians wrote with the help of the Shayateen at the time of Suleiman (as). They were spread between their hands in Madinah and they said that these are the books that Suleiman judged by. They followed them and they made these books the material with which to argue with the Messenger of Allah (saw)
(وَاتَّبَعُوا مَا تَتْلُو الشَّيَاطِينُ عَلَى مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَانَ)
“And they followed that which the Shayateen recited at the time of Suleiman.”
(مَا تَتْلُو الشَّيَاطِينُ)
; what the Shayateen recited or what they whispered to the magicians to write in their books,
(يُوحِي بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا)
“inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception” [Surah Al-Ana’m 6:112]
The Shayateen before Islam used to listen to the heavens and mix with it several kinds of lies and reveal it to their associates. RasulAllah (saw) said,
«فَيَسْتَخْبِرُ بَعْضُ أَهْلِ السَّمَاوَاتِ بَعْضًا حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ الْخَبَرُ هَذِهِ السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا فَتَخْطَفُ الْجِنُّ السَّمْعَ فَيَقْذِفُونَ إِلَى أَوْلِيَائِهِمْ وَيُرْمَوْنَ بِهِ فَمَا جَاءُوا بِهِ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ فَهُوَ حَقٌّ وَلَكِنَّهُمْ يَقْرِفُونَ فِيهِ وَيَزِيدُونَ»
“Then the dwellers of heavens seek information from them until this information reaches the heaven of the world. In this process of transmission, the Jinn snatches what he manages to overhear and he carries it to his associates.
And when the angels see the Jinn they attack them with meteors. If they narrate only which they manage to snatch that is correct, but they embellish it with lies and make additions to it.” The Jinn have been forbidden from eavesdropping after Islam,
(وَأَنَّا كُنَّا نَقْعُدُ مِنْهَا مَقَاعِدَ لِلسَّمْعِ فَمَنْ يَسْتَمِعْ الآنَ يَجِدْ لَهُ شِهَابًا رَصَدًا)
“We used, indeed, to sit there In (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing; but any who listen Now will find a flaming Fire watching Him In ambush.” [Surah Al-Jin 72: 9] As for
(عَلَى مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَان)
it means at the time of Suleiman (as).
3- These magician’s books were written in two ways:
• First: Whispers of the Shayateen of #magic.
• Second: What was taught by the angels of Harut and Marut to the people; Allah (swt) sent them in Babylon, teaching the people of magic and warning them not to practice it.
They informed the people that they both are a Fitna and a test for them
(وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولاَ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلاَ تَكْفُرْ)
“but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, “We are for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).” And Allah (swt) revealed in this land the good and the evil to test his slaves, evil and good;
(وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً)
“and we test you by evil and by good by way of trial.” [Surah Al-Anbiya 21: 35]
And the teaching of magic to people was as a test for them; the one who learns magic and practices it will be Kafireen, and the one who doesn’t believe nor practice it will be safe
(إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلاَ تَكْفُرْ)
“We are for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).”
4- Allah (swt) exonerated His Prophet Suleiman (as) from the lying and defamation of the Jews. Suleiman (as) wasn’t a Kafir, and it is elaborated that he was neither a magician nor a believer of witchcraft and thus he is not a Kafir. He is the prophet of Allah (as)
(وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ)
“And Suleiman did not disbelieve” i.e.
he was not a magician nor a believer in witchcraft to be a Kafir! This significance was appointed because the Jews accused Suleiman (as) that he was a magician: – “Ibn Jareer narrated from Shaher bin Hawshab that he said; the Jews said, “Look at Muhammad he is mixing the truth with the falsehood, he mentions Suleiman with the #prophets, but he was a magician and used to ride the wind.”
Therefore, Allah (swt) answered them and said;
(وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ)
“And Suleiman did not disbelieve” i.e.
he was not a Magician, but the metaphorical use of Kafir in this verse indicates the one who believes in magic and practices it, will be Kafir, according to the language of the Arabs, as we mentioned.
Thus, Suleiman did not became a Kaffir, but the Shayateen were Kafireen
(وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ عَلَى الْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَارُوتَ وَمَارُوتَ وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولاَ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلاَ تَكْفُرْ)
“Suleiman did not disbelieve, but the Shayatin disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut, but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) till they had said, “We are for trial, so disbelieve not (by #learning this magic from us).”
5- The magic is displaying something in a way other than its reality, illusion, and this sense is coming from the verse
(سَحَرُوا أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ)
“They bewitched the eyes of the people.” [Surah Al-Araef 7:116].
(يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَى)
“then behold their ropes and their rods -so it seemed to him on account of their magic – begin to be in lively motion!” [Surah Taha 20: 66] which mean the reality of the stick remains a stick, but for the onlooker it appears as a snake by illusion.
It was stated by Al-Jawahiri in the book, The #Language (al-Lugha): the magic is the spellbinding and everything that can be spellbound easily and exactly is magic; for example, when you perform magic in front of a boy, it means that you have tricked him. The magic was mentioned in the collection of the Arabs in the sense of the torment and severity in bewildering and lying, about which the poet said,
أعوذ بربي من النافثات من عضة العاضة المُعِضة
I seek refuge in my Lord from the sorcery from the torment of the tormentor.
The magic, in the sense of concealment, was used by Arabs as well; whereas, the magician is performing with secrecy. As for, what is the magic, they are skills that enable the magician to deceive the eyes of the people to see things as an illusion, other than reality. However, the reality does not change, in the sense that it does not nullify the reality; for example, if someone grabbed the snake that appears from the stick, he will confirm that it is a stick. So when the magicians threw their rods they were seen as sticks. However, they #bewitched the eyes of the people so as to make them appear as snakes. And when Moses (as) threw his stick, the magicians saw that it became a real snake. It was not a stick for it then swallowed up their rods, overturning the reality. They realized that this is not magic because magic does not nullify the reality. Therefore, they realized that it was not magic, rather it is Haq from the Lord of the Worlds as was said by Moses (as) and they believed strongly.
6- And
(وَاتَّبَعُوا مَا تَتْلُو الشَّيَاطِينُ)
“They followed what the Shayatin (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic)” and
(وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْر)
“but the Shayatin disbelieved, teaching men magic” shows that the magic is reciting the words of Kufr. This means that the magic is a skill being executed by using the words of Kufr in its procedures or determinations. Other than this is not what is called magic as mentioned in this Ayah. Such as making matters appear as other than their reality, using trickery – such as fast hands or the like – or employing speech which is not kufr to give an illusion to the people, making things appear as they are not – as some charlatans do, including circles of elders. This is not the magic as mentioned in the Ayah.
7- The punishment of the performer of magic, as we have clarified, is death for it is the punishment of the Murtad (apostate). He is a Kafir as previously mentioned. The Companions (ra) have punished the magician by death. Hafsa, the mother of believers, (ra) ordered the killing of a sorceress once it was confirmed that she performed magic.
As for what was narrated that Uthman (ra) objected to what Hafsa did; that objection was because she did that without his permission as a Khalifah of the #Muslims. However, he did not deny the ruling of death for the magician. Similarly, in the time of Umar (ra) he killed the magician, i.e. it is the consensus of the companions over the ruling because it was a significant matter that happened in front of them without any denial. Ahmad narrated from Sufiyan from the son of Muawiya, uncle of Al-Ahnaaf bin Qays that he said, “We received a letter from Umar a year before his death to kill every magician, male or female.”
As for what we have mentioned about some of the handiwork that endangers people if it is not clear to them, such as the trickery of some elders; the punishment is discretionary punishment “Ta’zeer” depending on how much harm they have done to those they deceived. It is known that the discretionary punishment in Islam could reach killing, depending on the type of the committed crime.
But the difference between the killing of “Hudood” and the killing of “Ta’zeer” is that in the first case, the killed is Murtad (Apostate from Islam). We do not pray over him and he is not to be buried in the Muslims’ cemeteries. The second case is a Muslim but he is either Fasiq or Fajir depending on the type of the crime and there is prayer over him and he should be buried in the Muslims’ cemeteries.
8-
(فَلاَ تَكْفُرْ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنْهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِ وَمَا هُمْ بِضَارِّينَ بِهِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ)
“So disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).’ And from these (angels) people learn that by which they cause separation between man and his wife, but they could not thus harm anyone except by Allah’s leave.”
Allah (swt) clarifies in this Ayah that those who learn magic and practice it are able to effect those who they act upon from the people, such as creating problems between them and their spouses which leads to divorce or separation. Allah (swt) shows an important Aqeedah matter to remove what may enter the minds of people, that the magician has the ability of Allah or he can do things against the Will of Allah. Therefore, Allah (swt) clarifies in this Ayah that nothing happens in His Dominion without His Permission, against His Will, and this is the meaning of the Will of Allah. Then nothing happens in the Dominion of Allah against His (swt) Will i.e. everything that happens is with His Permission or His Will or voluntarily (swt),
(وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ)
“But you shall not will except As Allah wills,- the Cherisher of the worlds.” [Surah At-Takweer 81:29.]
But that does not mean that it is with His consent because Allah (swt) does not accept the Kufr and the sin;
(إِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلاَ يَرْضَى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ)
“If you reject (Allah), truly Allah has no need of you; but He likes not Kufr from His servants” [Surah Az-Zumar 39:7.]
This term has this meaning as we understood from the extrapolation of the texts, and His permission or His Will can’t be explained from the literal linguistic meaning of permission or willing, which means allowing or requesting things or satisfaction, but it is interpreted in terms of Terminology, as is known by the people of language or the people of Fiqh or the people of Usool or any of the other Uloom (fields of knowledge).
And (بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ)“With the permission of Allah” has significant and great meaning at this point, because what appears in the actions of sorcerers in front of people in terms of illusion and seeing some things that they may imagine that they are creating as Allah (swt) creates or are doing things that Allah (swt) cannot revoke. So, Allah stressed that nothing happens but with His #authorization, i.e. not against His Will but within His Will in this sense, and Allah (swt) can revoke their magic, and nothing happens in His Dominion against of His Will.
And here someone may say, “So why does Allah not invalidate their magic?!”
Allah (swt) clarifies the good from evil; and He clarifies to us that He rewards the #goodness and punishes the evil. He then lets us know that Allah can make us one nation on either good or bad;
(وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلاَ يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ)
“if your Lord had so willed, He could have made Mankind one people: but they will not cease to dispute.” [Surah Hud 11:118].
But Allah (swt) from wisdom He knows, left us to choose what we want from the evil or good and we will be recompensed over them accordingly, and some enter Paradise and some enter Hell;
(وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَآتَيْنَا كُلَّ نَفْسٍ هُدَاهَا وَلَكِنْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ مِنِّي لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنْ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ)
“If we had so willed, we could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the word from me will come True, I will fill Hell with Jinns and men all together.” [Surah As-Sajdah 32:13]
Therefore, there is no place to question why Allah (swt) did not invalidate the evil of the sources. Or why Allah (swt) didn’t lead us to do the good in everything that He ordered us to do. Or why Allah (swt) did not stop us from doing the evil and do only the good…. Allah (swt) clarifies to us the good from the evil, and He left us to choose, and that is the wisdom of Allah Almighty;
(لاَ يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ)
“He cannot be questioned for His acts, but They will be questioned (for theirs)”. [Surah Al-Anbiya 21: 23].
However, in all cases we must believe that nothing happens against His Almighty in the Kingdom of Allah, but with His #Permission and His Will.
9-
(وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا لَمَنْ اشْتَرَاهُ مَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلاَق)
“And indeed they knew that the buyers of it (magic) would have no share in the Hereafter.”
This means that all magic is evil; this is a description to what they learnt of magic,
(يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ)
and this description is significant and clear that what they are learning harms them and doesn’t benefit them, because magic is evil and does harm without benefit.
And Allah (swt) clarifies that the one that practices the magic, as we have described it, does not have any chance of the afterlife because he is an unbeliever of Allah and His signs.
(اشْتَرَاهُ مَا لَهُ) means purchased, and it has been used here meaning of a metaphor which means he took it as a career for himself.
(وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا لَمَنْ اشْتَرَاهُ مَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلاَقٍ)
“And indeed they knew that the buyers of it (magic) would have no share in the Hereafter” is in the meaning of the prohibition on the practice of magic.
(وَلَبِئْسَ مَا شَرَوْا بِهِ أَنفُسَهُمْ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ)
“And how bad indeed was that for which they sold their own selves, if they but knew.” It is evil that they are sold themselves to magic, and they subject themselves for the #punishment of Allah, and they wasted against the fire of hell
(مَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلاَقٍ)
“He would have no share in the Hereafter.”
(لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ)
“if they but knew”
which means that if they benefit from what they learned! Because the one who knows and doesn’t benefit from it, he as if he does not know. Therefore the one who knows that the magic consequences are dire and still practices it; he is as if he does not know, and this is a significant argument in the subject, #SubhanAllah the Almighty!
The Messenger of Allah (saw) sought refuge with Allah from the non-beneficial knowledge,
«أعوذ بالله من علم لا ينفع، وقلب لا يخشع، وعين لا تدمع»
“O Allah! I seek refuge in you from the knowledge which is not beneficial, and from a heart which does not fear (You), and from desire which is not satisfied.” [Muslim].
This use is a significant argument in the subject, as we said, and it is in different place in the Book of Allah and it is used in other indications,
(أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا أَوْ آذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا فَإِنَّهَا لاَ تَعْمَى الأَبْصَارُ وَلَكِنْ تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ)
“Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts (and minds) may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts.” [Al-Haj 20:46]
(إِلاَّ دُعَآءً وَنِدَآءً صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْىٌ فَهُمْ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ)
“nothing but calls and cries: Deaf, dumb, and blind, they are devoid of wisdom.” [Surah Al-Baqara 2:171].
The one who does not benefit from his ears, as if he does not hear.
And the one who does not benefit from his eyesight, as if he cannot see.
And the one that he does not benefit from his tongue as if he does not speak.
And the one who does not benefit from his mind as if he does not make sense.
And the one who does not #benefit from his #knowledge as if he does not know.]
You will find this sufficient insha’Allah.
Your Brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah18 Ramadan 1444 AH
9/4/2023 CE -
Q&A: Casting Doubt in Lailat ul-Qadr (the Night of Decree)
Answer to Question
Casting Doubt in Lailat ul-Qadr (the Night of Decree)To: Nabil Bala’ti
(Translated)Question:
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh
May Allah support you. Someone says that Lailat ul-Qadr is the night of the revelation of the Qur’an, and it has passed and this alleged Lailat ul-Qadr does not exist, according to him. This is the text of the article: (“As for Lailat ul-Qadr, it has come in history once and it is not repeated, it gets its qadar, i.e., its unique status because the Qur’an was revealed in it. Allah (swt) said:
[إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ]
“Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Qur’ān] down during the Night of Decree” [Al-Qadr: 1] As for other nights that are mistakenly calculated as Lailat ul-Qadr, there is no weight to them, because no Qur’an was revealed in them so that they derive from this revelation a special qadar and status.
If someone who rejects this said: In fact, we commemorate Lailat ul Qadr since it is not repeated. So we say to him: In order for us to celebrate Lailat ul-Qadr or revive it as required by the alleged Hadith, whether we believe that it is Lailat ul-Qadr, or that it is a remembrance of Lailat ul-Qadr, it must have one known appointed time like all other acts of worship such as fasting, pilgrimage and prayer, because the Wise Legislator, when He imposed worship or its enactment, He has set for each of them a fixed known time in which there is no room for (for guessing). As for this alleged Lailat ul-Qadr, many Hadiths have been mentioned regarding determining its time, which make it a mystery among the mysteries…etc.)
Then he mentions the Hadith of Muslim and challenged it:
«يا أيها الناس! إنها كانت أُبينت لي ليلة القدر. وإني خرجت لأخبركم بها، فجاء رجلان يحتّقان معهما الشيطان، فَنُسّيتُها»
“O people, Lailat-ul-Qadr was made manifest to me and I came out to inform you about it that two persons came contending with each other and there was a devil along with them and I forgot it”. and defames it!!
Then he concludes his saying with the following: (In summary, reviving the alleged Lailat ul-Qadr, which the Messenger himself did not know a specific time for it, nor a specific shore on which the ship of assignment anchors, and considering that whoever performed it out of belief and anticipation of reward will be forgiven for his previous sins, is a subversive and destructive idea. It spreads among common Muslims nothing except hallucinations, foolishness, and concessions in the Deen.” End of his article.
Please advise us. May Allah send His Baraka upon you.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh,
I saw what you quoted in your question about that person who attacks Lailat ul-Qadr and said that it is a night that has passed and finished… etc. The following is for you:
First: Regarding the method of approach:
1- It is clear from the text that you quoted that its author is not disciplined by any scientific rules or legal Shariah knowledge, but rather he errs randomly and rejects the many sahih (correct) and hasan (good) Hadiths without a compelling reason except what is dictated by the illusions of his perception which he made it in his mind a fact, upon which he builds and rejects what is proven from the Messenger of Allah (saw).
2-It is also clear from this quoted article that it is an attempt to undermine the purified Sunnah of the Prophet and to cast doubt on Muslims in the narrated Hadiths of the Prophet (saw) with the claim of referring to the Noble Qur’an. This is a common approach, and it is the approach of people working to destroy Islam and fight it by fighting the purified Prophet’s Sunnah. It is the clarification of the Noble Qur’an, the clarification of its entirety, the specification of its generality, the restriction of its absolute, the attachment of a branch to its origin,etc. Defaming the purified Prophet’s Sunnah and casting doubt on the approved Hadith books is a form of defamation of the Qur’an and defamation of Islam. The call to limit reliance on the Noble Qur’an alone is an invitation that on the outside it carries mercy, and its inner side is torment.
3- It is also clear from the transmitted text that its author cast doubt on the well-known Islamic legal matters among Muslims from the time of the Prophet (saw) and his noble companions to this day. This is also a well-known approach that was adopted by the orientalists, the Western disbelievers, who delved into questioning every Muslim matter that is self-evident among Muslims, then they were followed on this path by their lackeys among the children of Muslims. They casted doubt on the system of government in Islam, jihad, and the belief in the judiciary and Al-Qada Wal Qadar… etc., in order to weaken the confidence of Muslims in their Deen and try to divert them from it and divert them from returning to it after they overthrew its state and removed its rulings from application in the lives of Muslims.
4- Accordingly, his article on Lailat ul-Qadr is not serious scientific research or a considered Shariah opinion and Ijtihad. Rather, it is a kind of misrepresentation that is forbidden, tampering with the legal texts, and mocking the Hadiths of the Prophet. Therefore, it is not worth responding to it because it is devoid of the minimum conditions of honest scientific research. If you had not sent us a question about it, we would not have been exposed to it.
Second: Evidence from the Qur’an on Lailat ul-Qadr:
The writer deceives the reader that he takes and relies on what came in the noble Qur’an, and only rejects the Hadiths mentioned regarding Lailat ul-Qadr, as he says: (“As for Lailat ul-Qadr, it has come in history once and it is not repeated, it gets its qadar, i.e., its unique status because the Qur’an was revealed in it. Allah (swt) said:
[إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ]
“Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Qur’ān] down during the Night of Decree” [Al-Qadr: 1]. As if he suggests relying on the noble Qur’an and referring to it, but in reality it is not so.
He mentions the noble verse:
[إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ]
“Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Qur’ān] down during the Night of Decree” [Al-Qadr: 1]. And he interprets it according to his whims in a way that serves his opinion, but he does not mention the rest of the Qur’anic texts that indicate a disagreement with his opinion. The text about Lailat ul-Qadr was mentioned in two places in the noble Qur’an, and it is understood from the two places that Lailat ul-Qadr is a renewed and recurring night:
1- Surat Al-Qadr:
[إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ * وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ * لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ * تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ * سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ]
“Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Qur’ān] down during the Night of Decree * And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree? * The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months * The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter * Peace it is until the emergence of dawn” [Al-Qadr: 1-5]. By contemplating this surah, it becomes clear that Lailat ul-Qadr is the night in which the Noble Qur’an was revealed, and that it is not a night that has passed and finished, rather it is a night that is repeated with its virtues and the good that is in it. Before mentioning the evidence that proves this from the surah, we present a brief interpretation of the surah from Tafsir al-Nasafi:
[Tafsir al-Nasafi (4/44, numbered by al-Shamilah automatically):
[إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ]
“Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Qur’ān] down during the Night of Decree”. The Qur’an is glorified since its revelation to Him alone was specified in exclusion of others. Its pronoun came without its apparent name as a dispension, to give it attention and raise the weight of the time in which it was sent down in. It was narrated that the whole of the Qur’an was sent down on Lailat ul-Qadr from Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz (Preserved Tablet) to the heavens, then Jibreel (as) was sending it down to the Messenger of Allah (saw) for twenty-three years. The meaning of Lailat ul-Qadr is the night of decreeing and deciding matters.
Perhaps the reason for concealing it is that whoever is seeking it is to revive it in the many nights in hope of attaining it. This is like concealing the middle prayer, His (swt) Greatest Name, and the Hour of Answer (of duaa) on Friday. It is stated in the Hadith: «من أدركها يقول: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي»“Whoever realizes it should say: Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun, tuhibbul-‘afwa, fa’fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness; so forgive me”.[وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ القدر]“And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree?” That is, your knowledge did not reach the goal of its virtue…] End of the narration from Tafsir al-Nasafi.
And the surah contains more than one matter that clarifies that Lailat ul- Qadr is a recurring night that coincides with that blessed night in which the Qur’an was revealed, and it is enough is His (swt) saying:
[تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ]
“The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter.” The angels descend on this night, and Jibreel (as) is with them, and the Qur’an uses the present tense in a verbal sentence [تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ] “The angels descend” To denote continuity and renewal, the past tense denoting the expiry was not used. This clearly means that Lailat ul Qadr is a recurring night and that the angels descend every year on that night with Jibreel (as).
2- Allah’s saying in the first verse of Surat Ad-Dukhan:
[إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مُبَارَكَةٍ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنْذِرِينَ * فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ]
“Indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind] * Therein [i.e., on that night] is made distinct every precise matter” [Ad-Dukhan: 3-4]. It is stated in Al-Nasafi (3/ 302): […and Lailat ul-Qadr in most of the sayings is in the month of Ramadan. Then they said: He sent it down as a whole from Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz (Preserved Tablet) to the Heavens, then Jibreel (as) brought it down at the time when the need occurred for His Prophet Muhammad (saw). And it was said: The beginning of its descent was on Lailat ul-Qadr. And the Baraka is the abundance of good because of the good and blessing that is sent down in it and the supplication is answered. And if there was nothing in it except for the revelation of the Qur’an alone, it would suffice as a blessing. [إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنذِرِينَ * فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ] “We were to warn [mankind] * Therein [i.e., on that night] is made distinct every precise matter” [Ad-Dukhan: 3-4].They are two resuming sentences wrapped around, explaining the answer to the oath as if it was said: We revealed it because it is our business to warn and warn against punishment, and we revealed it on this night in particular, because the revelation of the Qur’an is one of the wise matters, and this night distincts every wise matter. And the meaning of “yufraqu” that details and writes every matter of the servants’ livelihood, their Ajal (time span), and all their affairs from this night until Lailat ul-Qadr that comes in the next year. The “Hakeem” with wisdom, that is, the object of what wisdom requires, it is from the metaphorical attribution, because the “Hakeem” is the description of the owner of the matter in reality and the description of the matter Metaphorically…] End
It is also clear from these verses that Lailat ul-Qadr in which the Qur’an was revealed is a recurring night, and it suffices the saying of Allah (swt):
[فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ]
“Therein [i.e., on that night] is made distinct every precise matter” which indicates without a doubt that this night in which every wise matter is differentiated repeatedly because the Qur’an uses the word “feeha yufraqu” which is a present tense verb that indicates continuity and renewal.
3- Thus, it is clearly understood from the Qur’an that Lailat ul-Qadr is a blessed night in which the noble Qur’an was revealed, and it is one of the nights of the blessed month of Ramadan; in it the angels and the Spirit descend by permission of their Lord in every matter, as every wise matter is differentiated as an order from Allah. This night has great bounty, as the virtue of good deeds in it exceeds the virtue of the work of a thousand months. Thus, it appears that the noble Qur’an declares that Lailat ul-Qadr is a recurring night, and that the honorable Prophetic Hadiths regarding Lailat ul-Qadr came confirming and affirming what came in the noble Qur’an as we explained below. If the author of the research quoted at the top acknowledges the noble Qur’an and what came in it, so there is no room for him to refute those noble Hadiths
Third: The Sunnah’s evidences of Lailat ul-Qadr
1- There are many Hadiths in the Sunnah of the Prophet, which speak of the fact that Lailat ul-Qadr is a recurring and renewed, and we mention two of them that are sufficient to indicate what is required:
a- Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih on authority of Abu Huraira (ra) from the Prophet (saw):
«مَنْ قَامَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ إِيمَاناً وَاحْتِسَاباً غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ وَمَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ إِيمَاناً وَاحْتِسَاباً غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ»
“Whoever established prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven; and whoever fasts in the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.” And in another narration of Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Huraira, he said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
«مَنْ يَقُمْ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ إِيمَاناً وَاحْتِسَاباً غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ»“And he who passes Lailat al-qadr [Night of Decree] in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven.” This Hadith is consistent with what is mentioned in the noble Qur’an about Lailat ul-Qadr, and it is clear from it that Lailat ul-Qadr is repeated and renewed.
b- Tirmidhi narrated in his Sunan from Aishah (ra) that she said: “I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is your view if I know when the Night of Al-Qadr is, then what should I say in it?” He said: ‘Say:
«قُولِي اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عُفُوٌّ كَرِيمٌ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي» “O Allah, indeed You are Pardoning, [Generous,] You love pardon, so pardon me (Allāhumma innaka `Afuwwun [Karīmun], tuḥibbul-`afwa fa`fu `annī).” Abu Isa said this hadith is Hasan Sahih, and in another narration of the Hadith, by Ibn Majah and others and from Aishah that she said: “O Messenger of Allah, what do you think I should say in my supplication, if I come upon Laylatul-Qadr?” He said: “Say: «تَقُولِينَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي»
‘Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul-‘afwa, fa’fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are Forgiving and love forgiveness, so forgive me) This Hadith is also completely consistent with what is in the noble Qur’an about Lailat ul-Qadr, and it is clear from it that Lailat ul-Qadr is repeated and renewed. This is how the Hadith is understood correctly, as we are commanded to follow the Sunnah as we are commanded to follow the Book.
[وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا]
“And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from” [Al-Hashr: 7].
2- The refutation of the hadith is not based on the whim of the person, or because he is ignorant of understanding its meaning, or due to a spiteful need in himself etc. Rather, the Hadith is refuted in the manner that came in the sciences of Hadith and the principles of jurisprudence, and it is explained in its section for everyone who has a heart or listens while he is present (in mind):
The Hadith is rejected in narration and meaning. The following stated in the book, The Islamic Personality Volume I on this subject:
[Conditions for Accepting the Individuals Report Khabar Al-Aahaad is accepted if it meets the acceptance conditions of the narration (riwaayah) and the knowledge about its content (diraayah). As for the acceptance conditions of the narration; they are that, the narrator of the Hadeeth must be: Muslim, mature, sane, just, truthful, accurate in what he heard and remembering the Hadeeth since he carried (heard) it until he narrated it. The scholars of the usoul and the scholars of the Hadeeth terminology had clarified the conditions of the narration in details. And the biography of the men of the Hadeeth and their narrations had shown every narrator and what he fulfills of these qualities in details.
As for the knowledge (diraayah) conditions for accepting khabar Al-Aahaad, they are that it does not contradict what is stronger (more authentic). In conclusion, if the individuals report contradicts an ayah of the Qur’aan or a mutawaatir or a mashhour Hadeeth or an illah explicitly dictated by the Qur’aan, Mutawaatir or Mashhour; the Hadeeth will not be accepted as per diraayah (after knowledge), and if it does not contradict any of those; it will be accepted. And if the Hadeeth contradicts the qyas; the Hadeeth will be accepted and the qyas will be rejected] End.
If a person is presented with a Hadith that he does not know whether to take it or reject it, then let him ask someone who has knowledge of it.
The Messenger (saw) said: »«أَلَا سَأَلُوا إِذْ لَمْ يَعْلَمُوا فَإِنَّمَا شِفَاءُ الْعِيِّ السُّؤَالُ “Could they not ask when they did not know? The cure for ignorance is inquiry” [Extracted by Abu Dawoud]
This is how the sane person who fears Allah and His Messenger does; he does not defame the Hadith or mock it; otherwise, it would be a great sin for him. Now, we will discuss a Hadith as an example of that, which the author of the article challenged or ridiculed, and the author of the article assumed this poor position:
The author of the article mocks the Hadith narrated by Muslim in his Sahih about the time of Lailat ul-Qadr and that the Prophet (saw) was shown Lailat ul-Qadr and then forgot it. He said: [How does the Messenger (saw) forget it? When Allah (swt) says:
[سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنْسَى * إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ]
“We will make you recite, [O Muḥammad], and you will not forget * Except what Allah should will” [Al-A’la: 6-7],which means that we will make you recite it and never forget it…] This person does not realize what he is saying! The verse is about the Noble Qur’an, for Allah (swt) recites the Noble Qur’an to the Messenger (saw) and He memorizes it and never forgets it. In its interpretation it states:
A- Interpretation of Al-Qurtubi (20/18)
Allah’s (swt) saying: [سَنُقْرِئُكَ] “We will make you recite” meaning the Qur’an, O Muhammad, so we will teach you it. [فَلَا تَنْسَى] “And you will not forget” meaning memorize it. [Narrated by Ibn Wahb on the authority of Malik].
And this is good news from Allah (swt); He (swt) gave the Prophet (saw) good news; He (swt) gave him a clear sign, which is that Jibreel (as) would read to him (saw) the revelation. He (saw) is illiterate and does not write or read, so he (saw) will memorize it and does not forget it.)
B- Interpretation of At-Tabari (24/ 370)
And His saying: [سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنْسَى * إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ] “We will make you recite, [O Muḥammad], and you will not forget * Except what Allah should will” [Al-A’la: 6-7].Allah (swt) says: We will recite this Qur’an to you, O Muhammad, so you will not forget it, except what Allah should will.
Then the people of interpretation differed about the meaning of His (swt) saying: [سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنْسَى * إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ] “We will make you recite, [O Muḥammad], and you will not forget * Except what Allah should will” [Al-A’la: 6-7], and some of them said: This is a message from Allah (swt) to His Prophet (saw) that He teaches him this Qur’an and preserves it for him, and He (swt) forbade him (saw) to hasten to recite it, as He (swt) said:
[لا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِ لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا جَمْعَهُ وَقُرْآنَهُ]
“Move not your tongue with it, [O Muḥammad], to hasten with it [i.e., recitation of the Qur’ān] * Indeed, upon Us is its collection [in your heart] and [to make possible] its recitation.” [Al-Qiyamah: 16-17].
Thus, in other interpretations, the aforementioned verse is about the Noble Qur’an, and otherwise, Allah (swt) may make His Messenger(saw) forget a matter for a wisdom He (swt) knows. The text of the Hadith as in Muslim on the authority of Abu Saeed Al -Khudari, may Allah be pleased with him, said: (The Messenger of Allah (saw) observed i’tikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan to seek Lailat-ul-Qadr before it was made manifest to him. When (these nights) were over, he commanded to strike the tent. Then it was made manifest to him that (Lailat-ul-Qadr) was in the last ten nights (of Ramadan), and commanded to pitch the tent (again). He then came to the people and said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ أُبِينَتْ لِي لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ وَإِنِّي خَرَجْتُ لِأُخْبِرَكُمْ بِهَا فَجَاءَ رَجُلَانِ يَحْتَقَّانِ مَعَهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ فَنُسِّيتُهَا فَالْتَمِسُوهَا فِي الْعَشْرِ الْأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ الْتَمِسُوهَا فِي التَّاسِعَةِ وَالسَّابِعَةِ وَالْخَامِسَةِ
“O people, Lailat-ul-Qadr was made manifest to meand I came out to inform you about it that two persons came contending with each other and there was a devil along with them and I forgot it. So, seek it in the last ten nights of Ramadan. Seek it on the ninth, on the seventh and on the fifth”. I (one of the narrators) said: Abu Sa’id, you know more than us about numbers. He said: Yes, indeed we have better right than you. I said: What is this ninth, seventh, and fifth? He said: When twenty-one (nights are over) and the twenty-second begins, it is the ninth, and when twenty-three (nights) are over, that which follows (the last night) is the seventh, and when twenty-five nights are over, what follows it is fifth. Ibn Khallad said: Instead of the word Yahliqan (contending), he said Yakhtasiman, (they are disputing). This Hadith is narrated by Bukhari, in brief, on the authority of ‘Ubada Bin As-Samit that the Messenger of Allah (saw) came out to inform (the Muslims) of Lailat ul-Qadr. Two men from the Muslims quarrelled, He (saw) said:
«إِنِّي خَرَجْتُ لِأُخْبِرَكُمْ بِلَيْلَةِ القَدْرِ، وَإِنَّهُ تَلاَحَى فُلاَنٌ وَفُلاَنٌ، فَرُفِعَتْ، وَعَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ خَيْراً لَكُمْ، التَمِسُوهَا فِي السَّبْعِ وَالتِّسْعِ وَالخَمْسِ»
“The Prophet (saw) said, “I came out to inform you about (the date of) the night of Al-Qadr, but as so and so and so and so quarrelled, its knowledge was taken away (I forgot it) and maybe it was better for you. Now look for it in the 7th, the 9th and the 5th (of the last 10 nights of the month of Ramadan).”
The following is stated in the explanation of the Hadith by Ibn Hajar in Fath Al-Bari:
[His saying that He (saw) came out to inform of Lailat ul-Qadr i.e., to inform the time of Lailat ul-Qadr, and His saying “talaha” with “fatha” on the “Ha” a source of “talahi” with “kasra” of “Ha” which is to quarrel and dispute. His saying (saw) “fa-rufi’at” i.e., “its knowledge was taken away (I forgot it)”, this is what is taken here, because of what Muslim explained in the Hadith of Abi Sa’id about this story. He said two men were “yahtaqinan” with shada on the “Qaf” i.e., both claiming that they are right, with them is the Shaytan, so I forgot it. Al-Qadi Ayad said in this an indication that fighting is dispraised and it is the reason for moral punishment, i.e., deprivation, that the place (of the fight) in which the Shaytan is present, the Baraka and good is taken from it.] End
By carefully examining the Hadith, it becomes clear that the Prophet (saw) did not know when Lailat ul-Qadr would be in Ramadan, so he (saw) performed I’tikaaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan seeking Lailat ul-Qadr, then he ordered the building that he had built to do i’tikaaf in it to be demolished. Then he (saw) was shown the night in which Lailat ul-Qadr is in the last ten days of Ramadan. When he (saw) wanted to inform the Muslims of its time, two men from the Muslims were diputing, so the Prophet (saw) was made to forget the night. So he (saw) ordered the people to seek it in the last ten days. The Prophet (saw) explained that the reason that made him forget is the dispute between the two men. In this is an explanation of the dangers of disputes and differences in Islam, as is shown in the explanation of the Hadith above.
Also, there is wisdom in the matter that suits the last ten days of Ramadan when there is a lack of determination, so not specifying Lailat ul-Qadr and making it in one of the nights of the last ten days pushes people to strive in the last ten days, to obtain the general good by that. Al-Nasafi aptly said in his tafser: (Perhaps the reason for concealing it is that whoever is seeking it is to revive it in the many nights in hope of attaining it. This is like concealing the middle prayer, His (swt) Greatest Name, and the Hour of Answer (of duaa) on Friday).
So, where is the problem in this Hadith, for the author of the article to reject it? And why is it not correct for the Messenger (saw) to forget what is shown to him, if that is due to a wisdom that is required?! It is clear that the author of the transmitted text neglected this reason and this wisdom to continue his objection and rejection of the Hadiths of Lailat ul-Qadr.
Thus, every Hadith is not rejected out of desire, ignorance, or hatred against Islam and Muslims. Rather, it is studied by its people and must be studied correctly, and then should be inquired about, if it is not known, as stated in the previous Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw):
»«أَلَا سَأَلُوا إِذْ لَمْ يَعْلَمُوا فَإِنَّمَا شِفَاءُ الْعِيِّ السُّؤَالُ “Could they not ask when they did not know? The cure for ignorance is inquiry.”
Fourth: With all of this, it becomes clear that the author of the quoted text has no share of the knowledge of the transmitted (evidences), nor does he have share of the rational (evidences), and he has knowledge of jurisprudence or the science of Hadith or in the Usul (fundamentals). He does not weigh matters with a correct scale, nor does he establish the matter on a straight path, rather it appears from his opinion that he is trying to destroy the Deen and its edifice, and casts doubt in Muslims of the origin and branches of the Deen. Had it not been for the questioner inquiry about his opinion, we would not have preoccupied ourselves with responding to his delusions. In conclusion, we ask Allah (swt) to repel the plot of the plotters against them, and to protect the Ummah from their evils, and to raise the status of the Deen and support its servants, the believers and extinguishes the fire of the kuffar, the hypocrites, and those who want to cast doubts.
Your Brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah8 Ramadan 1444 AH
30/3/2023 CE -
Decline of Ideology and Ideological Nation
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Decline of Ideology and Ideological Nation –
Understanding the term ‘Decline’ and its application in current realityThe understanding about concept of decline is important for an ideological dawah carrier. Concepts that we are attempting to build in the Ummah are integrally linked to our understanding about decline. If we do not understand decline, then we cannot build a coherent set of concepts within the Ummah. The subject of decline can be applied to many spheres. However, the decline of Ideology and Nation is the most important sphere in the subject of decline. Nevertheless, decline can also be applied to many other spheres like decline of political party, politician, economy, etc…
In order to assess whether any Ideology or Nation has gone into decline, we need to have a self-consistent definition of decline, which can be applied uniformly to all the spheres of decline. Decline is the opposite of revival; to achieve revival we must reverse the decline. Revival is defined as intellectual elevation. From our culture, we understand this to be applied to a society. Intellectual elevation is about building the thoughts on a consistent and coherent basis. Hence, all the detailed concepts related to actions that satisfy man’s instincts and organic needs must be built on a viewpoint about life, which in itself is built upon a creed. This is intellectual elevation, because each concept is justified on a primary concept, and each primary concept is built upon the creed. Therefore, revival is reflected in a specific set of concepts that the society holds, by virtue of which, it solves the problems it faces.
A society is defined according to the interests. The interests we mean here are the benefits and harms that the society legislates for itself. It establishes an authority in order to safeguard these interests, hence there must be unification on certain essential concepts such that this authority is established and obeyed. Both are critical i.e. its establishment and its obedience. From a societal viewpoint, this translates into a unification within the society about the creed, the viewpoint of life emanating from the creed, resulting in a criteria of action. When the people in the society are unified on these concepts together with a system that acts to protect the interests built upon these concepts, then we can say that this society is intellectually elevated. It is important to understand that this unification on the interests is necessary before any system can be defined and adhered to, because the sole purpose of the system is to safeguard the interests. Since the interests are built on the creed, the system is characterised by the creed. The unification on these interests will only occur if people in the society are unified on the basis upon which these interests are defined.
Madinah al Munawwarah is an adequate example to illustrate this. Prior to Islam, the people of Madinah were fragmented into three groups, the Aws, the Khazraj and the Jews. They solved their problems by a mutual balance of interests, not on a unified basis that all three groups agreed upon. After accepting Islam, Islam became the basis upon which all three accepted, although the Jews did so reluctantly. The creed of Islam was accepted and the interests were defined according to the concept of Halaal and Haraam.
Hence in any dispute, members of the society accept the authority of the state to settle the dispute. Some of the society may not be happy about the decision of the state, but will accept the judgement, built on the premise that the state is there to safeguard the creed on the basis of which the interests are defined. Hence, although they may be disagreement on the specific problem, the society is unified on the creed, the viewpoint in life and the values that emanate from the creed. And they see the state as safeguarding this basis, which surpasses, in importance, the specific dispute.
Hence, when the term the ‘basis of the state’ is used, this refers to the manifestation of the creed in terms of the viewpoint in life from which the interests are defined and enforced. The greater the unification on these concepts, the stronger the state, and greater the cohesion that will exist in the society in the event of a challenge.
If revival is the unification of the basis upon which problems are solved [1], then decline must be the questioning of the basis upon which society solves problems, and hence the basis upon which society is built. Therefore, decline will be manifested in elements of society questioning the validity, not only of the legislation but also of the basis upon which that legislation is built. The natural progression of this questioning of the basis is an erosion of the authority that is there to protect the basis, resulting in fragmentation in society and eventually the collapse of Ideology takes place.
However, two things need to be understood on Ideological Society’s decline. First, society does not decline as just like that i.e. the questioning of the basis in a society does not occur on mass level so easily. It can be noticed in any society, in general, all the members are necessarily in agreement with the basis of society. That is why, the likes of few individuals like Abdullah ibn Ubay ibn Salul whose thought were not in agreement with the basis of society in Madinah, is not indicative of decline. Similarly, a Socialist in the United States and his view of American society does not indicate the decline of America. Rather, the decline of society is triggered by an ideological challenge either by a movement/party, or a state carrying alternative ideology which will make the general masses to question the basis of society. This definition and understanding of ‘Decline’ can be applied to any nations, the nations of past and present. Let’s apply this to the Ummah of past and the present western secular capitalist society especially its leader United States of America.
Regarding the Ummah in the past, let us begin with the start of Islamic state that the Prophet (saw) had established in Madinah. The state or its basis in Madinah was never questioned even though hypocrites (munafiqeen) existed. Even some attempts taken by the munafiqeen to undermine the state by building the Masjid Diraar and its subsequent destruction by the Messenger of Allah (saw) is not indicative of decline but an attempt by subversive elements to undermine the state which were dealt with Sharii’ actions.
During the events of the conflict between Mua’wiyah (ra) and Ali (ra), the question was not the basis, or the creed, but the detailed actions of a Khaleefah on a specific issue. Hence the conflict was over a specific thought and the conflicting priorities attached to them. Mu’awiyah refused to give Ali the pledge of allegiance (bai’ah), thereby refusing to accept Ali’s authority until he settled the issue of Uthman’s (ra) assassination. Ali’s viewpoint, and rightly so, was that the murderers of Uthman will be pursued for sure according to the shari’ah rules, but considered Mu’awiyah’s refusal to give bai’ah as a separate issue and tantamount to rebellions. Neither the state, not its basis was being questioned. Indeed, the Romans offered to help Mu’awiyah, who not only refused their help, but responded with an infamous response that “if Ali (ra) sent an army to fight you, I will be on the first line to fight against you”. Though what happened between Ali and Mu’awiyah was a major political crisis, nevertheless, what was at question was an understanding or misunderstanding of priorities, not the basis of a state. Similarly, the actions of Mua’wiyah (ra) related to Yazid instituted hereditary bai’ah’. It is the issue on lack of clarity in the understanding of a specific thought and it is considered as misapplication of the one particular sharii’ rule regarding Bai’ah, but not considered as questioning the basis of state or decline of the Ummah.
These examples have been used specifically because when placed within the context of decline, it is noted that the Ummah showed great importance to the basis of Society i.e. Islamic Ideology together with its Fikrah (idea) and Tareeqah (method). Though few misunderstanding and conflict over the detailed solutions of Islam aroused, Ummah never questioned the basis of State and Society.
The closing of the doors of ijtihad would have been the final nail in the coffin, from the viewpoint of precipitating decline. It was this activity that ultimately sealed the fate of the Ummah, for the inability to return to the sources means that any misunderstanding of the thoughts cannot be rectified easily. Hence, when new problems are faced, or the creed is challenged with alternative thoughts, the ability to go back to your source provides us with the confidence that our sources can address these new problems. If we look at the motives for closing the doors of ijtihad, they were twofold. First is the fact that people were not observing the limits of ijtihad, performing liberal ijtihad. Secondly, the scholars at that time felt that the golden age of the Ulema had produced such a vast wealth of knowledge related to Islam, that it was inconceivable that there would be any major issue arising in the foreseeable future that would require a return to the sources and original ijtihad. Again, the Ummah had not declined, for the motives for closing the doors of ijtihad was supreme, even though misguided, confidence in the work of the classical scholars. Thus the basis of the system was never at question.
During the period of the Uthmani Khilafah (Ottoman Caliphate), the military might of the state was unquestionable. Even the Europeans acknowledged that, giving Suleiman al Qanuni the title Suleiman ‘The Magnificent’. If we closely examine the Khilafah at this stage, fragmentation in the political sphere had already occurred, and that there was some degree of political autonomy between the various wilayah. If we examine the conquests of the Uthmani state, we cannot compare them to the conquests of the Khulafah Ar-Rashidoon. In the European regions that the Uthmani Khilafah conquered, very few maintained their Islamic identity, after the Khilafah was destroyed. Whereas the regions which were conquered during the earlier days of Islam, maintain their Islamic identity even today and those lands form the bulk of the Islamic lands that we work in. Yet, we do not refer to this as decline, because the basis of the state was not questioned at that time. It is worth adding here that although the state was supreme, it judged itself using an incorrect criterion, which was comparing itself to the military weakness of the European nations, not a comparison in intellectual strength. If at any point at that time, a party like the Hizb had been established, then the seeds of decline sown in the past could have been easily uprooted and replaced by the pure understanding of Islam.
However, with the advent of the industrial revolution and the period of technical progress happened in Europe, the intellectual challenge came with the military and economical might. The Ummah turned it on itself where most of the movements that came to address the issues/problems of the Ummah and try to revive it, infact actually, questioned the basis of the state. The attempts to adopt elements of the Western constitutions indicate that within the political circles of the Khilafah, the system was being questioned. It is not worth going through the details of those movements as it is not the scope of this article and moreover it is well documented in the books like Takattul el-Hizbi, Structuring of a Party, by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani (Rh) [2] and other books of Hizb ut Tahrir. This period proved the point mentioned earlier above, that the questioning of the state manifested itself once a challenge to the state has been made by the presence of alternative ideology i.e. birth of secular capitalism. Indeed, this is consistent with what the party states in the book Mafaheem, Concepts of Hizb ut Tahrir, (pg.01, First para, First line) “Since the middle of the twelfth century Hijri (eighteenth century C.E.) the Islamic world has been rapidly declining from its correct position and sinking horribly to the abyss of decline………”.[3]
Why this is critical is that, the requirement is no longer just to unify the Ummah on the errors in the detailed solutions, as was the case between Mua’wiyah and Ali, but the issue becomes the unification on the basis upon which these solutions emanate. Hence, instead of convincing the Ummah about the right of adoption of the Khaleefah, the issue became the existence of the Khaleefah. Instead of convincing the Ummah about the contradiction between democracy and Islam, the issue became the liberal interpretation of Islam from its sources. Instead of convincing the Ummah about the relationship between the wali and the state, the Ummah were justifying the confederacy of states based on Islam.
Ironically, one of the reasons for closing the doors of ijtihad were to prevent people from not observing the limits of ijtihad. Yet, the consequence of closing the doors of ijtihad was the liberal interpretation of Islam that included all thoughts and concepts to be part of Islam, even though they may have contradicted Islam.
Hence, the questioning of the basis of state is the indicator of decline, because then the solutions are not adhered to, because the basis from which they emanate is being questioned. People no longer have confidence in the solutions, and those who represent these solutions in the political sphere. If we observe the above series of events, the process resulting in decline can be described as follows. Any creed manifests itself as a viewpoint of life. From this viewpoint of life emanate a series of interests which are protected by a state. These can be termed the detailed solutions related to life’s affairs.
The link between these solutions, their sources and the manner by which these solutions emanate from the creed needs to be maintained. A decay in understanding the detailed solutions will result in conflicts in society related to the specific solutions. But once the understanding of these solutions decays to an extent that their link with the sources is severed, then the basis is laid for decline.
Therefore, applying this to the Khilafah State, what occurred initially was the misunderstanding of the detailed solutions from Islam. This we commonly term as the misunderstanding of the thought and method. However, the closing of the doors of ijtihad severed that fundamental link between the sources with the solutions and the relationship between the solutions and the creed. Essentially what this means is, the Muslims did not understand why they were practicing Islam the way it was, and hence would not be able to argue the benefits of Islam from the basis. When confronted with the industrial revolution and the challenge of democracy and freedom, what criteria could they have used to judge what was acceptable from the industrial revolution and what was not? Inevitably we saw the fruits of this, such as the refusal to use the printing machine versus the adoption of democracy as from part of Islam. Hence any society that is edging towards decline will first be seen to have conflict over the detailed solutions that are implemented by it. Some of them might begin to question the basis, which will be accelerated if an ideological challenge exists.
In order to apply this definition to the decline of western society, we need to be careful about understanding the nature of secularism. First, the nature of secularism is that it adapts to include new problems, i.e., it legislates to accept a problem.
Hence, examples like homosexuality, prostitution, drugs abuse are solved by accepting the legitimacy of these actions, not by addressing the roots cause of the problems. Secondly, the nature of democratic societies is that the ruling spheres will never allow the basis of the system to be questioned, for their very existence as ruling elites is at question. The nature of democracy is that the politicians can and will easily use public opinion in order to legitimise an activity which they are incompetent of solving, hence legislate to accept the problem, not to solve it. Hence it opens up the discussion that if the nature of secularism is such that there will never be a dominant public discussion of the basis of the state, how do we really assess that a secular society is ready for an ideological challenge – that is, is the society in decay, such that it will rapidly accept another ideology if it was challenged? We witness the fact that American society is not what it was before, we can sense that there is a sense of discontentment now that was not prevalent then. How do we characterise this discontentment, or sense of uneasiness?
As mentioned earlier, the beginning of decline is the conflict over detailed solutions. Hence, over a period of time comparisons will exist between the nature of society now and before. These will begin to focus on the problems currently and compare them to the reasons of their absence in the past. I will quote an example in my field of work to understand this point. Let’s take students as an example. When we speak to many teachers, lecturers, professors in the Western society they would say that the behaviour of students now is unacceptable. The respect that lecturers had in the past has been replaced by disrespect. Though this might not be the case in the conservative and third world countries but our discussion is about the Western society especially, the US. The physical abuse of lecturers, professors and teachers, etc. is countered by legislation against threatening behaviour. Yet surely physical abuse is against the law, whether performed against a lecturer or any other individual. We would look at it from the point of view that how can a society produce individuals who do not respect these values. We would say that this is individualism. They view it as bad behaviour.
In social life, the curbing of benefits to unmarried mothers is yet another example. We would argue that what society produces such a large number (in excess of 10 million) unmarried mothers? In addition, the need to pursue fathers who do not pay maintenance to their spouses. Both examples are problems that emanate from freedom of the individual. Both are examples of rampant individualism. Again, the society does not see any harm in them but legislates to counter their disruptive behaviour. We can quote numerous examples like these to prove that decay exist in the west, and people start to question the detailed solutions of secular democratic system and started to show their dissatisfaction on the secular democratic system.
To highlight more on this, let’s see some more examples, the recent assault of the hooligan supporters of Trump upon the icon of Democracy, Capitol Hill, also represents the sorry state of Democracy and rampant individualistic mentality. The dramatic assault has exposed the false claim of those that still advocate Democracy, asserting that Democracy unites nations, allows peaceful transition of power, grants rights to all, protects the minorities, quells unrest, allows productive debate and is the pinnacle form of civilization. In the homelands of Democracy, white supremacist backed regimes are assuming power. In the standard bearer of Democracy, an unarmed Afro American citizen is choked to death by police, but the police are shy of halting a vandalizing hoard of violent white supremacists. As for the world’s largest democracy, the Hindu State, Muslims are systematically persecuted. As for the pioneer of Democracy, France, it cannot even tolerate the veil of a Muslim woman. This incident exposes the institutional failures of the Western system at all levels: Institutionalized racism, institutionalized xenophobia, institutionalized wealth inequality, institutionalized corporate interests, Institutionalized disparity of access to health care, etc. Decades of political apathy has now exploded into mistrust of the system and the breakdown of a divided society. America is a divided nation across political, economic, racial and cultural lines and is coming apart at the seams. American democracy is damaged in the eyes of its people and the world. These events give rise to increase of people questioning the detailed solutions of democratic secular capitalist ideology.
With respect to the status of leading state of Capitalist Ideology, America, in political, economic, and foreign policy, it has gone down and not in the position as it was before. Many notable thinkers have started to pen articles about the demise of Capitalism and America’s global prestige, indicating the West’s and America’s decline (on the verge of decline) in political, economic, social and foreign policy etc., such as Robert Kagan, a known neoconservative, mentioned in his book, Superpowers don’t get to retire: what our tired country still owes the world, starts by saying, “Almost 70 years ago, a new world order was born from the rubble of World War II, built by and around the power of the United States. Today that world order shows signs of cracking, and perhaps even collapsing.”
The German weekly news magazine, Der Spiegel had the cover page titled, ‘Is the American dream over?’, in it, Klaus Brinkbäumer, a writer mentioned, “The fall of America doesn’t have to be a complete collapse — it is, after all, a country that has managed to reinvent itself many times before. But today it’s no longer certain — or even likely — that everything will turn out fine in the end.” David Klion writing in this month’s Foreign Policy Magazine wrote an article titled: “The American Empire Is the Sick Man of the 21st Century”. Paul Kennedy theorizes that “America’s overseas military commitments spurred by deficit spending are indicative of America’s impending decline.”
Several books have been written on the decline of West and America by notable writers. The famous American thinker and politician Pat J. Buchanan wrote a book titled: The death of the west; How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasion Imperil Our Country and Civilization. Two authors, Patrick Artus and Marle-Paule Virard wrote a book titled Capitalism is on its way to Self-Destruction. And others books like Mediocracy by the French Canadian writer Alain Deneault and the book Decadence: The Life and Death of the Judeo-Christian Tradition by the French Philosopher Michel Onfray are also discusses the decline of west and especially America.
These books and articles expose the reality of United States of America and its weakness. However, the powers posing challenge to America like Germany, Russia and China are all rising powers within the current capitalist system and thus they have an interest in maintaining it. As a result, they will always give the Secular Capitalism a credit and will not challenge it to make it decline and collapse. Hence, they are all rising powers, within the current capitalist system and thus they don’t present alternative options for a system that would lead to the collapse of the current capitalist Ideology.
Moreover, there are some recent reports published, researchers from Cambridge University studied the political inclinations of more than 4 million people, employing data from survey projects that encompassed 154 countries between 1995 and 2020. The percentage of people that said they were disappointed with democracy during 2019 hit 57.5%. In fact, the researchers said that 2019 marked “the highest level of democratic discontent” on record. Many Western democracies, such as America, Australia, and UK, are now at their highest-ever level of dissatisfaction with democracy. According to the report, America in particular had seen a “dramatic and unexpected” decline in satisfaction with democracy. The report summed up Americans disappointment with democracy in the following way “for the US, it marks an ‘end of exceptionalism’ a profound shift in America’s view of itself, and therefore, of its place in the world.”
Even though these reports allude to the weakness of the capitalist ideology and the US, the torch bearer of Capitalism, still we cannot say that these are enough for the fall of the capitalist ideology. These points do highlight the opportunity that exists, more than before, for the rise of an alternative ideology, led by a strong state, to save the humanity from the evils of Capitalism.
However, the mere presence of challenge per se does not prove decline. Neither does the presence of multiple political and military competitors, no matter how sustained, shake a nations belief in its values unless paired with an intellectual thought. Hence, for any ideology to collapse, it is inevitable that an alternative is available for the masses to compare and opt. So that they will question the basis of Society and embrace the alternative Ideology.
Effectively, what I try to convey is that the inherent flaws in the concepts on which this society is built is rising day by day and this will eventually give rise to contradictions laying the basis of decline at future Inshaa Allah. Hence, we cannot say that American or western society is declining, but questioning the detailed solutions of the western ideology exists which can be exploited by an ideological challenge and cause them to decline and collapse very soon Insha Allah.
Decline would come about as a result of a shock. And in the case of past ideological states, this shock would combine the presence of a peer competitor in the form of a great power with an ideological alternative. We know for sure that only the rise of Islam could conceivably do this as only Islam can combine the presence of an ideological alternative with global power ambitions to spread justice. This is why the world needs Khilafah (Caliphate). History is a witness to this phenomenon. It was the rise of the Khilafah that challenged and brought a fall to the then leading state, the Roman Empire. It was the Khilafah that influenced European renaissance that led to the revolutions and new ideology. Similarly, it was the capitalist states of Britain and France that played a role in the destruction of Khilafah. Then it was the USSR that challenged the Capitalist states by adopting Communism as an ideology; and then it was the United States that led the Cold War and fall of Communism giving liberal capitalism as the alternative. In the very similar way, once such a state is established today, it can present its solutions in a challenging manner and build definitive cracks in the wall of Capitalism that is already shaken. Such a state must present the solutions covering economics, politics and legal aspects of a society and there is no available ideology other than Islam that could provide such comprehensive solutions as an alternative to Capitalism. Islam has a capacity to provide solutions based its Ideology for the Political, Economic, Legal, and social aspects.
Hence, this current status quo and the reality of the international situation should motivate us as a Shaab (member) of political Hizb, whose ideology is Islam, should work hard and give our best without showing any slackness of commitment in Dawah, be aware of the gravity and importance of the task we work for, not occupied with our own worldly matters, to the degree that the dawah became secondary or marginal in our life, in order to re-establish the strong, mighty Khilafah state which will pose the ideological challenge to the current Capitalist society and deliver all the people out of darkness to the light and justice of Islam.
May Allah (swt) make it soon and bless us to witness the victory of Islam reaching all the corners of the globe.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
«لَيَبْلُغَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرُ مَا بَلَغَ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَلَا يَتْرُكُ اللَّهُ بَيْتَ مَدَرٍ وَلَا وَبَرٍ إِلَّا أَدْخَلَهُ اللَّهُ هَذَا الدِّينَ بِعِزِّ عَزِيزٍ أَوْ بِذُلِّ ذَلِيلٍ عِزًّا يُعِزُّ اللَّهُ بِهِ الْإِسْلَامَ وَذُلًّا يُذِلُّ اللَّهُ بِهِ الْكُفْرَ»
“This matter will certainly reach every place touched by the night and day. Allah will not leave a house or residence but that Allah will cause this religion to enter it, by which the honorable will be honored and the disgraceful will be disgraced. Allah will honor the honorable with Islam and he will disgrace the disgraceful with unbelief.” [Musnad Aḥmad]
References:
1. An-Nahdah-Revival by Shiekh Haafiz Saleh [Fareed Muhammad Saalih AL-Ghaanim (RH)]
2. Structuring of a Party (Attakatul el-Hizbi) by Taqiuddin an-Nabhani (RH), Al Khilafah Publications, 1422 Hijri/2001CE.
3. Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Mafahim Hizb ut -Tahrir) by Taqiuddin an-Nabhani (RH), Khilafah Publications.
4. https://newrepublic.com/article/117859/superpowers-dont-get-retire
5. https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-superpower-in-decline-is-the-american-dream-over-a-726447.html
6. David Klion, “The American Empire Is the Sick Man of the 21st Century,” Foreign Policy (blog), 2 April 2019, https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/02/the-american-empire-is-the-sick-man-of-the-21st-century/
7. https://cheirif.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/paul-kennedy-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-great-powers-19891.pdf
8. The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization, by Patrick J. Buchanan, St. Martin’s Press, 2002
9. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58086422-la-derni-re-chance-du-capitalisme
10. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/41438227-mediocracy
11. Decadence: The Life and Death of the Judeo-Christian Tradition), Flammarion, 2017 -
Islam and technology – Is Islam anti-technology?
Living in a material world, one confusion which arises amongst some people is that how, on the one hand democracy, capitalism and the policies of the west are kufr and yet we still use their technologies such as the internet, mobile phones and cars. Is this not haram? Additionally, some condemn the Khilafah as being regressive or anti-technological. Former US assistant secretary of state, James Rubin said in an interview, “Muslim resentment of the West will evaporate when they are free and fed”, he continued, “Do you really want to live in Bin Laden Land, a Stone Age Islamic caliphate with no rights, no economy and no future? I am confident the answer will be no.” Is James Rubin right, or does Islam have something to say on the ‘technological revolution’?
There is a difference between haDarah (civilisation) and madaniyyah (material progress). Material objects arising from the haDarah are specific to a civilisation and define a particular outlook towards life. Hence a statue such as those being worshipped by the Quraysh, or in contemporary times such as those being worshipped by Hindu, epitomise something which represents a particular ideological viewpoint. To make use of these objects which represent a foreign haDarah to the Islamic one is haram as it contradicts the Islamic outlook on life.
However, madaniyyah is not specific to any civilisation and is universal. Material aspects arising from science and its advancement or from industry and its evolution are not specific to any particular civilisation or ideology. Consequently mobile phones, laptops and the internet all stem from scientific enquiry which is universal to man and not limited to the west alone. Hence it is wrong to equate technology or science as something which may be ‘Western’ or ‘kufr’.
This distinction should be very clear and at the forefront of our minds. Whilst we may adopt from the Western madaniyyah those things which arise from science, industry etc. we must never adopt from her haDarah.
Hence using a car to go and buy a computer is allowed whilst bringing home a statue of an idol to adorn pride of place on your mantelpiece is not. In the first instance a computer does not represent any particular ideological outlook or view whilst in the later example a statue typifies shirk, something which runs totally counter to the Islamic aqeedah.
A final point worth reflecting on is that, madaniyyah alone is no adequate benchmark by which to assess any civilisation. Each and every civilisation can expect to make material progress over time. Consequently penicillin could have just as easily been discovered in China or Nigeria or Bahrain as it was in the West. Unfortunately some Muslims have become smitten with the western madaniyyah and have consequently condemned Islam as being ‘backward’ or anti-technological. Clearly this is not the case and Islam does not oppose technology or industry as such. When we examine the Western civilisation we must pull back from examining her madaniyyah and instead, assess the intellectual basis of her civilisation; capitalism, secularism and freedom.
Regarding holidays, ceremonies, festivals etc:
“To every people We have appointed rites and ceremonies which they must follow: let them not dispute with you on the matter, but you do invite (them) to your Lord: for you are assuredly on the Right Way” [TMQ: 22:67]
It is reported that Anas Bin Malik (ra) said; “When the Prophet (saw) came to Medina, the people had two holidays from the days of Jahiliyyah. He (saw) said, “When I came to you, you had two holidays you used to celebrate in jahiliyyah. Allah has replaced them for you with better days, the day of Fitr and the day of slaughter (Adha).”
“Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 3512; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.
In Islamic thought, a ‘people’ (Muslim and non-Muslim) are composed of two parts, first is the hadarah (civilization) and the second is the madaniyyah (progress). The hadarah includes aspects of the people’s civilization, i.e. their laws, belief-systems, ideologies, systems governing interactions (such as economics) etc, and the madaniyyah refers to a people’s material progress in terms of technology, administration, wealth, etc. As Muslims, we are free to adopt from the madaniyyah of Kaafirs, but NOT from the Kaafir hadarah – which would basically equal Kufr, or in some cases, Shirk. Furthermore, we cannot adopt things from the Kaafir madaniyyah if it contradicts and/or is alien to the Islamic hadarah, for example, earning money from derivatives, interest, free-floating exchange, etc, is forbidden.
Things such as holidays, ceremonies, festivals, etc, come from the hadarah, and therefore, we Muslims are not permitted to celebrate them as they come from the Kaafir hadarah. Hence, there is no room for ‘neutrality’ in terms of holidays, interactions, policies, etc; in these areas you are obliged to follow Islam exclusively. A quick look into the life of the Prophet (SAW), he used physical tools that were from the Persians – such as the trench – because it was from the Persian madaniyyah, and had nothing to propagating their hadarah (or contradicting Islam’s). However, you’re not going to find a single case of him celebrating a holiday other than the ones sanctioned by Allah SWT. To even claim that certain holidays are secular or neutral – such as New Years – is to establish a hadarah in which we’re claiming that there is a space where Allah SWT doesn’t cover in His laws (without evidence from Quran and Sunnah).Nope. Actual clothing in and of itself is pure madiniyyah, the Prophet (SAW) and Sahaba themselves wore foreign origin clothing at times. It’s only hadarah if it begins to (1) violate the Islamic dress code or hijab for both men and women or (2) if we’re talking about clothing that symbolizes the Kuffar hadarah. For the first example, I can’t wear jeans/pants that show parts of my body that I am not allowed to show, such as the intimate parts. For the second example, I can’t dress with the Bishop’s collar, or Jew’s hat, etc…anything that the Kuffar themselves think to symbolize a part of their hadarah. In other cases, we can wear whatever as long as we don’t violate the Hijab or symbolize the kufr hadarah.
-
The United States – A Case Study of the Non-Existent Democracy
Introduction
Democracy is defined as the freedom possessed by a people which bestows upon them the right of self-legislation according to what they deem fit. In other words, it is the “rule of the people, by the people, for the people.” The ability to determine how to rule and what laws to enact translates to sovereignty. In democracies, sovereignty belongs to the people. Human beings reserve the right to legislate, formulate policies, and set up societal orders based on their likes and dislikes, regardless of how these likes and dislikes are determined: either through rational arguments and the intellect, or religious beliefs and rituals, or sentimental inclinations and attachments, etc.
Capitalism is the economic system and most dominant factor of the Western ideology. This ideology is based on the creed of Secularism-the separation of Church and State. The fundamental idea behind Secularism is that human beings are free from obedience to Divine laws and regulations in terms of how they should conduct their lives. In other words, human beings cannot be restricted by the commands of a Divine entity. Rather, the ability to formulate laws, rules, systems, regulations, canons and constitutions which determine how they should behave as individuals and as societies is the human being’s sole prerogative. Although, secularism initially resulted from the struggle between the Church and ‘heretic’ medieval philosophers, it is not restricted to distancing Christianity from the affairs of human beings. Rather, it restricts any Divine way of life to merely personal beliefs of individuals, depriving this way of life from regulating the temporal affairs of humans. For argument’s sake, if Islam can be secularized to an exclusively spiritual, ritualistic and personal belief from its correct form as a comprehensive spiritual-political ideology, then this mutilated form can be easily accommodated within the room allowed to ‘religions’ in a secular society. The Capitalist system is the practical manifestation of the Secularist idea, i.e., a system which human beings formulated because they accepted the fact that it is their right to produce such a system. For sake of discussion, we will refer to the Western ideology as Capitalism since it constitutes its driving force and major component.
Although Democracy was not born in the United States, the US is the de facto leader and upholder of democracy around the world. It portrays this image both to those who live under its sovereignty and to those beyond its borders. Its people are taught that democracy and freedom are essential values that no civilized society can live without. Loyalty to democracy, liberty and freedom is entrenched and engraved in the minds of its citizens from a very early age. This ideological attachment continues to be fostered and nurtured throughout their lives to such an extent that any society not possessing these values is deemed as a society not worthy of living in. The United States is also one of the leaders of the Capitalist world, embracing and applying the ideology of Capitalism. The ideas of freedom to private enterprise, freedom to own property, freedom of expression and freedom of belief are fundamental values cherished by its people and carried by the state. Thus, democracy and Capitalism are essential grassroots ideas in the American society at large.
This article shows that democracy as a system – specifically in the US – is dominated by Capitalism. Furthermore, intrinsically speaking, democracy alone cannot and does not possess the ability to function as an independent system especially when Capitalism is the economic system of the society. Rather, as observed in ‘democratic’ states such as the US, democracy is subjected to and is dominated by the system of Capitalism which renders democracy a secondary or non-existent system. Thus the sovereignty of the people under democracy remains a myth. In fact this sovereignty belongs to a very small group within the society: the Capitalist elite.
Democratic Origins?
Democracy and freedom are considered two fundamental ideas that formed the basis for the creation of the United States. Many believe that the “founding fathers” – those responsible for the birth of the nation – were struggling for the implementation of these core ideas so that every individual would live in peace and happiness. However, their background and what they worked for was something very different.
“By 1700 there were fifty rich families in Virginia, with wealth equivalent to 50,000 pounds ( a huge sum those days), who lived off the labor of black slaves and white servants, owned the plantations, sat on the governor’s council, served as local magistrates. In Maryland, the settlers were ruled by a proprietor whose right of total control over the colony had been granted by the English King…
In the Carolinas, the Fundamental Constitutions were written in the 1660s by John Locke, who is often considered the philosophical father of the Founding Fathers and the American system. Locke’s constitution set up a feudal-type aristocracy, in which eight barons would own 40 percent of the colony’s land, and only a baron could be a governor…
The leaders of the early Boston were gentlemen of considerable wealth who, in association with the clergy, eagerly sought to preserve in America the social arrangements of the Mother Country. By means of their control of trade and commerce, by their political domination of the inhabitants through church and Town Meeting, and by careful marriage alliances among themselves, members of the little oligarchy laid the foundations of an aristocratic class in the seventeenth century Boston… (Zinn 47)
“By the years of the Revolutionary crisis, the 1760s, the wealthy elite that controlled the British colonies on the American mainland had 150 years of experience, had learned certain things about how to rule. They had various fears but also had developed tactics to deal with what they feared.” (Zinn 53)
Those upper classes, to rule, needed to make concessions to the middle class, without damage to their own wealth or power, at the expense of slaves, Indians, and poor whites. This bought loyalty. And to bind that loyalty with something more powerful even than material advantage, the ruling group found, in the 1760s and1770s, was a wonderfully useful device. That device was the language of liberty and equality, which could unite just enough whites to fight a Revolution against England, without ending either slavery or inequality… (Zinn 58)
“The men who engineered the revolt were largely members of the colonial ruling class.” George Washington was the richest man in America. John Hancock was a prosperous Boston merchant. Benjamin Franklin was a wealthy printer. And so on. (Zinn 84)
Far too many consider the Constitution as a work of genius put together by wise, humane men who created a legal framework for democracy and equality. In reality, as Charles Beard, a twentieth century historian, wrote in his book “The Economic Interpretation of the Constitution”:
In as much as the primary object of a government, beyond the mere repression of physical violence, is the making of the rules which determine the property relations of members of society, the dominant classes which rights are thus to be determined must perforce obtain from the government such rules as are consonant with the larger interests necessary to the continuance of their economic processes, or they must themselves control the organs of government. (Zinn 89)
Thus, Beard found that most of the makers of the Constitution had some direct economic interest in establishing a strong federal government: the manufacturers needed protective tariffs; the moneylenders wanted to stop the use of paper money to pay off debts; the land speculators wanted protection as they invaded Indian lands; slaveowners needed federal security against slave revolts and runaways; bondholders wanted a government able to raise money by nationwide taxation, to pay off those bonds. (Zinn 90)
Furthermore, the negative attitudes of the “founding fathers” towards democracy clearly show this case. In fact, they carry typical attitudes any capitalist would hold regarding democracy and can be best expressed by the founders themselves.
Elbridge Gerry thought:
“The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy….” (Beard 197).
James Madison, in Federalist #10 stated:
[Democracies] have been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.
Alexander Hamilton viewed the nature of the relationship between the governed and the governors as follows:
All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people. The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact. The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct permanent share in the government (Beard 199)
Thomas Jefferson, at the time of Shays rebellion, said:
“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing… It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government… The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” (Zinn 94)
The fathers were firm believers in the capitalist system – not in democracy. Democracy was of no use to them because they realized that it did not serve their interests. The foundations they laid were not democratic in nature. In fact, they are based on the ‘money is power’ principle.
James Madison acknowledges this point by stating that the basis for division – the reason behind the clash of interests – in society is economic:
“…the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold, and those who are without property, have ever formed distinct interests in society.” (Federalist #10)
Of course, this should come as no surprise, for Adam Smith – the ‘Father of Capitalism’, in his work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, states:
Civil authority, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor or of those who have some property against those who have none at all. (311)
Wealth as a Source of Power
Every society has a specific set of ideas, beliefs, principles and objects which that society values. These ‘valuable entities’ extract their value from the ideology the society believes in and implements. A ‘valuable entity’ possesses the potential to fulfill some need or instinct in an individual. It provides the necessary ingredients for actions that result in acquiring the ‘valued entity’ which in turn satisfies the associated instinct and/or organic need. In Islam, for example, ideas such as the unity of the Ummah or the obligation to give wealth in the path of Allah are ‘valued entities’. Similarly, objects such as the Ka’bah’ are valuable to the Muslims and thus carry potential for the Ummah to act in order to protect them. Likewise, Islam assigns no value to the White House, and hence it would not produce the same reaction amongst the Muslims in a similar situation.
In Capitalist societies, objects considered valuable by the ideology – and thus to the people – have primarily financial value associated with them. In other words, entities such as capital, property and natural resources are considered valuable because they are forms of wealth, i.e., have financial worth. Thus, wealth is also considered a valuable object that is sought ruthlessly, protected fiercely and maintained carefully. A perpetual demand to acquire these valuables by individuals necessitates an associated attached cost in acquiring them. Thus, the acquisition of property or the sale of gold has an associated price attached. Those who possess the means of undertaking the cost to acquire the valuable object are the only ones who can actually acquire it. Thus, the wealthy have an advantage over the non-wealthy in their ability to acquire valued objects since only they can pay the associated cost.
This idea, when coupled with the idea of ‘unlimited needs and insufficient resources’ results in the satisfaction of most of the needs of the wealthy by the procurement of more of these insufficient resources. This naturally causes Capitalistic societies to have a highly stratified distribution of resources, i.e., the concentration of wealth in the hands of a very small sector in society.
As Grover Cleveland, a democrat running for President in 1884, remarked:
“No harm shall come to any business interest as the result of administrative policy so long as I am the President… a transfer of executive control from one party to another does not mean any serious disturbance of existing conditions.” (Zinn 252)
In 1893, Supreme Court Justice David J. Brewer, addressing the New York State Bar association said:
It is the unvarying law that the wealth of the community will be in the hands of the few… The great majority of men are unwilling to endure that long self-denial and saving which makes accumulation possible… and hence it has always been, and until human nature is remodeled always will be true, that the wealth of a nation is in the hands of a few… (Zinn 254)
As an example, Paul Krugman, in his article entitled The Right, the Rich, and the Facts shows that the top 1 percent of families in the US held 37% of the total net worth of the nation in 1992, a 6% increase from 1983 (American Prospect, Fall 1992, pp. 24-25). Figures from Michael Parenti’s Democracy for the Few indicate that 0.2% of the US population own approximately 60% of its corporate wealth; 1.6% own 80% of all stock, 100% of all state and municipal bonds and 88.5% of corporate bonds (8). The movement of wealth in society can be gauged from the US Congress’ figures which indicate that the top 1 percent of families captured 60% of the entire gain in national personal income in the 1980s (Congressional Budget Office, the Congress of the United States; 1992).
Further, the change in US average family incomes between 1979 and 1987 shows that the top fifth income recipients gained 18.7% in income whereas the bottom 5th recipients suffered a 9.2% income loss (Ways and Means Committee, US House of Reps.). This evidence points out the strikingly skewed and abnormal division of wealth within society, which is considered normal in Capitalism.
The ability to possess valued objects – necessary for the survival of human beings – by a small group of individuals results in the survival of the rest being dependent on the small group. The ownership of valued objects by the wealthy gives them an advantage over the remaining individuals since they control what satisfies the needs of the masses. The result of this inequality in wealth is an imbalance or unequal distribution of power. This is the dilemma facing democracy. On the one hand, it promises equal representation for all. On the other, it cannot divide power equally amongst the people – if at all this is possible. An unequal distribution of power naturally results in the more powerful having a louder voice and stronger leverage in determining the rules and systems that are applied in society. The rich have an upper hand over the rest because they have the means to deny the fulfillment of their needs for the rest. Democracy is but a mirage in such a situation since it is impossible to create a ‘balanced power base’ for all without an equal distribution of wealth in a Capitalist society.
Organized Interests
The protection of ‘valued entities’ in a society is ensured and enforced in the severest of ways by those individuals and groups who stand to gain or lose the most from these objects against any attempts to destroy, damage or dilute them. Some refer to this distinct group by the term establishment.
The term Establishment seems to have been invented in Britain to refer to an inner circle of important ministers, top civil servants, editors of quality newspapers, and a miscellany of academic and other public figures all capable of informal consultation with each other. (Macridis 56)
Capitalists consider the giving up of individual and ownership rights a major threat to their existence for it not only decreases their power and their competitive edge over others but also their ability to survive. In other words, it is against their interests. The powerful are subjected to lose a great amount in the event of unfavorable or critical circumstances. It is irrational to think that they would not want to fully protect their vast interests in such conditions. Surely they have the power and necessary drive needed for a fierce defense of their rights and valuables.
Consequently, in the event of a clash of interests between the wealthy and the rest, the former will have a better chance of securing their rights over the latter, either through the system or by force or if needed by negotiations. In such cases it becomes necessary to make sure that the largest number of interests are protected for the largest amount of time from the largest number of perceived threats. This is done in a number of ways, e.g., the creation of a certain public opinion through the media – discussed in a later section, or through interest groups. Of course, a stronger interest is one which has more leverage and can be voiced more forcefully. Once again, economic strength translates directly to power trampling the democratic concept of ‘equal opportunity’. Democracy, equal rights for the populace and equal access to the government turn out to be another hoax, whereas ‘differential access’ becomes a reality of the system. Interest groups and lobbies have become a permanent feature of the US political system. The best organized and most effective ones are those with the most financial resources. Corporations and other ‘moneyed-interests’ are overwhelmingly over-represented in the government. According to Greenberg and Page, in The Struggle for Democracy, Corporation related interest groups form about 46% of the representation in Congress (249). Elections cannot be won without large sums of money and support from influential lobbies and elite backed interest groups. Candidates usually are provided with the necessary finances by few very rich individuals or organizations (Democracy for the few p.209).
The Media and Public Opinion
An example of how economic power translates to the ability to control is the establishment owned mass-media. Public opinion is an extremely potent mobilizing force in any society. Any system that can control public opinion and channel it in a certain direction is able to exert substantial power over that society. The manufacture of public opinion is a method of mental control upon people which results in comprehensive control. A study of the American mass-media, reveals a corporation like setup of a few major media companies who monopolize the flow of information (Inventing Reality 27). The “power of information” has indeed been an effective tool for forming and channeling thoughts and concepts in society.
No people are willing to let their needs remain unsatisfied due to the control of a few. When such a condition is exposed and takes root in the people, the few will no longer remain in power for long. As mentioned before, the formulation of public opinion will mobilize the people to remove the oppressors. The U.S. elite realize this as a potential threat to their interests and thus understand that one of the ways to continue their control is to pacify the individuals in the society. The best means of pacification is the process of co-opting. The continued existence of the American ‘melting pot’ is due to this very concept. ‘Integration’ and ‘assimilation’ of all kinds of groups is an extremely soothing tactic that is used most effectively. ‘Mind-control’ by the media and the educational system is taken a step further by the establishment by containing and redirecting public opinion so that people remain aloof from the cause of their problems. Parenti, in Democracy for the Few, notes the relationship between politicians and public opinion and how ‘uninitiated’ public opinion is harnessed, steered and thus contained:
“When these [popular] sentiments are aroused to a certain intensity, leaders will respond, either by making minor concessions or by evoking images of change and democratic responsiveness that are lacking in substance. Leaders are always “responding” to the public, but so often it is with distracting irrelevancies, dilatory and discouraging tactics, facile reassurances, unfulfilled promises, outright lies or token programs that offer nothing more than a cosmetic application to a deep social problem.” (303).
This kind of behavior is expected from those who stand the most to lose from a drastic change. As James Madison stated:
“…the causes of faction cannot be removed; and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects.” (Federalist #10).
This idea of ‘containment’ is a reality even today. To fully comprehend whether the passage of a certain law or policy is a ‘democratic victory’ or a ‘containment measure’ requires an in depth study regarding it. Questions such as: what is the actual law? What are the consequences? Which group(s) benefits from it? In what ways? How does this policy affect the people? need to be answered. The comprehensive answer to all of these questions is beyond the scope of this article and can be examined at a later time. However, a brief example of containment of public resentment is the Civil Rights Movement where the untamed growing militant and separatist sentiments were channeled towards a much mellow and ‘pacifist’ approach by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Public opinion in a democratic society is not randomly formed by a ‘watchdog’ and ‘independent’ media – as is claimed by democracy. Public opinion is a very specific set of ideas carried by a considerable portion of society in such a manner that it can be considered the opinion of that society. It is impossible for such a uniform, well-defined and power-wielding set of ideas – the public opinion – to materialize by a random mixture of thoughts from various independent and unconnected sources. The ‘molding’ of public opinion requires massive public focus and mobilization by raising very specific issues. Consequently, this task can only be accomplished by an efficient and purposeful mechanism, i.e., the ‘media machinery’ which is owned and operated by the powerful. The freedom of expression supposedly granted to the people by democracy thus remains non-existent due to the control of the Capitalists. This is the case with the US media. As Parenti states:
Ten business and financial corporations control the three major television and radio networks (NBC, CBS, ABC), 34 subsidiary television stations, 201 cable TV systems, 62 radio stations, 20 record companies, 59 magazines including Times and Newsweek, 58 newspapers including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times, 41 book publishers, and various motion picture companies like Columbia Pictures and Twentieth-Century Fox. Three-quarters of the major stockholders of ABC, CBS, and NBC are banks, such as Chase Manhattan, Morgan Guaranty Trust, Citibank, and The Bank of America (Inventing Reality p.27).
Corporations and Other Institutions
The media machine is not the only institution owned and operated by the wealthy elite. Their base of control has always been the multinational corporation. Almost one third of the top 500 US corporations are owned by one individual or family. In the relatively small span of 37 years between 1950 to 1986, “industrial assets” owned by the top 100 corporations grew from 39.8% to 61.1% (Thomas Dye p.20). As C. Wright Mills notes:
“The corporation is the source of, and the basis of, the continued power and privilege of wealth.” (116).
Therefore, it is not surprising to note that despite the Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890 being enforced, the end of the 19th century found corporations merging at a tremendous pace. Approximately one-third of the US’ manufacturing assets were merged into 318 giant corporations between 1898 and 1904, producing a combined capitalization of $7.3 billion. (Robert Reich, The Work of Nations chap 3.)
It is very natural for corporations to be a source of power in a Capitalist society due to their being the driving force behind its economic well being. The interests of the society are determined by whether they agree with the interests of corporations and industrialists. Wars are fought for the objective of “protecting jobs” and concessions and exemptions are granted by the government to companies if some of its laws decrease or hinder their profits and interests. When the president of GM in the 1950s and then Secretary of State, Charles E. Wilson, was asked whether he had the ability to make a decision in the U.S.’ favor at the expense of GM, he replied that he could, however, he did not see such a problem happening:
“I cannot conceive of one because for years I thought what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa. The difference did not exist. Our company is too big. It goes with the welfare of the country.” (Robert Reich, pp. 47-48)
Besides the media and the multinational-national corporations, the setup of other ‘non-profit’ ‘service’ institutions is also highly indicative of a “strong upper class accent.” Educational, medical, and cultural institutions like universities, hospitals etc. are controlled by a ‘board of trustees’ or a ‘board of directors’ who belong to the same richer upper echelons of society – specifically the industrialists. As in the case of corporations, members on these boards are the final and ultimate authority on policy implementation and have the last word in the hiring and firing process of employees and in effect have physical control over the institution.
Control in modern times requires more than force, more than law. It requires a population dangerously concentrated in cities and factories, whose lives are filled with cause for rebellion, be taught that all is right as it is. And so, the schools, the churches, the popular literature taught that to be rich was a sign of superiority, to be poor a sign of personal failure…
In those years after the Civil War, a man named Russell Conwell, a graduate of Yale Law School, a minister and author of best-selling books, gave the same lecture, “Acres of Diamonds,” more than five thousand times to audience across the country, reaching several million people in all. His message was that anyone could get rich if he tried hard enough, that everywhere if people looked closely enough, were ‘acres of diamonds.”
A sampling:
“The men who get rich may be the most honest men you find in the community… Let me say here clearly… ninety-eight out of one hundred of the rich men in America are honest. This is why they are rich. This is why they are trusted with money. This is why they carry on great enterprises and find plenty of people to work with them. It is because they are honest…”
Conwell was a founder of Temple University. Rockefeller was a donor to colleges all over the country and helped found the University of Chicago. Huntington, of the Central Pacific, gave money to two Negro colleges, Hampton Institute and Tuskegee Institute. Carnegie gave money to colleges and libraries. Johns Hopkins was founded by a millionaire merchant, and millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt, Ezra Cornell, James Duke, and Leland Stanford created universities in their names.
The rich, giving part of their enormous earnings in this way, became known as philanthropists. These educational institutions did not encourage dissent; they trained the middlemen on the American system-the teachers, doctors, lawyers, administrators, engineers, technicians, politicians-those who would be paid to keep the system going, to be loyal buffers against trouble. (Zinn 256)
Conclusion
The system of democracy has never been able to grant sovereignty to all people. It has failed miserably time and time again in protecting the ‘freedoms’ it promises them. Throughout its history it has been used as a tool by Capitalism to protect the interests of the capitalists. Democracy as an idea is a dysfunctional one and unable to ensure even its own existence and dominance, let alone be able to address the problems of mankind. The reasons behind the failure of democracy are the unrealistic and inhuman objectives it seeks and the imaginary and hypothetical picture it paints of the equality of human beings. Democracy is unable to solve the many problems faced by human beings due to its human origins, i.e., it is a man-made system which destines it to failure from the onset.
The history of Capitalism is witness to the infinite injustices and oppression caused to humanity. It is an exploitative system which produces and intensifies problems instead of providing solutions. It ensures the dominance and power of a handful of individuals over the entire society. It is another glaring proof of the fact that human beings are incapable of producing a system which brings justice to all mankind and not to small cliques in society.
The United States has always been a Capitalist society even though it promotes the dual sided images of democracy and freedom. The continued application of Capitalism under the guise of democracy is easily apparent to anyone who carefully analyzes the setup of society. Power to influence and implement decisions lies exclusively in an infinitesimally small group of individuals and families, who not only control most of the country’s resources, wealth and industry but use them for their benefit and interest regardless of the consequences to the rest of the world. The dominance of Capitalist states like the U.S. over the rest of the world has resulted in untold miseries and ever increasing problems facing mankind today. The solution for the problems of humanity is not possible without the realization of two very important yet rarely understood ideas: all manmade systems are bound to fail due to the human being’s inherent biases and limitations in terms of his nature, knowledge and ability to legislate. Not comprehending this fact will lead mankind in yet another vicious circle, ending with the same oppression, corruption and chaos that has flowed from Democracy and Capitalism. Consequently, a system capable of issuing correct solutions, ensuring justice for all and eliminating all corrupt practices can only be produced by an unbiased and unlimited source of knowledge: the Creator, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). l
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. Beard, Charles Austin, An economic interpretation of the constitution of the United States. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1913.
2. Chomsky, Noam, Deterring Democracy. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992.
3. Edward S. Herman, Manufacturing consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988.
4. Chomsky, Noam, Necessary Illusions: Thought control in democratic societies. Montreal: CBC Enterprises, 1989.
5. Chomsky, Noam, The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many. Berkeley: Odonian Press, 1993.
6. Dye, Thomas, Who’s running America. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990.
7. Greenberg, Edward S., Serving the few: Corporate Capitalism and the bias of Government policy. New York: Wiley, 1974.
8. Greenberg and Page, The Struggle for Democracy. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995.
9. Krugman, Paul R., The Right, the Rich, and the Facts. American Prospect; Fall 1992.
10. Macridis, Roy C., Foreign Policy in World Politics. Prentice-Hall, 1972
11. Parenti, Michael, Democracy for the few. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1980.
12. Parenti, Michael, Inventing Reality: The Politics Of Mass Media. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986.
13. Parenti Michael, Power and the Powerless. New York:St. Martin’s Press, 1978.
14. Prewitt and Stone, The Ruling Elites. New York: Harper & Row, 1973.
15. Shwartz, Michael (ed.), The Structure of Power in America:
The corporate Elite as a ruling class. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1988.
16. Schattschneider. E., The Semi-sovereign People. Hinsdale: Dryden Press, 1975.
17. Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1952.
18. Wright Mills, The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956.
19. Zinn, Howard, A People’s History of the United States. Harper Perennial, 1995
Khalifornia Journal v2 No.3, July-September 1997
-
The Thought and its Effect in Life
Video version The definition of the thought: The thought is the judgement of reality from a specific viewpoint, as opposed to philosophy, which is the judgement of what has no reality.
The definition and the basics of the Islamic thought: It is the judgement of reality from an Islamic viewpoint, i.e. the viewpoint of the Islamic Aqeeda (doctrine) and the rules which emanate from it.
The definition and the basics of the capitalist thought:
It is the judgement of reality from a capitalist viewpoint i.e. from the viewpoint of the doctrine of separating the Deen from temporal life, based on benefit and determined by humankind.
The definition and the basics of the communist thought:
It is the judgement of reality from a communist viewpoint i.e. the materialist doctrine based on the negation of the existence of the Creator and on the theory of evolution.
The elements of the thought: The thought is composed of three elements:
1- The reality.
2- The judgement.
3- The linking of reality and the judgement.
The reality is of two types:
1- The things
2- The actions (oral and physical).
The judgement and the linking:
If the reality were a thing, its rule would be either permitted or forbidden, for instance the apple is permitted and wine is forbidden; this is so because the Shari’ah principle states: The basic rule for things is permissibility as long as there is no evidence to forbid them.
If the reality were an action, its rule would be either obligatory, forbidden, desirable, undesirable, or permitted, for instance, actions such as prayer, performing Zakat, establishing the Khilafah and observing Ramadhan are all obligatory; building of mosques and giving Sadaqa to the poor is desirable, whereas usury (Riba) and participation in the disbelieving ruling system is forbidden, and talking in the bath and shaving the beard is undesirable, buying and selling and eating or not eating bread is permitted.
The Shari’ah principle regarding the actions states: The basic rule regarding actions is to abide by the rule before committing the act. Passing judgement on reality must be taken from the Shari’ah evidences, the source of which are the Book and the Sunnah and what they lead to such as the general consensus (Ijma’a) of the Sahaba and the analogy (Qiyas).
The attribution of the thought:
The thought is attributed to three elements:
1- The personalities: i.e. those in whom it originates such as Marx (Marxist thought) or Plato (Platonic thought) etc..
2- The people: i.e. the people who carry such thought, it is for instance said: The Arab thought, or the European thought or the Russian thought etc..
3- The doctrines (Aqa’id): i.e. the thought is attributed to the basic fundament on which it is built, thus it is said: the capitalist thought, the Islamic thought, the communist thought etc.. The correct attribution is where the thought is attributed to the doctrine i.e. to the basic fundament upon which it is built. The Arab thought before Islam was not Islamic nor is it nowadays Islamic as far as the majority is concerned, for they carry the capitalist or Marxist thought.
The Islamic thought is one, there is no difference between the thought transmitted by Imam Al-Hanbali of Najd, or Al-Bukhari from Bukhara, or Al-Mawurdi Al-Asyawi of Asia or Mohammed Asad the Austrian, the thought they carried was Islamic regardless of their nationality and tongue. Therefore the Islamic thought brought by the Arabs and non Arabs is the same, for it is derived from the Islamic Aqeeda, i.e. from the Revelation manifested by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (Peace be upon Him), and extracted in the lawful manner and understood clearly, this could only be achieved by the Arabic language.
The Islamic thought is two types: One that is linked to the Aqeeda i.e. the belief, such as the belief in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers and the Day of Judgement.
The other type is related to the practical Shari’ah rules such as Jihad, the establishment of Khilafah, the unification of Muslim land, the establishment of prayer and Hajj etc…
The basics of the Islamic thought:
The Islamic thought is built on two fundamentals:
The mind i.e. rationality and the Shari’ah.
1- The mind:
Islam has addressed the human mind, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has ordered the human to think, reflect and look at the creations, the universe, the human being and life, and ponder on the relationship between what was before life and is to come after, in order to realise with his mind the belief in the existence of a Creator Who created everything and organised everything. Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [51 : 21 TMQ], “As also in your own selves: will you not then see?” He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) also says: [86 : 5 TMQ], “So let the human think from what he is created” And He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [7 : 185 TMQ], “Do they see nothing in the ordinance of the heavens and the earth and all that Allah had created?”
With the help of his mind the sane human can realise the existence of a Creator of this universe, and to realise that the Qur’an is the word of Allah and that Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) is the Messenger of Allah, thus the mind would be the basis of the Islamic Aqeeda, and the Islamic Aqeeda would be a rational one i.e. based on rationality and it is the basis of the Islamic thought.
2- The Shari’ah: The Islamic thought with all its particulars, whether the matters which the limited human mind cannot realise because they do not reach the human’s senses such as the being of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), or the angels, or Heaven and Hell etc., or the practical matters related to his actions and his sayings, all these have one single origin which is the Shari’ah, i.e. what has been brought by the revelation – the Qur’an and the Sunnah in all its forms i.e. the oral, practical and avowal, and the other evidences which the Qur’an and the Sunnah have led to in terms of general consensus of the Sahaba and analogy.
The Shari’ah would therefore be the basis of the Islamic thought and it would never override, and for the thought to be considered Islamic it has to have a Shari’ah evidence taken from the revelation. Jihad, the establishment of the Khilafah, the Shura and the belief in the Day of Judgement and the angels, are Islamic concepts for they have evidences derived from the Book and the Sunnah, whereas colonialism, democracy, secularism, the theory of Darwin, socialism, Baathism and the Crusades are non Islamic concepts; The Islamic thought has clearly determined its position vis-a-vis such concepts and its total rejection of them. The Islamic thought would lose its characteristics if it were to abandon completely or partly the revelation; And Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has prohibited us and warned us against abandoning the revelation for He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says [3 : 85 TMQ], “If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost.”
The Islamic thought is unique and does not resemble any other thought at all, it cannot be patched up or gradually implemented as some people attempt to do; they adopt the Marxist or the capitalist economic system, the moral and social concepts of the west and then they call for the gradual implementation of the Islamic concepts alongside the concepts of disbelief, they are impressed by every new and alien concept, and they falsely and deceivingly attribute it to the Islamic thought in order to conform it with the prevailing thought, and this is known as bargaining i.e. pragmatism.
The special features of the Islamic thought:
The Islamic thought has its special features, the main ones are:
1- The generality of the Islamic thought: For it organises all aspects of human life, the political, social, economic, cultural and moral; Islam has come to organise the mankind’s relationship with his Creator, himself and with others, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [16 : 89 TMQ], “And We have revealed the Book to you explaining everything.”
2- The extensiveness of the Islamic thought: The extensiveness of the Islamic texts allow the scholars to exert the appropriate Shari’ah rules for any matter that arises be it related to an action or a thing.
3- The Islamic thought is a practical thought: Its rules have come to be implemented and executed in temporal life. This thought has been practically implemented for thirteen centuries within a state that has led the World. Islam has linked action to the belief in many of the Qur’anic verses, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [103 : 1 TMQ], “By the time through the ages, verily the human is in loss, except those that beleive and do the right actions”
4- The Islamic thought is addressed to humanity: Islam has addressed mankind in its quality as human regardless of race, colour or tongue, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says [2 : 21 TMQ], “O you people worship your Lord.” And He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says addressing the seal of prophets and Messengers (Peace be upon them) [7:158 TMQ], “Say: O people! I am the Messenger of Allah sent unto you all.” And He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [49 : 13 TMQ], “And We created you into peoples and tribes that you may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah are the most pious ones.”
The Arabs, the Persians, the Romans, the Indians and others have all embraced this Deen, and they were taken out of the darkness to the Light, and out of the decline to the sound intellectual renaissance, not to the intellectually, morally and humanly low and materialist renaissance.
-
Thinking for Change: Its Reality and Basis
CHANGE
Change is motion (حركة) and motion is life (حياة). Stagnation (جمود) is death. In fact, life is nothing but a manifestation of growth (نمو) and motion. Indeed, change is evolution, in that, it aims at the transference of a matter from one situation to another situation. Life, in all its manifestations, is in continuous motion and hence, change. So, the submission to fatalism and the stagnation of life are from the greatest dangers; they bring the peoples and nations to ruin and extinction and the individuals to disintegration, gradually, as events occur and days pass. Thus, statements such as “the world is ill-fated” or “the Ummah is bad and beyond salvation” are of the most dangerous thoughts in this world. Hence, the thinking for change is the most important type of thinking since it allows one to proceed through life and its various forms (إشكال). The desire for change is deep-rooted and natural in all. The very feeling of life brings about this desire, since it is a feeling of the continuous motion of matter from one situation to another and its growth in all directions.
No-one can fail to see that man does not live in a vacuum of one day, but thinks about his future, whether it were close or distant, temporal or beyond. Man is never absolutely content with the reality he lives within, if it is good, he seeks better, if it is bad or corrupt he desires to better it. Hence, man has much nostalgia for the past and constantly aspires for the future, yearning for it. While the feeling for change is a natural and inevitable matter, there exist factors and circumstances that restrain or restrict this desire, or alternatively, that drive it forth in strength. This is due to the work for change being burdensome and tedious requiring great efforts and sacrifices, and the natural physical and mental disparities amongst people in terms of strength and motivations. The weak and lazy fear change, whilst the rulers and those termed conservatives, wage war against it and all those who work for it, mercilessly, attacking their provisions and lives. They seek only to preserve their present situation, either to maintain a particular interest or because they know no better. Those who custom and habit govern require change, yet fear it, since it takes them from one situation to another.
MAN (INSAN)
Man is a living being and like all living beings possesses and shares in common certain properties. So, he grows and ages, gives birth and multiplies, preserves himself and defends himself. He feels his weakness and need and sentiment and sympathy, and feels much more all of which he pursues in the path of satisfaction. Man, from birth to death, is in permanent motion seeking such satisfaction. Such feelings and desires result from a vital energy latent within him. The vital energy contains natural feelings (إحساسات طبيعية) that drive man towards satisfaction and produce emotions (مشاعر). This energy demands satisfaction and hence drives man to perform diverse actions in order to realise this satisfaction. The vital energy is the original energy (طاقة الأصلي) in every man, it stems from the Fitra (human nature), which are those attributes existent in man as part of his form, much like the attribute of cutting of a knife fashioned from a piece of metal. This vital energy has two distinct aspects: one demanding satisfaction definitively and inevitably and the other merely demanding satisfaction. They are both the organic needs and the instincts respectively.
The organic needs are those vital energies demanding definitive and inevitable satisfaction and if not satisfied lead to man’s death. They relate to the very existence of the vital energy, like eating, drinking and the call of nature. They also require certain conditions, such as sleep and rest, which if neglected for a while lead to distraction. The impetus that drives the organic need is internal by itself. So hunger is felt regardless of one’s external circumstance, when its time approaches. However, there may also be an external influence on the organic need that motivate it like the sight, smell or discussion of food and drink.
The instincts are those vital energies that merely demand satisfaction, if they remain unsatisfied anxiety, agitation and unrest is felt rather than death. So not fulfilling the sexual inclination or the desire to own will not lead to extinction of the person but will cause an anxiety and unrest. The instincts are natural inclinations whose impetus is not internal at all but is rather external. The instincts are moved to satisfaction only when an external impetus stimulates and influences them causing these natural inclinations to form emotions. This external impetus is of two types: (a sensible perceptible reality that influences the emotions) or (thoughts having meanings that relate to, realities or things, that influence the emotions). For example, the sexual inclination may be motivated by the sight of a beautiful woman or the speaking about realities that denote the sexual feeling for someone. Hence, the need for sexual activity is felt when either of the two motivators, that of a reality or a thought denoting a reality, influence the instinct. If after this motivation the need is not satisfied agitation and anxiety will ensue and unrest will establish itself in the heart of the person. However, in the absence of an external impetus the desire for sexual activity will not exist at all, since, there is no internal impetus coming from purely within the person. Whilst the instinct is a natural energy existing within the person it cannot move towards satisfaction without an external stimuli. In this case the agitation or unrest within the person cannot exist in absence of the impetus and the person will remain settled.
The Western world has with short-sightedness and stupidity introduced and proliferated the sexual publications and stories and encouraged the mixing of men and women, with no regard for the khalwa (isolation), in these acts they have constantly motivated the sexual feeling at every turn and down every path. The person is busily involved in seeking satisfaction for this feeling constantly and is prone to anxiety and unrest when he is not satisfied, and he will never be satisfied enough. Hence, Western societies suffer from the permanent hardship of constant unrest. Islam deals with the sexual inclination preventing the motivation of the instinct except through marriage and by preventing the entrance of the motivator of the sexual feeling into the public domain.
The instincts are several and not one. The feeling of survival inherent within every person pushes him for self-preservation. This is a natural feeling for survival and immortality of oneself alone. This is the survival instinct and has many manifestations including that of ownership, fear and bravery and the love of dominance, sovereignty and leadership. As an example, fear is an inevitable manifestation of the survival instinct it is a dangerous problem if it is the fear of illusions and phantasms and this is the problem of the weak-minded who are weak or deficient in their ability of linkage of information to reality. To remove this the weak concepts about such realities must be removed and the level of sensation and thought raised. The fear due to the incorrect evaluation of the results of the performance or non-performance of the action is another danger it may result in refraining from participation in the battle due to fear of loss of life resulting in the loss of the battle for all. Or the fear of speaking out against the ruler resulting in the maintenance of an oppressive system over all. However, fear of real dangers is beneficial and is a guardian and protector since it makes one aware of real dangers. As is fear of Allah and his punishment. The feeling for the survival of the species manifests itself in the inclination of desire to the opposite sex, the feeling of compassion for the mother and the feeling of fatherhood, all this with the intent of progeny and maintenance of the species. It also manifests itself in the humanitarian property, where if one sees a drowning person, he will rush to save him, seeking no material value but the humanitarian one.
The sexual feelings towards the same sex or animals are not from the natural inclinations and are deviations from the natural feeling. This instinct is the species instinct and it is not the sexual instinct, rather it is feeling for the survival of the species.
The natural feeling of limitation and need results in the respect for great powers, the reverence of heroes and the worship of Allah. For this is the religious instinct (تدين) which stems from the natural feeling of weakness and the need for an organising Creator (خالق مدبر). It manifests in the reverence, being the highest of sincere heartily respect. Worship is also an effect of this instinct. This instinct has been denied or misguided in satisfaction resulting in the worship and reverence of creation over the centuries or the sanctification of individuals and science by the atheists, those unnatural deviants from their own nature.
These are the two aspects of the vital energy that demand satisfaction. Their existence is not directly sensible (perceptible) but is felt by the existence of their manifestations. Hence, one feels hunger and thirst indicating the presence of such organic needs. Also, the manifestations of the instincts are the instinctive responses to the motivating impetus and prove the existence of these three instincts. However, it should be clear that the manifestations stem from the original feeling unique to each instinct, survival of oneself, one’s species and the innate feeling of weakness. This relationship can be likened to that between a root and a branch. Whilst the branch stems naturally from the root, anyone of the branches may be replaced for another without affecting the root. So, the inclinations and feelings for one’s mother may be replaced by a feeling of fatherhood without affecting the satisfaction of the original instinct. The manifestations of the instincts appear according to the movement of the instincts in response to the external impetus, be it a thought or a sensed reality. These feelings of the instincts (إحساسات الغرائز) (in the metaphorical sense) in response to either impetus are the emotions.
All animals, being living beings like man, share this vital energy and instinctive response to external motives. However, their behaviour does not proceed beyond the instinctive response to an externally sensed reality from which they acquire the instinctive distinction. Man possesses the mind, the comprehension of reality by issuing a judgment over it. This distinguishes him from all other living beings providing him with the capacity to organise his satisfaction. When man experiences an instinctive response and a resultant demand for satisfaction, he is faced with two questions. Firstly, what are the things that are suitable for man’s satisfaction? Secondly, are such things allowed or disallowed to him? Both these questions require specific thoughts that judge these realities. If the meanings of these thoughts denote a reality that is either sensible externally or a reality built on a sensible reality, providing that the reality is visualised in his mind, and believed in, a concept is formed. This belief would exist if the thought convinced man and this would occur if the thought agreed with the sensed reality. Hence, since concepts are those thoughts believed in man’s behaviour will proceed according to them. As for the first question previously mentioned, whether or not a thing satisfies the desire and satiates the need? This is answered by the establishment of concepts about the suitability of the thing for satisfaction. So can an apple satisfy hunger as opposed to a rock, does the clothing protect from the heat and cold. These concepts about things (Shay) are rarely disputed and almost universally agreed upon, except for the dispute relating to personal taste and preference. The existence of these concepts about things within a person when combined with motives for satisfying the vital energy, forms the inclinations towards things within the person. The second question of the allowance or non-allowance of the thing for satisfaction is an external matter to the essence of the thing or man. It is a response to a principle or a set of principles, in other words, to the point of view about life. For Muslims this would be the Halal and Haram. These concepts about life relate to the change of man unlike the concepts about things.
As man proceeds through life developing such concepts, he develops strong inclinations and as he experiences the diverse styles and forms of life, coupled with his concepts about life, he acquires a distinctive taste in these matters. These inclinations drive his satisfaction in a particular direction and provides a source of fuel for action and concern for thought. This is since it is the emotive aspect of man that provides a sense of urgency and concern about judging the issues of life and pursuing tasks. In fact, the behavior is understood to be those actions performed to satisfy the organic needs and instincts. These inclinations themselves mix inevitably with the concepts about life leading to the formation of the disposition of man. However, man is not pure feeling alone, although it is true that the sentiment in him is the blazing passion (emotion), rather he possesses a mind and can evaluate the various issues of life. This mind is suitable to lead and govern the sentiment. Hence, the way man thinks will be a dominant factor on his behaviour. This way of thinking will be crystallised if it measured according to a principle or principles. This is the mentality and it is the principle or principles that determine the nature of the mentality. From these two elements the mentality and the disposition, the personality is formed. The personality acts in life and this is his behaviour.
The personality may be disparate and weak if its guiding principles are many and if a disparity exists between the mentality and the disposition, in terms of the concepts. However, if there is a single principle that guides the mentality and also the concepts about life that organise the direction of the disposition, then the personality will be strong, despite the possible lapses in behaviour, and distinct, particularly if this thought was an aqeeda about life that functioned as an intellectual basis. So, any thinking for change must consider all the factors that constitute the human behavior and personality in terms of drives and concepts. The state of the one targeted for change, in terms of these inclinations and thoughts, must be studied meticulously, the obstacles to change within him identified and the most influential and productive styles adopted to yield swift results by shortening the time between the action for change and its results.
THINKING FOR CHANGE
The thinking for change does not mean the existence of the feeling of the necessity for the change of a situation or thoughts. Rather it means the existence of a situation in this universe requiring change. This is since man has the humanitarian property that emanates from the species instinct. This drives him to feel concern for all people in their quality as humans and once the thinking for change of one’s own situation is complete the thought to change all other people’s and nations foreign to him, must exist for it to be a true thinking for change. In fact, the thinking for change cannot stop until the universe submits to the assured basis upon which the one who seeks change launches his campaign. The thinking for change breaks free from the depths of the souls (نفس) of people. It is deep rooted in people since the events of life motivate this feeling for change, life itself is constantly changing and the mere feeling of life is enough to initiate it. Hence, the thinking for change is an inevitable matter in human beings, despite the strong forces placed in front of change by those who would thwart it. People can be made thinkers in change by the way of convictions, an overpowering force (coercion) or the actual occurrence of change. The way of convictions is the best and most powerful manner to establish the thinking for change. Since, it requires the intellectual awareness of the reality of the situation requiring change and an intellectual feeling for the envisioned change. The overpowering force may initiate a thinking for change though it is not sufficient to keep the thinkers in change continual in their thinking, since without a serious interest it will be extinguished. The actual occurrence of a change causes people to realise the full value of change and makes the thinking for change easy and highlights the necessity for this change.
INITIATING THE THINKING FOR CHANGE
The thinking for change whether concerning the changing of individuals themselves, societies, or the circumstances of peoples and nations requires the change of the basis of living and the basis of life. This is since any effort for change not starting with the basis is a mockery of this thought for change and not serious. One cannot change the branch without changing the root. Changing the basis means changing the collection of basic thoughts that dominate the person or group. These thoughts would need to be changed in order to change the personalities and behaviour of the ones targeted for change. Changing the basic thoughts would be changing the basic concept, the basic criteria and the basic conviction to the correct and honest ones. By changing these thoughts, one would change the basic values of things and thoughts completely. This basis in any people would constitute the viewpoint about life. If the viewpoint were wrong or non-existent the change would be needed. But if the basis is correct no change would be required and the idea for change would not even enter the hearts and minds of those who carry it. This correct basis would be a rational doctrine that agrees with man’s human nature (that is the religious instinct). Those who possess such a basis would not need to think for change in themselves but ought to think for it in other peoples and nations foreign to them.
ASPECTS OF THINKING FOR CHANGE
The thinking for change is an inevitable and natural matter. But people differ in their ability to pursue change and realise it, and in their ability to think for a change in productive manner. Some people differ in their motives, purposes and aims in seeking change. Varying from the partial to the high, from the selfish to the concern for others. These diverse aims depend on the strength of the intellectual awareness. This is since man does not seek change unless he senses a corrupt reality requiring change. Sensation of reality is a basic condition of the intellectual process; understanding cannot come without a sense of reality. However, the sense of the material matters is termed the sensible understanding (إدراك الحسي) such as the coldness of ice or sweetness of honey. The sensing of the non-material issues like corruption, goodness and badness and honour is other than this, it is termed the intellectual feeling (sensation). The intellectual feeling (إحساس الفكري) is the use of a previous thought to define the manner of judging a reality. Hence, the sensing of the corruption of a situation requires the intellectual feeling. However, the intellectual sensation differs in terms of strengths amongst people from those with the sensitive senses (إحساس المحرف) who are swift at sensing the corruption, to those of normal senses requiring some attention in their sensing, till the weak in sensing, who are shallow in sensation. Hence, the strength of awareness and the previous thought determines the strength of the work for change, since it determines the strength of the sensing of corruption.
The other side to this the intellectual awareness is the feeling of the alternate reality, change is being directed towards. Such a vision established by conviction represents the seriousness in pursuing change. As well as awareness, a seriousness in thinking and working for change must exist. Seriousness in thinking for a change would be placing a specified target and striving to realise this target. It would also involve a good vision about the reality being thought about which would include the laying of a detailed plan with clearly defined and understood steps in the way to achieve that aim. This will ensure that the aim will be both practically as well as rationally possible in the minds of the people. Seriousness in working for change would mean performing actions to the same level of the intended aim. So actions unsuitable to the specified aim will not be chosen rather actions that achieve the aim in a productive manner.
REVIVAL
Revival is linguistically an energy or power and its location is one of a high place. Revival is a transference from a situation to a better situation. So, it is a change. However, this motion is an elevation from a lower state to a higher one. Revival is in fact an intellectual elevation, since man does not truly raise up except on the basis of the thoughts about life he carries in terms of the organisation of his affairs. Thus, the elevation is the transference from the aspect of pure animality to the human aspect. If this elevation is based on a spiritual foundation that it will be a true revival based on an aqeeda that takes care of the affairs of this world and the here-after.
The Muslim Ummah has been blessed with a decisive belief that is arrived to through the use of the mind and hence is rational. It is built on the mind agreeing with the rational principles and answers human nature perfectly. It possesses a political spiritual aqeeda that founds a noble ideology providing solutions to all human problems. It is an intellectual basis and intellectual leadership that by its very nature demands no change in itself, since it is the height of perfection, but motivates change in all places for all peoples till its message reaches every part of this universe and its state overshadows the world.
28/6/97
-
Islam, Scientific Ideology and Evolution
Islam, “Scientific Ideology,” and Evolution
Introduction
In the society today evolution has become a fact that is worshipped at all levels. Since Darwin proposed his theory, the concept of evolution has become so institutionalized that it is regarded as an indisputable fact that is above questioning, doubt, or criticism. Those who even suggest an alternative are either censored or labeled as freaks who go against the tide of everything advanced, modern, and civilized. Even the Church, regarded by many as the “Last stand against Evolution,” has given to defeat and has accepted evolution as a fact.
It is clear that the Theory of Evolution contradicts Islam clearly; Evolution claims that life emerged from material and evolved into its different forms through random mutation and selective environmental pressures, while Islam states that life originated from Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and that Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), and not randomness or natural selection, created all the diversity of the living world. Yet the of the Theory of Evolution, and its foundation of “Scientific Ideology” is so pervasive that even Muslims have become institutionalized with them. Many Muslims are at a loss when it comes to confronting the Theory of Evolution, and this lack of understanding may result in Muslims giving way to the ideas and thoughts of the Kufr culture, which may ultimately result in Muslims trying to reconcile between those Kufr ideas and Islam. As a result, the Muslims have been bombarded and cultured with ideas such as Evolution and Scientific Ideology to such an extent that many Muslims would be led to believe that Islam is a “scientific” way of life or that Evolution does not contradict Islam.
Today the scientific thinking represents the prevailing thought of the West which it is trying to propagate to the world, and the West takes a great amount of pride in this “scientific thought.” Furthermore, the Theory of Evolution is a concept — perhaps the most pervasive concept — that has emerged as a byproduct of this method of thinking. This concept has become so dear and respected in the eyes of the people that even the slightest challenge to either the Scientific thinking or to the Theory of Evolution will strike at the very emotions of the people.
The Muslims must understand every arm of Kufr if they are to be able to address the people and present Islam to them in an effective way. When Muhammed (saw) carried the Daw’ah, he addressed the prevailing thoughts and ideas of the people, he attacked their method of thinking and establishing their ideas, and he presented Islam to them in an effective manner. The Muslims are obliged to carry the Daw’ah in the same manner, and not understanding the thoughts and ideas of the Kuffar makes carrying the Daw’ah impossible. The prevailing thought among the West is that the scientific method can be used at the ideological level in order to address the human being and to present solutions to human problems and to the problems of human societies. Also, the West has pushed for the idea that the scientific method or thought can be used to arrive at a doctrine of belief and prove the existence of what was before and after the life, as well as to prove the origins of man, life, and the universe. As a result, the Theory of Evolution has emerged as a byproduct of this thinking in order to provide a doctrine of belief, or an Aqeedah, based on scientific thought. Because the scientific thought and method are used by the Kuffar to arrive at the doctrine of belief and to address human beings and human problems at the level of the ideology, and the Theory of Evolution represents this view of scientific thought. Thus, it becomes imperative for the Muslims to understand what is the scientific thought and method, what are the limits of science, and what is the basis of the Theory of Evolution in order to put things in their proper perspective and address the Theory of Evolution in the proper perspective.
Building Belief
Because the scientific thought is believed by many to be a basis for thought and building belief, and the Theory of Evolution is a result of this thinking, then it is important to discuss the criterion for establishing belief and arriving at the doctrine of belief, or the Aqeedah. Human beings perceive their surroundings directly and, through their perceptions, they acquire information about their surroundings. By linking this information with previous information they have through use of the mind, human beings arrive at certain facts and conclusions, which provides the basis for thoughts, concepts and ideas about life and the universe. This process, called the intellectual or rational process, is what distinguishes human beings from all other creations, and it is the only way in which thoughts and ideas are arrived at, and these thoughts and ideas form the basis of belief.
For a belief or thought to be definite and correct, it must be established upon definite facts. In the absence of definite facts, one can only speculate or make assumptions, which leads to doubt because speculation and assumptions cannot be proven as correct. Only through the rational or intellectual approach, which depends upon the process of thinking to arrive at definite facts, can the correct belief or thoughts be established.
The question that comes is: What sources provide information which human beings, through the rational approach, can arrive at definite facts? The only sources of information are:
Directly through sensory perception of the surroundings
Information from a credible source for things that are beyond the senses and the comprehension of the human mind.
Realities that lay beyond the realm of sensory perception and comprehension cannot be proven conclusively based on observation through the senses because they are beyond the realm of perception. Such things include: Past events, the origin of life and the universe, what was before life and the universe, and what will come after life and the universe. Information for such things can only come from a credible source, and the validity of the information will depend upon whether the source of the information – whether it is the Bible, or the Qur’an – can prove itself to be a credible source. From these two sources, definite facts are derived, and from these facts, thoughts and ideas are arrived at, which form the building blocks of belief and the foundation of the ideology.
The Limits of Science
Based upon the process of building belief, it is evident that science has its limits. The scientific method is a specific method in research used to find the reality of something by subjecting the thing to experimental conditions and environments other than its original conditions, and then comparing the original and the imposed conditions in order to deduce facts. Through this process a tangible reality is deduced. This process can only be employed in research on the tangible things that can be subjected to experimental conditions. Furthermore, the result that is obtained by the scientific method is not absolute, but indefinite and subject to error or the possibility of error. The possibility of error in the scientific method is one of its principles as laid down in scientific research.
These facts show plainly that science cannot be used to build belief or thoughts and concepts about man, life and the universe, nor can science be used to address human problems and needs because such things cannot be subjected to experimental conditions. One cannot put human problems, human societies, and the issues that human beings face and subjugate them to laboratory or experimental conditions and derive conclusions or solutions to such realities based on the scientific method. Similarly, one cannot observe things beyond perception or beyond the comprehension of the human mind, such as what existed before life and the universe, what will come after life and the universe, or the origins of man, life, and the universe, and subjugate these things to the scientific method because the scientific method only deals with tangible objects that can be subjected to scientific experimentation. Furthermore, the possibility of error is inherent in the scientific method. A fundamental precept of the conclusions that are deduced through the scientific method is that they are subject to error or to the possibility of error, and this fact eliminates the possibility of science to be used as a basis for building define facts about man, life and the universe.
Also, the scientific method is an offshoot of the rational method and is not a basis of thought. The rational method deals with things that are within the realm of sensory perception and comprehension by the human mind and senses, while the scientific method is restricted to those things among the perceivable and comprehensible that can be subjected to experimental conditions. Therefore, the scientific method cannot be made as a basis of though because it is not an origin that could be built upon, but a branch of an origin. There are many things that lay within the comprehension of the human mind and the perception of the human senses – such as human problems, the issues that human beings face, the fields of language, fiqh (jurisprudence), and linguistics, and the political movements of nations and societies – that are sources of knowledge and facts but cannot be subjected to experimental conditions and the scientific thought. Treating the scientific method as an origin would exclude a great deal of information and sources of facts from research, and would lead to the absence of a large number of branches of knowledge which contain facts, even though they definitely exist and are felt through the senses and reality.
A person can expose water to extreme heat or cold and observe that it freezes at a particular temperature and boils at another temperature using measuring devices, but the same person cannot use such a procedure for taking an angel or a piece of Hell-Fire and deriving certain conclusions through observations. Similarly, a person can analyze a distant star by using instruments that can measure its energy output, but there is no instrument that can detect the Creator and measure the Creator’s dimensions and composition. Similarly, a person can study enzymatic reactions in a cell or observe through a microscope the physical features of cell tissue cultures, but he cannot do the same with the economic and social problems of human beings and deduce facts based on scientific experimentation.
The correct method of discussing ideas is not through the scientific thinking because scientific thought is restricted in studying materials and laws of the universe and understanding the processes and systems that organize and govern the universe and its components. If science extends beyond its limitations to attempt to answer questions that are beyond its scope, then the end result will completely contradict science. Those who observe the universe expanding and wish to propose a scientific explanation for the origin of the universe are forced to make a silly assumption that everything started with a “Big Bang,” without any means of testing such a phenomenon or observing it to know with certainty whether it actually happened. Furthermore, the attempt to bring scientific thinking to the level of the ideology and to use it as a basis for solving human problems (what is called “Scientific Ideology”), as the Communists attempted, would result in an ideology incapable of providing any correct foundation of belief that agrees with the human nature and would lead to a system devoid of addressing the human needs, resulting in countless suffering and oppression as a result of treating human beings and human problems and issues as subjects of laboratory experimentation. The correct method arriving at a belief as a foundation for the ideology is through the intellectual method which relies upon the thinking process to arrive at definite, conclusive facts.
Science cannot be used to build belief or as a basis or thought, nor can it be used as an ideology capable of addressing human problems and human needs because such things, though they are within the realm of sensory perception, cannot be subjected to the scientific method or experimentation. Because the Theory of Evolution is an attempt to build belief based on the scientific method, which science cannot do, then it is invalid from this perspective. However, because of the pervasiveness of Evolution, this fact is not enough for many, and therefore, a more in-depth study of Evolution becomes necessary.
Evolution Defined
The Modern Theory of Evolution is believed by many to have had its origins in Charles Darwin, but the concept of Dialectic Evolution existed even before Darwin. Many intellectuals and scientists abandoned the idea of Creationism, more as a negative reaction to the Church during the Middle Ages in Europe than out of sincere conviction, and the idea that life emerged into its great diversity as a result of some kind of evolutionary process was adopted. It was Darwin who was the first to propose an explanation of a mechanism by which such a process was supposed to take place.
Through both observation as well as through scientific experimentation, one observes the great diversity that exists throughout the living world. At the same time, there exist many similarities that exist between the different shades of life, and these scientifically deduced similarities form the basis of the idea among modern day scientists that life evolved from one another through an evolutionary process and that the different variants of life are related to one another through an “Evolutionary Tree.” Based upon this “Evolutionary Tree,” the scientists correlate the similarities that exist between the living organisms to an evolutionary sequence. Greater similarities between two forms of life would imply a recent evolutionary relationship, whereas a lesser degree of similarity would imply a more distant relationship. However, the central idea remains the same: All life evolved from one another, and the diversity of the living world had its origins from the process of gradual evolution.
The central concept of the Modern Theory of Evolution is the term natural selection, which Darwin coined as a process by which, through selective pressures imposed by the environment, certain species who are best adapted to live in the environment are selected for by a sorting process of elimination of the weak and continuation of the strong. In summary, the Modern Theory of Evolution is based upon three principles fundamental to it:
Principle of Variation: Among individuals within any population, there exists variation in all aspects.
Principle of Heredity: Offspring resemble their parents more than they resemble unrelated individuals.
Principle of Selection: Some forms are more successful at surviving and reproducing than other forms in a given environment, and these forms are selected for and continue to reproduce, conferring their traits to their offspring. This concept is also termed as “Survival of the fittest,” in which those that are “more fit” are selected for and continue to reproduce whereas those that are “less fit” are gradually eliminated.
According to this theory, new environmental selection pressures will emerge throughout time, and those organisms that carry the more successful adaptations are selected for and the less successful ones are weeded out along with their traits and characteristics. The new adaptations result from random changes, or mutations, in the genome of the living organism, which confers new physiological, behavioral, and other features. Upon these concepts of random mutation and natural selection rests the Theory of Evolution.
The Fallacy of Evolution
In spite of its glamour, the Theory of Evolution cannot be proven definitely because it is based on information of events that cannot be reached either scientifically or rationally. The scientists observe the similarities between organisms, and the question then comes: How did life emerge with its tremendous diversity and yet retain so many similarities between the different shades of life? To answer such a question, one needs to either subject the origins of life and the universe, or what was before the life and the universe, to experimental conditions, or the observer must have existed at the time of the creation and “evolution” of life and the universe to perceive the events. The only other source of information would have to be a credible source. As for subjecting such things to the scientific method, it is beyond the scope of science to subject what preceded life or to confine millions of years of events to experimental conditions. As for observing the process of evolution of life that the scientific community claims to have occurred, one must have lived several million years ago and had several thousand years to observe such events to see what really happened. Because no human being can make such a claim, the only other source of such information regarding the origin of man and life is from a credible source.
The question that comes is: How do the scientists reach their conclusion that life came about through evolution? The answer is that they do not reach a definite conclusion because they cannot – such events that they claim to have occurred are beyond the senses as well as beyond the process of scientific experimentation, and they have no credible source of information that they can claim to exist, other than what they perceive. Because they cannot perceive what they claim to have occurred, they are forced to make an assumption based on their observation of the similarities that they observe – such as the biochemical, anatomical and molecular similarities – that life evolved from one another through gradual evolution caused by chance mutations in the genomes of living things and through the pressures of natural selection.
Thus, the Theory of Evolution cannot be taken as a basis for thought or ideas because it is an assumption of an event that happened in the past based upon direct observations. There is no way to prove an assumption conclusively; it is just speculation. Also, if the assumption is incorrect, then everything based upon that assumption is invalid. Speculation and forging guesses on the basis of events that may have happened is an incorrect way to build any belief or thought or idea; it must be built upon definite, conclusive facts arrived at through the rational method based on observations of things within the realm of perception, and not based on speculation on things beyond the perception of the human mind and senses.
As was discussed before, the scientific method has its limits; it is confined to those things that are tangible and can be subjected to experimental conditions, from which certain conclusions and realities are arrived at. By extending this notion to include events that cannot be subjected to experimental conditions – such as the origins of life, man and the universe – the scientists not only break their own rules, but they are unscientific as possible when they are forced to resort to speculation and making assumptions. As a result, the scientific community, while claiming to have a reputation of civility against the “medieval Creationists,” has become a premier in the art of stupidity when it consigns itself to explain how the universe started with a “Big Bang” or how life originated and evolved into its many variant forms based on a mysterious force called “Mother nature.”
The justification that Evolution’s proponents use to push their idea is the existence of different traits and attributes within similar organisms that result from genetic mutations and confer certain adaptations. First, they confuse between “Evolution” and adaptation and try to use the existence of one to assume the existence of the other, making another assumption that they both describe the same process, whereas they are different. Evolution is a process by which one life form with unique attributes would change into a totally different life form with its own unique attributes, such as a monkey changing into a human being or a dolphin changing into a snake. Adaptation is a process that occurs within a species by which one individual develops certain characteristics to help it adapt to changes in the environment, but the organism still maintains its unique attributes characteristic of its original species. Adaptation is a process that occurs all the time. For example, human beings who live in certain parts in Africa which receive more sunlight and radiation have darker skin, whereas human beings who live at high elevation have other adaptations, such as increased lung capacity and larger chests. Yet they are still human beings. Also, when the scientists study the fruit fly Drosophila, or strains of yeast and mice, and they confer different traits through genetic mutation or recombinant technology, they are conferring adaptations, yet the Drosophila remain as Drosophila, the yeast remains yeast, and the mice remain mice.
Such observations of these different characteristics and adaptations cannot be used to assume that the process of evolution in which a mouse would change into a dog or a cat would change into a fox occurs because they are totally different. What Darwin observed was different adaptations of the same bird, and based upon his observation of the process of adaptation he assumed that the diversity of life resulted from a different process which he referred to as evolution through random mutations and natural selection. The question that comes is: Could all the great diversity of life emerge from adaptation alone? Such a process is unlimited in the amount of diversity it can create. Human beings could take literally thousands of different adaptations and characteristics, and they would all be considered human beings.
Second, they assume that mutations in the gene would result in transforming the life form into a completely different organism. The scientists, through recombinant technology and other techniques, have been able to literally delete ENTIRE GENES and add completely new genes from one life form to another, a process known as transgenics, or the science of transferring genes from one organism to another. For instance, genes from human beings have been introduced into bacteria and mice. This goes far above and beyond the simple point mutations and changes that the scientists claim to have happened throughout the course of time by chance which resulted in a complete overhaul of one organism into another, yet still the mice stay mice, and the bacteria stay as bacteria, even with large segments of their genomes cut out and replaced with human equivalents. Thus, the justification that Evolution’s proponents use to justify their stance has no basis.
Those who are pushing for Evolution might wish to consider what basis they are standing on before they attempt to push for any solution to humanity’s problems. Evolution is based on the concept of Dialectics, which states that the origin of man, life, and the universe was based on the continuous change and evolution of material, and this basis was the foundation of an ideology that was implemented by a state. The ideology was Communism and its patron state was the Soviet Union, and it is well known that such an ideology was totally devoid of any human quality and failed completely in its ability to deal with human problems, in its ability to address the human being, and in its ability to productively settle the core problem of humanity in a manner agreeing with the rational evidence and with the human nature. Because the Communist ideology was based on Materialism, they claimed that everything could be explained scientifically – including the origins of man, life and the universe, and including human problems and human needs. As a result of trying to implement such an idea, Soviet Communism took the meaning of pain, suffering, and oppression to new levels never witnessed before in human history. There are many things that cannot be subjected to science and explained on the basis of material alone; as a result, Communism was alien to the human being and the human needs, and it was devoid of any solution for human problems or answers to the questions of human existence. Such a failure shows that the doctrine of Dialectic Materialism is incorrect and invalid, and anything based upon this doctrine – including Evolution – is also incorrect. Thus, for those who champion Evolution as a solution to humanity’s questions or pride themselves into thinking that science can be used as an ideology or as a solution to human problems and issues, they should first look to their example in the former Soviet Union and to the miserable track record of Communism and take a lesson before they give one.
The Islamic Verdict on Evolution
Because of the influence of the Western educational curriculum, many Muslims have become enchanted with the Theory of Evolution even though it diametrically opposes Islam. In their vain attempts to reconcile between the two, many Muslims are unable to find an answer to the questions that many proponents of Evolution commonly raise. Eventually, the end result is despair and resignation to the idea that the Theory of Evolution is a reality.
For example, the Evolutionists would continue to point out the immense diversity of life, claiming that their idea explains the richness of living organisms on the earth. Such persons would raise questions such as, “How did all these different animals, plants, and other organisms, come about,” or “Where did all the anatomical, physiological, and biochemical similarities that are universal among all life forms come from,” or “How is it that all the life forms, as different and distinct as they are, are subject to the same laws, constants, and processes?” Without trying to dig deep into details, the Islamic answer is very simple and straightforward: They all came from the same Creator.
Allah (swt) mentions in many ayahs that He created things in great diversity:
“With it He causes to grow for you the crops, the olives, the date-palms, the grapes, and every kind of fruit. Verily! In this is indeed an evident proof and a manifest sign for people who give thought.” [TMQ 16:11]
“And whatsoever He has created for you on this earth of varying colors [and qualities from vegetation and fruits, etc. (botanical life) and from animal (zoological life)]. Verily! In this is a sign for people who remember.” [TMQ 16:13]
“Allah has created every moving (living) creature from water. Of them are some that creep on their legs, some that walk on two legs, and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Verily! Allah is Able to do all things.” [TMQ 24:45]
“See you not that Allah sends down water (rain) from the sky, and We produce therewith fruits of varying colors, and among the mountains are streaks white and red, of varying colors and (others) very black. And of men and Ad-Dawab (moving, living creatures, beasts, etc.), and cattle, in like manner of various colors.” [TMQ 35:27-28]
Because Allah (swt) created the universe, then the entire universe and everything within it submit to Allah’s Laws. The fact that all the living organisms of the earth share a wide spectrum of physical and chemical similarities only stands as further proof of the fact that they all emanated from the same source. This fact should push the intellectual person towards this realization that all things had their origin from Allah (swt), and the result of sharing the same origin is the many similarities that exist among both the living and the non-living world.
Evolution and Western Culture
Many people think that the Theory of Evolution stems purely from science; thus, the assumption that is made is that any attack on the idea of Evolution is a direct assault upon science and the scientific culture itself. Based upon this assumption, Islam would be an anti-scientific way of life because the Islamic viewpoint is diametrically opposed to the Evolutionist viewpoint. The assumption that the Theory of Evolution and Science embody the same entity is false. Science is a tool by which human beings understand the laws and phenomenon that the Creator has made to organize and govern the universe with, while Evolution is an idea that is based upon a specific point of view of life. In fact, the Theory of Evolution is an abnormality which attempts to push science beyond its boundaries into the realm of the ideology, which is something that is beyond the scope of science. The Theory of Evolution, as well as the idea of “Scientific Ideology” which states that science can be used as a basis of thought and a foundation of ideology, came from the Communist ideology and is used by the West in order to push its Capitalist ideology and culture into the minds of the people.
Throughout the ages, science has been, and still remains, a respected institution, but the West has done a great injustice to science by using it to propagate its ideas and concepts. The West has failed in all aspects to provide solutions to the ever-increasing problems that exist within its societies. Crime, poverty, behavioral abominations such as homosexuality, child molestation, and depression, as well as the deteriorating moral fabric and decaying family structure, are just a few of the long list of problems that characterize the dismal failure of Western Capitalism and its Secular foundation in providing any solution. To conceal this fact from the people that the cause of all of these problems stems from the failure of the ideology and its incorrect foundation, to conceal this reality for fear that the people may begin to question the very foundation of the West and look for an alternative, the West uses the scientific institution to cover its mess. For example, through the concept of Fatalism, the West is claiming that human problems such as homosexuality and criminal behavior are predetermined by the genes and, therefore, are “fated” to be a scientific reality of human beings as well as human societies. Because science is a respected institution, then the people are fooled into adopting this concept as a scientific fact that cannot be disputed or questioned, and that the problems that have resulted from the Capitalist ideology and the incorrect thoughts and ideas are not a result of the incorrectness of Western Capitalism but a fact of life that must be accepted. As a result, the Western culture and ideology is free from questioning, and the motivation to look for an alternative is silenced.
Similarly, the West uses science through the Theory of Evolution. Because the question of what is before this life is fundamental to the existence of humanity, then human beings will continue to ask this question, and ultimately this question will evolve into the public opinion and in the affairs of life. Because the West is based upon the concept of Secularism, which attempts to detach the question of what is before and after the life from the worldly affairs, then the West would use any means necessary to remove this question as far away from the public opinion in order to safeguard its ideology. Thus, whenever questions such as, “What was before all of this?” or “Who created the universe?” or “Where did we all come from?” are raised, the Theory of Evolution comes with a glamorous explanation that it all happened by chance or by a probability occurrence.
Such tactics by which the ruling establishment would protect itself by using a respected institution to propagate its ideas and culture is not unique to Western Capitalism. During the Middle Ages, the Church was very much respected by the people, and the clergy used the Church to propagate its ideas and justify its policies, which were merely the opinions of the clergy and had nothing to do with the revelation. Thus, when oppression, poverty, disease, backwardness, and stagnation were characteristic of life in the Middle Ages and the people would attempt to search for the cause of this misery, the papacy promoted the concept of Fatalism by using the Church as a front to propagate the concept that everything was fated by “God’s Will,” in the same manner that the West today uses the scientific institution to promote the same concept that the oppression and misery caused by the dominance of Capitalism are “fated” by the Genetic Code and are scientific facts that must be accepted, even though such problems are unique to the failure of Capitalism and have nothing to do with science. Even today, the rulers and regimes in the Muslim World use Islam, which is more respected among the Muslims than anything else, in order to justify their policies and claim that their actions are “Islamic,” although their policies have nothing to do with Islam.
Such a method ultimately results in the people rebelling against the institution itself that they once respected. During the Middle Ages, the Church was respected in the eyes of the people. When the clergy used the Church to impose its own point of view, the people eventually rejected the Church, and this resentment escalated to a bitter intellectual revolt against religion altogether which resulted in the birth of Secularism and subsequent removal of the Church from the lives of the people. In the Muslim World, the regimes and rulers who use Islam to justify their existence and their policies have resulted in a feeling of resentment among Muslims towards Islam as a political solution to their problems. Similarly, the scientific institution is respected by all human beings, but the West’s attempt to use science to impose its culture and point of view is resulting in many people rejecting science and scientific culture as something evil and alien to human beings. There is a feeling among many people in the West that scientific advancement will change their lives for the worst and is interfering with their lives. As a result, the West has done a great injustice to science, and the Theory of Evolution has succeeded only in alienating the people from the scientific culture.
Islam, on the other hand, provides a comprehensive doctrine to the fundamental questions of existence which frees the human mind to pursue science. Islam is the correct doctrine which agrees fully with the rationally-deduced reality that everything in the universe, including the universe itself, has a beginning in its creation by Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and it depends upon the Creator for its sustenance. In addition, Islam establishes through decisive facts that the Qur’an is the speech of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), which is a conclusive proof that Muhammed (saw) is the Messenger of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). Because Islam is the correct creed, then the system which emanates from this creed is correct, and its implementation will organize humanity at all levels and will lead to a progressive society based upon justice. Thus, Islam does not need to hide behind an institution to prove its correctness because Islam is based upon the conclusive facts arrived at through the rational method, and anyone who observes the reality will come to the intellectual realization that the Islamic Aqeedah is correct. In addition, Islam does not need to be glamorized by media hype and sensationalism to make it more attractive to the people because the Islamic system is established upon the correct foundation of belief, which will result in justice and progress in all facets of life a s result of its implementation.
It was under the Islamic System that the scientific culture reached its zenith, and many of the discoveries that exist today can be attributed to the achievements of those who lived under Islamic rule. Many sciences under Islam were purified from superstitious beliefs and false concepts. For example, astrology and astronomy were very well-known to the Arabs before Islam. Upon the arrival of Islam, astronomy was purified from such corrupt ideas as astrology and made into a pure science. No other ideology has done so much for science that Islam, and it is often stated that Islam made the greatest contribution to science by putting science in its rightful place. By recognizing that science has its limitations, Islam maintains the distinction between the ideology as a basis for providing answers and solutions to human problems and science as a tool that is used to observe the physical universe. In addition, Islam protects science from mixing with the ideology – as the Capitalists and the Communists have done – and maintains the scientific culture as a pure science.
Reconciling Secularism and Evolution
The West has used the Theory of Evolution in order to propagate its point of view of life. However, the Theory of Evolution has as its origins the Communist doctrine of Dialectics which denies the existence of the Creator. Because Secularism does not deny the existence of the Creator, then the Theory of Evolution is a thought alien to the Secular doctrine, which forces the West to reconcile Evolution and its Secular doctrine. To do this they rely on the “Ticking Clock” Theory, which states that the Creator created the universe and life and left them to evolve without any intervention. In the same manner that a clock maker manufactures a clock and leaves it to tick on its own, the proponents of Evolution, in order to avoid the label of being Communists, claim that the Creator “set the clock” for the universe to run and evolve, and left the universe to evolve and run on its own like the ticking clock runs on its own without the clock maker.
Such an argument is pure speculation because those people who claim such an idea have no way of proving the Creator’s plans in the Way He designed the universe. They would either have to claim that they are Messengers of God that the Creator communicated with them and conveyed that information to them, or they would have to prove that the source of this information comes from the Creator. Because they have no proof for either, they must resign themselves to such stupid, idiotic theories that compares the origins of the universe and life to a ticking clock which no one can prove.
Conclusion
The Theory of Evolution is incorrect because it is established upon an incorrect basis of “Scientific Ideology” which attempts to use the scientific method as a basis of building belief and a foundation for the ideology. Because science cannot answer such questions as what is before or after life, or what is the origin of man, life and the universe, attempting to use the scientific method for something that science cannot be used for – such as establishing belief – results in speculation and assumption from which definite facts cannot be reached.
One mistake that the Muslims make is trying to disprove the Theory of Evolution from a scientific perspective. Science cannot be used to either prove or disprove any thought or belief about the origins of man, life, and the universe because the origins of man, life and the universe is beyond the scope of the scientific method. The scientific method can only be used to prove or disprove facts relating to tangible things that can be subjected to the scientific process of experimentation. Neither the origin of man, life, and the universe, nor the question of what is before or after life, can be subjected to experimental conditions and validated or falsified using the scientific method.
One question that comes: If Evolution is incorrect in its foundation, then why has it become so institutionalized? The answer is the same answer to the question of why Islam, which is correct and has a legacy of thirteen centuries of unparalleled justice and progress under the dominance of Islam, is perceived in such a negative light. It is also the same answer to the question of why concepts like Democracy, Freedom, and International Law – even though they contradict reality and do not exist – are cherished by the people as sacred: Evolution has a system behind it, as does Democracy, Freedom, and all of Western ideology and culture, whereas Islam does not have a system to stand behind it. Because of the support of the Western establishment, which now controls the entire world, the Theory of Evolution is protected and propagated to the world, but the pervasiveness of Evolution does not give it any credibility or validity, in the same manner that the dominance of Capitalism does not change the fact that Capitalism is an incorrect ideology.
Khalifornia Publications