In this post-Enlightenment, post-Renaissance, post-Modern time that we live in, reason rules the day. The times of bowing down to idols of stone and clay are long gone. The new supreme idol, second only to man's nafs, is his power of reason.
The tyrant ruling the kingdom of our conscious is intellect and it must be toppled. The role of king belongs to faith and reason is but a subject subservient to the king. While reason must play its role in advising the king, it must never be allowed to control the throne.
Rationalism is to be constrained and guided by servitude to the claims of faith.
In these days where science reigns supreme and almost every natural phenomena has a logical explanation, the power of man's intellect has grown exponentially while the scope of belief has diminished. The scientific worldview of modernity has usurped the religious worldview of tradition.
We need to corral our intellect and make it subservient to our faith. We have let it loose and that is as dangerous as letting loose our nafs. By their nature, both are in need of great disciplining.
Just as the nafs can only be controlled by going against its inherent nature (fulfillment of its worldly desires), the intellect is tamed by going against its nature (the need to know and understand everything).
And Who better to teach us this very difficult lesson than Allah (swt)?
The most perfect proof that our capacity to reason is limited and imperfect is found in the beginning letters of some of the suras in the Quran – the Muqatta’at as they are sometimes referred to.
Everyone accepts that these letters will never be understood by man – they are a clear demonstration from Allah that our intellect is incomplete and will never fully understand the Divine message. It is Allah's gentle way of teaching us that our intelligence is handicapped and we must never let it arrogantly assume that complete knowledge of the universe is a possibility.
Consequently, these verses are an appropriate counter-response to those who argue that surely Allah would not send a perfect revelation containing verses beyond man's intellectual capacity. If these Muqatta'at are agreed to be beyond man's understanding, why cannot other parts of revelation be equally inexplicable?
There are many verses in the Quran that present a challenge to my western-raised mind. My foundation is from a liberal democratic pluralist society and so my sensibilities are tinged by that upbringing. I find many teachings of the Quran and Sunnah to be quite challenging when harmonizing them with my intellect.
And that is the test presented to me by my Creator – my test is not to fight the urge to bow down to a wooden idol, but to bow down to my intellect and its thirst to rationalize everything.
Many of my contemporaries struggle with the verses on beating the disobedient wife, having sex with the female slave, capital punishment, and the like. I have tried for years to rationalize those components and harmonize them with my faith. I have read the works of Abou El-Fadl, Naim, Mernissi, Wadud, and Barlas and I have found nothing to placate my raging reason.
So instead of allowing my intellect to kidnap me to the badlands of doubt and disbelief, I suspend my reason and take it on faith that Allah (swt) has revealed certain verses in His infinite wisdom, beyond my capacity to understand - similar to those beginning letters.
Personally speaking, I see those controversial texts as tests of my faith in the message brought by Prophet Muhammad (saw).
In response, I have decided to humble my intellect and acknowledge my ignorance on matters of my faith that I cannot reconcile. Its actually quite refreshing and liberating.
But I understand how so many of my peers will find such a move as backwards and incomprehensible, for just like many of us are blinded by the nafs, others are blinded by the intellect.
In closing, I'd like to reference the balanced understanding that Muhammad Abduh reached, as stated in his Risala,
"How then can reason be denied its right, being, as it is, the scrutineer of evidences so as to reach the truth within them and know that it is Divinely given? Having, however, once recognized the mission of a prophet, reason is obliged to acknowledge all that he brings, even though unable to attain the essential meaning within it or penetrate its full truth. Yet this obligation does not involved reason in accepting rational impossibilities...But if there appears something which appears contradictory, reason must believe that the apparent is not the intended sense. It is then free to seek the true sense by reference to the rest of the prophet's message in whom ambiguity occurred or to fall back on God and His omniscience." (emphasis added)
So will we 'fall back on God and His omniscience' when our reason is unable to find the 'true sense by reference to the rest of the prophet's message' when confronted with an apparent contradiction to our reason?
That is the test of our times.
Finally, I'm working on a second part detailing the dangerous implications of my conclusions... hope to have it up in a few days, IA-
Side Note: Initially when I started to write this post, I thought to use the analogy of reason being an idol that needs to be slain, as Prophet Ibrahim (as) destroyed the idols of his time. However I found that analogy to be lacking as our duty is not to slay reason, for that would lead to taqlid (blind following), rather to discipline it, oust it from its undeserving place atop our conscience, and bring it down to its divinely sanctioned rank.
WAW
2 days ago
11 comments:
AA Naeem. Well said. We just had a conference on marriage for couples and those seeking to get married. Some sisters couldn't get over the whole "the man's the head of the household" thing. So one of the speakers, Sr. Zakia Amin, told the audience that you can't live an islamic life based on american principles. She told the audience that if you want to live Islam, you gotta READ what ISLAM says, not what Dr. Phil says or Oprah, for example. My point is that we try to not ONLY rationalize everything but we try to do it based on the societal values in which we live and we simply cannot do that unless we live in an Islamic society (notice I didn't say Muslim).
I personally have never read anything in Quran or Hadith that I could not come to reconcile once having taken it to a learned person to decipher it's meaning and context. In essence, I believe there is nothing contradictory in the Quran or Sunnah, there is only limited understanding.
Thanks for the post, I look forward to the next one.
~Sahra
'beating the disobedient wife' is something well explained by hadith and quranic commentary..its not supposed to be a big huge beating and it has conditions.
basically that point boils down to this...the husband is kiiinda sorta in a position like parents. he has married(employed?) you...he is responsible for your whole well being. So because he is your total caretaker, he does have certain rights over. This however does not diminish your rights over him, as his wife.
the man's test i think is to be just and kind and the woman's test is to be loving and supporting him.
Salaam Naeem
This post made me smile.
But to your second anonymous: for a woman who has lived a life in which she alone is responsible for her whole well-being, as you put it, if you want her to accept a new caretaker, someone to do what she herself is capable of, forcing her into a position of submission isn't the best way.
AA- Sahra,
"I personally have never read anything in Quran or Hadith that I could not come to reconcile once having taken it to a learned person to decipher it's meaning and context."
I'm glad that you've found it so straightforward. I can't say the same for me. So, I've been forced to suspend my reason and bow my intellect in humility to Allah and simply accept the texts in question on faith.
"In essence, I believe there is nothing contradictory in the Quran or Sunnah, there is only limited understanding."
Basically you summed up my post in one sentence. Gee Sahra, thanks for making me look like a fool! :-P
AA- Anon,
"'beating the disobedient wife' is something well explained by hadith and quranic commentary..its not supposed to be a big huge beating and it has conditions."
Yes, I know and I just can't swallow the countless explanations that I've encountered. I'm sincerely glad that you have found the proofs to be acceptable, but personally speaking, I continue to struggle with that verse.
"basically that point boils down to this...the husband is kiiinda sorta in a position like parents. he has married(employed?) you..."
oh man, you're headin' for a hurtin' if you try to convince your wife with that logic. :-)
AA- Sahra,
"My point is that we try to not ONLY rationalize everything but we try to do it based on the societal values in which we live and we simply cannot do that unless we live in an Islamic society (notice I didn't say Muslim)."
Not sure what you're getting at here...can you further clarify?
I think iman, taqwa, and tawwakul are of primary importance but Ilm and Aql are also absolutely necessary (man, my spell checker hates when I talk about Islam). But yeah, reason as idol= a soulless, lost society.
Dear Naeem Thank you for your post. I lived half of my life in a traditional Islamic Society. my father was a shafi'i Faqih and a Qadiri sufi. although my father and all our neighbors believed in the Qur'an in its entirety they where the furthest people from wife beaters. Anybody who was even rumored to do that would lose the respect of everybody. for them the qur'an was interpreted by the prophet (saw). The prophet never beat up his wives and Allah swt informed us that he was"upon a magnificent chararter" and in him we have "a beautiful model". those who take the qur'an as their ethos would look to the prophet for Guidance. nonetheless the verses of the qur'an are haqq. The way I look at it is that Allah gave the man authority and with authority there has to be enforcement tools. if you look at the most "liberal" nations the police carry batons or even guns to enforce the law. however all islamic punishment laws are intended first and foremost for deterrence rather than implementation. keep in mind that the qur'an does not give the man blank check to beat up his wife on a whim. it is allowed only for a clear fahishah. The law also keeps the goverment out of the home and from suspending the Husband's God-given authority. the qur'an at the same time encourages the relatives of the espauses to mediate between them. they are likely to have the best interests of both of them at heart and less likely than the government to motivated by out-of-bounds feminist agenda.
On the question of handmaids I understand it to be that it served to curtail war-mongering because in war men will see benefits in victory i.e heroism and spoils, in death he is celebrated. enter the enslavement of women and children war seems very un-apealing Allah knows best.
On the question of reasons vs. revelation I completely agree with you. In islam you have to cultivate your NUR AL YAQIN and keep your reasoning within bounds then your heart will be expanded and you will, Insha Allah understand more than you ever thought possible. I found this to be the case in my own suluk. the qur'an does not accept any mind-set but that of tawhid. It attacks your gods including the absolutism of reason, humanism,feminism, relativism, materilism, western liberalism etc with all sorts of tacktics. if you surrender to it by letting go of all your gods then the Qur'an unveils its wonderous beauty and sublime knowledge. when that happens everything becomes clear everything, yourself and all creation become aligned with tawhid. if you preservere the light of certainty will illumine you BASIRAH and you will see the sublime reality of Allah's word "Alladi Ahsana kula shayin khalaqahu"(He who has made everything he created beautiful). otherwise you will be left under the charge of that you which sought refuge with wether it be faminism, materialism, absolute reason or whatever as Allah swt said "Natawallahum maa tawallaa" we will leave them under tha charge of that which they sought refuge with. this verse of the qur'an perfectly illustrates the test of reason and sensibilities: God is not ashamed to make an example of a mosquito or of an even smaller thing. As for those who believe, they know it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What does God mean by this example?" He misguides many by it and guides many by it. But He only misguides the deviators. (Qur'an, 2:26)
P.s. my current neighborhood in suburbun minneapolis where I spent the other half of my life has way more incidences of espousal abuse and divorce than my old traditional Islamic neighborhood. Salamun alaykum wa Rahma
AA Naeem. I would never try to make you look like a fool...not in public anyway. What I meant by:
"My point is that we try to not ONLY rationalize everything but we try to do it based on the societal values in which we live and we simply cannot do that unless we live in an Islamic society (notice I didn't say Muslim)."
is that I agree with you that we tend to rationalize everything as human beings. We Muslims that live in, say, America, base our rationalizations in the context in which we live, i.e. a very liberal, "democratic" mindset mostly. So when we read for example about "beat them lightly" we tend to get a "sour stomach" as it were. But if we put it in the context that Allah is Wise and Muhammad is our best example (saw) then we can build a better foundation for understanding what is meant by the verse.
~Sahra
AA- Abukar,
Thank you for your thoughts. Really appreciate them.
"the qur'an does not accept any mind-set but that of tawhid. It attacks your gods including the absolutism of reason, humanism,feminism, relativism, materilism, western liberalism etc with all sorts of tacktics. if you surrender to it by letting go of all your gods then the Qur'an unveils its wonderous beauty and sublime knowledge. when that happens everything becomes clear everything,"
Well said my friend!
"as Allah swt said "Natawallahum maa tawallaa" we will leave them under tha charge of that which they sought refuge with."
Which ayah is this?
Sorry I just got back to this old blog didn't get a chance to visit your blog since my comment. I mistyped the lafd of the ayat its translation is :
IF ANYONE PARTS WITH THE MASSENGER AFTER GUIDANCE HAS BECOME CLEAR TO HIM, AND FOLLOWS A PATH OTHER THAN THE WAY OF THE BELIEVERS, WE WILL ABONDON HIM TO WHAT HE HAS ADOPTED, AND BURN HIM IN HELL. AND WHAT A MISERABLE DESTINATION!(QUR'AN 4:115)
WA SALLAMU ALAYKUM
Post a Comment