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RESEARCH PAPER, 2009
Why Modern Intellectuals don’t reach the Truth?
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ARTICLE, 2020
Critical Analysis of Modern Islamic Scholars: Philosophical, Epistemological, Scientific & Spiritual Problems
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POSTS, 2019
Philosophy of Tragedy & Suffering in Life
Why God must be loved unconditionally
Allama Iqbal’s “Khudi” (Self) – Most misunderstood concept
Music in Islam – Al Ghazali’s opinion
How to unite Muslim Ummah – a brand new idea!
Why 5 times prayers are not helping Muslims?
Sunnah – What is lacking today?
Tazkia-e-Nafs (Purification of Soul)
Fundamental Flaw with Modern Sufis
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13 ideas of thesis topics for academic students: MA/PhD in Islamic Thought & Civilization, 2009
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“Why Modern Intellectuals don’t reach the Truth?”, 2009
Published in 4 International Journals:-
JRISS, JRSS, Transcendent Philosophy, Suvidya
The pendulum of our age swings with the thrust of relativism, the amplitude of uncertainty while hinging on subjectivity. Paradoxes that defy the best brains, stir the calmest hearts and threaten the conviction of most, revolve around Truth. Reality is a supreme puzzle harder to join after the ascent of intellect. Most religions demand leaps of faith too big for inquisitive minds. Science’s relentless pursuit of facts renders it cold for human emotions. Philosophy cannot avoid and instead drowns in the waves of its times. Psychology mocks man’s dignity by deeming him a puppet dancing to an unheard tune. Intuition and imagination in Art and Literature fail to serve the utilitarian ends of materialism. Hedonism is a forbidden tree whose fruits poison man’s soul; so pleasure, too, is not a beacon of guidance. Thus a cry for intellectual unity among all kinds of people seems fruitless. Yet, one definition of truth worthy of highest consent is that it has to pass the deepest scrutiny of reason and stand the longest test of time.
Is there anything that is qualified to be called the Truth? Do we need a Truth to live for? Can there ever be a single Truth which would unite the whole world without any conflicts? Or is Truth the unmatched utopia which will never prevail beyond wishful thinking? Does Truth stand independent of us? Is Truth only an illusion of our psyche? Is it an inevitable epiphenomenon of the natural disposition of our brain? Do we see things as they are or as we are? Is there a visionary who, blessed with the height of wisdom, possesses a magical answer to these unsolved riddles of our times? The History of Western Thought is full of false prophets who claimed to bring man out of darkness.
Once upon a time, man was foolish, naïve, “backwards” and irrational. When he would set his eyes upon the mighty mountains, he would think of a Creator behind them. When he would witness the undisturbed alternation of sun and moon, he would imagine a God moving them. When he would see his body designed with fragility and perfection, he would ascribe the same cause to it. When he would be in need, he would lift his hands for a prayer. When he would be confused about right and wrong, he would open a Holy Book. However, thanks to science, technology, intellect and progress, there is no such idiocy anymore. Now he can explain everything with science and logic. He does not need fairytales to be fascinated with; perhaps he has grown too wise for them. How superstitious was he!
The above is an excerpt from the diary of a modern man as to how he views religion. Is not it wondrous that some of the most educated and intelligent people turn completely stupid when it comes to religion? People who can design highly complex integrated circuits fail to understand a simple teaching of religion. We have already read the modern man’s explanation, but the secret is much deeper than that which, if understood, would not have given birth to so many “isms”.
The body-soul duality has confused some of the most sophisticated minds since ages. Spiritual masters of all traditions claim that the soul, too, has organs. Let us consider what Western Philosophy calls as the mind-body problem. Neuroscientists claim the dualism of mind-brain to be true; the mind is to soul what the brain is to body; the mind is a ‘spiritual’ brain distinct from the biological brain. To understand how they interact, let us consider computer technology as an analogy. Intelligence itself belongs to the software but it cannot perform its function without its information processor i.e. the hardware. Mind is like the software whereas brain is like the hardware. Furthermore, in both cases, the earlier is non-material whereas the later is material.
Perhaps the two most fascinating scientific discoveries in the last few years are as follows. Firstly, the biological heart which has been considered as only a blood-pump since ages is actually a lot more than that i.e it is an intelligent organ. Secondly, there is a dualism of heart as well i.e besides the biological heart, there is a spiritual heart.
Recently, a relatively new medical discipline known as Neurocardiology has uncovered the presence of the neurons in the heart, the same type of cells that are present in the brain. There are as many as 40000 neurons in the heart. The nervous system of the heart is made up of these neurons which are capable of processing information without the help of neurons from the brain. The neurons of the heart obtain information from the rest of the body and make appropriate adjustments and send back this information from the heart to the rest of the body including the brain. In addition to this, these neurons possess a kind of short-term memory which allows them to function independently of the central nervous system.
These findings prompted the nervous system of the heart being mentioned as the “brain in the heart”. The heart possesses its own little brain, capable of complex computational analysis on its own. Data clearly indicate that the intrinsic cardiac nervous system acts as much more than a simple relay station for the extrinsic autonomic projections to the heart. An understanding of the complex anatomy and function of the heart’s nervous system contributes an additional dimension to the newly emerging view of the heart as a sophisticated information processing centre, functioning not only in concert with the brain but also independent of it.
The heart communicates with the brain in 4 different ways. Firstly, its nerve cells or neurons transmit information to the brain. It is called neural traffic and research has shown that the heart sends more neural traffic to the brain than the other way round. Secondly, the heart has been found to secrete a very powerful hormone called Atrial Natriuretic factor (ANF) that has a profound effect on many parts of the body including those portions of the brain that are involved in memory, learning and emotions. Thirdly, with every heartbeat, pressure waves are generated and when these travel through the arteries to the brain, there are recordable changes in the electrical activity of the brain. Finally, the heart has an electromagnetic energy field 5000 times greater than that of the brain. Since the heart’s energy field is greater than that of the brain, it has a profound effect on the brain’s functions.
Even though the timing of the heartbelt can be influenced by the brain (through the autonomic nervous system), the source of the heartbeat is present within the heart. There appears to be no need for nerve connections between the heart and the brain. That is why, when a person has a heart transplant, all the nerve connections between the heart and brain are cut but that doesn’t stop the heart from working when it is placed in the new person’s chest.
It is common knowledge now that the heart of the unborn child develops and starts pumping long before the brain comes into existence. Even though the actual event which triggers the beating of the heart cells of a baby is not known, it is suspected that the mother’s heart energy conveyed in primal sound waves contains the information that is the code that jump-starts our life. Once the heart begins to beat, it continues to beat throughout a lifetime (auto rhythmic beating function) even when the brain stops working in cases like ‘brain death’. Brain death is described as a condition when brain activity has stopped forever. Hence even when the brain dies, the heart can still live. But when the heart dies (unless we find a replacement for the heart), the brain cannot live. Thus, the brain needs the heart for its survival more than the other way around.
Joseph Pearce, in “Evolution’s End”, claims that the biological heart is governed by another higher unseen order of energy. The behaviors of people after heart-transplants reflect that of the late donors. Experiments were done on two cells taken from the heart and observed through a microscope. In the first experiment in which they are isolated from one another they simply fibrillate until they die but when similar cells are brought near to each other, they synchronize and beat in unison. They don’t have to touch they communicate across a spatial barrier. Our heart made up of many billions of such cells operating in unison is under the guidance of a higher, non localized intelligence so we have both a physical heart and a higher universal heart and our access to the latter is dramatically contingent on the former.
Intelligence used to be defined as only rationality expressed by the brain and measured by IQ tests. In 1983, Howard Gardner of Harvard revolutionized the whole concept of intelligence. He showed 7 distinct kinds of intelligence – logical/mathematical, linguistic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, spatial & bodily/kinesthetic. He claimed that IQ-tests measure only the first two types. In 1996, Daniel Goleman, in his famous book ‘Emotional Intelligence’ showed that life depends far higher on the ability to manage emotions rather than mental abilities alone. Emotional intelligence is of a humanistic type whereas logical intelligence is of a selfish type. Thus intelligence devoid of heart turns man cunning and insensitive. Some deem emotions as only the by-product of brain but it has been shown that emotions are much faster than the thought process and surpass the linear-reasoning of the brain. J. Andrew Armour proved in his book “Neurocardiology” that amygdala, the portion of brain dealing with emotional memory processing, is influenced by the heart.
On a less scientific and much simpler, philosophical and experiential level, we can understand the heart-brain interaction by reflecting on how we reason in our everyday lives. An emotion or feeling gives birth to a thought process. The sequence of the reasoning progresses in the direction as governed by the emotion behind it. The final conclusion which we label as rationale is nothing but the super-imposition of the initial emotion. Man, as we all know, is primarily governed by passion. There are very few instances in which his rationality is unaltered by his emotions. His heart and mind are fully interconnected. Feelings arouse thoughts and thoughts stir feelings and this vicious cycle goes on.
Where man becomes rational in a neutral manner, that is, without favoring his emotions, is mostly the scientific domain. Conclusions of scientific investigations and experiments are more often than not free from adulterations and biases. Why is that so? Why is a scientist more often than not honest in scientific truths? It is because the conclusions have nothing to do with the fulfillment or negation of his desires; but the same scientist will never be that honest in concluding religious truths because, he knows it will directly interfere with his desires. Even in scientific matters like evolution and creation, scientists who are inwardly anti-religious lose their honesty. Atheist Richard Dawkins, who can be called a “fundamentalist Scientist”, despite claiming to be a pure rationalist, rejects a refutation of Darwinism which is more rational than its defense. Scientists, too, are humans like us.
Is intuition a source of intelligence? How can people create art or become great artists with neither learning or studying art nor having an arts degree? They call it artistic sense. But what is artistic sense? Artistic sense is nothing but intuitive intellect invested for art. The rationalists recognize it in the domain of Arts but shun it when it comes to religion. It is their intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy. Without intuition no one can compose music or write poetry. ‘Gut feeling’ and ‘6th sense’, too, are human experiences that cannot be denied. Why does someone in love possess such a strong and accurate sixth sense regarding his beloved? Heart is way above being just a romantic-sounding word.
Knowledge itself is neither Western nor Eastern. Science is neither materialistic nor spiritual in its scope and purpose; it is concerned with the observation, collection and definition of facts and the derivation from them of general rules. But the inductive conclusions derived from them are not based on facts and observations alone but are influenced, to a very large extent, by the intuitive attitude towards life and its problems. The great German philosopher, Kant, said: “It seems surprising at first, but is none the less certain, that our reason does not draw its conclusions from things, but ascribes them to it” . This ascription cannot be free from intuition coming from the heart.
“If you are not deceived by the mirage, be not proud of your understanding. Your freedom from this optical illusion is due to your imperfect thirst” – Urfi
One seldom comes across a more beautiful explanation of the phenomena of perception than the above words of the Persian poet. With a vehement desire to drink, the sands of the desert would give the impression of a lake but due to the absence of a keen desire for water, one cannot perceive it. A person with hatred for someone will see faults in him that do not even exist, whereas, a person in love with someone finds gems in him out of no where. Human knowledge is only a perception of the reality, not the reality itself. In quantum physics, even the distinction between subject and object has ceased to exist. We see things as we are not as they are. Perception, too, is the work of heart.
Till now we have discussed heart in the light of modern science and simple philosophy. Although it has certainly shed new lights on many things but we have not yet answered the question raised at the start. It is said that where all human intellect ceases, the sagacity of revelation starts. Similarly, where scientists and philosophers have nothing to say further, a deeply spiritual or religious man will have a lot to offer. The role of biological heart and the existence of spiritual heart that Science has discovered now were revealed in the Quran, in more than 100 verses, 15 centuries earlier. But Islam did not just settle there and took the concept to another level altogether. It further explained the role of spiritual heart (qalb) as well which would, in turn, create all the difference.
A mirror reveals the true picture only when it is itself clear and clean. When an impurity mars it, the image is dimmed and if it becomes covered with dirt, it cannot reveal a true reflection. The qalb is a mirror. When it is freed from vices, it is spotless and speaks only the truth. When a vice takes place, a black spot appears on it and if the vices go on persisting, the black spot grows bigger till the heart becomes completely blind to the truth. Just as the brain has an IQ level reflecting capability to understand many things, the heart has a purification level which indicates its capacity to comprehend the Ultimate Truth.
Truth is infinite and cannot reside in a finite container. Human senses have limitations with mortality written all over them. Although the human brain is amazing to reach beyond the stars or inside a micro particle but it, too, would fail to give the right output in some of the fundamental questions of life if it receives input from a corrupt master (qalb). Qalb is the only organ which has the potential to grasp the infinite despite human limitations. Quran says that God neither exists in the heavens nor on the earth but only in the qalb of His true followers. The qalb is His home but He enters it only when it is clean enough for Him.
The modern man, in his sheer ignorance, thinks that religion doesn’t appeal to him because, unlike the older times when man hadn’t developed logical competence, now he has intellectually progressed too much to even need religion. In truth, his heart has been darkened so much due to sins that he has lost the ability to see the reality. God describes such people as deaf, dumb and blind who can neither see the truth nor hear the truth nor speak the truth. When Muhammad (pbuh) said that our heart is the organ which governs our body, his words were spoken from a spiritual point of view because from the physical perspective, even a school-kid knows it. The indifference to religion in the modern age is not because of intellectual superiority but due to spiritual inferiority.
People can be brilliant in their professions with impure hearts because most require only good brains. Religious knowledge, however, is quite different from secular knowledge. If Ghazali, Rumi or Ibn-al-Arabi used logic to the fullest for their brilliant philosophies, it is because with a heart similar to theirs, reason will always reach the truth. The problem with the modern man is that he uses logic as much as them but has a heart not even worth comparing to them. As much as intellect guides man, it leads him astray – the criteria being state of the heart. Modern man’s intellectual discourse is mostly a rational expression or rather justification of the call of lower-self (nafs).
It is noteworthy to compare the ancient and modern concepts of Philosophy. In Greek tradition, it was considered hikmah (wisdom). For Muslims, philosophy was nothing but an honest search for the truth. In today’s academics, the discipline of philosophy comes under Arts because now it has been robbed of its serious nature and is more just a creative ability to think without any profound veracity, with more emphasis on originality rather than depth. Iqbal must have seen the highly obscured vision of Russel, Nietzsche, Freud, Marx and Rousseau, when he said that, “man’s reason aims at the conquest of the world of matter; his love makes conquest of the infinite. Knowledge devoid of love is nothing but juggling with ideas” . Quran rightly described pseudo-intellectualism as nothing but mental conjectures devoid of reality.
Rumi saw the heart, being a special inner insight, bringing us into contact with aspects of reality other than those open to sense-perception and intellect. Intellect, according to him, only restrains the living heart of man and robs it of the invisible wealth that lies within. While admitting the superiority of intuitive intellect over rational, Iqbal said that “where thought grasps Reality piecemeal, intuition grasps it in its wholeness. One fixes its gaze on the temporal aspect of Reality; the other on the eternal. One slowly traverses, specifies and closes up the various regions of the whole for exclusive observation; the other is present enjoyment of the whole of Reality” .
The issue with the modern man is that he is so in love with this illusionary world that his rationality is bound to suit only his emotions which are non-religious and non-spiritual in nature. That is why even when he opens a Holy Book, his interpretation deprives him of the truth and the celestial verses fail to penetrate into his dark heart. On the other hand, the same man, amazingly, shed tears on a mere song or a movie or a novel despite knowing it is only art not the truth! The issue with religion is that it is too deep to be grasped without a receptive heart, and certainly not for the shallowness and superficiality of the modern age. Thus Islamization of knowledge is Islamization of man which in turn is Islamization of hearts.
A Sufi once said that no real understanding of the Holy Book is possible until it is actually revealed to the believer just as it was revealed to the Prophet. Sufis of the past were able to derive many hidden meanings behind seemingly simple Quranic verses. Hazrat Ali gave a lecture from isha till fajr on only the first letter of Bismillah. These people had hearts of gold; we only wear gold on our skins. The spiritual heart (qalb) is the organ of higher knowledge when pure. The holy book is not another collection of papers, letters and ink. It is an infinite ocean of knowledge, but only for the thirsty – not for the heedless, arrogant, “civilized” and “refined gentlemen” of the 21st century! The reason why most cannot perceive God in anything in life is because they have too much of everything else, instead, to long for. A Sufi once said that this universe is His book to take lessons from it.
The modern age speaks too much of enlightenment of the mind, whereas, with a darkened heart, the mind will only give birth to an inverted reality. No wonder arrogance is known as dignity; indifference is known as tolerance; humbleness is known as weakness; material greed is known as ambitiousness; vulgarity is known as freedom; lust is known as love; insensitivity is known as rationality; conscience is known as confusion; short-sightedness is known as practicality; conviction is known as fundamentalism; higher conviction is known as extremism; denial of human limitations is known as genius. The best illustration of inverted reality is human prosperity, a term we hear earlier than we learn how to crawl. By devoting himself solely to increase the quantity and quality of ghair-ullah (non-God), man is now inevitably fascinated with all but God whereas the essence of religion was none but God.
What appears as the decay of religion and the rise of intelligence is in reality nothing but the death and emptiness of hearts turned idle, unable to hear that eternal inner voice. Nietzsche said God is dead. I say conscience is dead. The pinnacle of delusion is that modern man has assumed his superiority amongst creations as an unconditional state whereas it solely relies on his acts – man can even be lower than the beasts. Man is great only because he has will and yet doesn’t sin, not because he sins and can rationally justify it as well. The latter case represents that of the modern man and he is so proud of it. He defies the truth using an instrument which alone cannot even measure it.
If man flies to the highest sky of reason, he would nothing but the clouds of Truth, only if the wings of faith take him that far!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mushtaq, Gohar (1987). The Intelligent Heart, the Pure Heart: an insight into the heart based on Quran, Sunnah and Modern Science. London: Ta-Ha Publishers
Muhammad, Riaz (1998). Sayings of the Mystics of Islam. Karachi: Dawah Academy
Herlihy, John (1990). In Search of the Truth. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Pustaka Islam
Iqbal, Muhammad. (1982). Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. Lahore: Javid Iqbal.
Critical Analysis of Modern Islamic Scholars: Philosophical, Epistemological, Scientific & Spiritual Problems
Published in “Pakistan Times” newspaper & “Askedon” Educational Blog:
The entire thought of many modern Islamic scholars is based on the assumption that the strength of an argument is directly proportional to the truthfulness of the claim. Educated and literate people follow them because of the fact that their arguments are stronger than others. If you ever listen to their lectures, watch their videos or read their books & articles, the most frequent words are, “this argument is weak; that argument is strong”. The assumption on which this entire paradigm of knowledge is based – is it wrong or right? Does religion or life in general teach us that something is true or false because it is based on a strong or weak argument?
I strongly disagree. The strength of an argument is a sign of the intelligence of a person. It is not a sign of someone being on Haq (Truth or Reality). The weakness of an argument is a sign of lack of intelligence. It is not a sign of someone being on Batil (Falsehood or lie). The lawyer who wins the case or the debater who wins the debate do not necessarily represent who is based on truth or who has more authentic knowledge. It tells us who has the better brains.
In religion, the proximity to truth/reality is only partially related to the intelligence of mind and it is intimately related to the purity of heart. A pure heart free of spiritual sicknesses will accept the truth even with a low IQ. An impure heart full of spiritual sicknesses will reject the truth even with a genius IQ. Yes the best combination is people like Allama Iqbal who had both genius & inner purity and that is why he was such a great scholar but if Allah has to choose between one of the two things for giving someone hidayat (divine guidance), He will definitely choose inner purity not genius. The history of this world as well as the present era is full of genius people who had or have zero iman (faith/belief).
Religion is the ONLY field of knowledge in this world in which the criteria for reaching or not reaching the right conclusions is based not just on the data and information you have acquired, memorized and processed mentally but it is also highly based on your taqwa (piety), spiritual level, tazkia-e-nafs (self-purification) and connection with the Almighty. You can become the best doctor or best engineer while being a horrible, sinful, unethical and immoral person if you have great brains and have done hard work in your study and practice but you CANNOT become a great Islamic scholar at all without possessing an extremely high level of the virtuous traits mentioned earlier.
If modern Islamic scholars should be followed because they have better arguments than others, then we should apply the same formula and same principle outside Islam as well. We should follow all those atheists, agnostics, Christians, Jews, New age spiritualists & Yogi mystics like Sadhguru who do not believe in Islam at all and have extremely powerful arguments against either religion in general or Islam specifically. Why should we restrict ourselves to the bounds within Islam only? If strong arguments is all that matters, then why not follow schools of thought, philosophies or other religions that are in total contradiction with Quran/Hadith because they too have all the arguments in their baggage to support their own point of view and negate our point of view.
I simply cannot understand why followers of modern Islamic scholars apply this method only within Islam. Why not outside Islam? That is not intellectual honesty. If a genius non-Muslim can prove Islam is wrong on the basis of Science or Philosophy or comparative study of religions or the awful state of Muslim world since centuries with the strength of his arguments, why should these followers remain Muslims? Why should they close their eyes to the powerful analysis of that anti-Islamic scholar? Why do they conveniently negate all the highly intelligent people who speak and write against Islam very logically and rationally? Why do they fit their theory of strong argument only among Islamic scholars? Isn’t that bias or prejudice?
I am saying this because I have been searching for the truth since more than 15 years during which I explored not just Muslim scholars but also non-Muslim and even anti-Islamic intellectuals. I know it for sure that all of them have one thing in common – they all have equally valid arguments. So Islam is not the only one with arguments. I assure you. It seems as if followers of modern Islamic scholars have not explored these other options at all and they have wrongly assumed that their teacher has the best arguments in the world.
The big question which is automatically raised at this point is then why should we be a hardcore Muslim if we know there are arguments against Islam as well? Secondly, within Islam, why should we ascribe to Sufism/Tasawuf if we know there are arguments against it from many Islamic scholars of present & past?
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What is Iman? Iman is believing in something without evidence because it is told by Holy Prophet SAW who is a prophet and, thus, infallible. I have read his entire life in details from A to Z and I am convinced that when he claimed to be the last prophet of Allah, it is impossible that he was either lying or in a state of delusion. I am not a Muslim due to any other reason at all. I have no proof at all that there is any life after death, heaven, hell, angels, Day of Judgment etc but I only believe in all this because it was said so by Muhammad SAW – that’s it – nothing more, nothing less!
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Religion is not just an academic or scholastic or intellectual or “mental gymnastic” activity which is only to be read & understood logically like Physics, Chemistry or Biology.
Real religion is something far beyond that. It is not research but search for the Divine. It is an entire journey rather than a mere set of concepts, theories, ideas & beliefs. It is a living experience; it is unveiling of something hidden; it is tasting something spiritual; it is disclosure of deep truths; it is a comprehension of reality where the heart and soul matter more than the mind; it is only understood by practically following and implementing it in your life and not by debates or discussions or social media rants; it is NOT a test of your IQ level but a test of your humility/humbleness; it is not a test of how smart you are but a test of how much you can kill your ego, how much you can sacrifice your desires, how much suffering you can bear for your religion, how much worldly loss you can manage due to your righteousness, how much you can fight against your Nafs (lower-self), how much you can love your Creator and how much you can drown in the footsteps of Holy Prophet SAW.
This moral, ethical, psychological, emotional and in simple words – PRACTICAL – dimension of religion is best demonstrated throughout 1400 years by Muslim saints/sages who are now known as Sufis or Ahl-e-Tasawuf. In the times of Holy Prophet SAW, they were known as Sahaba (companions of the prophet) because then Sufism or Tasawuf was fully in practice without its name or terminology or label. Later, when the spiritual state of Muslims deteriorated drastically, it became a specialized branch of learning via Sufi orders (silsilay) like Chishti, Qadri, Naqshbandi, Suhrawardy etc.
These people who we call Awlia Karaam are blessed with wisdom, penetrating insights & sincerity of intention (ikhlaas) much more than scholars or professors or intellectuals (danishwar). Wilayat or Sainthood (not in the Christian sense) is an indispensable and integral part of Islam. Anyone who denies it denies some of the greatest Muslims ever in history. Thus, I very respectfully disagree with modern Islamic scholars on this as well. Calling Sufism a parallel alternative path to Islam is negating the inner, deeper, mystical aspect of Islam which is its core, essence & spirit – not outside it!
Now, I will comment on Science & Islam. Very often, modern Islamic scholars will say, “Quran said this 1400 years ago and Science discovered it or proved it now”. Using Science to prove the veracity of Islam is an unbelievably wrong approach in many ways.
Science is divided into facts & theories. Facts are few and remain unchanged while theories are many and keep changing because Science has always been and will always be in a state of constant evolution, progression, discovery and exploration. There is no finality in it. There is nothing conclusive about it. Why? Because it is human knowledge and, thus, always dynamic. Religion, on other hand, is always static, fixed & permanent because it is based on revelation (wahi) which is from God. Using a temporary thing to prove something permanent is a flawed method to start with. If tomorrow Science changes its stance on something which was earlier compatible with Quran, would we disbelieve in Quran because of that?
Quran is not a textbook of Science at all and is a book of hidayat (guidance) and spiritual nourishment. Its primary purpose is elevating our consciousness about deeper realities. It was not sent to us for engaging us in scientific experiments. Even when it says anything about Science, the purpose of that verse is not telling us a scientific fact or theory at all but giving a religious message and guiding a seeker of God while casually mentioning something related to Science. If we take that comment on Science too seriously and start comparing it with modern science, it is a very immature, superficial, shallow and amateur approach to scripture and will land us in a lot of confusion because there are many incompatibilities between Quran & modern Science. Should we lose our faith because of that? Taking Science from Quran is missing the whole point of that revealed verse which has a totally different and much higher purpose for mankind.
Scientific theories are born when a scientist philosophizes on a fact he discovers or learns. The fact is in nature but the theory is in his head as a result of his own thinking. The worldview, philosophy of life, beliefs, spiritual outlook and metaphysical framework of that scientist will determine what his theory concludes and what is the epistemological nature of his work? Today, due to the fact that Muslims are far behind the West in all domains of worldly knowledge, Science is in the hands of the West where most people do not believe in Islam and many disbelieve in any religion for that matter. Thus, the Science of today is not pure Science at all but it is Western Science which is heavily influenced by ideas based on Kufr (disbelief) because, sadly, it currently belongs to disbelievers (Kufaar). Science is not a neutral endeavor at all. It is simply too naive to consider it free from distortion. Thus, seeking support for Islam from a Non-Islamic Science is a failed venture from day one.
Last but not the least, I will discuss the immense spiritual problems of current scholars. It is a very common practice that after learning Islam and gaining expertise on it, people start seeking fame, limelight, recognition, glory and worldly status. They start making huge number of followers. They end up becoming a brand. Thus, Islamic scholars become celebrities as big as cricketers, rock-stars and actors. Immense prestige, honor and respect is seen as a sign of Allah being pleased with them. This is clearly the devil playing with them and they do not even know it properly. Since we are living in times of fitna (trials) and spiritual degradation, even Islamic scholars are not safe from the traps of Nafs (lower-self). They themselves need guidance and self-rectification to a very high extent. This is why the Quran says that only the real scholars fear Allah. The last thing on the mind of a real scholar is being a part of news and interviews.
The basic prerequisite of being an Islamic scholar is following the spiritual path much more than an ordinary person does. The basics of Islamic spirituality teach us as our primary lesson that we have to intentionally avoid popularity and opportunities for it. We have to conceal ourselves and impose on ourselves being very low-profile so that we can strive to develop and maintain ikhlaas (pure intentions) in whatever we do. Our objective, goal and purpose is only and solely pleasing Allah and becoming a much better Muslim. That is the whole benefit and fruit of real knowledge. It is not for making fans, impressing others and feeding our ego. People of humility and humbleness do not indulge in any marketing or promotion of themselves or their work. They do not chase media, TV or social media platforms for getting attention and praise. They quietly and silently do their work without any flags or horns or clapping. Their entire concern and focus is on being accepted by Allah in His Kingdom rather than making a big name in society or masses.
And indeed, only Allah has perfect knowledge. May Allah forgive me if I have mentioned something wrong – Ameen!
Philosophy of Tragedy & Suffering in Life
1) virtue and suffering are to some extent inseparable. All Prophets, great Sahaba, Awlia, momineen, Sufis and some great Islamic scholars throughout history mostly had tragic lives with very few exceptions. Most people who live easy comfortable lives actually compromise on virtue to do it although they will never admit it.
2) When a genuinely good person goes through hell, the natural response is God doesn’t care. But the reality is that God considers him worthy of being pushed to that extent which a normal person can’t take at all. It is that genuine person’s capacity to take blows much more than a normal person that actually proves how elevated he is in front of Allah. Thus Allah has a special place for this victim in His kingdom.
3) Holy prophet said, “people are asleep. When they die they wake up”. In another instance, he said that if this world would have been even as worthy as a wing of a mosquito, Allah would not have given a single sip of water to disbelievers. However we see that disbelievers are enjoying bounties of the world like Kings and queens. Why? Because Allah doesn’t give any worth to this world at all. Most of our pain misery agony is a consequence of considering this world as the place of results and when we see injustice all around, we can’t make sense of a God who loves us. It is only the correct deep conceptual understanding of life itself with the Spiritual perspective and Spiritual lenses that this world is only a place of temporary tests and the results are to appear in an eternal heaven. This perception of heart mind and soul makes life not just bearable but beautiful in the face of crisis and cruelty.
4) American Sufi scholar Shaykh Hamza Yusuf says “this world was designed to break your heart”. The truth is that there are veils between man and Ultimate Reality. These veils in most cases are not lifted when everything is going exactly as you wanted to. When all your desires are fulfilled, you have not paid any price for lifting the veil. It is only when your heart breaks into pieces that you see things in a different way and you realize that your most treasured and most loved things were actually not a source of being close to God but a major distraction away from God. You were living a life of merry and bliss and you thought how lucky am I whereas in truth how unfortunate u were then to be deceived by this world and how fortunate you are now to know it is a mirage, a fleeting shadow, a mere illusion.
5) whatever situation one is in, it will always be a combination of good and bad. It’s not black or white. It’s actually a grey area. If we focus only on what we don’t have, we will become either suicidal or bitter or anti God. If we focus on what we do have, we will remain sane, happy and grateful to God. At the end of the day, it is we who decide which way to look at the picture. Positive thinking is something we hear about everywhere but not many people practically implement it in their lives. It’s very easy to stay positive when your dreams are fulfilled. If Atif Aslam can stay positive there’s nothing special about it at all. It is actually if you stay positive when your dreams hopes aspirations are shattered that makes you a real hero, a real gem, a real diamond a real fighter a real man a real survivor and the real deal in the eyes of God.
Why God must be loved unconditionally!
A normal believer loves Allah when things are going well but if we read lives of Prophets Sahaba Sufis Islamic scholars, their love was unconditional without any concern or relevance to what was happening in their lives. Why?
Because the Quran calls man as Abad (slave of Allah). A slave has no will no preference no choice no ego no identity of his own. The master can do whatever he wants to do with him and doesn’t need to explain justify defend it either.
Whatever we have be it respect in society, love from family, wealth, health, food, sustenance, talent ability skill knowledge intellect, Taqwa (piety), avoiding sins, spirituality, righteousness, values, morals ethics faith conviction iman (strong belief) academic credentials professional success worldly achievements accomplishments, source of entertainment recreation joy and above all sanity normality sound mental condition- anything and everything that we have is in truth and reality Allah’s FAZAL i.e. huge favor blessing bounties gifts that we do not deserve at all. We did not earn it. We have no right to have it. It’s not our possession at all. It’s only and solely His Special grace Mercy compassion generosity wisdom that He granted us all these without our entitlement without an iota of our own greatness involved in it.
This psychology thinking mindset understanding comprehension perception of life, existence and our own self inculcates reverence for Allah without ever feeling that we have done something amazing for Him. We realize that actually we have not done anything for Him at all. He has done everything for us. Thus the inevitable logical conclusion is that Allah must be loved unconditionally otherwise it is not ISHQ (love) at all but only tijarat (trade) in which we give something and in return get something. Our relationship with Allah must be unconditional obedience and devotion because behind the curtains veils illusions mirage of asbab (worldly means), only He is there for us, with us, by us, in us, around us always and forever waiting for us to seek explore find discover realize and see Him ONLY with the lenses of our heart, not with the eyes or the restricted limited rational mind which can solely operate in the framework of Time and Space but can never go beyond it to experience horizons further and above it to reach heights of wisdom unattainable otherwise.
When the great German Philosopher Nietzsche said “God is dead”, what did he actually mean? People don’t read the entire paragraph at all to see its actual context and interpretation. He, as a genius man with vision, was talking about the horrific and Terrible consequences of atheism that will occur in the future. This is exactly what happened with 2 world wars after that. Thus, even without being a believer himself, he was smart and wise enough to acknowledge, appreciate, admit and confess the immense role of religion in making people’s lives much better.
If an atheist like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris Christopher Hitchens, Noam Chomsky, Stephen Hawkins asks me what is the use benefit advantage practical utility of religion in this life in this world in this age? My answer will be very simple and to the point:
Throughout history and till today, the factual tale of man, the biography of this planet Earth has been and is still full of injustices cruelties oppression horror deception betrayal crime and evil. Which is that one and only single unique rare thing which gives Sahara (uplift) hope optimism positivity smiles inner peace and raises the morale of millions of victims, millions of those who are wronged, millions of people inflicted with diseases, millions of people with broken hearts, millions of people with sad tragic stories – Tell me one thing besides religion which not only fully compensates in the hereafter but really truly undoubtedly makes, in this world in this life, the suffering bearable, the wound healed, the tears wiped out and the bitterness or anguish be replaced by virtue and tranquility. This is the beauty of religion which no agnostic skeptic can deny at all.
Thus, in 2019, we should love Allah and His creation not just because we want heaven/paradise after death but because we want to make an otherwise ugly world run by Zionists on Satanic principles look beautiful not just bearable, seem based on justice not only compromise, appear to be worthy of being lived in as a virtuous noble good man not out of any cowardice or peer pressure or fear or law but out of a genuine intrinsic inner love for goodness itself as a matter of principle after full choice and maximum freedom because the greatest GIANT of all time, Muhammad SAW asked his companions: what is the Hallmark of Islam? Someone said Salat (5 times prayers). Someone said Jihad (holy war). Someone said pilgrimage. Someone said some other good deed (Naik amal). But Holy Prophet SAW said, NO.
“Beware, the Hallmark of Islam is love, love, love”.
ALLAMA IQBAL’S KHUDI (SELF) – MOST MISUNDERSTOOD TOPIC
Allama Iqbal said (in Urdu), “Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud pooche bata teri raza kya hai”
The most common translation in English with which I do not agree at all is:
Raise your self so that before every decree
God will ascertain from you: “What is your wish?”
The entire misuderstanding arose due to this false translation. Many people did not get what Iqbal meant. Secular people saw link between this & self-actualization of Western thinkers. Some religious people saw conflict between Khudi (self) and Sufism’s self-annihilation / self-negation (khud ko mitana / khud ki nafi). Both parties are wrong.
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Self-actualization as understood in the West means to unleash one’s maximum potential as far as abilities/skills/talents are concerned. The sole focus is on brilliance (qabliat). It has nothing to do with spirituality (rohaniat). Steve Jobs, Wasim Akram & Michael Jackson were self-actualized individuals because they attained genius in their fields irrespective of whether they were spiritual or not. Spirituality is not the criterion here at all.
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Iqbal was a spiritual thinker. His entire thought can only be understood if seen with spiritual lenses. Iqbal actually did not say anything different from what Sufis had been saying. Sufis say that due to sins, the corrupted self of people has to undergo many stages of inner purification before it reaches its true real original self. That is why there is so much importance given to denial or opposition of one’s Nafs-e-amarah (lower-self NOT self). Iqbal obviously knew all that. What he really meant can be translated as:-
Raise your PURIFIED self so that before every decree
God will ascertain from you: “What is your wish?”
Thus Iqbal did not say anything new at all. However, his greatness lies in the exact choice of words selected. Why did he use words that seem totally different from what Sufis say?
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Iqbal’s entire goal was waking, motivating & inspiring Muslims especially of subcontinent whose spirits, courage, confidence and energy level was completely zero. Since his audience was already demotivated shattered crushed demoralised, he could not afford to use words like khud ko mitana (diminish your self) or khud ki nafi (negate your self). His deep wisdom was using words which do 2 things at the same time – endorse spirituality and raise morale of Muslims.
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Islam is obviously not against self-actualization at all but it demands humans to first cross the spiritual path before pursuing self-actualization so that their genius has ikhlaas (purity of intention) in it. The aim of a momin (genuine believer) is not glory itself at all but to benefit humanity or glorify Islam with his God-given gifts or knowledge or caliber in anything. If Allah grants him glory in the process, he thanks Him. If Allah does not grant him any glory at all, he is still equally happy. That is sign of Nafs-e-Mutmainah (contended soul).
Holy Prophet (SAW) is the ideal human because his spirituality & brilliance both reached their highest possible level. That is why he is still the most influential person in history!
MUSIC IN ISLAM: AL-GHAZALI’S OPINION
Imam Ghazali on Music in Islam – Summary of his chapter in Ihya Uloomudeen (Revival of Religious Sciences)
Music can be absolutely prohibited, permitted, reprehensible or praiseworthy. As for that which is prohibited, it is for most young men who are overwhelmed with the lust of this world; for listening will stir up in them nothing but the reviled attributes prevalent in their hearts. As for that which is reprehensible, it is for those who do not project what they listen to into the image of human beings, but take listening as a habit for most of the time, for entertainment. As for that which is permitted, it is for those whose share of listening is restricted to enjoying beautiful voices. As for that which is praiseworthy, it is for the one who is captivated by the love of Allah Most High, and listening will only stir in him his praiseworthy attributes. Centuries ago one had to go to special places and gatherings to listen to songs, which were not available all the time. When Muslim scholars discussed and ruled over listening to music and songs, they could not imagine a time in the future when literally millions of recorded songs would be stored in a virtual reality
that are readily available all the time. But what are they listening to? Imam al-Ghazali’s first concern was about the content which might lead youngsters to psychological projection and fantasising about sexuality. They colour what they hear through their own lustful desires. Once the content in itself is problematic, it becomes prohibited. The degree of prohibition of this type of songs may have been more severe had the scholars of old known about some of the explicit lewd content of many songs today. And while there are songs today that may be considered positive, because they motivate people to overcome challenges and do something good, there are dark-themed songs that entertain suicide and encourage wrong behavior. Once the song is devoid of problematic content according to Islamic universal norms, and the listener does not project any ill thoughts, but only listens by way of habit for extended periods, then listening is reprehensible. Al-Ghazali is concerned here with wasting time, as with any type of extended activity that does not generate personal or public good, material or spiritual. Listening here is a distraction from a purposeful life. It is interesting that the synonyms of ‘entertainment’ include diversion and distraction. The third category is when listening to songs is simply permitted. Here the listener enjoys the beautiful voice and the melody. There is no transgression in content and it is done only occasionally. The fourth category is when listening becomes commendable. It is for those whom the love of Allah occupies their whole time, emotions and actions. They are the opposite of the first category, for once they hear a song about the beloved, they think of Allah. The song, in their case, becomes a tool that helps in bringing forth the best in their souls and character.
HOW TO UNITE MUSLIM WORLD- A BRAND NEW IDEA!
The biggest root-cause of Muslim downfall is lack of Unity in the Ummah. Everyone knows it already but no one has understood the reasons for lack of unity. Thus, no one can provide a solution as well. Most people have this huge misconception that unity means uniting everyone on the same opinions, same views & same beliefs. That is humanly impossible and not the definition of unity at all. Unity is living with love, peace, compassion, brotherhood & good-will DESPITE intellectual differences. The target is not to finish intellectual differences but to teach people how to live WITH intellectual differences with mutual respect. Right now, why there is so much disunity in the first place? There are many many categories of religious Muslims. Each category considers itself as right and others as wrong. Thus each category teaches preaches endorses proves promotes only its own version of Islam. Thus followers & students of each category naturally develop a sense of superiority for their own group and look down upon others consciously or subconsciously whether they openly express it or not. This psychology is itself most destructive for unity and is sadly the perfect condition for disunity. I have identified the problem. What is the solution?
Throughout the world in Muslim countries, all Islamic institutes should have only and solely the following design:-
The governance/leadership/management/administration and ESPECIALLY faculty members should have no affiliation or association with any category at all. They should be 100% neutral. They should call themselves only Muslims – no further label at all. Admissions should be equally open to any person who claims to be a Muslim even if you don’t consider him one. In the same classroom, in front of all students, the teacher should teach point of views of ALL categories whether Sunni (and its sub-categories) or Shia (and its sub-categories) with EQUAL intellectual honesty, arguments and details without any bias, prejudice, discrimination and distortion of facts. Students should not be forced by the teacher to subscribe to any single opinion at all. It is totally the free choice of all students to subscribe to whichever point of view they themselves find convincing. They can become whatever they want to be without any fear. Qadiani point of view should also be fully included BUT with the purpose of proving it wrong and showing its flaws so that graduates can later do dawah among Qadianis. The only way to convert Qadianis is to speak to them and show them politely that their opinion is wrong because good people are in every single category – only Allah can judge them. We cannot judge anyone at all. Simply calling them Kafirs is no solution at all. You have to show them why its kufr in the first place and that is only possible if you actually know their thesis in full details. Similarly, within Shia sect, there is only one sub-category which is Kufr and students should study it properly only to prove its wrong.
The philosophy behind this unique idea is that Muslims of every category should know clearly that the other categories are also sincere and honest in their quest for the Truth. They are not bad or astray people at all. They are not fools at all and have their own sound reasons for believing in whatever they believe. No category has any right to claim its ahl-e-haq at all. No category has any special privilege towards Ultimate Truth. Only Allah knows the Absolute Truth. Only He can decide on the Day of Judgment who is right or wrong. Our job is not to judge people but to give them the benefit of doubt that they might be right as well. If we find something convincing, we cannot expect everyone else to be convinced with it as well. All we can claim is that we tried our best to reach the Truth and our category appealed to us more than others in the process but other categories maybe right as well. Only Allah knows it in the end. This is the psychology which generates mutual respect and trust despite all the differences in thinking which is perfectly natural and that is the need of this hour.
Why 5 times Prayers are not helping Muslims?
The Quran said namaz qayim karo (establish Salat). It doesn’t say namaz parho (offer salat). Why? Because establishment of salat means living your entire life on the teachings of quran Sunnah as recited repeatedly in salat whereas offering salat simply means performing the small ritual for 10 minutes with full devotion concentration focus love sincerity (khushu khuzu). Please note that I am not denying the importance of ritual at all as it’s an obligation but the duty is fulfilled only when its practically applied during the 23 hours outside Salat.
Today the entire Ummah is in a pathetic state because Muslims only offer salat. They don’t establish Salat at all. They can continue doing this for 1000 more years. The horrible conditions of Muslim world will never change because in reality they are not following Quran’s order of Salat at all.
SUNNAH – WHAT IS LACKING TODAY?
There are thousands of things which come under the category of Sunnah. Not a single aspect of his life is unworthy but it is obvious that there are levels of importance & levels of categories within Sunnah. All Sunnah are NOT equally important at all. The LEAST important Sunnah are growing a beard, wearing certain type of clothes, having a turban/cap on your head, using miswaak etc. The MOST important Sunnah are having intense love compassion mercy for others, forgiving your enemies, having a pure heart free from hatred jealousy ill will for anyone, being concerned about the welfare of entire humanity, having pain and worry for the cause of entire ummah, having deepest wisdom, being an intellectual giant with profound knowledge both spiritual & worldly, having patience to bear injustice and tribulations in life, being happy with Allah even when everything goes wrong, going out of the way to help others, perseverance, selflessness, unwavering commitment, determination, high aims, high goals, high aspirations, courage, fearlessness, speaking the truth without compromises, sheer hard work, attaining excellence, sincerity of intention, not being judgmental about other people’s status in the eyes of Allah, embracing people with totally different views, doing something to benefit the society, making sacrifices of your own pride & selfish desires, fighting anger, totally avoiding backbiting or dirty politics, doing everything on justice & merit, never depriving anyone of his/her due right, finishing personality-worship (shaksiat parasti), being practical/realistic in approach, highly strategic visionary far-sighted thinking, totally avoiding dispute over small issues, full chastity (haya) while dealing with opposite sex and many other qualities- this is the real essence and spirit of Islam. These are the things which defined Holy Prophet SWS.
Today, the Muslim world is in a pathetic state because religious people who call themselves Ashiq-e-Rasool (lovers of Holy Prophet SWS) are focused on the least important Sunnah and discard, ignore & never adopt the most important Sunnah. They can continue doing what they are doing for 1000 more years, the horrible conditions of Muslims will never change because in reality they are not following Sunnah at all.
TAZKIA-E-NAFS (PURIFICATION OF SOUL)
In Muslim world, many Sufi Khanqas are working on tazkianafs. However, a close examination of their people shows that the results are very unfavorable. Many people don’t attain purity of heart at all which is clearly demonstrated by their bad morals bad ethics. This is because of lack of deep understanding of tazkianafs of those who are in charge. Currently, the only method being applied for tazkianafs is Zikr, Meditation, quranic recitation, acts of worship etc. This is obviously one way but not the only way at all. There are 2 more methods as well which I will introduce. 1) intellectual tazkianafs 2) imaan tazkianafs.
1) The important thing which needs to be understood is that how does a spiritual sickness originate in the first place? Why does a qalb (heart) become sick? There is a thought process behind every spiritual disease. There is a deviation from correct knowledge in every case. Let me give you an example. Jealousy is a very common disease. Have you wondered why does a person become jealous in the first place? It is the thinking in his mind, “why does he have what I don’t have” or “why did Allah give it to him and not me”. This is the mindset behind jealousy. Note that the cure for jealousy can be done by correcting this thinking through proper knowledge based on quran Sunnah. How? A Shaykh should explain to his disciple that whatever the other person has been given is between Allah and him. Whatever the disciple has is between Allah and himself. It is part of our faith and belief as Muslim to be happy with the distribution of Allah because it is His own wisdom and we can not question it at all. Once the disciple understands this concept properly, he will never feel jealous of anyone at all. Note that this tazkianafs took place only on a mind level and since the heart is connected to mind, the heart becomes pure as a result. Let me give you another example. Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif said, (Urdu) “ghussa na karo koi bhi shakhs Jo bhi bura karta hay woh Apnay fehm say he majboor hay”. Note that this is a very deep wisdom. It is telling us that when people act horrible with us we should not be angry because people only act according to their level of thinking and they themselves are not fully aware of it. Thus we should ignore them. If you properly conceptually understand what hazrat Wasif said you won’t be angry at all unless in extreme cases. This understanding will help you in controlling your anger and thus you will fight with your nafs and retain a pure heart. Again tazkianafs took place purely on an intellectual level.
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A person can get rid of a spiritual sickness also by an imaan method. For example, someone has done extremely bad to you and you want to take revenge. You should consider that Rasoolullah SAW forgave his worst enemies on conquest of Makkah. If you love him, you should act like him and adopt his morals. Thus you too should forgive those who do wrong to you so that you will earn the proximity of Rasoolullah SAW. This imaan-oriented feeling emotion inner state will motivate and Inspire you to not take revenge at all. Thus your heart will become pure once again. This is tazkianafs through imaan method.