Historical, Spiritual and Intellectual approaches to Islam - Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed

Part 1:Introduction to ethics and theology

We make the mistake of using only our intellect to understand deen and we forget about our hearts. If you listen to the story of converts, most converts were guided by their hearts.

STUDY OF RELIGION

1)FAITH BASED (CONFESSIONAL)

Faith based study of religion is based on personal faith so certain things are not allowed to be questioned e.g. Allah,prophethood etc. It is based on the confession that you believe in the foundations of faith.

2) SECULAR

Secular approach necessitates that you don’t bring your belief in Allah in your study of religion, and you keep your mind open to the possibility of disbelief. It involves questioning everything including God,prophets, afterlife etc

3)DIVINITY SCHOOL APPROACH

If we combine both these approaches, we get the divinity school of approach which is open to questions but does not question Allah Himself or the very foundations of belief. Divinity school of approach uses faith based education combined with modern education and it involves an analytical approach to Islam but not a critical approach in which the foundations are criticised.

CRITICAL VS ANALYTICAL

Critical thinking is a good thing in itself. But, we should not be willing to critique Allah, the Qur’an, and the Messenger. The word analytical is more preferable because we embark on an academic study without criticising the core foundations of Islam.

THEOLOGY

Aqeedah= creed e.g. in Sunnis, aqeeda tahaviya is most popular. It consists of basic sets of beliefs about Allah, Prophethood, angels, scriptures etc.

Another book on aqeedah is by Imam Ghazali RA (Al Risala Qudsia)

Ilm ul Kalaam= Dialectical theology,analytical approach trying to understand matters of faith. e.g. What does it mean that Allah has zaat and sifaat?freewill and predestination? Why did Allah create evil? Why did Allah create eternity? All of these discussions are in ilm ul kalaam but they are based on the Quran and Sunnah.

WHAT IS DEEN?

كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَارِزًا يَوْمًا لِلنَّاسِ، فَأَتَاهُ جِبْرِيلُ فَقَالَ مَا الإِيمَانُ قَالَ ‏"‏ الإِيمَانُ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلاَئِكَتِهِ وَبِلِقَائِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ، وَتُؤْمِنَ بِالْبَعْثِ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ مَا الإِسْلاَمُ قَالَ ‏"‏ الإِسْلاَمُ أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ وَلاَ تُشْرِكَ بِهِ، وَتُقِيمَ الصَّلاَةَ، وَتُؤَدِّيَ الزَّكَاةَ الْمَفْرُوضَةَ، وَتَصُومَ رَمَضَانَ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ مَا الإِحْسَانُ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ مَتَى السَّاعَةُ قَالَ ‏"‏ مَا الْمَسْئُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِلِ، وَسَأُخْبِرُكَ عَنْ أَشْرَاطِهَا إِذَا وَلَدَتِ الأَمَةُ رَبَّهَا، وَإِذَا تَطَاوَلَ رُعَاةُ الإِبِلِ الْبُهْمُ فِي الْبُنْيَانِ، فِي خَمْسٍ لاَ يَعْلَمُهُنَّ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ ‏"‏‏.‏ ثُمَّ تَلاَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏{‏إِنَّ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ‏}‏ الآيَةَ‏.‏ ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ رُدُّوهُ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَلَمْ يَرَوْا شَيْئًا‏.‏ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ هَذَا جِبْرِيلُ جَاءَ يُعَلِّمُ النَّاسَ دِينَهُمْ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ جَعَلَ ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ مِنَ الإِيمَانِ‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira:

One day while the Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, "What is faith?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, 'Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection." Then he further asked, "What is Islam?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "To worship Allah Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." Then he further asked, "What is Ihsan (perfection)?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you." Then he further asked, "When will the Hour be established?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "The answerer has no better knowledge than the questioner. But I will inform you about its portents.

1. When a slave (lady) gives birth to her master.

2. When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and competing with others in the construction of higher buildings. And the Hour is one of five things which nobody knows except Allah.

The Prophet (ﷺ) then recited: "Verily, with Allah (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour--." (31. 34) Then that man (Gabriel) left and the Prophet (ﷺ) asked his companions to call him back, but they could not see him. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "That was Gabriel who came to teach the people their religion." Abu 'Abdullah said: He (the Prophet) considered all that as a part of faith. (Bukhari)

Foundation of deen is based on Hadith e Jibreel.

Hadith of Jibrael AS: Deen= imaan(Ilm ul kalaam) +Islam(Ilm ul fiqh)+Ihsan(Ilm ul tazkiyah)+signs of end of times and coming of akhirah(social realities)

• Ilm ul kalaam is the study of Iman. Ilm ul kalaam are the analytical discussions based on Quran and Sunnah

• Ilm ul fiqh is the study of Islam. Ilm ul fiqh is the textual understanding of Islam based on Quran and Sunnah about how to follow deen practically

• Ilm ul tasawwuf/tazkiya is the study of Ihsan. Ilm ul tazkiyah and tasawwuf is about creating feelings of Ihsan, to stand before Allah as if we are looking at him or He is looking at us.

Let's take an example of a sign of end of times: a slave girl giving birth to her mistress. If we take the literal meaning, it seems far fetched that a slave girl would become free and then enslave her own mother. If we take an analytical meaning, we can get a wide meaning that it implies the upheaval of social order and family values and it implies that the daughter will be disrespectful towards her mother. Or we can turn the knob further and say that it refers to general social chaos and upheaval. So we can turn the knob to zero and take the literal meaning or turn the knob to one and take a deeper meaning.

The barefoot,destitute shepherds will compete with one another. If we keep the knob at zero, they have to be literally naked and barefoot. But if we take an analytical approach, we can imagine that poor people are now building skyscrapers e.g. in dubai and Saudi arabia where poor people are being used to build skyscrapers. If turn the knob completely, we can get a broader meaning of competition to pursue material ends and materialism.

WHAT IS IMAAN?

Building the workshop

Even if I have to answer just one question e.g. What is Imaan, we would have to build a workshop and use all the verses, hadith, historical aspect, context, texts, spiritual realm, linguistic meanings, usage in arabic, all the things that can increase and decrease the feelings of imaan, and the people who were spiritual embodiments of imaan. It is a multilayered approach. It is not simple at all. We have to bring EVERYTHING to the table to come to the conclusion.

Definition involves making a border and defining something precisely and specifically to include all elements of that set and excludes all elements outside of that set. So imaan needs to be defined so precisely so that people of Imaan are included and others are excluded. There exists a multiplicity of meanings in deen. Some people get confused by disagreements  and don't understand that there can be multiple meanings even for something like imaan.

Verse 2:286 says to believe in everything that was revealed to Prophet SAWW, and this means belief in the UNSEEN. To believe in the unseen as if it was seen= Iman. Faith means belief in the unseen,belief in the ghayb. Shahada means to believe in something seen and we say the shahada when accepting Islam, which means we have to believe so strongly as though we can see it. Atheists believe in empiricism i.e. belief in things that can be seen or observed.

Positions on Imaan?

• Heart - a feeling that lies in the heart only
• Tongue - expression of imaan with their tongue by saying the kalimah
• Heart+tongue - truly believe in their heart and express on tongue
• Heart+tongue+actions - believe in heart, express with their tongue and manifest in their actions

If we take imaan as just something in the heart, then it would be incomplete.

If we take it as just something from the tongue, then niyyah and heart would be disregarded.

If we take heart plus tongue plus actions then that would leave a very narrow definition of imaan and everybody  would be kicked out of imaan.

When we have multiple positions, we either have to find common ground(tatbeeq) or give preference to one position(tarjeeh). The conclusion of the workshop was that imaan should be in the heart but it should be professed from the tongue.

This is an ayah about imaan increasing and decreasing. When Quran is recited, their hearts tremble and their imaan goes up. So that means imaan is variable in intensity. Some people think quality of imaan goes up and down and some think quantity of imaan goes up and down. Imam shaafi thinks its quantitative and units of imaan go up and down. Imam abu hanifa thinks quality and passion of imaan goes up and down.

This ayah says that don't say you have imaan, say you have Islam. So what is the difference between Islam and Imaan? One position is that Islam and Imaan are identical when used separately and are different when used together, together imaan means what's in the heart and islam means the outward practices.

The hadith says nobody does adultery while being a momin. Does that mean Imaan leaves the heart if we commit major sins? Does this apply only to adultery or to all major sins? Does the Iman return after completing the act of sin?

This hadith says that Iman has branches. Does that mean imaan has components? What are the components? Do we need to have all components?

We need to build a workshop to answer all of these questions.

BOUNDARIES OF IMAN

INCLUSIVISM

Everyone who calls himself a Muslim, has Islam

EXCLUSIVISM

Some people are excluded from Islam e.g. all Ulema agree that a person is excluded from Iman if he believes there is another Prophet after Prophet ﷺ. We can coexist peacefully with groups who have these beliefs, but these groups should not claim to be a Muslim. A Muslim cannot claim to be an Orthodox Christian. A Jew cannot open a synagogue and call it a church. A muslim cannot call his mosque a Catholic church. It is not freedom of religion to claim someone else’s identity.

PLURALISM AND TOLERANCE

There are many theological sects in the Muslim world. How do you set boundaries?

Recommended reading: Boundaries of theological tolerance in Islam - Dr Shermen Jackson (OUP)

Secularism, Liberalism and Islam

• Religious people have distanced themselves from the state, society and politics although they need to take part actively in what's going on in the country.
• There may be knowledge and philosophies outside Islam that are compatible with Islam and have nothing wrong with them. They consist of the good, the neutral and the ugly. The good is that which can be used to further the aims of Islam. The neutral is neither against Islam and nor for Islam. The ugly consists of those concepts that are against Islam. It is only when we train Ulema who master both Islam and Modern education that we can understand modern philosophies in the light of Islam.
• Secularism refers to taking religion out of the state, society and humanity. It simply means you can be a good person without having taqwa (the act of staying away from sins for the sake of Allah), without adopting Sunnah, without Allah and religion basically.
• State:Separating religion from politics/governance. It began historically in Europe in order to separate the Catholic Church from tyrannical monarchical rule in Europe because they were getting legitimacy from Church.
• Society:Religion should be taken out of the Public  and expressions of religion and faith should be banned e.g. banning beard, hijaab, or public display of religion in Turkey
• Humanity: Separating religion from the definition of a good human being. You can be a perfect human being without having any relationship with the creator. Redefined the definition of goodness and virtue and separated religious ethics from laws. e.g. legalizing alchohol,gambling,pornography
• The secularists in our country unfortunately are intolerant and against religion. Secularism does not have to equal atheism. Many believing Christians and Jews are secular although they practice their own faith. Faith is a private matter but when it comes to running the society, it becomes a public matter because some people choose not to let the Quran and Sunnah guide society so religion has a key role in defining how the society should be run.  A truly neutral secular state(soft secularism) allows all religions to be practiced freely. A biased secular state(hard secularism) tries to limit religion.
• ISLAMIC STATE: When Islam enters an individual, is a barbarian or a monster or a terrorist created? NO, the most noble and purest human being is created. So when it enters the society, you will have a pure, just, fair, noble and ethical society.  An Islamic state does not force Shariah on people and we find the evidence in all of Muslim history. Rather, an Islamic state is a beautiful model state in which people willingly and consciously follow religion. Islam guides the laws and defines how the state should be run but there is no imposition of shariah on the private individual. Some people are against laws based on religions and they are a matter of great debate e.g. apostasy law,blasphemy law 
• Apostasy law: one who abandons religion and becomes a murtad, the punishment for that is death.  Some people view apostasy equivalent to treason with death punishment. Some believed in exile or punishment. Some believed that the person should be invited to Islam and given a chance.  But if we look at our country practically, there are all types of expression of atheism, immodesty, freedom of expression and action. There is useless fear mongering about this. Similarly, blasphemy law also has multiple punishments like death and imprisonment.. These laws can only be enacted when social and economic justice has been established. 
• Minority rights: Rights of minority given by Sayyidna RasulAllah SAWW were more than any other faith. The best time for jews was in Spain and the Ottoman empire under muslims. But there needs to be a certain limit when somebody who is not part of the religion tries to portray themselves as part of the religion. Everybody can freely practice their own religion as long as they don't claim that their religion is Islam e.g. Qadianis cannot be muslims because they deny the seal of prophethood. And he claims that anybody who does not accept him as a prophet is not a muslim so does that make the whole ummah non muslim? They can have full rights as citizen and full rights to practice deen as long as they don't claim to be Muslims. They should accept their deen is different.
•  Gender rights: There is a myth of oppression in the elite. The oppression is basically in the masses. e.g. acid burning, abuse, honour killing. These things have nothing to do with Islam or secularism. Many secular and muslim men oppress women. The cure is Islam. If there is any man who will be able to treat a woman properly, he will be the one with the sunnah heart and sunnah personality. Such a man can never hurt a woman but unfortunately such men are in minority.
• The problems of our country are elitism, feudalism, corruption, injustice, education, health. These are the real key issues and we try to fuel other issues and exploit them. If every house decides to educate the workers in their home, the whole country could become educated. We pay workers the bare minimum and even less than the market value and substandard wages. We squeeze the poor. It is a problem irrespective of religion
• Immodesty is a big fitnah in this country and there is no common ground between secularists and Islam on this. It is destroying the youth. Intelligent people are being wasted because they get caught in sins of immodesty.Their is a growing discrimination against people following Islam based on their religiosity and they have fewer job opportunities.
• Common ground with Liberalism: 1)Constitutionalism. There should be a constitution and common principles guiding society.  2)Rule of Law: Their should be rule of law.No individual can take law in their own hands.  3)Equality 4)Civil rights 4)Democracy:Islam is not against or for democracy. Any form of government that gives rise to sunnah form of government is fine. There must be an Ameer and Majlis e shura. Ameer is the President and Shura are the advisors. Any government that can fulfill the goals of Islam in accordance with Quran is fine. Having elections based on a majority of illiterate people is not acceptable. People need to be educated before we can think of democracy. Our democracy is only based on exploitation by elite.
• Liberalism is based on the ‘harm principal’. It means, you can justify what you’re doing to be right by saying it doesn’t harm anyone. You say if I drink beer, I don’t do anybody’s nuqsan hence I can drink. It’s like you get into IBA, don’t set foot on the campus for four years, and then turn up on the graduation day and say I deserve a degree because I didn’t harm any student or any professor for that matter. I haven’t done anyone harm. Why should I not get the degree? You can’t get the degree because you didn’t do what you were required to do even though you avoided harming people.
• There is a group of people called Muslim secularists. They critically analyse everything except the existence of God. They say everything has to be shown and proven even if its in Quran. It has to appeal to the aqal. They do not accept the superiority of wahy over aqal. There are things in Islam that are transrational. Why do you offer 2 raka’ats in Fajr but 4 in Zuhr? There’s no explanation for it.
• You have to come to Allah on his terms and not on your terms. You have to submit to Allah, to His Commands and to His Will. This is what Islam is all about.
• People don’t want to do what’s in Quran and still please Ar-Rahman! Now that’s a new type of Islam.
• Reform comes from the word reformulate. You reformulate something that is wrong. Its a universally accepted fact that deen-nabawi is perfect. Then what exactly are they trying to change?
• We look for a version of diet Islam. It’s like having a double cheese burger with a diet coke and saying to yourself it’ll help me lose weight. Reformists keep on reducing the necessary things of the deen to make it more easy to follow and they kill the essence in the process.
• How to go about this mess then? One. Choose ilm over aqal. Two. Choose taqwa over nafs.
• Its not that we don’t wont to be wali of Allah, its just that we have poor taqwa management.  When we say choose taqwa over nafs, we mean fight your nafs and don’t fulfill its desires. Take sin to be sin. Reformists today change the definition of sin. When people don’t consider their act to be a sin, they don’t feel the guilt and hence they don’t do tauba. Bab-e-Taqwa of Jannah was already closed for us because we couldn’t stay away from sins, by not considering our sins a sin and hence not doing tauba for them, we also close Bab-e-Tauba for ourselves! How will we enter Jannah then?!
• Acquiring of ilm is emphasized over using one’s aqal because there are two approaches. The knowledge based approach and the ideology based approach.
• In the knowledge based approach, there is application of ilm with aqal. In the ideology based approach, there is application of aqal without ilm. This is what the young generation is doing nowadays. It’s like I attend an economics conference discussing the ideal model to be applied in the world. Three great economists put forward three models and their pro’s and cons and then decide that the first one is best. I then standup and object that no the third one is the best. They reject my claim because though I’m sitting in this conference of theirs, I don’t have ilm of this specific field of study i.e economics. I remain adamant that no I listened to your presentation for the past one hour and I am a really aqalmand insaan and so now you should accept what I say. They will not listen to me because one has to be able to master a particular field of study before they can express an opinion. You need to be aqalmand but your aqal can be applied only to the area of your ilm. It’s only when you spend years studying something and have acquired its ilm that you can pass a judgment. You need to study Marx to disagree with him. You need to have the ilm of Islam and then apply your aqal to it. Islamic scholarship is as solid a subject as economics – more than it in fact.
• Next, in the knowledge based approach, you read first and decide later. In the ideology based approach, you form opinions first, and then read.
• In the knowledge based approach, you keep the philosophy of ‘don’t disagree till you understand’. In the ideology based approach, your philosophy is ‘don’t agree till you understand.’
• In a nutshell, acquire ilm of the deen.
• The way to a university student’s heart is through his mind.  ‘Aapki aqal mera mukhatib hai magar aap ka dil mera shikaar hai.’ Rationality can take you only to a certain level. Its submission to revelation and love for Allah in one’s heart that does the main job.