From Knowledge to Nihilism: Redeeming Humility

Munawar A. Anees

 

“Read in the name of thy Lord Who created.” This first verse of the Qur’an, revealed some 1,400 years ago, announced the advent of Islam. The birth of Islam was a proclamation continuing the Abrahamic tradition. By the end of the revelation that lasted for over two decades, the Qur’an came to contain nearly 800 instances of words and nuances associated with the archetype knowledge (al-‘ilm).

            Whether civilizations appear as a pursuit of profit or as an act of luxury is debatable in the face of Islamic civilization that once reflected the pinnacle of creativity: it was known as the Civilization of the Book. Out of the Arabian heartland, there emerged a culture that flourished from the Iberian Peninsula in the West to the Pacific Rim in the East. From the majestic minarets of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul through the winding bazaar of Timbuktu in Mali to the emerald-studded marble façade of the Taj Mahal in India, there is still the sublime echo of a civilizational grandeur.

            The early Muslim civilization, heir to a rich and diverse intellectual stock – Roman, Greek, Indian, and Persian - accomplished a unique synthesis of ideas in all branches of knowledge. From the eighth to the thirteenth century there were more religious, philosophical, medical, astronomical, historical, and geographical works written in Arabic than in any other language of the period.

            The Enlightenment, which coincided with the Muslim fall, struck a heavy blow to the Muslim intellect that was later enslaved by the spread of colonialism. Modernity, and then postmodernity, have done little to improve the intellectual landscape in the Muslim world. Now globalization is posing a daunting challenge. Today, the Muslim world faces the most critical period of its history: a civilization standing at the crossroads, seemingly unable to carve a niche in the community of nations.

            Muslims are passing through a crisis of identity and, consequently, a crisis of contextualization. In the absence of a spirit of free inquiry and free enterprise, slowly but surely Muslims head toward increasing social disharmony. Though it would be erroneous to characterize the Muslim world as a monolith, it is fair to argue that there is not a single Muslim country today that meets the criteria of modern political and social governance, religious liberty, economic evolution, gender equality, cultural prosperity, and human dignity. Muslims continue to live under dictators, autocrats, kings, and authoritarian rulers in grossly oppressive conditions.

            The colossal tragedy that struck the United States on September 11, 2001, has once again put the house of Islam at the forefront of world affairs. A strategy for change in the Muslim world is one of the critical needs of the hour. Any impartial observer of Muslim affairs will testify that the slow decay of Muslim societies does not beg the mercy of criminal terrorists to set the former on a path to salvation. These terrorists may have been an effect rather than a cause.

            For instance, a recent report by the United Nations Development Program, written by Arab scholars and researchers, makes a scathing but pragmatic assessment of the human condition in the Arab world: Arab economies are stagnant, political freedom is absent and, with widespread illiteracy, women are denied any opportunity in economic and political life. Barriers to change are many and varied. Even the traditional Muslim charities (awqaf) have lost their social and economic relevance. The Arab report, in essence, is an indictment of the state of the entire Muslim world.  

            In his address to a conference attended by ministers from some thirty-five Muslim countries, Pakistan's self-appointed president, General Pervez Musharraf, berated the global Muslim society in these words: "Today we are the poorest, the most illiterate, the most backward, the most unhealthy (sic), the most un-enlightened, the most deprived, and the weakest of all the human race."

            Muslims do not have a theologically sound understanding of their faith. Even the early discourse on speculative theology (kalam) is absent from Muslim circles. Engulfed in seemingly endless wars of rhetoric and anger among Muslims and against the West, orthodoxy has won over reason. Rationalism, skepticism, and individualism have been mercilessly sacrificed at the altar of a totalitarian puritanism. Suffocating from the loss of pluralism and progressive thought, which were distinctive traits of the Muslim past, how long will the global Muslim community (ummah) continue to suffer after the foreclosure of the gates of reasoned argument (ijtihad) a millennium ago? Another millennium?

            The dilemma of modernity is nowhere more pronounced than in the Muslim perception and assimilation of modern science and technology. While the self-absorbed theocracy deems it fit to exploit the instruments of modernity in the furtherance of its own agenda, at the same time it does not consider it unethical to condemn the sources of modernity in the most virulent terms. On the other hand, the Muslim intellectual response toward a constructive engagement of religion and science remains a largely uncharted and undefined territory.

            The state of debate on religion and science in the Muslim world is that of a blurred intellectual vision. It is largely the articulation of a viewpoint that betrays the paucity of knowledge and thought about the modern scientific ethos. It perpetuates an ossified style of theological reasoning. Others take it from an extreme apologetic perspective, to the point of turning the Qur'an into a book of pure astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, or physics. Much of this is promoted as Islamic education, with a ring of authority where critical thinking is made to be a forbidden tree.

            Similarly, the effervescent epistemological revisionism in the garb of "Islamization of knowledge" has fallen into the trap of an allegedly value-free science. It is not sufficient to add an adjective to certain disciplinary categories and sum it up as an endeavor at  Islamization.

            The poorly articulated and epistemologically weak idea of "Islamic science" that randomly makes use of a few common Islamic concepts and values in a rhetoric borrowed from western social radicalism does not ever reach an analytical depth.

            Against the backdrop of these feeble intellectual currents lurks the traditionalist discourse that consigns modern science to oblivion and attempts to prop up a fatal mix of mystical and alchemical knowledge. This too, in the name of Islamic science! Much of the historical discourse on the subject remains panegyric in nature, to the extent of self-delusion. The so-called jihadi agenda, though adhered to by only a minority, partially thrives on this nostalgic thread.

            This vast intellectual, and to some extent doctrinal, confusion about the theory and practice of science, as well as the attending theological ramifications, calls for a radical change in attitudes and practices toward both religion and science. This change in attitudes and practices must occur at two levels: i) epistemic - pedagogy in science; the model must be one of free inquiry, rather than a regurgitation of received texts or mindless imitation, and ii) cultural - the innovative mind must be encouraged to develop positive interfaces between science and religion, toward a greater harmony in knowledge.

            Those interested in a scientific apology for the Qur'an, and those who relegate science to a Qur’anic literalism both tend to obfuscate the advance of knowledge in their respective domains. On the contrary, a dynamic invocation is needed to play a pivotal role in breaking the impasse that continues to grip the Muslim mind and culture. Politically neutral, the concept of humility appears to offer a ground for the indispensable engagement of religion and science in the Muslim context. It may act as a catalyst for a liberating view of self-knowledge, and knowledge of the surroundings.

            The Qur'an speaks explicitly of humility in relation to faith and how it can enhance spiritual awareness and commitment to God:  

Has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of God and of the Truth, which has been revealed to them? al-Hadid 57:16

 

Commentary: Humility and the remembrance of God and His Message are never more necessary than in the hour of victory and prosperity.

 

Say whether ye believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration and they say: Glory to our Lord! Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled! They fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their earnest humility. al-Isra 17:107-109

 

Commentary: A feeling of earnest humility comes to the man who realizes how, in spite of his own unworthiness, he is brought, by God's mercy, into touch with the most sublime truths. Such a man is touched with the deepest emotion which finds its outlet in tears.

 

Those who are near to thy Lord disdain not to do Him worship: They celebrate His praises, and bow down before Him.” al-Araf 7:206

 

Commentary: The higher you are in spiritual attainment the more is your desire and opportunity to serve and worship your Lord and Cherisher and the Lord and Cherisher of all worlds; and the greater is your pride in that service and that worship.

 

            The Qur’anic term for humility is khushu'. It is narrated that even the Prophet was exhorted and he labored to lace his prayers with utmost humility and tears. He, in turn, reminded the believers to follow his example in prayer. The opposite of humility is arrogance (kibr in Qur’anic terminology). The Qur'an speaks of Satan (iblis) as the arrogant one who refused to obey God's command to show humility towards His creatures. In other words, one may consider the absence of humility tantamount to arrogance, which is not an angelic, but a satanic attribute. Arrogance defines its own boundaries, foreclosing new possibilities of knowledge. Further, the Qur’an states that arrogance leads to tyranny (zulm).   

            One is reminded of Dr. Muhammad Abdus Salam of Pakistan, the first Muslim Nobel Laureate. In his writings, he often referred to the role of humility in understanding of nature. However, he was unable to articulate his thoughts on the subject in a manner that would transform that abstract notion of humility into reality. Moreover, the celebrated Pakistani poet and Lenin Prize Laureate, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, in spite of his secular credentials, admitted the organic necessity for humility. His poetry, often reflective of the bewilderment he felt at the cosmic splendor, carries an implicit ode to humility inherent in man.

            The example of the religious physicist and the secular poet demonstrates that a common thread of humility runs through the human mind. Its outer manifestation may not be a uniform phenomenon and man may attempt to deny it under the guise of secular objectivity, but, as Sir John Templeton articulates, humility is a universal concept. The strength of the epistemic humility lies in reawakening a force in human thinking, without upsetting the theological/intellectual balance, and creating a unique interface between religion and science in a rigorous fashion. This is one of the outstanding characteristics of humility.

            The recognition of boundless opportunities for spiritual and cognitive information only stands to spur on the human endeavor for excellence in both spheres. Acting in a complementary fashion, the humble approach in religion and science opens new vistas of knowledge and understanding. While immersing man deeper into spiritual experience, this approach, as contrasted with the positivist, heroic approach in science opens bold new opportunities for learning.

            Again, in the Muslim context, as well as in other religions, humility can be regarded as an agent of both spiritual and cognitive evolution. The five daily prayers in Islam, for example, can be understood as a symbol of the humility of man towards his Creator. Will the obscurantist theocracy and incarcerated intellect of the Muslim world rise to the clarion call of humility toward fulfillment of their duties toward their Creator?

 

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