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diff --git a/25254-0.txt b/25254-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d77dd6 --- /dev/null +++ b/25254-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3156 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Notes on Islam, by Ahmed Hussain + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Notes on Islam + +Author: Ahmed Hussain + +Editor: Khan Bahadur Hajee Khaja Muhamma Hussain + +Release Date: April 30, 2008 [EBook #25254] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES ON ISLAM *** + + + + +Produced by Turgut Dincer, Michael Ciesielski and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + +NOTES ON ISLAM + +BY + +SIR AHMED HUSSAIN, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. + +(NAWAB AMIN JUNG BAHADUR) + +Collected and Edited + +by + +Khan Bahadur Hajee Khaja Muhammad Hussain + +"_The fear of the Lord is the beginning +of knowledge._"--_Proverb_ + +HYDERABAD, DECCAN +GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRESS + +1922 + +_ALL RIGHTS RESERVED_ + +TO + +THE MEMORY + +OF + +K. AMJUD HUSSAIN. + +_One of the four for whom these Notes +were first written, +in 1917._ + + +---------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's note: | + | Bold characters are shown with "+" signs. | + | Arabic names are kept as in the original | + | text. Arabic transliterations are according | + | to ISO 233 system in most cases and from the| + | version by the CANADIAN SOCIETY OF MUSLIMS | + | with their kind permission. | + +---------------------------------------------+ + +[Printer's mark] + +FOREWORD + + +The following Notes were enclosed by the author in his weekly letters to +his brother and sons who were students in the Universities of Cambridge, +Edinburgh and Birmingham. I persuaded him to allow me to have them +printed, as I thought they were suggestive and useful. He has however +desired me to say that they should not be regarded as anything but +concise memoranda jotted down (at short intervals between the busy hours +of his official life) as general answers to questions put to him. They +contain some passages which are too concise or abstract, if not vague or +enigmatic. But, the author says, he left them designedly so in order to +induce his readers to try to understand them or at least to seek +explanation and illustration. Numerous foot-notes have been added for +the same purpose. + +He frankly admits that his view of Islam is neither quite orthodox nor +quite heterodox but something midway between the two. It was put forward +in order to make his boys think for themselves and argue with him. The +first three Notes may be 'skipped' at the first reading. + +Sincere acknowledgments are due to Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk Bahadur Bilgrami, +C.S.I., Mr. J.C. Molony, I.C.S., Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahim, B.A., B.L., +Mr. Syed Ross Masood, M.A., and others who very kindly read the proofs +and favoured the author with valuable suggestions. + +Banganapalle, } +_11th August 1922_. } K.M.H. + + + +Duty is Deity +Work is Worship.--_Sanskrit Proverb_ + + +CONTENTS + + + + PAGE + +FOREWORD 7 + +MUSLIM PRAYER 9 + +NOTE 1. INTRODUCTION 11 + + " 2. THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE QUR'AN 15 + + " 3. WHAT IS RELIGION? 20 + + " 4. WHAT IS TRUE ISLAM? 25 + + " 5. WHAT IS NOT ISLAM 29 + + " 6. "ISLAM" AND "NOT-ISLAM" 35 + + " 7. WHY IS ISLAM THE BEST RELIGION? 43 + + " 8. UNITY & UNION 49 + + " 9. PERFECTION & SELF-HELP 57 + + " 10. MODERATION & VIA MEDIA 63 + + " 11. EVOLUTION & SURVIVAL 73 + + " 12. "RELIGION BEGINS WITH THE FEAR OF THE LORD + AND ENDS IN THE LOVE OF MAN" 79 + +APPENDIX: + + MUSLIM REFORMATION 87 + + OUR PRAYER 97 + + + +Worship Truth +Love Humanity.--_Islamic Maxim_ + + ++THE MUSLIM PRAYER.+[1] + +_Surai Fatiha_ + + + Praise be to Thee my God, Lord of the Worlds! + O Merciful, Compassionate art Thou! + The King of all on Day of Reckoning, + Thee only do we worship and adore, + To Thee, most merciful, we cry for help; + O guide us ever more on the straight path, + The path of those to whom Thou gracious art + On whom Thine anger falls not then nor now, + The path of them that from Thee go not stray. + + Amen. + + + Grant that the knowledge I get may be the + knowledge worth having.--_Thomas a Kempis._ + + + + +NOTES ON ISLAM + + ++Note 1.+ + +_Introduction._ + + +Two of you--Lateef and Altaf--will recollect that more than a year ago +you wrote to me saying that you were puzzled by certain questions which +a Missionary had put to you. I remember that Amjud or Mahmood even went +so far as to ask what was the good of Islam, when countries and people +professing that faith had weak governments and were crumbling to pieces +under the influence of Christian Powers.[2] I answered your queries only +in a general way as your University education had not then advanced far +enough. But I think the time has now come when I should try to explain +to you what I conceive to be the true spirit of the religion of our +fore-fathers. + +I firmly believe that Islam is the best[3] religion in the world--I +mean, Islam rightly understood and interpreted and _not_ the +Muhammadanism[4] of some of our formularist Maulavies,[5] who say that +a man goes to Hell or Heaven according as he wears his trousers lower or +higher than his ankles! They have degraded our religion by paying undue +attention to formulas and forms to the exclusion and neglect of its +living spirit and reality[6]. The poet Hafiz rightly stigmatised their +vain controversies when he said that [Persian: Chon nadiden haghighat +afsaneh zadend] "since they did not see the fact, they ran after +fiction." + +I am more than ever convinced of two characteristics of Islam:-- + +_1st._--It is not inconsistent with _true_ Christianity, or with any +other _true_ religion[7] of which the fundamental principle is [Arabic: +Tawhid] One God [Arabic: waḥdahū la šarīka lahū] "the Peerless +One."[8] + +_2nd._--It conforms to modern scientific ideas better than any other +religion. + +I have already explained, in some of my letters[9] to you, why I believe +that Islam is but a continuation and consummation of Christianity as +taught by Jesus himself in _his own speeches_ which are reported in the +Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament. We have nothing to do with the +interpretation of his words by his Apostles and others after them. If we +take the plain words and the plain meaning of those words reported to +have proceeded from his own blessed mouth,[10] we clearly see that they +teach the same sublime truths as our Prophet himself inculcated. Jesus +did not live long to complete his mission, Muhammad completed it. Both +were God's holy messengers [Arabic: Rusul-u-llah]. Says the Qur'an: +"This day I have completed your religion for you." [Arabic: l-yawma +ʾakmaltu lakum dīnakum] + +I need not now go into details, or refer to other religions, to shew +that the spirit of Islam is not inconsistent with their true spirit, if +rightly conceived and interpreted in the light of modern science. I hope +I shall be able some day to write down the result of my own thought and +investigation in the matter. I content myself at present with drawing +your attention to the first characteristic of Islam, and I propose to +write a few Notes to draw your special attention to its second +characteristic which is the more remarkable--the characteristic that it +is quite consistent with modern ideas of science. + +No scientific idea influenced the thought of the last century more +profoundly than the idea of progress or development embodied in what is +called the Law of Evolution. It is now widely accepted. You will be +surprised to know that many an Islamic tenet is entirely in accord with +it. Indeed Maulana Rumi outlined it poetically in his famous _Masnavi_ +in the thirteenth century, in the same manner as Lord Tennyson did in +his _Princess_ in the nineteenth. I desire that you should try to +understand it in its modern form. I strongly recommend that you should +read an admirable book by Edward Clodd called _The Story of +Creation_[11]. When I first read it, some years ago, I felt it was as +pleasant and interesting as a novel. Its introduction and Part II are +quite easy to read. They will give you a very good idea of the great +revolution which Darwin and Wallace, Huxley and Spencer have wrought in +the thought of our own times. + + + + ++Note 2.+ + +_The First Chapter of the Qur'an._ + + +The following is a translation of the "Opening Chapter" of our Holy +Qur'an. I have analysed it by placing Roman and Arabic numerals, the +first indicating verses [Arabic: ayyat] and the second indicating +sub-divisions of verses. + + + _Opening Chapter._ +[Arabic: Sura al-fātiḥa]+ + + In the Name of God the [Arabic: bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm] + Compassionate, the + Merciful. + +I. Praise be to God, [Arabic: al-ḥamdu li-llāhi] .I + + (1) Lord (Nourisher) [Arabic: rabbi l-ʿālamīn (1)] + of the Worlds, + + (2) the Compassionate, [Arabic: ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (2)] + the Merciful + + (3) King of the Day [Arabic: māliki yawmi d-dīn (3)] + of Reckoning (= day + of judgment.) + +II. .II + + (1) Thee only do we [Arabic: ʾiyyāka naʿbudu (1)] + worship, + + (2) and Thee only do [Arabic: wa-ʾiyyāka nastaʿīn (2)] + we ask for aid. + + (3) Guide us in the [Arabic: ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīm (3)] + right Path (that is) + +III. the Path of those [Arabic: ṣirāṭa llaḏīna] .III + + (1) to whom Thou [Arabic: ʾanʿamta ʿalayhim (1)] + art gracious, + + (2) who are not objects [Arabic: ġayri l-maġḍūbi ʿalayhim (2)] + of wrath, + + (3) and who go not [Arabic: wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīn (3)] + astray. + + _Amen_[12] [Arabic: āmīn] + + +The whole Sura divides itself into three parts and each part into three +divisions thus:-- + +Part I.--_Nature of God_. + +Three principal attributes of God:-- + + (1) Creator or Nourisher [Arabic: Rab] + (2) Protector [Arabic: raḥmāni wa r-raḥīm] + (3) Adjuster [Arabic: māliki yawmi d-dīn] + + +Part II.--_Man's duty to God_ lies in, + + (1) Worship [Arabic: ʿibādat] + (2) Seeking His Protection [Arabic: Isti'anāt] + (3) Seeking His Guidance [Arabic: Istihdā] + +Part III.--_The Straight Path_ [Arabic: islām = madhab] _for Man_ + being:-- + + (1) the path of Grace (= path of those who + obtain Grace) + + (2) not the Path of Sin (=path of those + who deliberately go wrong). + + (3) nor the Path of Error (=path of those + who by mistake go astray). + +Observe:-- + + (_a_) Each of the three duties in the second part + corresponds with the three attributes mentioned in the + first part. + + (_b_) The third part, the Path of Grace, _i.e._, the + straight path, is _the mean between two extremes_--the + path of deliberate sinners on the one hand and the path of + unwitting stragglers on the other. + + (_c_) The Islamic prayer is simpler than the Christian + prayer. I do not say the one is good and the other is bad. + No; _both_ are _very_ good indeed, but the one _seems + simpler_ than the other. Compare them. + + +_The Christian Prayer._ _The Muslim Prayer._ + + THE LORD'S PRAYER. THE FATIHA. + +_Adoration._ _Adoration._ + +(_a_) Our Father which art in (_a_) Praise be to God, Lord + heaven, Hallowed be thy of the worlds, the compassionate, + name. Thy Kingdom the merciful, King of the day + come. of reckoning. + +_Submission._ _Submission._ + +(_b_) Thy will be done in earth (_b_) Thee only do we worship and + as it is in heaven. of Thee only do we ask aid. + +_Supplication._ _Supplication._ + +(_c_) Give us this day our daily (_c_) Guide us into the right + bread. And forgive us our path--the path of those + debts as we forgive our to whom Thou hast + debtors. been gracious, + And lead us not into not the path of those + temptation, but deliver who are the objects + us from evil: for Thine of wrath nor of those + is the Kingdom, and the who have gone astray. + power, and the glory for Amen. + ever. Amen. + +_St. Matthew_, vi 9-13. _The Qur'an_, i. + + +If you will carefully compare the parts of each Prayer which I have +written as separate paragraphs marked (_a_), (_b_) and (_c_), you will +observe that there is difference only in the language, but no difference +whatever in the real meaning. There is in both Prayers absolutely the +same spirit of + + (_a_) Adoration, + + (_b_) Submission, and + + (_c_) Supplication. + +Both begin with the _praise_ of the Lord to whom all praise is due. This +is followed in both by an expression of our _entire dependence_ on Him +and submission to His will. Lastly, there is _solicitation for +guidance_, positive and negative, _viz._, guidance towards right action +and guidance for avoiding temptation. + +The three parts (_a_), (_b_) and (_c_) of the Christian as well as of +the Muslim Prayer are in perfect accord with the results of a +comparative study of the religious systems of the world. They correspond +to three essential elements in _all_ religions, _viz._, + + (_a_) _Belief_ in the existence of a Supreme Power which + is Infinite and Absolute, + + (_b_) _Feeling_ of man's entire dependence on that Power, + and + + (_c_) _Desire_ to seek or solicit guidance of that Power + in the daily life of man. + +You will thus see that both the Lord's Prayer in the Bible and the +Opening Chapter of the Qur'an go to the roots of all religions ever +professed by man. They are truly Universal Prayers. No man need hesitate +to join in the solemn recitation of either. + +We ought to view all monotheistic religions--religions which enjoin +belief in one God--in the spirit in which St. Peter viewed them when he +said (_Acts_ x. 34-5): "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter +of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh +righteousness is accepted with Him." The same is the spirit of the +oft-repeated definition of 'Muslims' in the Qur'an: [Arabic: llaḏīna +ʾāmanū minkum wa-ʿamilū ṣ-ṣāliḥāt] "those who believe and work +righteousness." "Trust in the Lord and do good," as the psalm says. + + + + ++Note 3.+ + +I.--_What is Religion?_ + + +I have said that _true_ Islam is the _best_ religion in the world. I +must prove my assertion. In order to do so I have to explain:-- + + I. What do I mean by religion? + II. What is true Islam? +III. Why is it the best religion? + +I.--_Religion, God and Nature._ + +_Religion._--No thinking man can help asking himself the questions: +"Whence has this world come? Whither is it bound to go?" in other words, +"What was the _origin_ ([Arabic: mabdā]) and what will be the _end_ +([Arabic: ma'ād]) of the world of men, animals, plants and things that I +perceive?" The answers which each man gives to these questions +constitute his _religion_. A few earnest persons (poets, philosophers +and theologians) try to answer these questions for themselves by patient +study and earnest thought[13]. But a large majority of men and women +merely take the answers taught them by their parents, teachers or +priests. There may possibly be a small number of men who do not trouble +themselves about these questions. These are not "thinking men" and may +therefore be left out of account. + +Religion is a silent and subtle power that works in the heart of man and +makes for righteousness. It is generated by his conviction as to the +beginning and end of himself and the world in which he lives and +moves[14]. + +_God._--No intelligent and intelligible answers can be given to +questions as to the origin and the end or the government of _Nature_[15] +without assuming the existence of the _One and only one God_ who is +_Infinite_ and _Absolute_, _i.e._, One who hath neither beginning nor +end and who is not conditioned or limited by anything whatever[16]. The +Infinite and Absolute One has been called by different names by +different people at different times[17]. Yezdan, Ishwara, Jehovah, God, +and Allah are the names, in different languages, of the same _Infinite +and Absolute God_. + + God of the Granite and the Rose + Soul of the Sparrow and the Bee! + The mighty tide of being flows + Through countless channels, Lord, from Thee. + +*_Conceptions of God, His attributes, and His relation to +Nature._--These have been and will ever be many and various. But I +summarise three principal conceptions under each head, for I believe +that other ideas, notions or conceptions are but combinations of two or +more of these:-- + + +I. Conceptions of God:-- + + 1. God as the Ultimate _Law_. + 2. God as the Omnipotent Energy or _Power_. + 3. God as the Supreme Being or _Person[18]_. + +II. Notions of God's principal attributes:-- + + 1. God as Creator or Nourisher. + 2. God as Preserver or Protector. + 3. God as Adjuster or Judge[18]. + +[*] _Paragraphs marked with asterisks and their footnotes may be + omitted at the first reading._ + + +III. Ideas of God's relation with Nature[20] (_i.e._, with the world of +men, animals, plants and other objects, and their inter-relations, of +which men are aware):-- + + 1. All is _from_ God = God is _above_ Nature + which He created and + governs (Theism). + + 2. God is _in_ All = God is _in_ Nature although + Nature is not + God (Panentheism). + + 3. God _is_ All = God _is_ Nature and + Nature is God (Pantheism)[21]. + +* The above is but a rough summary. I have neither time nor space to +explain and illustrate it. I have ventured to give some hints--imperfect +hints, I fear--in the footnotes. I may however state here that, of the +above three conceptions, notions or ideas Islam accepts the medium or +the middle one which, as a little thought will show, includes the other +two conceptions also. You need not at present try to understand the +summary or the words given in brackets. My subsequent Notes will explain +it to some extent. Please remember that there are many men and many +minds, and that there are likely to be as many religions, as many +conceptions of God, as many notions of His attributes, and as many ideas +of the beginning or end of things, ([Arabic: mabdā' wa ma'ād]) as there +are _thinking_ minds[22]. + + +Let me conclude this Note with a short answer to the question why +religion is necessary to Man[23]. No society is possible without +religion, because of the dual nature of Man. As our poet says, [Persian: +ba bahaa'm bahra dari ba malaa'ik neez ham] and as all modern men of +science (such as Sir Oliver Lodge and others) admit, there is a higher +and a lower in every man's nature, the one lifts him up and the other +pulls him down in the scale of animal and social existence. Religion is +necessary in order that every man's higher nature may conquer his lower +nature in order that he may become a social being who is virtuous and +does good of his own accord, and may not remain a mere beast whom the +whip alone prevents from doing mischief. It is religion that fosters +high-thinking and holy-living, so necessary for the advancement of the +human race. + + + + ++Note 4.+ + +II.--_What is true Islam?_ + + +The answer to this question is contained within the four corners, as +it were, of the Opening Sura[24] [Arabic: Sura al-fātiḥa] which is a +general summary of the whole Qur'an. I have already analysed it and +asked you to compare it with the Christian prayer called the Lord's +prayer. I am sure you have noted and admired its simplicity and +clearness and its almost scientific precision and comprehensiveness. I +am only amplifying what I have already said when I say that the Sura +teaches three cardinal and eternal truths:-- + +_1st._--There is but One God who has created the worlds, maintains them, +and rules them. In the inimitable words of the Sura of Purity. + + + [Arabic: Sura al-ʾiḫlāṣ] + +[Arabic: qul huwa llāhu ʾaḥad] Say, God is one. } = One. + +[Arabic: allāhu ṣ-ṣamad] God is Eternal. } = Infinite. + +[Arabic: lam yalid] He does not beget } +[Arabic: wa-lam yūlad] nor is He begotten. } = Absolute.[25] +[Arabic: wa-lam yakun lahū kufuwan aḥad] } + and He hath no kith or kin. } + +_2ndly._--(_a_) God being our Creator, we have to _worship_, adore and +love Him and Him alone. This is the duty we owe to God. (_b_) Again, God +being our merciful Preserver, we have to seek the protection of Him and +Him alone. This is the duty we owe to ourselves. (_c_) Finally, God +being our Judge or Ruler, we have to solicit guidance of Him and Him +alone. This is the duty we owe to our fellow-creatures (including lower +animals) in the world we live in. + +You must not fall into the error of believing that God is Creator at one +time or place, that He is Maintainer or Preserver at another time or +place, and that He is Judge or Ruler at a third time or place. No, no; +He, being the One and only God, is all the three together, Creator, +Preserver and Ruler, at all times and in all places. It is we who, in +order to understand Him properly and adore Him rightly, separate in our +minds His three principal attributes, and think of Him as our Creator +_when_ we worship Him, think of Him as our Preserver _when_ we seek His +protection, and think of Him as our Ruler or Judge _when_ we solicit His +guidance. It is only we, finite and conditioned creatures, that are tied +down to and limited by time, place and circumstances. To God there are +none such. He is the One Infinite and Absolute, the One who hath neither +beginning nor end--the One who is absolutely unlimited and unconditioned +by time, place, circumstances, or anything else. This is the Islamic +conception or idea of God. + +_3rdly_.--What does the Sura teach us as to the guidance which we have +to ask of God in our dealings with our fellow-creatures? It is guidance +into the straight path. What is the straight path? It is the path of +righteousness or the path of _Grace_ which is between two extremes, the +path of _Sin_ and the path of _Error_. A Muslim's right path, _i.e._, +his right course of conduct, lies between two extreme paths or courses +of conduct, _viz._, on the one hand, the path of those who sin, who +knowingly and deliberately go against the will of God, which is manifest +in Nature, and on the other hand, the path of those who unwittingly, +through ignorance, go against His will. The right path lies thus:-- + + +_Path of Sin_ } _Path of Grace_ { _Path of Error_ + } { +which leads } which leads to { which leads to +to ruin or } eternal bliss. { confusion worse +destruction. } { confounded. + +You thus see that _true_ Islam consists in a threefold duty to God, to +oneself, and to others, and this duty is to be discharged by simply +adopting, under God's guidance, _the mean between two extremes_. As our +Prophet has pithily expressed it [Arabic: khair ul umoor-e ausatiha], +"the best of things is the medium thing." This is the fundamental +principle which underlies everything which is Islamic or Muslim.[26] +Please remember it, as also the three-fold Islamic Duty:-- + + (_a_) Duty to God, which is Worship or Adoration implying, + as it does, complete submission to His will = [Arabic: + islām] + + (_b_) Duty to yourself, which is self-preservation or + self-perfection = [Arabic: Aslām] + + (_c_) Duty to others, which is peace and good will towards + them = [Arabic: islām] + +"Islam"[27] as a religion means nothing more nor less than those three +duties. + +Islam is not Philosophy, much less is it Science. It is but a Religion, +_an attitude of man's mind towards his environment_--the attitude of +self towards others and God. Both Philosophy and Science influence one's +attitude of mind. To that extent Islam has to reckon with both. It is +therefore that Sufis and other philosophic sects have risen in Islam +from time to time. The sphere of Islam is Faith manifesting itself in +good works; and the spheres of Science and Philosophy are Knowledge and +Reason. The latter often come into contact with the former, but can +never be identified with it. + + + + ++Note 5.+ + +_What is not Islam._ + + +In my previous Note I tried to sketch briefly what is true Islam. I now +offer a few observations on, or illustrations of, what is _not_ Islam. +In order to know anything quite well, it is desirable not only to know +_what it is_ but also to know _what it is not_. + +1. The religion taught by the Qur'an and the Traditions [Arabic: +ahādith] of our Prophet is _Islam_ and not "Muhammadanism," as it is +often named. Those who profess Islam are _Muslims_ and not +"Muhammadans," as they are called. The word "Musalman" is but a +corruption of the Arabic plural [Arabic: muslimūn/muslimīn] of the +singular [Arabic: Muslim]. We and our religion have been called[28] +after the name of Muhammad just as the terms Christians and Christianity +have been derived from the name Christ. But "Muhammadanism" and +"Muhammadans" are not at all the correct names of "Islam" and "Muslims" +as you will presently see.[29] + + +2. From the point of view of Islam, all religions may be divided thus: + + + Religions are either, + | + |---------------|---------------| + | | +_False_: being beliefs} {_True_: being beliefs +in more gods than } or {in one and only God; +one, } {and True Religions +(Paths of Sin) } {are either, + | + +----------|----------+ + | | + _Pure_, such as } {_Mixed_, such as + true Islam } {religions which + unmixed with any } {mix up inconsistent + inconsistent } or {ideas with + ideas. } {the idea of + } {one God. + (Paths of Grace) } {(Paths of Error) + +Observe that a pure Religion, such as true Islam, comes in between false +Religions and mistaken or mixed Religions, just as the Quranic Path of +Grace lies between the Path of Sin and the Path of Error. It is the mean +between two extremes. + +3. It is not Islam to believe that there has been no true religion +besides Islam.[30] Such an erroneous belief leads to intolerance, +thereby begetting bigotry and fanaticism [Arabic: taa'ssub]. It is +contrary to the teaching of the Qur'an and the Prophet. The first verse +of the second Sura [Arabic: Baqrah = ʾ-l-m] commands us to +believe in not only what was revealed to Muhammad but also in what was +revealed to those who went before him. It clearly indicates that there +are, and will ever be, many true religions of which Islam is one. Almost +the first saying of our Prophet reported in collections of his +traditions [Arabic: ahaadith] is "whoever says 'there is no god but +God,' will attain Salvation" _i.e._, will obtain eternal bliss. This +shews clearly that all religions which inculcate belief in one God are +true religions--are right Paths of Grace which lead to eternal bliss. +Observe that most Muhammadans (not Muslims) of to-day have +forgotten this principle and have therefore become +intolerant fanatics,[31] which accounts largely for the loss of +political power of most Muhammadan Governments of modern times. + +4. Neither is it Islam to believe that all religions are true. Such an +erroneous belief leads to indifference, thereby begetting caprice and +impiety. It is obviously contrary to the teaching of the Qur'an and the +Prophet, for they both denounce many a false religion. If everybody +thinks that every religion is true, there will be no two men professing +the same religion, and there will be no real agreement between their +thoughts and actions. Co-operation[32] [Arabic: ittifāq wa ittihād] +among men (which is the root of Family, Society and State) would tend to +become impossible. Note that it is the indifference to religion and the +consequent impiety of some of the Muhammadans of to-day that accounts +mostly for their lack of co-operation, and for their loss of political +power in modern times. Degradation is the lot of _faithless_ Muslims, +for as the Qur'an says, "Ye will be exalted only if ye be faithful +Muslims." + +From what has been said you can easily infer that we should adopt the +mean between two extremes and must therefore believe that neither are +all religions true nor are they all false, but that _some religions_ are +true and that Islam is one of them. The characteristic mark of true +religions is belief in one God; and this indeed is the reason why +Muslims are permitted to eat and live with, and even marry, Jewesses, +Christians and others who believe in one God and possess sacred +Scriptures. + +5. I, for one, would not hesitate to call all Monotheists (Jews, +Christians, and other Unitarians [Arabic: muwahiddin]) _Muslims_, +because they believe in one God: but I would not call them _Momins_ +[Arabic: Momins,], because they do not believe in one God in accordance +with the teaching of our Prophet. You know that our Creed [Arabic: +kalimah] consists of two parts:-- + + (i) There is no god but God, + (ii) And Muhammad is His Messenger. + +Those who believe in the first part are Muslims ([Arabic: Muslim ] = the +peaceful)[33] and those who believe in the first as well as the second +part of the Creed are Momins ([Arabic: Mumins ] = the faithful). Both +Muslims and Momins are believers in one God; the only difference between +them is that Muslims may not (like Momins) accept Muhammad as their +guide in the belief. The Qur'an (iii. 83) defines Islam thus:-- + + Say ye; We believe in God, and that which hath been sent + down (revealed) to us, and that which hath been sent down + to Abraham and Ismail and Issac and Jacob and the tribes; + and that which hath been given to Moses and to Jesus and + that which was given to the Prophets from their Lord. No + difference do we make between them--and to God we are + resigned (Muslims). + +6. "There is no deity but God." Since God is One, His Revelation to Man +cannot be other than one and the same for all time. There has therefore +been and will ever be but one true religion. That religion is Islam. +[Arabic: ʾinna d-dīna ʿinda llāhi l-ʾislām] "Verily the (only) religion +with God is Islam" (Q. iii 19). All the prophets from Adam to Muhammad +received but one and the same Revelation and therefore preached Islam +and Islam only. [Arabic: ḏālika d-dīnu l-qayyim] "It was (and is) the +standard religion"--Q. xii. 40.[34] + +Whenever any people went astray and deserted Islam for idolatry a +prophet arose among them to preach Islam and bring them back to +righteousness.[35] Each prophet or messenger of God did nothing but try +to restore the universal religion to its pristine simplicity and purity. + +It was only in interpreting the Revelation and applying it to the +practical needs of their age, that successive prophets and their +followers differed; and the differences gave rise to the so-called +_religions_ and religious systems of the world. + + + + ++Note 6.+ + +_"Islam" and "not-Islam"._ + + +I must devote this Note also to my observations on "Islam" and +"not-Islam" in order to prepare you for a just appreciation of my +contention that there are many good religions in the world but Islam is +the best of them[36]. + +1. The Prophet Muhammad lived and died more than thirteen hundred years +ago. There are now on the face of the earth no less than 250 millions (= +25 crores) of human beings who profess his religion, and who love and +respect him just as his own immediate followers loved and respected him. +These two simple facts are enough to prove-- + + (1) that there must be something real and + true in the religion professed by so many + people, and + + (2) that the man who preached and established + it must have been both great and + good to an extraordinary degree; + +for common experience leads us to conclude (_a_) that nothing which is +false or unreal can survive centuries of change and (_b_) that none who +is not good and great can be loved and respected by millions of men. No +Muslim or Momin need therefore believe in any thing more than:-- + + (i) that Islam is a real and true religion, and + + (ii) that Muhammad was a very great and good man.[37] + +Thus, your belief in one God [Arabic: lā ʾilāha ʾillālāh] makes you a +Muslim[38] (= _peaceful_), no matter by what other name you call +yourself; and your belief in the goodness and greatness[39] of Muhammad +[Arabic: Muhammad rasūlullah] makes you a Mumin (= _faithful_), no +matter by what name others may call you. Let me quote here a passage +from Sir Edwin Arnold's Preface to his beautiful poem "The Pearls of +Faith: the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah:" [Arabic: asmāʾu l-ḥusnā] + +"The soul of Islam is its declaration of the _unity_ of God: its heart +is the inculcation of an absolute _resignation_ to His will. Not more +sublime, in religious history appears the figure of Paul the tent-maker, +proclaiming 'the Unknown God' at Athens, than that of the camel-driver +Muhammad, son of Abdullah and Amina, abolishing all the idols of the +Arabian Pantheon, except their chief--Allahu ta 'Ala, God the Most +High--and under that ancient and well-received appellation establishing +_the one-ness of the origin, government, and life of the Universe_. +Thereby that marvellous and gifted Teacher created a vast empire of new +belief and new civilization, and prepared a sixth part of humanity for +the _developments and reconciliations_ which later times will bring. For +Islam must be conciliated; it cannot be thrust scornfully aside or +rooted out. It shares the task of the education of the world with its +sister religions, and it will contribute its eventual portion to + + --"that far-off divine event + Towards which the whole creation moves." + +The _italics_ are mine. I shall have to refer to them in my subsequent +Notes. Observe, the cosmopolitan poet uses only the word "Islam" and not +"Muhammadanism". + +2. It is not Islam or Eman [Arabic: īmān] to deify Muhammad or to +represent him to be akin to God, as sometimes some Moulvies represent +him and call him "the One (Ahad) in the guise of Ahmad[40]." Our Prophet +himself never claimed that he was anything more than a mere man. Indeed, +he taught us all to say [Arabic: Ash-hadu allā ilāha illallāh, wa +Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasūlullāh] that he was but "a servant and +messenger of God." The only thing he ever claimed for himself was that +God had chosen him to be a messenger [Arabic: rasūl = payghambar] to +convey His messages to men. "That an immense mass of fable and silly +legend," says Rodwell, "has been built up upon the basis of the Qur'an, +is beyond a doubt; but for this Muhammad is not answerable,[41] any more +than he is for the wild and bloodthirsty excesses of his followers in +after ages." + +3. God's messages which Muhammad delivered to men were all collected +soon after his death and are preserved intact in a remarkable book +called the QUR'AN--a book which has lived through no less than thirteen +centuries without undergoing the least alteration in a single word or +even a dot! The difference in the messages contained in the Qur'an and +the ordinary sayings of the Prophet reported in books on Hadis [Arabic: +hadith] is simply this:--that when delivering God's messages Muhammad +himself felt, and those who were in his company witnessed, that he was +inspired by some divine energy or power which impelled him to say what +he said; whereas at other times, when he was talking like an ordinary +man, no signs of divine energy or inspiration were visible. It will +carry me too far if I endeavour to explain here the real nature of "the +divine inspiration" under which he delivered what he and others believed +to be "divine messages". You will understand it if you read such books +as Professor James's _Varieties of Religious Experience_. Let us, like +good Momins, take it as a _fact_, what our Prophet's intimate companions +[Arabic: ṣḥābah] vouched, that he appeared to be quite a different man +when he uttered such messages. Their style or matter itself even to this +day proves to all unbiassed minds that they are no ordinary sayings of +an ordinary man. There is something unique in them which we can only +feel but cannot define or express in words. Even historians and +biographers like Gibbon and Muir and translators like Rodwell, Palmer +and Lane-Poole are obliged, in spite of themselves, to admit and admire, +what some of them call, the rugged grandeur and eloquence of the Qur'an. +Even Sale says that some passages are really sublime. + +4. We call the Qur'an _the word of God_, chiefly because it contains +messages of high spiritual value delivered by _an illiterate man_ like +Muhammad. It is neither a history like some of the books of the Old +Testament, nor a biography like the four Gospels of the Bible. It is +only a collection of sermons, commands, and instructions delivered and +issued from time to time as occasions required. It contains, indeed, +references to stories of older Prophets and previous events well known +to the people of Arabia. But they are less by way of narration than by +way of illustration. They are parables more or less ([Arabic: tilka +l-ʾamṯālu naḍribuhā li-n-nās])[42]. Commentators like Zamakh-shari +([Arabic: tafsīr-e-kashshāf]) and Imam Razi ([Arabic: tafsīr-e-kabīr]) +whose learning and authority cannot be questioned, have clearly proved +that there is nothing in the Qur'an which is improbable or cannot be +rationally explained to be quite in accordance with the laws of Nature +[Arabic: qanun-u qadat]. If you read Sir Syed Ahmad's Commentary +[Arabic: tafsir ahmadi] or his Essays [Arabic: khutbāt] you will find +rational explanations of the ideas of Paradise and Hell, the Day of +Judgment,[43] etc. I need not dwell on them here. I would however draw +your attention to what is called the rule of "Parsimony in Thought" +which is in vogue among men of Science. It is that if and when you can +explain anything by what is well-known and understood by every one, you +should not believe in the existence of "supermen" or assume the +occurrence of supernatural events. When, for example, we can explain any +action of Muhammad as an ordinary action of a reasonable man, we should +not assume or believe that he performed a miracle. If we can explain the +defeat and discomfiture of Abraham's Army by natural causes, such as an +epidemic, we ought not to assume the occurrence of any supernatural +event[44]. + +5. The Qur'an does not favour any particular system of Philosophy. It +leaves Muslims free to adopt any system of thought that commends itself +to them, provided that it is not inconsistent with the ([Arabic: +tawhīd]) idea of the one eternal and absolute God. Thus the Qur'an +confines itself to the sphere of religion--the sphere where man is +brought face to face with his God. + + (a) _What, then, is the object or aim of the Qur'an?_ + +To reveal a man unto himself. [Arabic: mun arafa nafsa hu arafa rabba +hu] (He who has understood himself has understood his God.) + + (b) _Why should a man be revealed unto himself?_ + +In order that he might know his true relation with the rest of the world +so that he might shape his conduct accordingly _i.e._, be true to +himself, true to others, and true to his God in thoughts, words, and +deeds. + + (c) _How does the Qur'an reveal a man unto himself?_ + +By showing him:-- + + (1) God in History[45] ([Arabic: huwa l-ʾawwalu wa-l-ʾāḫir] + He is the First and the Last.) + + (2) God in Nature[46] ([Arabic: wa-ẓ-ẓāhir] He is the + Manifest.) + + (3) God in Man's Conscience[47] ([Arabic: wa-l-bāṭin] and + He is the Hidden--Qur'an lvii. 3.) + +In this sense the Qur'an is truly a revelation! + + His sign is in all things, | * [Arabic: fa fi kulli šayʾin lahū] + | + Indicating that He is One. | * [Arabic: aayah naral anna hu wāḥid] + + + + ++Note 7.+ + +_III.--Why is Islam the best religion?_ + + +My real task begins with this Note. I have to explain to you why I +consider Islam[48] the best of the religions that are now professed by +men all over the world. Mark, I do not say that other religions are not +good, but I only say that Islam is the best religion of all those I +know. Why do I say so? Because no other religion accords so well as +Islam with the modern ideas of Science. + +By applying the adjectives "good," "better" and "best" to religions, I +indicate the _degree_ to which each religion, by its tenets and +teaching, induces men to seek their welfare [Arabic: falāh]: and by the +word "Science" [Arabic: ilm] I mean simply the systematised knowledge of +things known and knowable. + +_Science_ discovers things that are necessary or desirable for human +welfare. _Arts_ generally show the way in which those things can be +obtained or manufactured. _Governments_ provide, or ought to provide, +facilities for scientific investigation and for improvement in arts. And +it is _Religion_ that should move men to take the fullest advantage of +the science and arts of the time. You may take a horse to a river but +you cannot make him drink unless he is thirsty. If he is thirsty he will +drink of his own accord; but if he is not, neither the appearance of +clear water, nor the easy way to get at it, nor indeed your whip or +coaxing can ever induce him to drink. In the same way Science may show +you water or anything that is useful, Arts may show you different ways +of getting it, the Government of your State may offer rewards or even +threaten punishment; but you will not drink, that is to say, you will +not take advantage of the good things shown you and placed at your +disposal, unless you are thirsty, unless there is something in you which +impels you to it. This thirst, this something that is the moving force +or _motive_, is created or furnished by Religion. + +The chief use of religion lies in the desire that it fosters in men to +live well, and virtuously.[49] It is true that for most men the fear of +punishment and the hope of reward, either here or hereafter, are motives +for right conduct: and some religions (and even Islam as taught by some +Moulvies) give glowing pictures of Heaven and Hell awaiting good and +bad people after death.[50] But these motives are unworthy of the higher +nature [Arabic: qu wa ye malakūti] of man. They are like the crack of a +whip or the show of green grass to a horse that will not run. They are +not so effective and lasting as the high spiritual motive for a virtuous +life furnished by true religion. I cannot dwell further on this point +without entering upon a philosophical or metaphysical discussion which +is foreign to the purpose of these Notes. Suffice it to say that the +spiritual or religious motive for virtuous conduct is the best of all +motives, as it conforms to the higher or angelic [Arabic: malakūti] +nature of man and assists him in subduing his lower or animal [Arabic: +ba ha'i mi] nature.[51] + + +"The son of man is a unique | +and complex product (of | +Evolution) which has combined | +in him the natures of | [Persian: Aadmi zada turfah m'a +both the angel and the beast. | joo ne ast za fa-rish-ta sa-rish-ta +If he leans towards the latter, | hay wan gar kunad mayl een shuwad +his animal nature, he | wa kum azeen dar kunad qasn +falls lower than the beast | aanshuwad beh azaan.] +itself, but if he turns his | +attention to the former, his | +angelic nature, he rises higher | +than the angel himself." | + + +It is but religion, true Religion, that enables the "son of man" _i.e._, +mankind to surpass angels in godliness. Note, this is exactly what Sir +Oliver Lodge says in his book, _The Substance of Faith allied with +Science_. + +There is another use of Religion to which I should refer briefly before +I pass on to the main argument. You always intend doing many things but +never succeed in doing them _all_, either because you change your mind +or because somebody or something prevents you from carrying them out. It +is nevertheless important to yourself and society that your wishes, +which are naturally more numerous than your actions, should be as good +as the actions themselves. Laws and social conventions cannot adequately +control them, for they take account of only outward manifestations, that +is, actions which flow or result from your inward desires, passions and +prejudices. These are controlled by such religions as true Christianity +and true Islam which take that as done which was merely intended to be +done, and inhibit bad intentions even before they appear in action. + +Now, whatever religion supplies the best motives for virtuous conduct +and most effectively prevents mischievous intentions, must necessarily +be one which conforms best with the most approved ideas of the science +and arts of the time. I hold that Islam is such a religion.[52] + +Let me begin by showing a conformity of Islam to a modern idea, that +there are more worlds than one.[53] There are still some religions +which assume that there is no other world than the world we live in, and +that God created and maintains it for men only. Science has proved that +such assumptions are unwarranted, and has even suggested grounds for +believing that there are beings in the innumerable worlds of stars. This +world of ours with its inhabitants has therefore no right to monopolise +God to itself. Nor indeed have we, human beings, any right to consider +ourselves as its superior inhabitants. Science is now-a-days on the +track of finding out beings who are or who may be superior to man. Note +that all this is implied in the expression [Arabic: rabbi l-ʿālamīn] +"the Lord of the _worlds_" contained in the Sura and other parts of the +Qur'an. It does not say "the king of the _world_" ([Arabic: rabbi l- +ʿālam]) or of _men_ [Arabic: rabbi l- ʾinsān] but says generally and +truly that God is the King or Lord of great or grand _worlds_: [Arabic: +rabbi l-ʿālamīn], the definite article [Arabic: al] in Arabic is often +used to express greatness or grandeur as in the word [Arabic: Allah] +which means the Most High God. + +According to Islam there are two sources of knowledge, _Science_ and +_Revelation_: the one represents man's effort to learn God's ways, and +the other represents God's grace to discover His ways to man.[54] I for +one believe that the difference between the two sources of knowledge +corresponds to the difference between "Experience" and "Intuition," +between Acquired Ideas and Innate Ideas--a difference which modern +philosophers (Spencer and Bergson) consider to be one of degree only and +not of kind. + + + + ++Note 8.+ + +_Unity[55] and Union._ + + +I cannot go over the whole field of Muslim theology to show how its +ideas are in accord with the scientific thought of our days. I will +confine myself to three principles and three maxims implied in the +analysis of the Opening Sura [Arabic: Sura al-fātiḥa] given in one of my +previous Notes[56]. + +I. The verse [Arabic: al-ḥamdu li-llāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn; ar-raḥmāni +r-raḥīm] points to _the Principle of Unity_: + + There is but one God who created the worlds, + maintains and rules them. + +From this results the _Maxim of Union & Loyalty_: + + Union is strength = Be loyal to your King. + +II. The verse [Arabic: ʾiyyāka naʿbudu wa-ʾiyyāka nastaʿīn] points to +_the Principle of Perfection_: + + Worship of God, His protection, and guidance + are necessary for the perfection of our + mind and body. + +From this results the _Maxim of Self-help_: + + God helps those who help themselves = Be + true to yourself. + +III. The verse [Arabic: ṣirāṭa llaḏīna ʾanʿamta ʿalayhim ġayri l-maġḍūbi +ʿalayhim wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīn] points to _the Principle of Moderation_: + + It is the straight path of righteousness that + enables you to avoid crooked paths of sin + and error and leads you to happiness. + +From this results the _Maxim of the Average_: + + Adopt the mean of two extremes = Be moderate + in everything. + +I will now endeavour to shew, as briefly and as simply as possible, how +the principles and maxims I have stated correspond with the best +scientific ideas of the present age. By "the best scientific ideas," I +mean nothing more than _conclusions_ arrived at by eminent men of +science after severe study and prolonged investigation. I can only refer +to the conclusions as such without attempting to summarise the +reasoning, etc. by which they have been reached. You may read the works +of authors I shall name, if you wish to learn more of their thoughts. + +I. + +_Principle of Unity._ + +1. The first Principle of Unity [Arabic: tawhīd] implies that there is +but one Energy or Force whose different transformations we call +_forces_, but one Life whose appearance in different shapes we call +_lives_, and but one Mind whose different manifestations we call +_minds_. But the universal Energy, the + +[Sidenote: +1. Herbert Spencer. +2. Dr. A.R. Wallace. +3. Prof. James. +4. Sir Oliver Lodge. +5. Dr. Theodore Merz.] + +universal Life, and the universal Mind[57] [Arabic: rabbi l-ʿālamīn, +ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīm, māliki yawmi d-dīn] are themselves but so many +forms, appearances or manifestations of the one Being [Arabic: Allah] +who is Infinite [Arabic: ṣ-ṣamad] and Absolute [Arabic: lam yalid, +wa-lam yūlad]. This is exactly what scientific men and philosophers have +said and are saying to-day. Read the works of any of the eminent men +mentioned in the margin, and you will find that the conclusion they have +reached after life-long investigations, tallies remarkably with the +conception of God which Islam formulated centuries ago. + +Every child begins with the experience of 'This is _mine_' and 'That is +_not mine_.' This experience matures in the adult into "I" and +"not-I"--the _subject_ that knows and the _object_ that is known. We +call the _knower_ or subject, Mind; and the _known_ or object, Matter. +Most modern Philosophers agree in believing that Mind and Matter are but +two aspects of One Reality underlying All. Just as a big building like +the Falaknuma Palace presents different aspects when viewed from +different directions, and yet is one and the same building; so the +Reality of Existence _appears to us_ in different aspects as Mind and +Matter, and yet is one and the same Reality[58]. + +Dr. Theodore Merz of the Durham University, at the end of his grand +survey of the Scientific Thought of Europe in the 19th Century,[59] +says: "The scientific mind advances from the idea of Order or +arrangement to that of Unity through the idea of Continuity." + +The process adopted by Science of arriving at Unity is only the reverse +of what Islam adopted: the former begins _a posteriori_ with Order finds +Continuity and arrives at Unity, but the latter started _a priori_ with +Unity, passed over Continuity, and found Order, thus:-- + +_Science._ _Islam._ + +1. Order 1. Unity = [Arabic: rabbi l-ʿālamīn] = [Arabic: Allah] + = The Reality[50] + of which both Mind and Matter + are different aspects. + +2. Continuity 2. Continuity = [Arabic: raḥmāni wa r-raḥīm] = Force + or Energy. + +3. Unity 3. Order[60] = [Arabic: māliki yawmi d-dīn] = Order + or Process. + +What Sir Edwin Arnold calls the soul of Islam, _i.e._, the Principle of +Unity, so patently corresponds with the ultimate results of modern +Science and Philosophy, that I need not dwell on it at any great length. +It is sufficient to point out that Science has now proved three Unities, +the Unity of _Substance_, the Unity of _Force_, and the Unity of +_Process_; and Philosophy has shown that the three Unities resolve +themselves into One Infinite Power.[61] + + "There is no strength (to avoid } + evil) nor ability (to do good) } [Arabic: La hawla wa la quwwata + great and supreme." } ʾillā bi-llāhi alee-eil aẓīm.] + + _Maxim of Union and Loyalty._ + +2. How is the Maxim of Union and Loyalty inferred from the principle of +Unity? Man, being a creature of God, should try to be godly and godlike, +try to imitate God in actions, try to co-operate with his fellow +creatures for the good of all, and should thus attain the ideal: "Union +is Strength." This is the Islamic doctrine of Atonement[62] (= +at-one-ment [Arabic: fana fil-lah]): to be _at one_ with God by _union_ +and _co-operation_ with God's creatures so far as your and their +constitutions and environments allow. But you need not bother yourself +with theories at present. It will be enough if you remember that the +ultimate aim or the sole object of the Prophet's mission was to +establish the universal union and brotherhood of mankind by means of a +firm belief in the eternal truth of God's unity. He preached the Unity +of God and worked all his life for the union of men into a universal +Brotherhood. + +In order that you should _co-operate_, _i.e._, work together with your +fellow-men for the good of all, your work must needs be _co-ordinated_. +It must be guided and directed so that it tallies with the work of +others. This guidance and direction comes from your leader, whom you and +your fellow-workers must obey, in order to attain the best results. +Co-operation thus implies Co-ordination which requires a leader--Caliph +or King--whom you ought to follow loyally. _Loyalty to your leader_ is +therefore the gist of co-operation. The Qur'an and the Traditions are +full of injunctions for obedience to "those in authority among you" +[Arabic: ʾulī l-ʾamri minkum][63] "The surest way of pleasing God is to +obey the King." + +Modern Science teaches exactly the same thing. I have a series of little +books in my Library called "People's Books" published at 6d. each by +Messrs. Jack, London. One of them on "Zoology" is written by Professor +MacBride, F.R.S. He traces the development of Man from Protozoa,--little +specks of animalculæ--and points out how each species of animals has +risen higher than another by (i) greater "inventive capacity", the +capacity of adopting new means to an old end and old means to a new end: +and (ii) higher "tribal morality" implied in co-operation and loyalty to +leaders. He says: "Mankind progresses by the appearance of individuals +in whom (besides the inventive genius) the instincts of co-operation and +loyalty are more strongly developed". It is precisely those instincts +that Islam fosters by its doctrine of the universal brotherhood of +Muslims--a doctrine which implies primarily loyalty to your King. Just +as the affairs of a family like yours, consisting of a dozen members, +cannot prosper unless each follows loyally the lead of the eldest, or +the wisest among you; so the affairs of a nation can never be in a +satisfactory condition unless each individual is loyal to his King and +country, and co-operates with his Government by willingly doing what is +required of him. + +Muhammad enjoined [Arabic: utlibul ilm wa lov kaana bis seen] "Seek +knowledge even if thou hast to go for it to China"--(the farthest +country known in his days). + + Delve gems of Science divine + Ev'n unto Cathay's mine. + +He said that wisdom was the birthright of every Muslim who should seize +it wherever he found it. He thus encouraged the learning of Science and +the consequent acquirement of inventive capacity which is biologically +as essential for human progress as co-operation and loyalty. + +A study of animal life from the lowest animalcule to the highly +civilized man, teaches us to know, feel and act, in a particular manner, +_viz._, + +(_a_) to _know_ our environment, _i.e._, to know the + Laws of Nature in order to improve our + general capacity for invention, manufacture + and commerce, (Knowledge) + +(_b_) to _feel_ for our fellow-men in order to increase + mutual good-will so necessary for co-operation, (Sympathy) + +(_c_) and to _act_ for the general good of our race + under the guidance of our political and social + leaders, (Loyalty). + +"Knowledge, Sympathy and Loyalty" are thus the watchwords of the Science +of to-day no less than of the Islam of our ancestors.[64] + + + + ++Note 9.+ + +_Perfection and Self-help._ + + +Allow me to explain here that my object is not to persuade you to +believe what I say but only to make you think for yourself. I will +therefore avoid arguments and discussions as much as possible and +content myself with bare outlines of certain Islamic doctrines and brief +references to the corresponding ideas of modern Science. I shall be very +pleased if they serve to excite your curiosity and stimulate your +thought. + + +II. + +_Principle of Perfection._ + +1. The second Muslim doctrine which I have called the Principle of +Perfection may be inferred from the second part of the Sura:--It is +essential for our perfect development that we should worship God and +implore Him for help and guidance in the discharge of the three-fold +duty of our life. + +No sane man thinks that he is perfect as he is. There is always a +feeling of some sort in our mind that somehow, and in some respect or +other, we are not as perfect as we should be. It is to remove this +feeling of imperfection inherent in us that we have to worship God and +supplicate His help and guidance. If you ask: "Why should I worship +God?" Islam answers your question by asking another: "Why should you +admire beauty in Nature and Art?" You can answer only: "Because it is +beautiful. I am so constituted that I cannot do otherwise than admire a +beautiful object when I see it". You are unable to give any other reason +satisfactorily accounting for your admiration of the beautiful. Islam +returns a similar answer to your question: _"You should worship God +because He is God"._ You, as one of His creatures, cannot help +worshipping or reverently adoring Him when you see, at every instant of +your life, manifold manifestations of His divine Goodness and Beauty. +Some Sufis[55] even go to the extent of identifying God with "Infinite +Beauty" [Arabic: husn-e azlee] which is the object of their love +[Arabic: ishq] and ecstasy [Arabic: wajd]. + +You remember the verse which every devout Muslim recites when he hears +the news of the death of any one: [Arabic: inna lil lahi wa inna ilaihi +raji-ūn] + + "Verily we are God's and to Him we shall return". + +This as well as some other verses support the Islamic belief in the +re-union of a man's soul with God. As I have mentioned in my previous +Note, Islam conceives that there is but one Universal Soul. Small +parts--infinitesimal fractions--of the Universal Soul are confined in +men's bodies and break free at death to re-join the Whole[56]. This +belief is in entire accord with Sir Oliver Lodge's theory (or +"speculation", as he calls it) put forward in his book, _Faith allied to +Science_. Without stopping to enquire how far the belief indicated by +Qur'anic verses, or the theory advanced by a man of science, is +supported by scientific facts, I would only point out that it gives a +clear and intelligible meaning to the word "worship" [Arabic: ibadāt]. +It is the communion of the fractional soul, which is somehow confined in +a man's living body, with the Whole Soul, the Soul of the Universe, to +which it--the fractional soul--shall return some day freed from the +trammels of the flesh. This "communion" [Arabic: ibadāt] includes +Adoration [Arabic: tasbīh wa tahlīl] and Prayer [Arabic: du'ā]. + +I cannot do better than quote Sir Oliver Lodge's admirable description +of the meaning and object of Prayer:-- + + "In prayer we come into close communion with a Higher than + we know, and seek to contemplate Divine perfection. Its + climax and consummation is attained when we realize the + universal Permeance, the entire Goodness and the Fatherly + Love of the Divine Being." + + [[Arabic: al-ḥamdu li-llāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn, ar-raḥmāni + r-raḥīm.] + + Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, compassionate and + merciful, King of the day of Reckoning.] + + "Through prayer we admit our dependence on a Higher Power, + for existence and health and everything we possess; we are + encouraged to ask for whatever we need as children ask + parents; + + [[Arabic: adnee istajib lakum] Call upon me--I will + hearken unto you] + + and we inevitably cry for mercy and comfort in times of + tribulation and anguish." + + "The spirit of simple supplication may desire chiefly:-- + + "1. Insight and receptiveness to truth and knowledge. + + [[Arabic: iyyaka na'budu] We worship Thee alone.] + + "2. Help and guidance in the practical management of life. + + [[Arabic: iyyaka nasta'een] We seek help from Thee alone.] + + "3. Ability and willingness to follow the light + withersoever it leads." + + [[Arabic: ihdinas sirātal musta-qīm] Guide us into the + right path] + +Compare the verses I have placed in brackets with what Sir Oliver says, +and you will observe how well he has interpreted the Qur'an. It looks as +if he had the Opening Sura [Arabic: Sura al-fātiḥa] before him when he +wrote. Even the sequence of his ideas corresponds _practically_ with the +order of the verses. But you may be quite sure that he never thought of +the Qur'an at all. He evolved it all from his own inner consciousness +well trained by scientific studies. + +_Maxim of Self-help._ + +2. There are numerous verses in the Qur'an which enjoin "purification +[Arabic: tazkīm] of one's self" and prohibit "cruelty [Arabic: Tazkīya] +to one's own mind". They obviously imply the rule of conduct which I +have called the Maxim of Self-help. No one has expressed it more +beautifully and truthfully than Shakespeare in the well-known speech of +Polonius. + + This above all: to thine own self be true, + And it must follow, as the night the day, + Thou canst not then be false to any man. + +[Sidenote: Herbert Spencer, Prof. +T.H. Green, Lecky (Historian), +Profs. Muirhead, +Mackenzie, and Sen.] + +It is the basis of the ethical system advocated by authors mentioned in +the margin. There are at present two contending schools of Morality. +Each tries to determine what is 'good' or 'bad', and sets up a +'standard' or test by which men's actions should be judged as 'right' or +'wrong'. The standard according to the one school is Happiness (the +surplus of pleasure over pain); according to the other it is Perfection +(the fullest development of men as social beings). I think the latter +school is more in favour now than it was at the end of the last century. +Men of science now-a-days realize with Herbert Spencer that every one +ought to develop himself by freely exercising all the powers of his mind +and body to the fullest extent consistent with, and limited by, the +_like_ exercise by his fellow men.[57] I cannot expatiate on this +subject without entering into the realms of philosophy and metaphysics. +I have only to say that the teaching of Islam as regards +self-development is in entire accord with the views of latter-day +moralists. + +If you are a student of Ethics you will observe that the doctrine of +"making the most of oneself" (Perfection) is, in accordance with the +Islamic principle of Moderation, the mean of two extreme doctrines:--the +doctrine of "duty for duty's sake" (Rigourism) on the one hand, and the +doctrine of "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" +(Utilitarianism) on the other. + + ++Duty--Perfection--Utility.+ + +I have to add that "self-perfection" really means "self-help," = due +exercise of one's faculties with patience and perseverance. If you have +not read Dr. Smiles' book on Self-help, you had better read it at your +earliest convenience. I can recommend no better commentary on the +saying: "God helps those who help themselves."[58] + + + + ++Note 10.+ + +_Moderation and Via Media._ + + +Islam[59] is, so to speak, the youngest of all the great religions that +are now professed by millions of people. Like a child who is heir to all +the mental and physical tendencies inherited and acquired by his +ancestors, Islam inherited all the revelations which "one hundred and +eighty thousand" (_i.e._ innumerable) prophets had communicated to the +world before the advent of Muhammad. I have already referred to the +injunction, contained in the Qur'an, that we should believe not only +what was revealed to Muhammad himself, but also what was revealed to all +"Messengers of God" who had come before him; provided always that we +have authentic records of those revelations.[60] (This proviso is very +important.) It is therefore no detraction from the merits of Islam that +some of its doctrines resemble those of other revealed religions. Parsis +say that Islam borrowed: [Arabic: bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm] "In +the name of God the most merciful and most compassionate"[61] from their +holy scripture, Zendavesta, which begins with the words [Persian: ba nam +eezad ba bakh sha-inda bakhs ha bikasr meher ban gar.] Some Christian +writers on Islam seem to take delight in pointing out that the Prophet +of Arabia borrowed this, that, and the other doctrine from certain +Christians and Jews whom he had met in his earlier life. It is very +doubtful whether he had ever met such people. But it is certain that he +was too illiterate [Arabic: ummī] to understand their recondite +doctrines if they had condescended to teach him. Even if we admit that +he borrowed doctrines from other religions, his own religion is not +thereby rendered the less valuable; for there is no religion which is +_absolutely_ original. He never denounced former religions but only +claimed to have confirmed and supplemented them by the religion revealed +to him. He always referred to "former revelations" with great respect. + +Muslims picture the Supreme Truth as a beautiful citadel built on the +top of a steep mountain. Different religions are but so many paths +[Arabic: madhāhib] leading to it from different directions. In their +estimation Islam is the best and the easiest path of all. This fanciful +idea implies that some of the paths might cross each other at different +parts of their course, and others might run parallel to one another or +even run together for a considerable distance. Many religions may +therefore have certain doctrines bearing close resemblance to each other +like parallel paths. Some religions may even have certain doctrines in +common, like paths running together. All religions are, and purport to +be, paths leading to one and the same citadel of Truth.[72] None the +less has each of them an individuality of its own and a claim that it is +better and easier than all others.[73] + + +III. + +_Principle of Moderation._ + +I have prefaced this Note with the above remarks because the Principle +of Moderation and the connected Maxim of the Mean, which are indicated +in the third and last part of the Sura, were enunciated by Plato +[Arabic: Flatun] and his disciple Aristotle [Arabic: Aristo] who lived +more than 1,000 years before Muhammad. Some Muslims count those great +sages of ancient Greece among the innumerable (180,000) Messengers of +God who preceded our Prophet.[74] The records[75] [Arabic: sahaif] of +their sayings possess an authority second only to that of the Qur'an +itself, being in fact revelations which God vouchsafed from time to time +for the benefit and guidance of mankind. + +1. I need not repeat what I have already said as to 'the Path of Grace' +[Arabic: ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīma] being the _mean_ between two +_extremes_, 'the Path of Sin' [Arabic: ġayri l-maġḍūbi ʿalayhim] and +'the Path of Error' [Arabic: wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīn]. I may however explain that +the pursuit of the Path of Grace implies the Principle of Moderation in +the sense that we should fully and freely exercise all our mental and +physical powers _with due regard to their respective limitations_. For +all practical purposes, you may take Reason, Passion and Action as the +principal representatives of a man's powers, and view Reason as the +guiding force in his constitution, Passion as the moving force, and +Action (voluntary acts and omissions) as the resultant of the guiding +and moving forces thus:-- + + Y ------------------------------------ P + / _.-' / + . / ary) _.-' / + n / unt _.-' / + o / ^ (Guide) (Vol _.-' / + s / / ion _.-' / + a / / Act _.-' / + e / / _.-' ant) / + R / / _.-' ult / + / _.-' (Res / + / _.-' / + /_.-' ---> Passion. / + O------------------------------------ X + (Mover) + +Now, the Principle of Moderation means simply that you should not allow +your passions to influence your actions unduly, nor should you allow +your reason to control your passions unduly; but you should ever try to +hold the balance even between them in order that the resultant action +might be quite right--might discharge the three-fold duty of man,--and +might thereby tend (be it in ever so small a degree) to the perfection +of the individual and the race. If at any time your passion over-rides +your reason, you commit Sin; and on the contrary, if you exercise your +reason so much as to stifle your passion altogether, you fall into +Error. If you permit neither reason, nor passion to discharge their +respective functions, you lapse into Inaction which is again an Error. +Undue suppression of Passion, and over-exercise of Reason, as well as +non-exercise of both--militate against the Principle of Moderation, the +essence of which is (as Aristotle pointed out) that no power should +tyrannize over any other in our constitution. + +What is "due" or "undue" exercise of a power, is a question which your +common sense should decide in each case with reference to the person +acting and the circumstances under which he acts. The only general rule +that can be laid down is implied in the ideal of perfection explained in +the previous Notes. Every exercise of any of your mental or bodily power +is right or wrong according as it does, or does not, tend to the +perfection of yourselves or your offspring, and your community or race. + +I have only to add that the Principle of Moderation, in the form in +which I have roughly described it, is fully recognized by such +up-to-date writers on the Science of Ethics as Sir Leslie Stephen, one +of the two talented Editors of the Dictionary of National Biography. + + +_Maxim of the Mean or Average._ + +2. Addressing Muslims the Qur'an says:-- + + [Arabic: wa-ka-ḏālika ǧaʿalnākum ʾummatan wasaṭan li-takūnū + šuhadāʾa ʿalā n-nās] + + "We have thus made you a middle nation (= a moderate + people) in order that you should be an example to + mankind."--i. 137. + +One of the ways in which God has made Muslims a moderate people is by +enjoining them to avoid extreme courses of action and to adopt the +middle or the mean course whenever and wherever it is possible[76]. + +The Maxim of the Mean is the objective counter-part of the subjective +Principle of Moderation. The latter says: Don't over--, or +under-exercise any of your faculties; and the former says: Don't have +too much or too little of any thing. Too much of any thing is good for +nothing. Too little of it is worse than nothing. "Too much" and "too +little" are relative terms and signify nothing by themselves. It is only +with reference to oneself and one's environment at any particular time +and place that they acquire a meaning as "excess" and "defect" +respectively. I cannot explain it better than give a few instances in a +tabular form where the "mean" comes between the "excess" and the +"defect" of a quality of the head or heart, or a course of action. + +(1) Qualities of the Head (Reason):-- + + _Excess. Mean. Defect._ + + Caution Prudence Neglect + Doubt Conviction Uncertainty + Conceit Modesty Diffidence + Sensitive Attentive Indifferent + +(2) Qualities of the Heart (Passions):-- + + Cowardice Courage Rashness + Sensuality Temperance Abstinence + Bigot Enthusiastic Lukewarm + +(3) Courses of Action:-- + + Restriction Liberty Licence + Flattery Courtesy Rudeness + Favouritism Justice Injustice + Prodigal Generous Miserly + +You will find out for yourself what are the appropriate qualities or +courses of conduct, of which the excess, mean and defect are expressed +by the words given above. Fear, for example, is the feeling of which +excess is Cowardice and defect is Rashness, while the mean is Courage. +Similarly as regards one's own opinion of one's powers, excess is +Conceit and defect is Diffidence, while the mean is Modesty. Again too +much or too little restraint on action is Restriction or Licence while +the mean is Liberty. + +It will be a useful exercise to make a long list of such words as +express the difference of _degrees_ of the various qualities or +functions of Reason, Passion and Action (= Knowledge, Feeling and Will.) +But it will _not_ always be possible to find three contrasted words, +like those in the table, for every quality or action; because no +language is so perfect as to have separate and single words to express +the immense number and manifold shades of ideas which our mind is +capable of entertaining. Still the fact is duly recognized by modern +Science that there are differences not only of kind but also of degree +in everything--ideas, feelings, desires, actions, objects and attributes +of objects--with which we are concerned. Although you may not have a +word expressive of degree in every case, yet you can _practically_ +ascertain the extremes and the mean in all cases without exception, and +can so order your conduct as to avoid the one and adopt the other in +all cases. I may point out here that "_the Mean_" is not the +"arithmetical mean" (like 6½ which is the arithmetical mean of 5 and +8) but only _an approximately medium or middle course of conduct--via +media_.[77] [Arabic: khair ul umūr ausatuha] + +You may object that, since the ascertainment of the mean in each case +requires calm thought with reference to yourself and your environment, +the rule is too difficult to follow in these days of quick +communication, speedy locomotion, and urgent action. I answer that it is +but an _ideal_ rule of conduct. Like all rules of Logic (Thought), +Æsthetics (Beauty), or Ethics (Conduct), it sets before you an ideal +which you should ever strive to attain though you may not attain it +fully at any time. No thinker may have been absolutely logical, no +Artist may have wrought a perfect work of beauty, and no man may have +ever been quite moral. But that is no reason why thinkers, artists, and +men generally, should not endeavour to attain perfection in their +respective spheres of thought and action. + +There is a further and greater objection to the rule of the middle +course, _viz._, that, if followed strictly, it will reduce all men to a +dead level of mediocrity, and will not foster the development of men of +genius. I have to admit regretfully that such will be the case, and, as +my next Note will show, it will be in accordance with a Law of Nature +recently discovered. Some writers have even attempted to prove that +_genius_ or excessive intelligence is a form of madness as bad as its +opposite form, _imbecility_ or defective intelligence. They seem to +believe that only the men of average intelligence are quite sane. + + Great wits are sure to madness near allied + And thin partitions do their bounds divide.--_Dryden_. + +The late Sir John Gorst created a sensation when he declared in the +House of Commons that great countries were governed by mediocrities +only. + + The world knows nothing of its greatest men.--_Sir H. + Taylor._ + + + + ++Note 11.+ + +_Evolution and Survival._ + + +It was Adolphe Quetelet, Astronomer-Royal of Belgium, who in the +seventies of the last century attempted to prove that "_the average man +is to a nation what the centre of gravity is to a body_." A similar, if +not quite the same, conclusion has since been reached by Sir Francis +Galton and Professor Karl Pearson in their researches into men's +physical and intellectual qualities in the light of Darwin's theory of +Natural Selection or Survival of the Fittest. This theory which, in its +more extended form, is called the Law of Evolution, has profoundly +influenced, if not entirely revolutionized, the Science and Philosophy +of our own times. It has _not_ however succeeded, as was at first +feared, in destroying men's belief in God, the Creator and Ruler of the +Universe. For it has done no more than disclose but a few of the +numerous ways in which He creates and rules. + +I have been a student of Evolution Literature ever since I left College. +Speaking for myself I can say that my study of it has not in the least +shaken my belief in God, but has rather strengthened it. I entirely +agree with a popular writer[78] on "the Scientific Ideas of To-day," who +says: + + "True Science does not seek to deprive man of his Soul or + to drive the Creator from his Universe, but it honestly + endeavours to study His marvellous works ... to see the + manner in which He has caused Nature to work out His + design." + +The Law of Evolution or the Development Hypothesis, as it has been +called, is in fact a clever guess at truth--very valuable as a formula +which enables us not only to remember the result of numerous +observations and experiments, but also to predict certain events to be +verified by subsequent observations and experiments. It is impossible to +convey a clear idea of it in a few sentences. A great man like Herbert +Spencer spent 50 years of his life in explaining and illustrating it in +no less than ten stout volumes of his "Synthetic Philosophy." The +central idea may however be expressed in the following propositions, +using the word "_thing_" in its widest sense as any object of +perception, or knowable objects[79]. + +1. Nothing exists absolutely by itself; everything exists in relation +with something else which is its "environment." + +2. A thing and its environment cannot exist side by side for any +considerable time without each affecting or influencing the other in +some respects at least: a thing A and its environment B, which cannot +but exist together, must needs act and re-act on each other. + +[Illustration] + +3. The action and re-action of the thing A and its environment B on each +other, brings about mutual adjustment, the fitting of each into the +other. + +4. According as this mutual adjustment or fitting is relatively +_complete_ or _incomplete_, there is Evolution or Dissolution, survival +or extinction, of the thing (A) itself.[80] + +5. The process of Evolution or Survival is characterized by:-- + + + (_a_) _Integration_: grouping together of certain + _like_ units (such as atoms or molecules, + living cells or individuals) into + a whole, + + (_b_) _Differentiation_: certain parts (or functions) + of the aggregated whole becoming + _unlike_ each other or specialized, + and + + (_c_) _Adjustment_: fitting of the aggregated + and differentiated whole into its environment. + +6. In the opposite process of Dissolution or Extinction the thing +undergoes the same changes in the reverse order before it disappears as +such. + +In other words, given a thing and its environment, the one has to adapt +and adjust itself to the other, or cease to exist. Nothing survives, as +an individual, which does not change. Like a picture in its setting, a +thing has to _fit_ itself to its environment in order that it might +survive for the best advantage of itself and its kind. Thus, the _fit_ +lives and the _unfit_ dies[81]. As the Qur'an expresses it [Arabic: +ʾanna l-ʾarḍa yariṯuhā ʿibādiya ṣ-ṣālihūn] "the Earth is inherited by +only the fit among My creatures."[82] This applies not only to plants +and animals, man and society, but also to inanimate or inorganic things, +as the President of the British Association announced some years ago. + +A man, for example, has for his environment, the atmosphere of the place +he inhabits, the society he lives in, the occupation he follows, the +laws he obeys, etc. He can live long and happily only when the qualities +of his body and mind befit him to that environment, _i.e._, when they +enable him (to become [Arabic: salih]) to adapt himself continuously to +the circumstances of his position. What, then, is the general nature of +such qualities? + +You know that one of the best methods of Science is Measurement. No +scientific knowledge is exact unless it enables you not only to +distinguish one quality from another, but also to measure each quality +or determine its degrees in some way or other. It is not sufficient to +know hot from cold but the degrees of temperature must be measured by a +thermometer. + +The new methods of Statistics and graphic representation have been +applied to a large number of men and women for the purpose of finding +"the fittest" qualities or "characters" as they are technically called. +Professor Karl Pearson[83] and others have thus found that among a large +number of men and women in a given community any physical or mental +character which deviates largely, by excess or defect, from the mean or +average, renders them the less fit to survive the struggle for +existence. _Individuals possessing any character which deviates +extremely from the mean tend to disappear_. For example, the average +height of men has been found by measurement of a large number of people +to be (say) 5ft. 6in. and it has also been found by statistical methods +that men who are 7ft. or men who are only 3ft. are very rare. It is +therefore concluded that men who are too tall or too short _i.e._, who +deviate extremely from the mean, tend to disappear and are therefore +_unfit_ to survive. + +This is only a rough and ready example of what is called the Law of +Periodic Selection which has now superseded the Belgian philosopher's +Law of the Average (or "the Mean"). It applies to human conduct as well +as to human qualities. That conduct alone (_i.e._, only that particular +course of deliberate action) befits a man to his environment, which +deviates the least from a standard or average of such conduct. It is the +indispensable condition of his happiness and longevity. + +You thus see that the Islamic Maxim of the Mean is justified by +Science. + + + + ++Note 12.+ + +_Religion begins with the fear of the Lord and +ends in the love of Man.[84]_ + + +Let me devote this concluding Note to a few general remarks. The +meanings and definitions of certain words given below are somewhat +arbitrary, but I trust they will enable you to understand and remember +certain abstruse matters. + + +I. + +(_a_) Take the word "thing" to mean any object of thought, such as, for +example, a house, a labourer, redness, distance, home, charity, +eloquence, or the British Constitution. All these are _things_ which you +can think of. + +(_b_) You may then define a "fact" as a known or knowable thing or +relation between things; in other words, a _fact_ is any thing or +relation, which you know or can know if you take the necessary trouble. + +(_c_) The word "Nature", with a capital N, is but a name for the +sum-total of all facts known and knowable. Poets, philosophers, and even +some men of Science, personify this sum-total of facts known and +knowable, _i.e._, _Nature_ and refer to it as "she" or "her". It is but +a convenient way of saying, by implication, that there is the same +uniformity, continuity and unity in Nature as in our idea of a person. + +Now, all thinking men of all ages of history have ever tried to +understand Nature as a whole and to answer regarding her three important +questions represented by three interrogatives, what? how? and why? + + (1) _What_ is Nature? = What are the facts + which constitute Nature. (Knowledge + of Nature). + + (2) _How_ has Nature come to be what she is? + = How is it that facts constituting + Nature have become as we perceive + them? (Explanation of Nature). + + (3) _Why_ is Nature as she is and not otherwise? + = Why is it that facts constituting + Nature have a certain uniformity + (order) continuity and unity in spite of + changes that take place continuously? + (Reason of Nature). + +Broadly speaking, I may say that Science (with its various departments +called "Sciences") tries to answer the first question _what_, the +question as to _facts_ of Nature. Philosophy tries to answer the second +question _how_, the question as to the _explanation_ of Nature. Religion +or Theology (which includes highest Poetry) tries to answer the third +and last question _why_, the question as to the _reason_ of Nature. You +may thus clearly remember the respective provinces of Science, +Philosophy and Religion by remembering three words What, How and Why. +When you read a book which treats of facts or the _what_ of Nature; or +of the explanation or the _how_ of her; or of the reason or the _why_ of +her; you may be sure it is Science, Philosophy or Religion respectively +that you are reading, whatever be the name of the book itself. + +I have said that Science, Philosophy or Religion "_tries_ to answer" and +not "answers", because the answer of any of them can never be final or +immutable. None of them can ever reach finality. As the experience of +mankind grows continuously, new facts or new phases of old facts are +discovered in the course of time. Just as men have to adapt or adjust +themselves to new facts (or to changes in old facts) or else die; so +men's Science, Philosophy and Theology have to adjust themselves to new +facts or else become empty nothings.[85] + + +II. + +I have often said that I believe Islam to be the best religion because +(so far as I know) it accords best with the current ideas of Science. If +you accept my view of the respective provinces of Science, Philosophy, +and Religion, you can easily comprehend that a Religion like Islam +which purports to expound the reason _why_ of Nature must needs +correspond with the _what_ (Science) as well as with the _how_ +(Philosophy) of Nature. The three great divisions of Human Thought--I +mean, Science, Philosophy and Religion--are necessarily connected with +one another, as otherwise they cannot make up _the whole Universe of +Human Thought_ and cannot satisfy men's craving for complete and +consistent knowledge. + + +III. + +The Law of Evolution which I mentioned in the previous Note is but a +Theory of Creation, an explanation of _how_ Nature has come to be what +she is. New facts which future ages may discover may prove the theory to +be either right or wrong. At present it is the best hypothesis--the best +guess--because it accords best with known facts. It acts as a guide to +knowable facts as well. It has shown that men cannot progress, indeed +cannot long survive, if they fail to adapt themselves to the +circumstances of their position, if they fail to fit into their +environment which surrounds them like an envelope. Ceaseless change is +the order of Nature. Continuous adaptation is the law of life. +_Adaptability_ is therefore the _sine qua non_ of men's life and +existence. The religion which suits them must also have the quality of +adaptability. I hold Islam has this quality in an eminent degree and is +therefore the most suitable religion. + +Please remember that I speak of Islam as taught by the Qur'an itself and +not "Muhammadanism" as professed by _some_ so-called followers of the +Prophet. You have to interpret the Qur'an[86] quite naturally as any +other book or historic document, but not in the way in which _some_ +Muhammadans do it with the aid of marvellous fictions and miraculous +traditions. Islam has to resist (to use a big word) the +_anthropomorphic_ tendency of the human mind, _viz._, the tendency to +view abstract _qualities_ or agencies as persons having a separate +existence as individual beings. + + +IV. + +I have said that there is no inherent antagonism between Christianity +and Islam _if_ and _when_ the sayings and doings of the founders of each +are rightly viewed and understood in a simple and natural manner. +Muhammad never ceased saying that he had come to attest and complete the +mission of Jesus and his predecessors, who were God's messengers like +himself.[87] The greatest and the best rule of human conduct which Jesus +laid down was: "Love thy neighbour as thyself". + + +You remember the well-known lines of Burns: + + O wad some power the giftie gie us + To see oursels as others see us. + +The gift which the poet prays for is vouchsafed to very few mortals. +Almost all of us have naturally, and often unconsciously, such a high +opinion of ourselves that, even if we would, we could not see ourselves +as others see us. The next best thing that we can do is, therefore, _to +see others as we see ourselves_, to cherish the same regard for others +as we instinctively cherish for ourselves. If (to take an extreme case +for example) we cannot detest ourselves as others sometimes detest or +hate us, we can at least try to love others as we love ourselves, "try +to do unto others as we wish that others should do unto us". Thus the +rule: "Love thy neighbour as thyself", is quite consistent with human +nature and is the most comprehensive rule of conduct which has ever been +laid down for the guidance of mankind. To my mind there is no better +proof of the identity in spirit of Christianity and Islam than the +confirmation of Christ's command by Muhammad himself. + + No-one will be a faithful | + Muslim until he loves his | [Arabic: La yu'minu ahdakum hatta + neighbour as he loves himself. | yuhibbu li ma yajib nafsahu] + +For this reason, I believe that there is no difference between the two +religions _if_ the metaphysical doctrines engrafted on both be +eliminated. _True Islam is but true Christianity writ short._[88] Both +recognize that the source of virtue is love, + + For love is Heaven and Heaven is love. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +_We are indebted to Mr. J.C. Molony for the following illuminating +criticism which affords food for serious thought--Editor._ + +If we assume the existence of a God, interested in the governance of +this world, it becomes impossible to deny that Muhammad was God's +messenger, or, at least, God's prophet. It seems to me unlikely that a +man could change the belief of nations by chance, incredible that he +should do so were he an impostor. Muhammad was certainly honest; the +persistence of the faith called after him leads me to consider him as +inspired. Or, if "inspired" be objected to as a general religious term +of very indefinite meaning, let us say that he saw into the heart and +reality of life further and more clearly than any man has done since his +day. How then comes the fact, noted by Amjad and Mahmood and admitted by +you, that Islamic countries in the main have wretched governments, and +are crumbling away before Christian Powers? I do not think that you have +answered this question[89]. You have merely pointed out that Islam, if +rightly understood, is an excellent religion. + +The boys, I think, have stated their dilemma too sharply; the contrast +is not entirely between Islam and Christianity. India is for all +practical purposes a "Hindu" country, and the power of the old Indian +Kingdoms has faded before Christian invaders. In that section of the +world in which Christianity is the prevailing and accepted form of +religious belief, the temporal might of those nations professing one +great form of the Christian creed, the Roman Catholic, has undoubtedly +waned in comparison with that of the nations professing what is +generally called the Protestant faith. There are many varieties of +non-Roman Catholic Christianity, but Protestantism is a label +sufficiently comprehensive and sufficiently well understood for our +purposes. I speak without sectarian bitterness; I am not, I fear, a +convinced adherent of any particular form of religious faith. I have met +many good men, and have many friends, among Muhammadans, Hindus, and +Roman Catholics. But I think that the objective truth of what I say, +particularly in the Christian sphere, is indubitable. Compare for +instance the decay of Spain with the grandeur of England, the feebleness +of Austria with the strength and order (turned to ill uses though they +may be) of Germany.[90] The question at once arises whether religion +has anything to say to the matter. I think that it has. + +Muhammadanism, Hinduism, and Catholicism (I omit the prefix Roman) have +concerned themselves too much with Heaven and Hell, with the avoidance +of future damnation and the obtaining of future bliss. These religions +have afforded some justification for the gibe that Auguste Comte +levelled at Christianity; he said that it sprang from "a servile terror +and an immense cupidity." Religion should be rather _a guide of life +here_ than _a guide to a life to come_. Kant would have curtailed the +beatitude "blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" into +"blessed are the pure in heart". It is good to be good; it is not good +to be good in the hope of some ultimate gain thereby.[91] The great +Catholic Bishop of Pondicherry, Monseigneur Bonnand, wrote to one of his +desponding priests: "Continue a missionary to the end, and you will +assuredly be saved". In my opinion he was wrong; I should think little +of a missionary, whether Christian or Muhammadan, who endured the trials +of a missionary life (and some of those old French priests did endure +abundantly) solely in the hope of making a personal, albeit spiritual +and eternal, profit at the end of it all. + +Now, "Bishop Blougram", a character created by the poet Browning, though +supposedly inspired by the personality of Cardinal Wiseman, says in his +"_Apology_": + + There's one great form of Christian faith + I happened to be born in--which to teach + Was given me as I grew up, on all hands + As best and readiest means of living by. + +The same, I fear, might now be said of Muhammadanism. But to my mind +there is no fixity, no absolute truth in any form of religious dogma. +Religion is a thing that must grow with man's intelligence; it is not a +box of spiritual truths packed once and for ever, and unpacked for the +gaze of successive generations. It is not enough to believe in certain +facts that happened long ago, or to obey certain injunctions given long +ago in a particular country; we must apply the spirit of a religion to +the circumstances in which we live. We shall never attain to final +absolute truth, "the end is not yet, and the purposes of God to man are +but half revealed" (Jowett). + +Unfortunately when any religion has taken itself as final it has +developed a priesthood, and that priesthood has been apt to lay down a +code of fixed rules wherewith alone compliance is required. It is a +fatally easy thing to live in conformity with any definite code of +rules. Muhammad himself, I imagine, was a singularly liberal +theologian. He laid down certain regulations for the conduct of life, +excellent considering his place and time; the modern Muhammadan has +accepted these as a maximum spiritual demand, ignoring the fact that +they probably represented the minimum demands of common sense in +Muhammad's time and country. + +Muhammad directed that a Muhammadan should not drink alcohol. This is a +maxim of excellent sense in Arabia; Haji Burton, who much appreciated +good wine, has told us that in the Arabian deserts wine is positively +distasteful as well as unwholesome. I have not the least desire that +Muhammadans should drink wine. I merely say that there is no _merit_, +other than that of common sense, in obeying this excellent instruction +in countries wherein circumstances render it excellent. I do not believe +that Muhammad would find the least fault with disregard of his maxim in +countries where the climate makes the _moderate_ drinking of wine both +pleasant and beneficial. + +Muhammad instituted the Ramzan fast, mainly, I am told, to harden his +soldiers. But the Muhammadan of to-day finds a positive merit in +fasting. There is none; else the jockey's profession comprises the most +virtuous men in the world. + +Muhammad permitted polygamy, and enjoined the practical seclusion of +women. This, as Sir Syed Ahmad has pointed out, was the counsel of +common sense in Arabia at the time of the Prophet. Apparently there were +more women than men, and if a woman was not under the protection of some +man, and was not under guard, she was very likely to come to harm. But I +do not think that this counsel holds good for all time. Polygamy among +Indian Muhammadans is dying out, but the general Muhammadan here still +imprisons his womankind in the comfortable assurance that he is thereby +paving his own way to salvation. I do not see much hope for the physical +and mental development of Muhammadans so long as one half of the people +remains in seclusion and ignorance, in a habit of life necessarily +unhealthy. If you observe that you thereby escape the evils that are +published to the world in European divorce courts, I would answer that +in the first place I doubt the completeness of your escape, (it is a +matter on which I have heard much sardonic comment from Muslim friends), +and that in the second place, even granting what you say, 80% of women +free, educated, virtuous and healthy, is a far better result than 100% +merely virtuous, and that by constraint. + +Muhammad laid down that a man should pray five times a day. To my mind +this was merely the Prophet's way of saying that man's whole life should +be a prayer: the modern Muhammadan too often "repeats prayers" five +times a day and is satisfied. He might as well repeat the multiplication +table five times a day. "Words without thoughts to Heaven never go" said +the king in _Hamlet_. I do not know if our friend D.B. prays ten times a +day, or five times, or not at all, and (candidly) I do not care. All I +know is that in his responsible position he would die rather than take a +bribe, tell a lie, intrigue against his master. And I fancy that the +Prophet, could he return to earth, would find this abundantly +sufficient. + +You mention a few other points of orthodoxy; the cut of one's hair, the +length of one's trousers. Dr. Khaja Hussain told me that he once saw a +Muhammadan Street aroused to frenzy and riot by the appearance of a true +believer in Feringhi (or Kafir) boots. It is all of a piece. Muhammadans +have concentrated their attention on these ready-made rules for getting +to heaven; their prophet found no such easy road to bliss. I do not +imagine that it would ever have occurred to his great soul to claim any +particular merit in that he did not drink wine, in that he repeated +prayers (he at least understood these prayers) five times a day, in that +he did not let his wives roam the country a prey to any marauder of +those wild times. After all any one can obey these regulations with very +little trouble to himself; it is not quite so easy to adopt the spirit +that guided Muhammad's life. Sir Afsur, I do not doubt, will tell you +that it is an advisable thing for a soldier to drill smartly, to keep +his arms and accoutrements clean, and that with a little trouble it is +not difficult for a soldier to do all this. But he will tell you, I feel +sure, that this is far from being all; the supreme duty of a soldier is +to be brave in battle--an affair of much more difficulty. A soldier may +be smart and clean, but if he fails in battle his smartness and +cleanness are worth nothing--he is a bad soldier. + +Muhammadanism has lost touch with life; it contents itself with the +letter of the Prophet's teaching and shuts its eyes to, does not search +for, the indwelling spirit. It is a small kernel rattling in a very big +shell, as Charles Kingsley said in "Yeast" of the Church service at St. +Paul's in the fifties of the last century. _Religion has been divorced +from life, and so the followers of Islam as nations have decayed._ + +It is the same with the other religions that I have mentioned. The old +time Brahmin called himself such because he was educated, intelligent, +sanitary in his habits, upright; he did not claim to be all this simply +because he was the son of his father. The great obstacle to progress +down here is the fact that people imagine it is sufficient to follow in +a mechanical unintelligent way the letter, while totally disregarding +the spirit, of some old and after all not very important rules. Ireland +is said to have been an "Isle of Saints", I have my doubts on the +subject, but suppose it so. It is now full of fine churches and +religious establishments; no people in the world go to church with +greater regularity, abstain more thoroughly from meat on Fridays, etc. +etc. But with the mechanical observances they are, I fear, too well +satisfied. Drunkenness, idleness, utter disregard for truth, are rampant +in Southern Ireland, and therefore Southern Ireland is what it is. +Formal devotion is no substitute whether in the daily battle of the +world, or (I believe) in the ultimate judgment of God, for the proper +ordering of one's every day actions. + +If Muhammadans breathe the breath of life on the dry bones of their +religion I see no reason why the temporal power of Islamic countries and +the spiritual strength of the Muhammadan Church should not revive. +Something of the kind has happened in France. Zola cried out against +"the nightmare of Catholicism"; antagonism to the Catholic Church had +been growing up long before M. Combes started to "strafe" the religious +establishments of the country. The orthodox imagined that France was +losing all religion: Auguste Comte, an unbeliever, proclaimed that +France was daily becoming more religious. Rènè Bazin, a Catholic writer, +implicitly admits that Comte was right. The people were sick of the dry, +lifeless, formal rules that were offered to them; the priesthood have +had this truth hammered into them, and they are quickening their formulæ +with life to fit the life of the people, not striving to dessicate the +people's life to fit their formulæ. + +J.C.M. + + +As a _socio-political institution_ Islam is, in the middle of its +fourteenth century (1340 A.H.), in the same vicissitudes of development, +as Christianity was in the middle of _its_ fourteenth century (1350 +A.D.)--an institution weakened by contending sects and rendered stagnant +by rigid formalism. "It is a dispensation of providence", says Syed +Ameer Ali, "that whenever a religion becomes reduced to formalism +cross-currents set in to restore spiritual vitality." As in Christianity +in its fourteenth century, so in Islam of our own times, the vitalising +cross-currents have set in and we are now witnessing a Muslim +Renaissance all over the world. Its pioneers in India were Sir Syed +Ahmad, Mowlana Shibli, and the poet Hali. The Rt. Hon. Ameer Ali, Dr. +Iqbal and a host of others bear aloft the New Light. The Muslim +Reformation is coming on as surely as the Christian Reformation came in +the wake of Patristicism and Formalism. It need not necessarily mean +Political Revolutions as in Europe. + +A.H. + + + + + OUR PRAYER. + + 1. + + All praise is due to Thee, O God! + None other than Thee we adore. + Thou art the Master of the Worlds, + Thine aid alone do we implore. + + + 2. + + Thou art Compassion; lead Thou on + To Thy right path our human race. + Thy Mercy floweth evermore, + Do guide us to the path of Grace. + + + 3. + + Thou art the Lord of Judgment-day, + For sure shall all be judged by Thee, + O keep us off the path of Sin + And Error's way. So mote it be! + + _Abdur Rahim._ + + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + [1] Translated by Mushtari Begum of Bejnor and + published in the _Islamic Review_ April 1916. + + [2] This was written in 1917. + + [3] By the word "best" I mean "the most suitable + for both the spiritual and material needs of man." I do + not wish to cast any reflection on any other religion. See + Note 7. + + [4] I make a difference between Islam and Muhammadanism. + The latter is not pure Islam. It has forgotten the + _spirit_ of Islam and remembers only the _letter_ of its + law. "The dry bones of a religion are nothing; the spirit + that quickens the bones is all." See Note 5. + + [5] There is no place in Islam for either priests + or monks. Yet the Muhammadanism of to-day has both. There + are Tartuffes and Pecksniffs in this religion as well as + in any other religion. + + [6] This is the real reason of the political and + social weakness of most Islamic countries of our own + times. + + [7] The teaching of Muhammad has been admirably + summarised by a Christian writer as follows:-- + + "There is no deity but God. He created the Universe and + rules it with love and mercy. He alone is to be + worshipped; in Him confidence is to be placed in time of + adversity. There must be no murmurings at His decrees; + life--your own and others dearer than your own--must be + placed in His hands in trust and love." + + I do not believe that there is any monotheistic religion + in the world which will dissent from this teaching. The + writer (in the _Harmsworth Encyclopedia_) goes on to + say:-- + + "The fatalism which has come to be regarded as part of the + Moslem creed had no place in the system established by + Muhammad who again and again distinctly and emphatically + repudiated the idea. Muhammad taught _reform_, not + _revolution_." + + In these days of political unrest I cannot impress on you + too strongly the meaning of the last sentence in which I + have italicised two words. + + [8] See p. 33 para. 6. + + [9] The Author has not kept copies of these + letters.--_Ed._ + + [10] The Qur'an speaks very highly of Jesus:-- + + [Arabic: smuhu lmasīḥu ʾīsā bnu maryama waǧīhan fī d-dunyā + wa-l-ʾāḫirati wa-mina l-muqarrabīn] + + "His name is Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, illustrious + both in this and in the next world. He is one of those who + have near access to God."--iii. 40. + + [11] Published and sold by the Rationalistic Press, London + for 6d. + + [12] The translation of the Sura in this analysis is + slightly different from that given in the succeeding + page.--_Ed._ + + [13] "It is strange": says Havelock Ellis, "men seek to + be, or to seem, atheists, agnostics, cynics, pessimists; + at the core of all these things lurks religion.... The men + who have most finely felt the pulse of the world and have, + in their turn, most effectively stirred its pulse, are + religious men."--_New Spirit, 228._ + + [14] The word "religion" also means a system of beliefs + and rites pertaining to them. I do not use the word in + that sense here. + + [15] _i.e._, the world such as we perceive and conceive + it. + + [16] "I know that even the unaided reason, when correctly + exercised, leads to a belief in God, in the immortality of + the soul, and in a future retribution"--_Cardinal Newman._ + + [17] Prof. Scott Elliot at the end of his book, + _Prehistoric Man_ (p. 381) writes thus: "It seems true + that almost every race of man is not only capable of + believing in a Supreme God but, so far as the evidence + goes, did reverence one God who was often also thought of + as the Creator of the Sky or of the World.... There is a + very strong body of evidence showing that every race of + mankind possessed quite early in its development a feeling + of awe and reverence towards an Unknown God." + + [18] There are at present three missionary religions in + the world--religions which were intended and designed by + their respective founders to unite all men without any + distinction into a Universal Brotherhood. + + (1) Buddhism asserts that God is Law or Wisdom. + + (2) Islam teaches that God is Energy or Power. + + (3) Christianity says that God is Father or Love. + + But all these religions inculcate in fact one and the same + Truth in its three aspects, as Muslim Sufis would say. I + believe the gist of doctrines held by them is that God is + Omnipotent _Energy_ manifesting itself uniformly as _Law_ + and operating benevolently as _Love_. + + Wisdom = Power = Love. + + You should try to solve the equation for yourself. You + will not fail to understand it if you think hard. + + [19] Here again taking the three missionary religions + mentioned above, the Identity is:-- + + Creator = Preserver = Adjuster. + + God said unto Moses, _I am that I am_--_Exodus, iii, 14._ + + [20] Some Sufis define Nature as Individual _plus_ his + Environment. By _individual_ they mean any one capable of + thinking of himself as "I" or "Me" and every thing else as + "not I" or "not me" which is his _environment_. + + [21] It may be said that all the three ideas of God's + relation with Nature (the three "isms" I have mentioned in + brackets) are but different _degrees_ of a man's desire + for communion with his God. Says Rumi in his celebrated + _Masnavi_: "All religions are in substance one and the + same"--Bk. iii, story 12 (St. Daqúqi). + + [22] See last para. of Note 4 and also Note 10. [Arabic: + at ṭuruq li-llah-i bi ḥis-bil anfus] There are as many + ways leading to God as there are minds. + + [23] "Religion places the human soul in the presence of + its highest ideal (=God), it lifts it above the level of + ordinary goodness, and produces at least a yearning after + a higher and better life in the light of God."--_Max + Muller_. + + [24] Sura = Chapter. + + [25] Absolute = not conditioned by place time measure or + circumstances. Infinite = without beginning or end. + + [26] "The proper name of the religion preached by Muhammad + is Islam."--Sale + + [27] The word "Islam" means literally (1) resignation (2) + preservation and (3) peace. Lord Tennyson has most + admirably expressed the Islamic ideal of self-surrender to + the will of God and has incidentally decided the vexed + question of free-will in a single line:-- + + "_Our wills are ours to make them Thine._" + + [28] By Christians in European countries. + + [29] "The proper name of the religion preached by Muhammad + is Islam"--_Sale_. See p. 37. + + [30] I use the word in the restricted sense of "Islam as + taught by Muhammad." If you take Islam to mean belief in + one God and virtuous conduct in life, you may say that + there has not been and will never be any true religion + besides Islam. In this sense Islam is the only true + religion. See p. 27, last para. of Note 2 p. 19, and of + this Note pp. 33, 34. + + [31] "A man must not do reverence to his own sect or + disparage that of another man without reason. Deprecation + should be for specific reasons only, because the sects of + other people all deserve reverence for one reason or + other. By thus acting, a man exalts his own sect, and at + the same time does service to the sects of other people. + By acting contrariwise, a man hurts his own sect and does + disservice to the sects of other people."--King Asoka's + _Edict XII_. + + "Every sect favourably regards him who is faithful to its + precepts, and, in truth, he is to be commended."--Akbar, + (Ain Akbari III). + + [32] See p. 55. + + [33] Muslim = resigned and submissive, therefore, + _peaceful_. + + [34] See Foot note [30]. + + [35] Compare _the Bhagvat Gita_, iv. 7-8:-- + + "Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bharata, + and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then + _I myself come forth_; + + For the protection of the good, for the destruction of + evil-doers, for the sake of firmly establishing + righteousness, _I am born_ from age to age." + + The words _italicised_ suggest the Hindu doctrine of + Incarnation and Metempsychosis. Orthodox Muslims do not + believe in any such doctrine ([Arabic: hulool wa + it-ti-had]) but would substitute for the italics the + words: _I send a messenger or reformer._ See, _e.g._, + Quran, xvi. 36. + + [36] To students of Islam and its history I cannot + recommend better and more useful books than the Rt. Hon. + Dr. Syed Ameer Ali's _Spirit of Islam_ and _History of the + Saracens_. New and revised editions have been recently + published. They present the various aspects of Islam in + their proper perspective. They are classics for English + readers. + + [37] "Grant the existence of God and it is impossible to + deny that Muhammad was His Messenger. A man does not + change the belief of half the world by chance." So wrote a + Christian friend of mine. + + [38] Muslim = resigned or submissive, therefore, peaceful. + + [39] I mean "goodness and greatness" as a _human being_, for + Muhammad never said or did anything to show that he was not + a human being. The Qur'an commanded him, "Say I am a man + like yourself." [Arabic: qul ʾana bašarun miṯlukum] He + therefore insisted that men should attach greater importance + to the nature of the message than to the character of the + messenger himself. "I am," said he "no more than a man: when + I order you anything with respect to religion, receive it, + and when I order you about the affairs of the world then I + am nothing more than a man." + + [40] "Ahmad" is another name of Muhammad. I have nothing + to say to those mystics, who, by a reasoning peculiar to + their doctrines, identify the Messenger (Prophet) with the + Master (God). + + [41] Nor indeed is Jesus answerable for the Inquisition + and _autos-da-fe_. + + [42] "These are parables which we have set forth for + men--Q. xxix. 43. + + [43] [Arabic: yow-mud-dīn] = the day of the Faith = the + time of Dissolution predicted by Islam as well as by + Science. Sir Syed Ahmad fully explains the meaning of + [Arabic: qiya mat-e-kubrā] = Universal Destruction and of + [Arabic: qiya mat-e-sughrā] = individual destruction, + (_i.e._, death) from the viewpoint of modern Science. + + [44] As regards miracles, the beliefs that are held do not + matter so much as the spirit in which they are held. If + the spirit is right and leads to virtuous conduct in life, + any reasonable belief will quite do. Here comes in the + Pragmatism of Islam. It does not object to anything which + has a _practical value_ unless it is unreasonable, + immoral, or inconsistent with the Islamic ideas of the + unity of God and the brotherhood of man. + + [45] "We will soon show them our sign in all horizons (= + regions) and in their own souls, until it shall become + quite clear to them that it is the Truth--Qur'an xli 53. + + [Arabic: sa-nurīhim ʾāyātinā fī l-ʾāfāqi wa-fī ʾanfusihim + ḥattā yatabayyana lahum ʾannahu l-ḥaqqu] + + [46] God's is the East and the West, therefore whichever + side you turn, you will see the face (= presence) of + God--Qur'an i. 115. + + [Arabic: wa-li-llāhi l-mašriqu wa-l-maġribu fa-ʾaynamā + tuwallū fa-ṯamma waǧhu llāhi] + + [47] And He is within you (= in your mind), why don't you + see Him?--Qur'an li. 21. [Arabic: wa-fī ʾanfusikum ʾa-fa-lā + tubṣirūna] + + [48] Islam must not be confounded with what is called + "Muhammadanism" which is but an ossified form of Islam, + clothed in Mediæval beliefs and disfigured by pagan + practices. See Mr. J.C. Molony's admirable report of the + Census of the Madras Presidency for 1911, where, quoting + from the poet Hali's famous _Musaddas_, he describes how + far Muhammadanism in Southern India has been influenced by + Hinduism. Read also Hali's excellent pamphlet called + [Arabic: al-dīnu sarih] "the Simplest Religion" which describes how + Islam has been "ossified," _i.e._, rendered rigid and + unprogressive. + + [49] I know of no religion which does not say, "Do good + and avoid evil" and I consider it no religion which does + not say, "Live well and happily." + + [50] Ghalib: + + [Urdu: * Hum ko ma'loom hai jannat ki haqiqat laikin + * dil kay khoosh rakhnay ko ghalib ye khiyal + achcha.] + + [51] See p. 24 above. + + [52] It supplies the best motive for overcoming the + perversity of human nature to which St. Paul directs our + attention in these beautiful words: "The good that I + would, I do not: and the evil which I would not, I + do."--Rom. vii. 19. + + [53] Read Draper's "Conflict between Science and Religion" + which is a historical account of how some scientific ideas + had to contend with religious prejudices--a book which, by + the way, disproves the charge that Caliph Omar destroyed + the great Library at Alexandria. + + [54] God reveals Himself to everybody at every instant of + his life. It depends entirely on the spirituality or + spiritual capacity of each individual to what extent he + knows God and God's ways. The "spiritual capacity" is + partly inherited from one's ancestors and partly acquired + by faith and devotion, as well as by right conduct and + good works. + + [55] [Persian: Neest bar lohe delam joz alefe ghamat yar + * che konam harf degar yaad nadad ostadam] The _Alif_ of + the Loved One's form is engraven on my heart, No other + letter did my Shaikh ever to me impart--_Hafiz_. + + [56] See Note 2. + + [57] I have neither time nor space to explain the full + significance of the Qur'anic verses I have quoted here. + + [58] Some would call this Reality, God; but others would + say that God is greater and higher than the Reality which + manifests itself in different forms. He is above all that + any man can think of or imagine. [Arabic: Au bar taraz + khiyal wa qiyas guman wo waham.] + + [59] Vol. ii. 748. You have to read the book itself to + understand this. I cannot explain it in a short note. + + [60] I have neither time nor space to explain the full + significance of the Qur'anic phrases I have mentioned + here. + + [61] "In the world there is nothing so great as man. In + man there is nothing so great as mind"--_Sir William + Hamilton_. + + "In the mind of man there is nothing so great as the idea + of God"--_Islam_. + + [62] This is quite different from the Christian doctrine + of Atonement. + + [63] It was the spirit of co-operation which Islam + engendered among wild and unruly Arabs, that enabled them + to put aside their tribal feuds, to unite and conquer more + than half the known world in the first century of the + Hijri era (= the 7th century of the Christian era). It was + the lack of that spirit in the next two centuries that + dismembered the Muslim Empire. + + [64] I say "_the_ Islam of our ancestors", because the + Islam of _some_ of our contemporaries, called + Muhammadanism, is not quite the same. + + Read Prof. Gregory's _Discovery or the Spirit and Service + of Science_. + + [65] "Sufis" are those Muslims who claim with Mowlana Rumi + + [Persian: maazey quraan ra badashtaim istekhwan beish + sagaan andakhtum] + + "We have taken the marrow out of the Qur'an and thrown the + bones to dogs," meaning by "dogs" those who quarrel over + words ([Arabic: mutakallimin]) of the sacred texts. + + [66] "Man" says Carlyle, "is a symbol of Eternity + imprisoned into Time." + + [67] This proviso defines also the Liberty of Subjects in + a State. Every man should be free to do whatever he wishes + provided that he does not thereby prevent others from + enjoying the _like_ liberty of action. It is the basis of + all good Laws which should provide _equal opportunities_ + to all subjects without distinction. + + [68] Muhammadans generally misunderstand and misapply the + doctrine of "Qismat" or Fate. The Prophet distinctly + taught that we should first of all do whatever lies in our + power and then leave the rest to God. We are apt to forget + the first part of his precept and cling to its second part + only which accords with our tropical laziness. See + footnote (7) on page 12. + + [69] [Arabic: ḏālika d-dīnu l-qayyim] = It (Islam) is the + standard religion.--Q. xii. 41. + + [70] Islam rejects some "previous revelations" not because + they are untrue but because their records that have come + down to us are not quite genuine and trustworthy. + + [71] The heading of all chapters except one of the Qur'an. + + [72] "Mankind comes to Me along many roads; and on + whatever road a man approaches Me on that road do I + welcome him, for all roads are Mine."--_Bhagawat Gita_. + [al turuk ila-allah bihasbi anf] See p. 24. + + [73] See Note 2 (concluding part) which mentions three + common factors in all religious systems of the world. + + "The city of the Hindu God is Benares and the city of the + Muslim God is Mecca. But search your hearts and there you + will find the God both of Hindus and Muslims. If the + Creator dwells in tabernacles only, whose dwelling is the + Universe?"--_Kabir_. + + [74] Some Muslims believe that Zoraster, Krishna, Buddha, + and Confucius were also prophets or messengers of God but + that they were no more than good and great men. They do + not attribute any divinity to them. + + "Religion", said Hitchcock, "implies Revelation". By + "Revelation" is meant a set of sublime (and therefore, + divine) truths revealed, _i.e._ communicated from time to + time to chosen men (= Prophets) who had the necessary + spirituality to comprehend them and to convey them, as + God's messages, to their fellow-men in the _human_ + language of themselves. The defects (if any) found in the + authoritative records (= Scriptures [Arabic: ṣaḥif]) are the + defects in the human language and not certainly in the + sacred and sublime truths revealed to the chosen men, the + Messengers of God. It is the defect of _human_ + understanding, no less than the poverty of _human_ + language, that has often prevented the full comprehension + of the divine dispensation and the sublime truths in the + messages of Prophets. It is _our_ comprehension of the + truth itself that has given rise to diversity in religious + beliefs and practices. + + [75] Provided they are authentic and genuine and not + altered by interpolations and omissions. + + [76] Neither the Bible nor the Qur'an is responsible for + the cruel excesses committed by Christians or Muhammadans + in the name of Religion. + + [77] "The best of things is the medium thing"--_Muhammad_. + + [78] Charles R. Gibson. + + [79] _Vide_ Note 12 para. marked (a) p. 79. + + [80] For the purpose of this Note it will be enough if you + understand the first four propositions. I am afraid you + will find some difficulty in understanding the remaining + two propositions without illustrative examples, for which + I have no space here. + + [81] "For _such as be_ blessed of him shall inherit the + earth, and _they that be_ cursed of him shall be cut + off."--Psalm 37th, 22. + + [82] Qur'an, xxi. 105. Following the late Mr. Justice + Karamat Hussain of Allahabad, I take the word [Arabic: + saleh] to mean "fit" in the evolutionary sense. See his + book [Arabic: ilm-ul-akhlakh]. + + [83] He edits a journal called "Biometrika" which is + devoted to the statistical study of biological problems. + + [84] Prof. Muirhead of the University of Burmingham, in + his kind letter to the author on these "Notes." + + [85] Hence Formalism creeps into every Religion and + renders it lifeless when its doctrines fail to adjust + themselves to new facts or to changes in old facts. See + _Appendix_. + + [86] It should be construed and applied to new ideas and + changed circumstances of each age in quite the same manner + as Judges in a Court of Law construe and apply old + Statutes to facts of cases that come before them. See + Hali's [Arabic: al-din yassin] + + [87] See the verse of the Qur'an quoted on p. 33. + + [88] Or say: True Christianity is but true Islam writ + large. "On the whole this religion of Mahomet's is a kind + of Christianity."--_Thomas Carlyle._ + + [89] See hints:--Para 3 of Note 5 pp. 31, 32; Footnote + (48) p. 43; Footnotes (4) and (5) page 12; Footnote + (85) p. 81. + + [90] Written in 1917. + + [91] Cp. Note 7. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Notes on Islam, by Ahmed Hussain + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES ON ISLAM *** + +***** This file should be named 25254-0.txt or 25254-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/2/5/25254/ + +Produced by Turgut Dincer, Michael Ciesielski and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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