Islamic Framework of Thought

[AltWay]

Views of Islam (31. Framework of Thought)
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When conscious human beings came into existence, then this consciousness
must have made them deliberately observe, think and meditate about the
nature of existence and life, not only in order to understand it, but also
in order to adjust themselves to it and arrange their lives in a harmonious
way. This gave rise to Religion, a deliberately constructed conscious way of
life. This, in its turn encourages the further expansion of consciousness
which modifies the world view. The history of the development of man,
therefore, shows stages, each having its own spirit, consciousness or
attitude towards the existence. The The World we live in provides us with
experiences. But these must also be interpreted and understood by the mind.
This requires a conceptual framework in which the raw data of experience is
interpreted in a unified self-consistent and comprehensive manner so as to
avoid contradictions and conflicts. This framework is seldom consciously
understood by the people, but nevertheless it has its sub-conscious effects.

To understand Islamic World View and Way of Life some fundamental ideas must
be understood:-

1. The central idea in Islam is the existence of Allah as defined in the
Quran. He is the fundamental Reality from which all things derive :-
matter, life and consciousness, and all facts, meanings and values. Allah is
One and Absolute and all things have meaning only with respect to Him. This
is a fundamental assumption by means of which all other things are
explained. This assumption does not require proof since it underlies the
validity of proof. It is derived from the nature of consciousness itself
which may be defined as awareness of the unity underlying diversity.
Allah is not just the source of all things but also the Lord and the goal :-
"And that thy Lord, He is the goal." 53:42
"Allah's is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is
between them, and unto Allah is the journeying." 5:18
"The Day when We shall roll up the heavens as a recorder rolls up a written
scroll. As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it. It is a promise
binding on Us." 21:104
"Everything will pass away. There remains but the countenance of Thy Lord of
Might and Glory." 55: 26-27
All things come from Allah and return to Him. They start from Unity,
differentiate and then return to Unity. This is like the rising and sinking
of waves in the ocean.

The effect of the acceptance of Allah, not just as an idea but as a reality,
is, or ought to be, (a) the recognition of Unity (Tauhid) underlying all
things (b) Objectivity in thought, motivation and action. (c) Purposiveness
in the Universe.

2. Things are Absolutely True only when they have a function with respect to
Allah. But human beings owing to their limitations have only partial
knowledge and owing to attachments, fixations, habits and fantasies, false
ideas. These lead to maladjustment and suffering. Objectivity means that the
arising, behaviour and fate of all things depends on the whole context of
all other things directly or indirectly. The behaviour of a person should
not be mechanical, impulsive, subjective and self-centred but based on the
recognition that a greater reality than himself exists to which he must
conform. This produces inner and outer harmony, and also allows the
expansion of his mental horizons and presents the possibility of
self-expansion.

3. There is a purpose for the Universe. Since the whole of reality by
definition cannot have anything external to it, then there can be no
external cause for any change in it. All changes must then be attributed to
purpose or intention. It is the cause of the arising of the Universe and all
things in it. There is a Universal Plan, a direction of development, and all
things in it are means to the fulfilment of that purpose. That is all facts
arise from this, have meanings in terms of it, and all values, good and
evil, are also judged objectively in terms of this purpose. The end
justifies the present and the past, and this is the reverse of the
direction of time. Purpose can be seen in the fact that things form systems
where the parts have a function with respect to the whole. Organisms seek
food and eat in order to maintain themselves. But it is their activity which
depletes their resources and produces the need. The cause and purpose of
their behaviour are the same.
"Have they not pondered upon themselves? Allah created not the heavens and
the earth, and that which is between them save with Truth and for a destined
end." 30:8 and 38:28

But, if all things come from Unity and return to it, the question is: What
is the point of creation if everything merely returns to its original state?
The answer seems to be that it does not. Development may be infinite. Our
understanding of this purpose will also improve only as we develop further.
"Ye shall journey on from plane to plane." 84:19
"Allah is of Infinite Bounty." 2:105, 3:74,174, 8:19, 57:21,29, 62:9

4. There is no dichotomy in the Quran between mind and matter. Indeed, we
may say that Consciousness, life and matter are three aspects of phenomena
and may loosely correspond to mass, energy and order in science. Mind really
refers to behaviour, a characteristic of life. However, different things
have different amounts of these characteristics. There is a whole series of
phenomena or levels of being from maximum density to maximum consciousness.
"Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke and said unto it and unto
the earth: Come both of you, willingly or unwillingly. They said : We come
obedient." 41:11
"Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the hills, but
they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it. Lo!
he has proved a tyrant and a fool." 33:72

There is a psycho-physical parallelism. From one point of view we could say
that when a change of motion takes place it is because of a force, but from
another point of view we could say that when a force is applied the object
cognises and responds to it. Attraction and repulsion which drive all events
(e.g gravitational and electromagnetic) are universal phenomena and take the
form of pleasure and pain at the biological and psychological level. There
is no difference between inertia and the self-preservative instinct except
in greater complexity. Reproduction, growth, order creation and unification
are also universal phenomena which can also be seen in crystals and other
physical phenomena. There are different degrees of intelligence and this
refers to the powers of adjustment or adaptation.

The other side of the coin is that certain psychological notions can also be
given a universal or cosmic significance. Among these are the notions of
Justice, Compassion, Truth, and all the other Names of attributes of Allah.
Benevolence, for instance, refers to the fact that things obtain the
materials and energy needed for their existence and function. Mercy implies
that that there is a degree of tolerance before actions or circumstances
cause irreversible consequences. Justice refers to laws so that the effects
are proportional to the causes. And so on.

5. The "Trust" in 33:72 above may be regarded as referring to the
vicegerency of man, that he contains the divine spirit (32:9) and has the
power to consciously know and serve Allah. The fact that man is conscious
and also has creative abilities points to the fact that these are also
inherent in existence of which he is a part.
"He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to
the heaven and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all
things. And when thy Lord said unto the angels: lo! I am about to place a
vicegerent in the earth, they said: Wilt Thou place therein one who will do
harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify
Thee? He said: Surely I know that which you know not. And He taught Adam all
the names then showed them to the angels, saying: inform Me of the names of
these if ye are truthful." 2:29-32
"He it is who has placed you as vicegerents of the earth and has exalted
some of you in rank above others, that He may try you by that which He has
given you." 7:166
"And He it is who created the heavens and the earth in six Days - and His
Throne was upon the water - that He might try you which of you is best in
conduct." 11:7 Also see 18:7, 47:4, 67:2-4

Thus, the Cosmos was created in order that man should arise and develop i.e
he is an intermediate goal, the final goal being the Perfect or fully
conscious Man. Life in the world is full of tests and challenges and
opportunities for learning and development. There is a relationship between
the man and the cosmos. It is not just the case that man is formed of the
same laws, materials, forces which exist in the Universe and that he has
arisen in interaction with, and adjustment to, the cosmos, but also that he
has a special function to know and understand and modify the Cosmos. The
world is to a large extent a product of the human mind, not only because of
the technologies he has invented and the changes he makes in the physical
world, but also because of the organisations he creates and his ability to
conceptualize and imagine by which he creates systems of ideas. The world he
sees is really an affect on his consciousness modified by his psyche. It
follows that if the Universe is understandable by the human rational
faculties, then the Universe itself is rational and unfolds in accordance
with rational principles. That is, the human mind is part of a Universal
mind. But the mind can form attachments and habits and it can fantasize and
these can pervert and mislead him. If his mind does not conform to this
Universal Mind but comes into conflict with it, then it cannot perceive
reality or deal rationally with it. It then suffers and destroys itself. It
is, therefore, essential, if he is to be well-adjusted to the real world
(the world as created by Allah), that man should have a suitable psyche. To
create and maintain this requires a correct guidance and discipline. This is
what religions endeavour to provide. But the same distorting mechanisms can
distort his perception of religion also.

6. Creation consists of a multiplicity which still forms a single system.
All things are in relation, interaction and inter-dependence with other
things and cannot exist in isolation. This means that the cause of any
change is the result of three factors, the inner nature of each entity and
their relationship ( e.g distance from each other in space and time etc). E1
- r - E2. This relationship depends on the context of other things. From the
point of view of each entity, there is an external stimulus E1 and an
internal response E2. In other words no object is wholly inert. We cannot
say that the behaviour of something is caused by only an external cause. Its
own nature also has an effect. The same external force acting on two or more
different things will have different effects, and different forces acting on
the same thing will have different effects. Or the same force on the same
thing will have different effects if the conditions governing the
relationship changes.

7. The interaction of things produces a whole, a higher level entity. This
whole also affects, modifies and controls the parts to various degrees,
though the parts also have effects on the whole. The system belongs to a
higher supra-system, and the parts are sub-systems. The parts may be said to
have a function with respect to the whole, and their arising, modification,
atrophication or replacement, their fate depends on how they fulfil this
function. During the history of a system new parts may arise for a period
and then disappear being replaced by others. The history of the Biosphere
shows the arising and disappearance of many species. The Universe itself has
undergone many stages, and may itself be a stage in something greater. The
same applies to man and his societies and institutions. Development takes
place because one generation dies to make way for another. Thus change is
not a smooth series of changes and there is constant creation.
"If He will He can be rid of you and bring instead of you some new
creation." 35:16
"Systems have passed away before you. Do but travel in the land and see the
nature of the consequences for those who did deny." 3:137
"For everything there is a time prescribed." 13:38
"For every announcement there is a term, and you will come to know.2 6:67
"And every nation has its term, and when its term comes, they cannot put it
off an hour nor yet advance it." 7:34
"He produces creation, then reproduces it, that He may reward those who
believe and do good works with equity." 10:5 and 10:35
"On the day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth, and the
heavens will also be changed and they will come forth unto Allah.." 14:48

8. There are levels of existence. The cause of things is regarded not so
much as being prior in time to the effect, but being at a level above. The
ultimate cause is said to be the Word of Allah which is Truth. Truth may be
defined as order, negative entropy. Evolution means that order is
increasing. On earth it is the result of Solar and Cosmic forces coming from
above. The things on earth respond to these forces. They evolve by
absorption of truth according to their various capacities. Events happen
because of the transfer or exchange of Information or Truth.

"Allah it is who has created seven heavens, and of the earth similarly. The
commandment comes down among them slowly, that you may know that Allah is
Able to do all things, and that Allah surrounds all things in knowledge."
65:12
"He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in truth. in that Day when
He saith: Be! It is. His word is Truth." 6:73
"Have you not seen that Allah has created the heavens and the earth with
truth? If He will he can remove you and bring in some new creation." 14:19
See also 46:3

But Allah, the fundamental reality is not only the creator but also the
maintainer of the Universe.
"Maintaining His creation in Justice, there is no God but Him, the Almighty,
the Wise." 3:18

The implication is that the Universe is recreated every instant. If there is
a regularity or law which we see and upon which we depend such that A is the
cause of B, then there is really no reason that these should always be
associated together except that observation shows that they are. The cause
of this association is Allah. This is not far from the idea in Physics that
there is a Quantum field underlying all physical phenomena which is
fluctuating or pulsating, and where events appear to be unpredictable but
are restrained within certain probabilities.

9. Allah can do as He likes but He also works through laws. There is no
dichotomy between Law and Chance. Thus though there are regularities which
determine events there is also what Western science calls chance or random
events. The notion of "chance", however, is dismissed. Chance cannot be a
cause. It is merely a word which refers to human limitations to see or
calculate. Thus the notion of Will replaces both Chance and Mechanical
Determinism.

"Seek they other than the religion (or way of life) of Allah, when unto Him
submitteth whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or
unwillingly, and unto Him they will be returned." 3:83
"And unto Allah falls prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth,
willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening
hours." 13:15
"Allah does what He will." 3:40 See also 3:129
"Say: For myself I have no power to benefit nor power to hurt save that
which Allah wills." 7:188
"Lo! Power belongs wholly to Allah." 10:66
"Say; Unto whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth? Say:
Unto Allah. He has prescribed for Himself mercy, that He may bring you all
together to a Day whereof there is no doubt." 6:12, See also 6:54
"There is no altering the laws of Allah's creation." 30:30
"There is no changing the Words of Allah." 10:65
"It is the Law of Allah which has taken its course in the past. You will not
find any power to change the laws of Allah." 48:23
"All that is in the heavens and the earth entreat Him. Everyday He exercises
universal power." 55:29
"There is no strength save in Allah." 18:39

This conceptual framework is different from that of science. Owing to the
unjustified dichotomy between mind and matter, science attributes
consciousness, purpose and freedom only to the observer, O and inertia,
materiality and determinism to the thing observed, M, and appears to ignore
altogether the relationship between them and the conditions which affect the
relationship, C. But since knowledge, K, cannot exist without the object M
and the observer O, who must also exists, then science must reduce the
observer, O, also to M. But this leads to a contradiction. If the observer,
being an object cannot help behaving as he does then the ideas he obtains
are caused by forces and it is quite irrelevant whether they are true or
not. The fact, however, is that we do experience consciousness. If we were
not conscious, then nothing would exist for us, not even ourselves and there
would be no knowledge. One way out of this dilemma is that if we are
material objects, then we will have to modify our notion of matter to
include the property of consciousness. It ceases to be inert. At one time
mass and energy were thought of as distinct things, but now it is known that
they are aspects of the same thing and interconvertible. Negentropy or Order
is another notion which must be incorporated in the notion of matter. Energy
can be locked up as Order or released. It can be in kinetic form as motion
or in a potential form as tension. Consciousness appears to be connected
with the perception of order.

It is, however, necessary to understand that the Islamic conceptual system
differs from that of science because of a difference in purpose. Whereas
science is interested only in describing facts in order to provide a method
of controlling nature to serve certain pre-selected values, religion is
concerned with something much more fundamental, with the source of the
values themselves, with the process of living, with human relationship with
reality, in thought, motivation and behaviour. The function of religion in
human affairs is to provide a particular Spirit or consciousness for a
community which guides its world view and way of life. This makes it into
the dominant community in so far as its influence on the whole Age is
concerned. It is this dominance which is described as the vicegerency in the
Quran (See Quran 7:69,74,129, 10:73, 38:26).

The ancient Egyptian Civilisation, for instance, appears to have been
dominated by the idea of creating conditions on earth as they saw them in
heaven. They saw order and harmony in the heavens but chaos on earth and
they wanted to create an ordered civilisation amidst barbarians. The Pharaoh
was regarded as the representative on earth of God in heaven, himself a god
and son of God.

When this Civilisation collapsed owing to increasing disorder, the torch
passed to the Hebews. Moses (saw) had learnt all the Wisdom of the Egyptians
(Acts 7:22). He may also have learnt from Jethro, a priest of Midian, an
Ismaelite (See Exodus 3:1, 4:18, 18:5 and Quran 18:61-83). The revelations
to him established a Theocratic system in Palestine based on strict
monotheism. This was successful for some time and flowered into a high
civilisation. Though it was confined to a tribe, its influence spread much
wider into the rest of the world, specially after the dispersal of the
Israelites. Hebrewism degenerated, but the ancient Wisdom was preserved in
some esoteric circles such as the Essenes and later transmitted to
Christianity. There is some evidence that John the Baptist as well as Jesus
(saw) had connections with such groups. The teachings of Jesus (saw) spread
mainly in the West and became the official religion of the Roman Empire
under Constantine. An organised Church arose which became the sole
interpreter of doctrines. Salvation was confined to those accepted Jesus and
heretics were persecuted. But as the Church grew in political and commercial
power, adulteration from worldly interests caused the degeneration of
Christianity. Christian Theology reverted back to Egyptian times and
re-adopted some of their mythologies. The Dark Ages descended over Europe.
The regeneration of Religion took place through the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
A reformulation of religion, the rectification of misunderstandings, and a
considerable amount of demytholigising and reinterpretation took place to
suit the new age. The Quran tells us (e.g 2:25-26) that much of the imagery
is symbolic and restores the concept of God as a Unity which transcends
human beings. The world was already showing signs of becoming one owing to
contact between people through trade. The new Prophet had to be for the
whole world and Islam had to be more Universal in that it recognised the
validity of many Prophets and the religions they brought. They were all
Islam as originally taught.

Hebrewism places its emphasis on Law, justice, hope, rules of behaviour and
ritual. Christianity places emphasis on compassion, love, charity,
conscience, motives, social services. But according to Jesus (saw), he had
not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it. It was meant to be a new
level, an addition. Islam had to confirm the doctrine of Compassion and
restore the Law, and in addition to these, add an emphasis on truth,
knowledge, awareness, thinking, faith, objectivity. Quite obviously a
civilisation requires all three levels levels. Islam adds a fourth factor,
namely surrender - to give up one's ego and give one's whole loyalty to
Allah alone, to conform willingly to what is Universal and to liberate
oneself from attachments to idols - anything less than Allah.

Although, it is supposed that the Western Civilisation which now dominates
the world is a Christian one, the fact is that it came into existence only
after the influence of the early Church was reduced and after a collision
with Islam. Ideas, attitudes, modes of perception and other influences from
the Islamic world poured into Europe through Spain and other places and
brought about a Renaissance and a Reformation in Europe. Western
Civilisation is a product of these. But having transferred its impulse,
Islam itself the muslim nations degenerated. But the progress of Western
civilisation, like previous ones, appears to have been gained at the expense
of spiritual welfare (It seems the spirit is used up in creating worldly
manifestations, which may be the same process by which the material Universe
came into existence in the first place - by congealing or condensation). The
decay of the Western, and indeed World Civilisation is certainly becoming
evident to an increasing number of people. Muslims look forward to the
predicted return of a Prophet and the revival of Islam. It is, however,
necessary to remember that Islam means "Surrender to Allah" and refers to
true religion in general as taught by all Prophets, and does not necessarily
refer to a particular religion or sect specially when the original teaching
has been misunderstood and misapplied.

However, Islam, in its essence, is to be regarded as complete because there
is nothing greater than surrender to Allah, but not all its potentialities
have yet been realised. Three further stages are possible :- (1)
Universality, the general recognition that all religions are in essence one,
though forms may be different. (2) The recognition of the primary importance
of methods of spiritual and psychological welfare and development above
those of social and material welfare. These later are dependant on the
former, though the former is also affected by the latter. (3) The
establishment of a World-wide, what has been called, Kingdom of Heaven on
earth, something attempted by Hebrewism, Christianity and Islam and
predicted also in Daniel 2:44 and Quran 61:9.

"He has ordained for you that religion which He commended unto Noah, and
that which We inspired in thee, and that which We commended unto Abraham and
Moses and Jesus, saying :Establish the religion and be not divided therein."
42:13
"Lo! Allah changes not the condition of a folk until they first change that
which is their hearts; and if Allah wills misfortune for a folk there is
none that can repel it, nor have they a defender besides Him." 13:11
"He it is who has sent His messenger with the guidance and the religion of
truth, that he may make it conqueror of all religion, however much idolaters
may be averse." 9:33 and 61:9

H.S.Aziz

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