Readings in Cross Cultural Da'wah 981044169X

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Readings in Cross-cultural Dafwah Edited by Ridzuan Wu

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Centre for Research and Da’wah Methodology (CRTDM) The Muslim Converts’Association of Singapore

First printed in 2001

The Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore (Darul Arqam Singapore)

Published by The Muslim Converts7 Association of Singapore (Darul Arqam Singapore) 32 Onan Road The Galaxy Singapore 424484 Tel: 3488344 Fax: 4406724 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.darul-arqam.org.sg

Ordering information; This book can be ordered direct from Darul Arqam Singapore at the above address.

ISBN 981-04-4169-X

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the writer and The Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore. Printed and bound in Singapore by First Printers Pte. Ltd. Cover design : Ms Nurbakyah Md. Shaw

n the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

CONTENTS Contributors Introduction: Readings in Cross-cultural Da'wah by Ridzuan Wu..........................

mi

Part 1: Conceptual Considerations in Cross-cultural Dafwah Chapter I:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

The Concept of Dawah bi 'l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society by Hikmatullah Babu Sahib.............................

3

Issues in Cross-cultural Da’wah by Ridzuan Wu......................................

31

Da'wah and Inter-religious Tolerance by Muddathir Abdel Rahim...........................

73

Muslims Engaging the Other and a World Where All Religious Communities are Minorities by Farid Esack.............................

101

Part 2: Specializations in Cross-cultural Dafwah Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8:

Presenting God to Modern Man by Muhammad Nur Manuty.................

115

Presenting Islam to the Buddhists by Imtiyaz Yusuf.........................................

137

Presenting Islam to Christians by Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood........

165

Presenting Islam to Secular Humanists by Ataullah Bogdan Kopanski.........................

195

Readings in Cross-cultural Dj’ivah

CONTRIBUTORS Hikmatullah Babu Sahib is from Singapore and is currently pursuing post-PhD studies at Yale University, USA. He holds a BA (Islamic Studies and Law), a MA (Arts in Islamic Studies) from Peshawar University, and a PhD (Islamic Law) from Edinburgh University, UK. He has been the Principal of the Islamic Studies Programme in the Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore (Darul Arqam Singapore), and has previously served in the Shari’ah Council of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. Ridzuan Wu is from Singapore. He holds a BA and a BS Sc Hons (University of Singapore). He has served as the President of the Muslim Converts7 Association of Singapore (from 1980 to the present), the Chairman of the Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies, or CCIS (from 1997 to the present), the Deputy President of the Regional Islamic Da’wah Council for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, or RISEAP (from 1988 to the present), the Founding Trustee for the International Council for Islamic Information, or ICII (from 1993 to the present) and the Honorary Director of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, or WAMY for the Southeast Asian region (from 1988 to 1993). He has written several papers on Islam, some of which have been published in a book entitled "The Call to Islam: a Contemporary Perspective' Muddathir Abdel Rahim is from Sudan. He is presently a Professor if Political Science and Islamic Studies at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (lSTAC) in Malaysia. He holds a BA from the University of London, a MA (Politics) from Nottingham University, UK, and a PhD (Economics and Social Studies) from Manchester University, UK. He has been a member of the Jordanian Royal Academy of Islamic Civilization Studies since 1948. He was formerly the Vice Chancellor of Omdurman Islamic University. He has held the position of a UNESCO Senior Expert in Social Sciences, and has been the Ambassador of Sudan to the Nordic countries. Professor Muddathir has a special academic interest in Islamic political thought and institutions, international relations and human rights. He has authored several books and papers, mainly on politics and society in the African region in relation to Islam. Farid Esack is from South Africa and is presently the Commissioner for Gender Equality in South Africa. He holds a BA (Theology) from the International Islamic University of Pakistan, a MA (Qur’an Studies) from the University of Abu Bakr, Pakistan, and a PhD (Qur'anic Hermeneutics) from Birmingham

Contributors

University, UK. His books include Qur’an, Liberation and Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective on Interreligious Solidarity against Oppression, and On Being a Muslim: Finding a Religious Path in the World Today. Muhd. Nur Manuty is from Malaysia and presently an Islamic educational consultant with the Muslim Converts’Association of Singapore. He holds a BA (Usuluddin and Philosophy) from the National University of Malaysia, and a MA and a PhD (Islamic Thought and Comparative Religion) from Temple University, USA. He has served as the Secretary-General of the Association of Malaysian National Muslim Students (from 1971 to 1973), the President of Malaysian Youth Assembly or ABIM (from 1991 to 1997), a Board Member of the Institute of Islamic University or I KIM, a Member of the Islamic Consultative Council (from 1996 to 1998), and a Board Member for the Institute of Policy Research or IKD. He has also been an Associate Professor at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. Imtiyaz Yusuf is bom in Tanzania and presently lives in Thailand. He is currently a Professor of Religion in the Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion in Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand. He holds a BA (Politics) from Poona University, India, MA (Islamic Studies) from Aligarh University, India, and a PhD (Religion) from Temple University, USA. He had previously taught in Mahidol University in Bangkok, and in the College of Islamic Studies at the Prince of Songkla University in Thailand. He has written more than 27 papers on Islamic Studies, History of Religion, Islam and Society and on Da'wah methodology. Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood is from the United Kingdom. She holds a BA (Theology) from Hull University UK and has been a Lecturer in Theology and Comparative Religion at Hull University. She has written over thirty books on Islam and other related subjects. Among the books she has written are: /yWhat Every Christian should know about Islam", and "The Separated Ones - Jesus, the Pharisees and Islam”. Ataullah Bodgan Kopanski is originally from Poland and presently holds an American citizenship. He is currently a Professor of History and Civilization at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. He holds a BA and MA (History) and a PhD (Social Sciences) from the University of Silesia. He has written three books and more than 47 papers on the History of Muslims in Eurasia. ii

Readings in Cross-cultural D.i'wah

Introduction: Readings in Cross-cultural Dafwah Ridzuan Wu

The expression "cross-cultural" has gained popularity in recent decades and has already found its way into the more recent editions of popular English language dictionaries. The term has been associated with the proliferation of centres (both in the West and the East) for cross-cultural studies and research into a range of disciplines that are as varied as ethnography, business management and communications, conflict-resolution, to film-making. Under the circumstances, the term "cross-cultural da'wah"shou\c\ require no definition in order to be understood. Although the substance in a cross-cultural approach to da’wah may not be new to the Muslim world, the use of the term "cross-cultural” as an adjective in conjunction with da'wah is definitely new to the Muslim vocabulary. Yet, it would seem to be quite natural to apply the term "cross-cultural” to describe an aspect of da'wah activity. The target of the audience is likely to be the non-Muslims. Muslims have always claimed that Islam is not the religion of the Arabs, but that it is God’s message intended for all mankind. As such, Muslims believe that the relevance of the message of Islam transcends all geographical, political and sociocultural settings. To truly be of universal appeal, it must be able to strike a chord of sympathy in the very hearts of all human beings. This worldview should make it easy for Muslims to recognize the pivotal place of the "trans-cultural” or "cross-cultural" elements in the communicative science of da’wah. The reality on the ground seems to present a different picture altogether. The schools and faculties of da'wah studies in Muslim institutions of higher learning have in fact given little attention to cultural studies. On one hand, this phenomenon may be interpreted as a deliberate dismissal by these institutions of the likelihood that cultural studies can be of relevance. On the other hand, it could also be interpreted as a lack of consciousness and appreciation of the significance of the subject. iii

Introduction

The question that would naturally follow is: how important are sociocultural variables in influencing the appreciation of an individual or community in response to the contemporary ways in which Muslims are portraying the message of Islam? Those who dispute the need to consider socio-cultural factors may argue as follows: 1) Since Islam is a God-given Message, it appeals instinctively to the fitrah of every human being, regardless of his socio-cultural setting. The belief is that God the Creator has implanted, in the psyche of every human being, an instinctive capacity to recognize the fundamental beliefs and concepts in Islamic teachings (if they are correctly explained) as something that is subconsciously familiar and correct. If given the correct exposure, he will find himself naturally attracted and drawn (almost with magnetic affiliation) towards Islam. The power of this fitrah would prevail and overcome whatever different socio-cultural traditions that the individual may be raised to believe in. The universality of Islam is manifested in its ability to transcend all socio-cultural worldviews and value systems. Deep down the individual knows that he is home when he succumbs and surrenders himself to God, and accepts the Islamic tenets. If he listens to his core instincts, he will recognize that Islam is the truth. The message of Islam, if explained correctly, has the capacity to strike a responsive chord in all persons. There is therefore no need for da'wah studies to focus socio­ cultural matters. 2) Western ethnographers and social anthropologists have inadvertently exaggerated the differences in the socio-cultural norms and practices of one cultural community from another. This is not to say that the differences do not exist. However, all cultures share universal commonalities, especially with rituals and rites of passage, such as for birth, marriage and death. All human beings, regardless of their respective cultural background, share the same basic necessities for food, shelter, love and reproduction and these needs shape the way they think and behave. Added to these factors is the Muslim belief that all communities in the world had received Divine Guidance at some point of time or another. The Qur'an tells us that "To every people (was sent) a iv

Readings in Cross-cultural Dj'wah

Messenger^ . It also tells us that “.".and there never was a people without a warner having lived among them (in the past)"2 • The details of the message (Divine Guidance) that each community had received may have been corrupted and distorted over time, due to neglect, but the remnants of it (that message) must surely remain within the legacy of each and every community, making it easy for all communities to recognize the message of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as an affirmation of the same message that they had once received. The existence of cultural variations are therefore not so drastic as to stand in the way of any person’s appreciation of the message of Islam. 3) Western ethnographers and social anthropologists may have given the impression that all individuals within any particular community tend to conform to a monolithic culture. Yet, in reality, individuals are not creatures of conformity and there are variations in individual behaviour in any society. Culture is also not static. The cultural status quo is being challenged all the time. Cultural changes take place to any community, particularly in response to the processes of urbanization, technological changes, reinterpretation of borrowed ideas, innovations, and the synthesis of the old and the new ways. What can be considered a characteristic of a cultural group may no longer be so within a generation. Conversely, what is considered alien to a cultural group may become the fashion in another generation. The cultural "snapshots" that Western ethnographers have taken of each community have artificially frozen and under-estimated the capacity of the individual and the community to innovate and adapt to social and cultural changes. Individuals within society are not as rigid as they are portrayed to be. If Islamic beliefs, values and practices are found to be acceptable by an individual, there is not reason not to believe that he would adapt to these Muslim practices. In contrast to the above views, those who assign greater importance to the role of sociocultural factors in da'wah may argue as follows:

1 Al-Quran, 10:47 2 Al-Quran, 35:24. In addition, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has been reported to have said, in the hadith, that God has sent 124,000 prophets lo the world throughout the history of mankind.

Introduction

1) Muslims believe that the message of fslam is universal. In reality, the contemporary presentation of the message of Islam has, perhaps unconsciously, been overwhelmingly couched in an Arabic milieu. Muslims often confuse the teachings of Islam with the ways of the Arabs. Arab Muslims sometimes confuse Arab culture with Islam. In extremity there can even be traces of Arab chauvinism. The Quran tells us that the Prophet Muhammad was destined to a Prophet for all mankind3. Yet he was, at the same time, a Makkan Arab, and is naturally entitled to his personal as well as cultural preferences. When Muslims fail to distinguish between those practices of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which should labeled as sunnah for all Muslims to follow, from those practices of the Prophet which arose out of his conformity with the Arab social setting of his time. This Semitic backdrop, that is prevalent in the way Islam is being presented today, makes Islam seem alien to a non-Semitic4. Are some Muslims blinded by a biased and condescending attitude towards other civilizations, to the extent that it has kept them from making efforts to study other civilizations with an opened mind in order to appreciate the thinking on the other side? For instance, an indigenous Japanese would find it difficult to relate to Islamic culture because the Japanese have a different social history. To be truly universal, the practices of Islam must be expressed and manifested in the milieu of the non-Arab civilizations as well. Only then can Islam be understood and truly appropriated by people of other cultures as an embodiment of their own civilization. 2) Muslims are fond of blaming people of other religions and cultures for harbouring sinister anti-lslamic sentiments and a deep-seated bias that keeps them from wanting to appreciate the concepts and beliefs of Islam. This belief pre-supposes that the fault lies solely with the others. It assumes that Muslims have communicated the Islamic perspective adequately and effectively and that the others have deliberately chosen

3 This position is reflected in the Qur’an, 21:107, which says "We sent thee (Muhammad) not, but as a Mercy for all creatures" and Surah 34:28 says "We have not sent thee but as A universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glas tidings, and warning them (agaisnt sin)....... ’• 4 This is a position taken by writers like V S Naipaul, who in his book Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples, (London, Little, Brown and Company, 1998) has made claims that non-Arab Muslims are culturally dislocated and display "an inner landscape of rootlessness, anger and disappointment". On page 354 of his book, Naipaul argues that "It (Islam) makes imperial Arab demands on its converts" and that "the Arab faith, the Arab Language, Arab names....there probably has been no imperialism like that of Islam and the Arabs....Islam seeks as an article of the faith to erase th past; the believers in the end honour Arabic alone; they have nothing to return to. vi

Readings in Cross-cultural Da'wah

to ignore what Muslims have been saying. Yet, is there a need to revisit the question as to why the message of Islam has not well-understood by others? Do Muslims share some responsibility for having failed miserably in communicating Islam effectively to others? Do Muslims appreciate the development and contributions of the many relevant branches of Western behavioural sciences in helping us understand human behaviour in response to the complex process of cross-cultural communications? Have Muslims glossed over the culture-bound subtleties, intricacies, nuances and complexities that may influence one’s appreciation of ideas? After all, we cannot escape the fact that we are after all creatures of culture, and the very way we think, the way we express ourselves, and the way we perceive the world are shaped by our respective cultural backgrounds. Since we are living in a world of diverse cultures, it is necessary to vary the explanation of Islamic concepts and beliefs in a manner that they can penetrate the hearts (and minds) of each of the diverse communities. A third position to take is a synthesis of the two opposing views. It is an acceptance that there are common values that tend to be universally shared by all communities. There are also beliefs, values and practices that are particular to each community. The influence of religion and sociocultural factors may vary in intensity from individual to individual, from family to family, and from community to community. This may mean that certain Qur’anic and Islamic perspectives, as they are portrayed today by Muslims, may not come across as being entirely alien, while other perspectives may not be seem to be entirely familiar. A Conference, bearing the title "Sharing our Faith with Others", was held in Singapore from 19th to 21st September 2000, with the objective of discussing this subject further. The Conference was organized by the Centre for Research and Training in Da’wah Methodology (CRTDM), which comes under the auspices of the Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore. This book is the result of a selection (and revision) of some of the papers that were presented at that Conference. The book is organized into two parts. Part 1 comprises of chapters that discuss the theories and concepts associated with cross-cultural da’wah. Part 2 represents the cross-cultural experiences of presenting Islam to specific audiences. vii

Introduction

In the first Chapter, Hikmatullah Babu Sahib develops a theoretical framework to facilitate the appreciation and application of the Qur’anic concept of Da'wah bit- Hikmahf in contemporary times. He feels that the approach to da'wah should be tailored to suit the circumstances of each community, including the need to adapt to local customs and realities. He discusses the need to differentiate the approach to cla'wah in response to the kind of audience one is addressing, the need to prioritize the approach and contents of the message, and the need to consider the political and economic circumstances as well as the religious and cultural diversity of a society. In Chapter 2, Ridzuan Wu discusses four issues in cross-cultural da'wah issues relating to the approaches in comparative religious studies, and the place of linguistics, culture and fiqh in the context of cross-cultural da'wah. The Chapter begins by tracing the evolution of the approaches taken by Muslims in comparative religious studies. It moves on to discuss the problems involved in translating and explaining Quranic-lslamic nomenclature into other languages. A conceptual framework for the purpose of exploring and facilitating the assimilation of other cultural practices into the fold of Islamic urf \s proposed. Finally the Chapter explores the relationship between fiqh and culture and argues in favour of the need to re-examine the implementation of specific hukm shar'iah in Muslim-minority societies. Muddathir Abdel Rahim believes that da'wah has to be conducted in a peaceful manner. In Chapter 3, he discusses the subject of inter-religious tolerance in religiously-plural societies and reflects on the historical experience of communal and inter-faith relations. The experiences of Farid Esack in the South African struggle against racism have helped to convince him that the struggle for socio-economic and gender justice should constitute an integral part of da’wah. In Chapter 4, he argues that this struggle i s a common cause for all religious communities, and these circumstances would require Muslims to re-evaluate the stereotypical perception of non-Muslims as rivals. To Farid, it is the might of the secular and material market forces that all religious communities should be confronting and re­ directing their attention towards. Part 2 of this volume contains four chapters that discusses the range of approaches that Muslims may need to consider when addressing specific groups. viii

Readings in Cross-cultural Da'wah

It is natural that a subject of "God" should constitute the primary theme in any religious discourse. In Chapter 5, Muhammad Nur Manuty looks at verses of the Qur’an, as well as the writings of Muslim scholars, and arrives at a framework in presenting the different dimensions of the Islamic concept of Tauhidto modern man. In Chapter 6, Imtiyaz Yusuf shares his many years of experiences in teaching Islam within the primarily-Buddhist environment of Thailand. He sees Islam as a Meta-religion with the capacity to appreciate the contribution of other religions to world history and civilization. Arising from the view, he outlines three themes that could serve as the basis for Muslim-Buddhist discourse: viewing Muhammad and Buddha as religious leaders, the common quest to answer the questions of human life and suffering, and the challenge of representing the universal and civilizational face of Islam. In Chapter 7, Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood, a British convert (from Christianity) to Islam, shares her experiences on the issues that come into play when explaining Islam to a Western Christian society. She urges Muslims to play an active role in the voluntary social work within the respective communities that they live in (she is speaking in the context of a British society where the community is predominantly non-Muslim). The exemplary behaviour of Muslims would help to counter the negative notions of Islam and to help build positive impressions upon others. She examines the Muslim and Christian scriptures in order to reflect on the traditional areas of agreement and disagreement between the two religious groups. Ataullah Bogdan Kopanski grew up as a Marxist secular humanist in Poland before converting to Islam. In Chapter 8, he describes his personal experiences with the different categories of Western secular humanists, and explores the approaches that can be adopted for face-to-face communications with these secular humanists. The book has been given the title "Readings in Cross-cultural Da'wah". The choice of the title is made with the intention of popularizing the term ^crosscultural da'wah^, and with the hope that this book may provoke more research which will result in the publication of books on the same subject in the years to come. This move is not intended to give the impression that we have fully understood or accepted the position that sociocultural factors do indeed have a significant impact on one’s appreciation of the message of Islam. A conclusion ix

Introduction

to the debate has not been made, and if it indeed can be made, it will probably not happen for a very long period of time. It is clear from the contents of this book that we have barely scratched the surface of the subject, and cannot claim to have covered it exhaustively. More inter-disciplinary research on the dynamics of cross-cultural da'wah is encouraged merely as a recognition that Muslims will need to plunge into the subject and to devote more attention to the study of the impact of political, social and cultural settings of an individual and a community on their understanding of Islamic concepts and beliefs. It is hoped that these efforts will enrich our appreciation of the issue, and will bring us closer to a clearer understanding on the proper place of social and cultural factors in influencing one’s understanding of the message of Islam.

Part 1 CoocepfyaS Considerations in Cross-cuStoral Dafwah

The Concept of Da\vah bi 'l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

The Concept of Daywah bi 1-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society Hikmatullah Babu Sahib

Introduction Da'wah is an individual and collective shara'iob\\gat.\on]. A Muslim is expected to do his utmost in propagating his religion to his level best. There is no one recipe to do da’wah. Every Muslim should do his bit to his religion by whatever means. Those whom Allah has bestowed with knowledge must spend their knowledge in the spread of Islam. As for those who have been gifted with good health and wealth must do so in spending their entire life and wealth in the path of God. This is what Allah refers to when He says: [The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterwards doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere]2, and as [Certainly Allah has exchanged from the believers their selves and wealth for their place in heaven]3 Thus, a believer’s position in heaven is determined according to his degree of sacrifice to the Divine cause. All such sacrifices are considered as helping God. Referring to such helps, Allah says:

Al-Qur'an, 2:159-160; 3:104. 2 Ibid； 49:15. 3 Ibid” 9:111. 3

Readings in Cross-cultural D*V\vah

[If you help Allah, He will help you and make your foothold firm]4 These are encouragement for a believer to exert his effort in contributing his share in the service of his Creator. There are many more such messages in the writings of da'wah scholars. Most of what they have written on da'wah exhorts Muslims to convey the message of Islam to others. Little has been done to the methods of spreading the message to others, particularly, by the Muslims living as minority in a non-Muslim community. Many methodologies and strategies of da'wah have been discussed and debated in various international da'wall conferences and seminars. All such endeavors have resulted in recommending one standard approach or favoring one jama'ah over the other. The tendency to stereotype one particular da'wah approach as the only correct way to preach Islam has caused gravely to the spread of Islam, since there still exist disparity between the recipients of the message (mad'u) in respect of their positions visa-vis imanf islam and ihsan. Apart from these religious differences people are also divided in respect of various socio-cultural and politico-economical orientations and inclinations. Consideration of these factors will certainly help proper implementation of appropriate da'wah methodology in a particular locality. Ignorance of these factors has dragged many zealots into the ghettoes of fanaticism, reckless evangelism, and all other sorts of escapism. In approaching this topic I shall briefly deal with the concept and nature of da'wah and the application of selective da'wah methodologies in a particular society. In selecting the particular society I have also included the situation of da'wah efforts made in countries in the Southeast Asian region, since they together give contrasting examples within a Muslim sub-culture. Concept and nature of daywah The term da'wah has many applications. It is used in more than one meaning. In the Qur’an, the term is used to denote the act of calling for help or appealing for aid or an invitation to a wedding feast.5 And it is also said that the term

4 Ibid； 47:7. 5 For other usages of the term see "da'wah" in Hughes, Thomas Patrick, A Dictionary of Islam, (Lahore: The Book House publishers and booksellers, n.d.), pp. 72-8. 4

The Concept of Darwah bi ’l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

//da/wah,/ in the politico-religious sense means to adopt the cause of some individual or family claiming the right to leadership over Muslims. It entails the aim of founding or restoring an ideal theocratic state based on monotheism. The organization responsible for attracting the greatest possible number of people to this idea and for giving power to their representatives, as well as propaganda for this purpose, is thus called c/aVa/7...(therefore) the daywah can be interpreted as one of the means of founding a new empire.6 Thus, even any propaganda regardless of its motive is also called da'wah.7 However, this term has over the years has taken some what narrower domain to indicate "the calling or inviting to Islam" only. In the writings of contemporary scholars like Abd al-Karim Zaydan, the term "da’wah" means, "the 'calT to Allah, as Allah the Exalted says that, 'Say: This is my way, I call on Allah with sure knowledge, I and whosoever follow me’8. Thus, what is meant by 'call to Allah’ is the call to His religion, and that is Islam: Indeed religion with Allah is Islam’9".And Islam is, the object of da'wah and its reality, and that is in fact the first basic or root of da’wah〃w. A careful study of the Qur’an and Sunnah will reveal that there are many terms used as synonyms to da'wah. This include: jihad fi sabili 'l-lah (striving in the path of Allah)11, al-amr bi 'l-ma'ruf wa 'n-nahy 'ani 7rnt/a?/car (enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong)12, al-indhar wa ’t-tabshir

4 Ibid” 47:7. 5 For other usages of the term see "da'wah" in Hughes, Thomas Patrick, A Dictionary of Islam, (Lahore: The Book House publishers and booksellers, n.d.), pp. 72-8. 6 M. Canard, "Da'wah" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, (Leiden: E. J. Brill-London: Lucaz & Co., 1965), Vol. II, pp. 168170. For example the 'Abbasid da'wah was a propaganda for a member of the Prophet's family. For details see, AlTabari, Abi Ja'far Muhammad b Jarir, Tarikh al-Tabari: Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, (ed.) by Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim, (Egypt: Dar al-Ma'arif, 1960-69), Vol. VII, pp. 353-63. 7 The Noble Prophet is reported to have said, "whosoever invites towards guidance he shall have a share of the reward like the rewards of those who followed it without depreciating anything from their rewards, whereas whosoever invites towards misguidance on him falls the share of the sin like the sins of those who followed it without depreciating anything from their sins". Al-Suyuti, Jalal al-Din yAbd al-Rahman b Abi Bakr, Al-Jami' al-Saghir fi ahadith al-Bashir wa al-Nadhir, 4th edition, (Singapore: Matba'ah Sulaiman Mar’i, n.d.), Vol. 2, p. 170. 8 Al-Qur'an, 12:106. 9 Ibid., 3:19. Zaydan, 'Abd al-Karim, Usui al-Da'wah, (Alexandria: Dar ’Umar b al-Khattab, 1976), p. 5. Al-Qur^n, 22:78. 12 Ibid., 3:104. 5

Readings in Cross-cultural Da'wah

(giving warning and gladtiding)13, as-shahadah 'ala ’n-nas (witness before mankind)14, al-islah (reformation)15, an-nush (good counseling)16, at-tadhkir (reminding)17, at-tabligh (conveying)18, izharu 'd-din (presenting the religion)19, iqamatu 'd-din (establishing the religion)20, ila’kalimati ’l-lah (upholding the Word of Allah)21, at-tawasi bi ’l-haqq (exhorting one another in truth)22, and at-ta'awun 'ala ^-b/rr (cooperation in godliness)23 • Thus it becomes clear that the term da'wah encompasses meaning as simple as giving good advice to waging jihad24 • But in the popular sense the term refers to "an invitation extended to humanity by Prophet Muhammad to believe in Islam”. This invitation is not subject to any mundane restrictions. The prophet (pbuh) was commanded in no unambiguous term to convey the message of Islam. Allah says to him:

13 Ibid” 26:214. 14 Ibid., 2:143. 15 Ibid., 4:114. Ibid； 11:34. 17 Ibid., 41:55. 18 Ibid, 7:62. Ibid, 9:33. Ibid., 52:13. 21 Ibid., 9:40. Ibid, 103:3. 23 Ibid., 5:2. 24 One may be tempted to ask here how come jihad is considered as da'wah, whereas in spreading the message of Islam there should be no compulsion. Is not jihad an act of compulsion? No doubt there is no compulsion in religion. The reason as to why jihad is considered within the purview of da'wah is because there is still the exertion of one’s effort in spreading the message. That is the term jihad fi sabili ’l-lah should be rendered as exerting oneself in the way of Allah even through the manner of waging war. Thus striving hard in da'wah is to be creative, to show initiative, to be able to present Islam clearly and truthfully so that people will be able to distinguish good from bad and truth from falsehood. Spreading Islam by force runs contrary to the spirit of the Qur'an. In fact Allah had given protection to the unbelievers who asked for it, since both the believer and unbeliever are His servants. In this regard He says, "And if anyone of the unbelievers seek protection from you, protect him till he hears the Word of Allah, then convey him to his place of safety. This is because they are a people who know not". Ibid., 9:6. 6

The Concept of Da\vjh bi ’l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

[O, Messenger! Deliver that which has been sent down to you from your Lord. If you do not, you will not have delivered His message]25. [Your duty is to convey (the message) and it is Our part to call them to account]26. [And if your Lord wished, all those who are in the earth would have believed together. Would you (O, Muhammad) compel men until they are believers? It is -not for any soul to believe except by the permission of Allah. He has set uncleanness upon those who have no sense]27. Thus da'wah is a divine command on every Muslim male and female. The obligation-part of da'wah is clear to all and sundry. But many err in the application of the correct approach to reach out to others. Thus they classify da'wah into bi ’l-hal and bi 'l-maqal. I feel that these two are essential parts of the bigger picture called da'wah bi’l-hikmah. What is Daywah bi'l-Hikmahi The term hikmah has a number of meanings28. The English equivalent of the term includes wisdom, sagacity and judiciousness. It (i.e. wisdom) is defined variously as "the power of true and right discernment", "good practical

Ibid., 5:6. 26 Ibid” 13:40. Ibid., 10:100-1. 28 It is said the term has about twenty-nine statements of definition, including ’adI (justice, probity, honesty, uprightness, just compromise, equitableness, impartiality, straightforwardness), 7/m (knowledge, cognizance, acquaintance, information, cognition, intellection, perception), hilm (gentleness, clemency, mildness, forbearance, indulgence, patience, insight, discernment, understanding, intelligence, reason), nubuwwah, Qur'an and Injil. For details see, alFiroz Abadi, Muhammad b Ya'qub, Al-Qamus al-Muhit, (Beirut: Mu'assasah al-Risalah, 1406h.), p.1415; Ibn Manzur, Abi M-Fadl Jamal al-Din Muhammad b Mukarram, Lisan al-Arab, (Cairo: Dar al-Sadir, n.d.), Vol. 12, p. 143; al-Razi, Muhammad b. Abi Bakr, Mukhtar al-Sihah, (Beirut: Maktabah Liban, n.d.), p. 62; Ibn al-Athir, Abi 's-Sa'adat alMubarak b Muhammad, Al-Nihayah fi gharib al-Hadith wa ’l-Athar, edit, by Tahir Ahmad al-Zawi and others, (Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Mlmiyyah, n.d.), Vol. 1, pp. 119 & 419. 7

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judgement"29 and as "the ability to make a right decision or judgement by applying intelligent thought to a wide range of experience and knowledge, with prudence’’30 . However, the most befitting definition of "wisdom" for our purpose is "the soundness of judgement in the choice of means and ends"31 • Thus the term da'wah bi ’l-hikmah means, "the soundness of judgement in the choice of means and ends in inviting others to Islam". This term is closely related to the term basirah, which has the meanings of penetrative insight, discernment, keen understanding, mental vision, perspicacity, etc. This term is used as synonym to hikmah in the Qur’anic verse, "Say: This is my way: 1 invite you to Allah on evidence clear as the seeing with one’s eyes 1 and whoever follows me"32 • This is the main principle of da'wah. That is to invite others to see what one follows of his religion and to see how those associated with him conduct themselves in line with the dictates of the religion they follow. This principle is further classified into three categories: (a) Invitation with wisdom, (b) Beautiful preaching, and (c) Argument in a most gracious manner33. In

Funk Se Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, 1985 edition, (USA: Funk & Wagnalls, Inc.), Vol. 2, p. 787. 30 The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary of the English Language, Encyclopedic edition, (New York: Lexicon Publications, Inc., 1990), p. 1128. 3, Onions, C.T., ed., The shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 3rd revised edition, (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 2436. It some what agrees with the collective definitions of the term in Arabic, which means, wSaying and doing the right thing and to place every thing in its appropriate place". This agrees with the definition of a I-'adI (Justice), the definition of which is deduced through the term al-zulm (Injustice) as, "to place the thing not in its appropriate place". See, al-Jurjani, Al-Sayyid al-Sharif 'Ali b. Muhammad, At-Ta'rifat, (Cairo: Maktabah wa Matba'ah Mustafa ’l-Babi ’l-Halabi, 1938), pp. 125 and 128. 32

Al-Qur'an, 12:108.

33 This is clearly mentioned in the Qur’anic verse, "Invite (all) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious". Ibid., 16:125. Commenting on this verse, Imam al-Razi says, "Invite the strong and accomplished ones to the religion of Truth through wisdom, that is through clear and convincing proofs, whereas the common people should be invited through beautiful preaching and that is through convincing and persuasive proofs, while with those create troubles argue with them in beautiful and perfect manner. A salient aspect of the verse is that da'wah is confined to the first two aspects, because, if the invitation is through clear proof then it is wisdom, whereas if it is through persuasive proof, then it is beautiful preaching. As for the jadal (argument) it does not fall within the ambit of da'wah. In fact it is meant for some other indecent purpose, that is to compel or silence (the opponents if they intend otherwise)". See al-Razi, Fakhr al-Din, Tafsir al-Kabir al-Musamma al-Mafatih al-Ghayb, (Beirut, 1988), Vol. 20, pp.138-40. According to Maududi, “this verse implies that one should have a sweet tongue, noble character and reasonable and appealing arguments and refrain from indulging in polemics, sophistry and controversy. The one who discusses things with people in the best manner, does not resort to accusations, crooked arguments, taunts, nor make fun of the opponent in order to defeat him and to win applause for his own superiority in arguments. On the contrary, he will try to convince the others in a simple and humble way, and when he feels that the other person has come down to crooked arguments, he will leave him alone. See, Maududi, Abu A'la, The meaning of Qur'an, trans. by Dr. Zafar 106-7. Ishaq Ansari, (United Kingdom: The Islamic Foundation, 1997), Vol. VI, pp. 8

The Concept of Darwah bi ’l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

these categories there is an order of gradation, where wisdom occupies the highest level34. This wisdom in da’wah covers three aspects: • Knowledge of the dayi - The c/a7 must be knowledgeable in the shara'i rules in respect of what he preaches to others, so that he will not invite others to a thing which he thinks as wajibov ha ram whereas in the sharay it is not wajib or halal thereby compelling the person to that which is not necessary. • Knowledge of daywah know-how - The da'wah methodology is clearly specified in a number of Qur’anic verses. • Knowledge of the situation of those who are invited (madyu) - The c/a7 must have a proper knowledge of the mad'u's religious, social, personal, intellectual, political and economic situations so that he will be able to utilize the most appropriate da’wah approach that suits the need of the mad'u. Thus, a dayi must possess full knowledge of the above while taking into consideration also the following factors which influence the nature of da'wah

bi 'l-hikmah: .The concept of gradation in da'wah • Priority in approach and content • Political and economic realities • The presence of religio-cultural diversity All these factors are inter-linked and inseparable. The correct da'wah approach for a particular locality or country is determined by the inter-play of these factors. Thus, what is suitable for a Muslim majority country is different from that of a Muslim minority country. Again within Muslim minority context the approach differs in a country where Muslims are taken as partners in progress (dar al-mu'ahad) from that in a country where they are irresponsibly suspected of their loyalty (dar al-harb). In such a situation the collective wisdom of the Muslim leadership in that particular locality must decide the most appropriate

Ibid.. 9

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da'wah approach they should follow, without being constrained by considerations of external situations. Let us now look at the above factors in some greater details: The concept of gradation in da^ah Da"wah workers (or dayi) must bear in mind the natural limitations of the mad'u. As mentioned earlier in the paper that people differ in respect of their iman, islam and ihsan with regard to their observance of their religious duties and obligations, as much as they differ in respect of their age, gender, profession and other social statuses. Thus da'wah message must be presented in such ways meeting the needs of the different categories of people. A clear distinction has got be made between mubtadi' and muntahi, qawi and da% and between yumum and khusus. The Prophet is reported to have said: [We, the prophetic community, are commanded to address the people according to their level of understanding]35. Thus in preaching the religion, the prophet kept in view a gradation in what he presented to people just the same way he observed it in addressing the various strata of the society, which is based on prudence and foresight. He gauged the capacity of his audience prior to conveying the message. He knew that he is carrying a trust {amanah) which needs to be delivered to those to whom it was intended. In that he was very prudent in his expressions. He did not say everything to everyone. He was careful with his words and actions, since all that he expressed was nothing but revelation. Thus he was cautious in what he said to whom among his companions. What he said to those companions who went with him through the thick and thin was different from what he said to those who accepted his message on the day of the conquest of Makkah. If there is a contradiction in what he said to Mr. A and that which he told to Mr. B., that does not indicate on the falsity of the hadith.

35 Quoted by ’Abd 'Aziz, Jum’ah Amin, Al-Da'wah: Qawa'id wa Usui, 2nd edition, (Alexandria, 1989), p. 181. It is well said, "Not all that one knows is meant to be said, nor all that which was permitted to be said has come its time, and nor all that which their time has come, has come its people and men". Ibn 'Abbas reports of the Prophet as having said, "Do not narrate to my community any of my hadith except that which their intellect can bear because it can cause them to go astray". In another version of the hadith, "You should not narrate a hadith in a people, which cannot reach their intellect, if not it will cause some of them to go astray". Ibid..

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Many, in their attempt to reconcile such contradictions in his statements, have considered one hadith as weak (da'if) and the other, which agrees with their stand, as sahih. This denial of one hadith, at the worst, tantamount to accusing the Prophet of telling lies, which is blasphemous. In fact the Prophet by stating such /contradictory, statements has indeed executed his responsibility and has exercised prudence through economy of words as he was directed. For instance, let us consider the following ahadith narrated by Imam al-Bayhaqi on the prohibition and permission of consuming liquor36: Prohibition: [He has prohibited for you the lesser of that which intoxicates if consumed more of it] [Whatever if consumed intoxicates the greater of it, so is the lesser of it (both are equally) haram]. Permission: [Drink and do not get intoxicated] Imam al-Nisa’i considers this hadith as an objectionable and incorrect one. While Imam Ahmad b. Hanabal says that the rawi (narrator) Abu 1-Ahwas has erred in this hadith. Whatever the level of complaints one may have on the text or the narrator of the hadith, none has affirmed that the Prophet did not say such a hadith. One has to be very careful in what he affirms and denies in respect of the prophetic hadith37. For such a denial would mean willful suppression of evidence, however noble one’s intention may be, which the Prophet vehemently condemns in these words: [Whosoever intentionally tells a lie against me, let him find his abode in hell]38. 36 For discussion on this see, Al-Bayhaqi, Abi Bakr Ahmad b al-Husayn b 'Ali, Al-Sunan al-Kubra, (ed.) by Muhammad ;Abd al-Qadir 'Ata, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'llmiyyah, 1994), Vol. 8, pp. 514-9. 37 Imam al-Shafi’i says, "Certainly acting according to two (contradictory) hadiths or (scholarly) opinions is better than invalidating one of them, because that is an indication of the perfection of the state of iman,r. Al-Shayrani, Abi alMuwahhib 'Abd al-Wahhab b. Ahmad b. 'Ali, Al-Mizan al-Kubra, (Cairo: Maktabah wa Matba'ah Mustafa ’l-Babi ’IHalabi, n.d.), Vol. 1, p. 3. Al-Suyuti, op.cit” Vol. 2, p. 180. 11

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The above hadiths are perfectly in agreement with the Qur’anic rules regarding the gradual prohibition of liquor. Now the only way of reconciling these contradictory hadith is by applying them on the different categories of people. A person who is weak in terms of his /man, islam and ihsan and who still has the inkling for such habits could be tolerated, on the basis of the hadith permitting such consumption. However, he must be continuously advised on the existence of prohibition on such acts, while one who is with firm irnan, islam and ihsan should adhere to the hadith prohibiting it. This is better in comparison to one in which a firm imposition of the prohibition would lead a new brother or for that matter a sinning Muslim brother to renounce his faith in Islam just because he did not have the emotional strength to leave the habit immediately. This does not, however, give a blanket-permission for a person to continue living in sin. He has to make effort to amend his character as he progresses in Islam. Here one principal aspect of da'wah method is worth discussing. Since the prohibitions and permissions applied on different categories of people, so does the difference in time and place. That is, during the early period of Islam in Makkah, the Prophet did not impose much of the shara'i rules, rather he concentrated on instilling the belief-aspect of Islam. It was only after his migration to Madinah, the laws were gradually implemented. One may ask is the rule of this Makkan and Madian period of Islam still applicable, particularly with regard to the instruction of new brothers? My opinion is that it is still applicable, provided they live in such a hostile environment, where being or becoming Muslim is not tolerated. Even the Prophet adopted the same principle of tolerance even in Madinah. He imposed rules gradually according to the preparedness of the people. He did not impose his own will on them. If this gradation in the presentation of the message is not observed, there is not only a possibility of all their endeavors coming to naught, but also a likelihood of its proving damage to the interest of the message. The da7s success depends on his correct diagnosis of the status and nature of the mad'u. Thus his approach must differ according to the orientations of the people. He must know whether those invited are sinful Muslims, or Muslims socked in superstitions and innovations, or if they are People of the Books are they Christians or Jews, or if they are non-believers are they animists, atheists, naturists, idolaters or pagans. Once he understands the orientations of these various groups of people, he will be able to device the correct and wise method so as to decide which of the options he has to put forward or delay in presenting 12

The Concept of DiVwah bi 'l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

Islam. He will also be able to decide on the priority of one issue over the other and which of the decided issue is important and which need to be started with. The role of the da'i in this respect is like a physician who diagnoses the patient and determines the illness and thereafter prescribes treatments suiting the state of the patient and his disease, while bearing in mind the patient's strength and weakness, his ability to undergo the treatment. If need arises he has to undergo operation to remove any organ or parts from his body so as to extirpate the illness for the overall well-being of the patient. Likewise, the c/a7 diagnoses the society and determines the illness afflicting the society and prescribes the suitable and appropriate actions to arrest the social problems through injecting and introducing the clear and valid issues of Islamic beliefs by arousing the feelings of the mad'u in accepting the message. Here we have to know how to present key Islamic concepts to the votaries of various religious orientations. Effort should be made to understand how they have understood the basic elements and constituents of their own faith. This cannot be achieved except through sharing our faith with others, which is the theme of this conference. Instead of finding fault with their religious beliefs, it would be wiser for us to engage them in healthy discussions through mutual visits. The degree of animosity and ill feeling towards other religions is rather disturbing, particularly when we are living in a multi-racial and multi-religious society. There are always elements in the society who are overzealous in promoting their religious views who often in their zeal mindlessly underrate and condemn other religious beliefs. This is against the Qur’anic verse; [revile not you those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus have We made alluring to each people its own doings. In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did]39. Presenting Islam, or for that matter God, to an atheist is different from presenting it to a person who believes in one God. Presenting God to a monotheist is different from presenting Him to a person who believes in one supreme God with multitude of demi-gods. Thus in approaching a mulhid (i.e.: atheists, pagans, animists, and naturists) the following issues could be taken:

Al-Qur'an, 6:108. 13

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• Natural and intellectual Proofs as to the existence of Allah and His Lordship with visible and tangible examples • Shara'i Proofs As for approaching a wathani (idolater) the issues to address could be: • Intellectual Proof confirming the Lordship of Allah • Weakness of all objects of worship except Allah • Absolute Perfection belongs to Allah alone • Unity of Divinity was the message of all the prophets • Exaggerated piety towards savants the cause of man’s shirk • Affirmed and Denied Intercession • Allah has subjected all things in the Universe for His servants .Resurrection after death In approaching the People of the Book the following issues could be taken: • Intellectual and textual proofs confirming the abrogation of all previous shara'〆 by Islam • Clear Proof indicating the occurrence of interpolations and concoctions in the texts of Tawrat and Injil .Affirmation of the confession by the (testament) writers among their scholars • Confirmation of the message of prophets Musa, 'Isa and Muhammad In addition to this the Christians have to be addressed with the following: • The invalidity of the doctrine of trinity and establish the unity of Allah • Proofs establishing the humanness of Prophet Isa and that he worshipped Allah • Proofs on the invalidity of the crucification and killing In approaching Muslims, who are far removed from their religion, except that they are bom into a Muslim family, da'wah to them could touch on: • The importance of the belief in the life hereafter • The proof confirming the questioning in the grave and the events thereafter • Allah’s forgiveness and mercy

14

The Concept of Da\vah bi 'I.Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

Therefore, in introducing Islam to others, the understanding of the mad'i/s religious orientations and inclinations is essential. Even their other social status has to be considered. The c/a7 should not resort to ridiculing the beliefs of others or pass derogatory remarks. He is required just to convey the message of Islam to others in a more convincing and pleasing manner, without losing his own dignity nor insulting the beliefs of others. Priority in approach and content In order for an effective da'wah there is a need to prioritize its approach and content. Priority may differ according to the gradations in the level and the situations of the madyu. The following are some of the aspects, which have to be considered in the order of priority: (1) Al-Quduwah qabl al-Daywah (emulation before propagation) The best form of da'wah is through emulation. A da7 should be a model for others to follow. The Prophet, prior to his call, was living among the Makkans and won their admiration and affection. He was selected by the Makkans to resolve tribal feuds. Thus he established himself as a person of moral uprightness and a best human being. Before he preaches Islam, a c/a7 should aspire to win the respect and trust of fellow men, both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. He must be a good humanitarian. (2) Al-Ta’lif qabl al-Ta'rif (affection before instruction) The c/a7 must love and show concern for his audience. He could express his love for them through cash or kind. When the barrier of inhospitality is removed instructing a mad'u will become easier. (3) Al-Ta'rif qabl al-Taklif (instruction before imposition) It is said that knowledge precedes action. It is, therefore, necessary that the mad'u be given the required basic instruction for him to begin his life as a Muslim. There are some da'is who believe that since the message of Islam has reached all corners of the world with the blessings of modern technological facilities, there is no need to explain Islam to other. This is a clear indication of their ignorance of the nature of people and the reality with regard to their understanding of Islam. 15

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Every daywah must go through the following three stages of development: (One) Stage of instruction and preaching (Two) Stage of formation and selection (Three)Stage of implementation and action If a da'i is not aware of these stages, he will be committing many mistakes, because each of these stage has its own peculiarities in respect of style, approach, characteristics and requirements. The stage of instruction is the most important one, since it is the starting point of the long path one has to tread before reaching the destination. Thus any deviation or mistakes in respect of understanding will result in bad end. This necessitates the delay in imposing the rules on the mad'u before he understands the reason as to why he has to comply with such rules. (4) Al-Tadrij

(graduation in imposition)

It is important for a c/a7 to know that there should be no haste in imposing the rules of Islam on a madyu. Even the Qur’an was not revealed all at once. Explaining this Allah says: [Those who reject faith say: "Why is not the Qur’an revealed to him all at once?" Thus (is it revealed), that We may strengthen your heart thereby, and We have rehearsed it to you in slow, well-arranged stages, gradually. And no question do they bring to you but We reveal to you the truth and the best explanation (thereof)]40. Thus the reasons for such a graduation are (a) to strengthen the heart of the recipient, (b) to determine the quantity and quality of information through slow but well-arranged stages, and (c) to allow for questions and answers41.

40 Ibid” 25:32-3. 41 Yusuf Ali comments that "Divine knowledge is a fathomless ocean. But glimpses of it can be obtained by any individuals sincerely searching for the Truth. Their progress will be in grades. If they ask questions, and answers are then furnished to them, they are more likely to apprehend the Truth, as they have already explored the part of the territory in which they are interested. In the same way, when concrete questions arise by the logic of events, and they are answered not only for the occasion, but from a general standpoint, the teaching has far greater chance of penetrating the human intelligence and taking shape in practical conduct. And this is the usual way of instruction in the Qur’an". Ibid. n. 3089. 16

The Concept of Da'wah bi 'l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

(5) Al-Taysir la al-Tas'ir (facility and not difficulty) Islam does not impose any difficulty on any person. The preaching of Islam, therefore, should adhere to this principle of causing no difficulty to those who practice it. Allah says; [Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put you to difficulties]42, and [And He has imposed no difficulties on you in religion] 43 Even the prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said, [Facilitate do not make difficult and give glad-tiding and do not drive them away] 44 The c/a7 must facilitate a mad'u's learning and practice of Islam without imposing unnecessary conditions. Some of us make an issue out of the circumcision of a female convert. There are many who consider their non-circumcised converted prospective daughter-in-law as impure and even prevent her from getting married. This is wrong. Scholars differed in respect of its obligation, since there is no explicit text (nass) in the Qur’an permitting or prohibiting such an act45. The prophet is reported to have said, "circumcision is my way for men,

Ibid” 2:185. 43 Ibid., 22:78. Al-Suyuti, op.cit., Vol. 2, p. 205. 45 For details on the obligation, see Keller, Noah Ha Mim, The Reliance of the Traveller, (Evanston: Sunna Books, 1991), e4.3, p. 59. However, quite a few hadiths are cited on this subject. For example in the hadith chapter on ghusl for "the meeting of the two circumcised parts", circumcision is made obligatory for both male and female, since that which requires an obligation becomes itself an obligation. However, in another hadith, the Prophet is reported to have said to a lady by the name of Umm 'Atiyyah, who was operating on a girl, "Just touch the surface lightly and do not cut deep; her face will grow beautiful and her husband will rejoice". [Al-Suyuti, op.cit” Vol. 1, p. 13. However, some scholars consider this hadith as dayif (weak). See Al-Darwish, 'Abd Allah Muhammad, (ed.) Al-Jami'al-Saghirof al-Suyuti (Damascus, n.d.), Vol. 1, p. 47)1. This hadith has both permission and prohibition. It prohibits the 'deep cut' but permits the 'light touch' on the surface. The latter, certainly, cannot be considered as mutilation. For, the term 'mutilation’ has the meaning of 'depriving a person or animal of a limb or essential part with an intention to maim or to damage or to cause imperfection to it'. From the above hadith it can be seen that the Prophet's permission of the female circumcision is to enhance her beauty and not to maim or cause damage to any of her bodily parts thereby causing imperfection to it. Now, the only point of contention can be that circumcision causes imperfection to the organ. This may not necessarily be the case, since in the above hadith it is not mentioned as such, rather it is considered as part of feminine beauty. Thus only the deep-cut is prohibited and not circumcision proper. 17

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but is merely ennobling for women 'M6 .And addressing a newly converted woman to Islam on this issue, he said to her, "do not inflict trouble on yourself, because that is painful to a wife, but pleasing to a husband"47. Thus, if a grown-up woman hesitates to undergo such a procedure, for fear or for dislike, she should be given proper understanding as to the rationale and purpose of circumcision, instead of forcing it on her. (6) Al-Usul qab/a/-Furii/(fundamentals before subsidiaries) (7) Al-Kulliyyah qabl al-Juzfiyyah (universals before particulars) (8) Al-ljmal qablal-Tafsil (summation before elaboration) AH these emphasize one thing that is the basics over the details. The dari should concentrate on building and strengthening the fundamentals and most essentials of the instruction rather than delving deep into details. He must also know when to give out the details and when to confine to the fundamentals. In this respect 'Ali b. Abi Talib reports the Prophet as having said, "Certainly for the hearts there is progress and regress. Thus if they progress (in compliance) assign them with the supererogatory acts, but if they regress limit them to the obligatory acts’’48 • This requires the da7to administer the information in correct measure just as a physician administer medicine. (9) Al-Taghrib qabl al-Tarhib (encouragement before discouragement) (10) Al-Bushrah qabl al-Nadharah (glad-tiding before warning) A word or two of encouragement will readily draw the mad'u closer to obedience. Even an avowed sinner will change his behavior and outlook towards life, if he is given proper encouragement to stay away from sins. Allah says in the Qur’an,

For, there are four types of female circumcisions in vogue: (1) circumcision, (2) excision, (3)infibulation and (4) introcision. For details see, Verzin, J. A., "Sequelae of Female Circumcision," Tropical Doctor, 5(1975), p. 163. Certainly the latter three are clear cases of mutilation, since they are done to maim and damage the function of the organ. These, certainly, are prohibited aspects of female circumcision. However, in some Muslim societies in parts of Egypt and Sudan females are subject to such act of subjugation. It is against these treatments voices of rejection are raised by those defenders of women’s rights. Al-Bayhaqi, op.cit； Vol. 8, p. 563, hadith no. 17567. 47 Ibid., p. 562, hadith no. 17560. Jum'ah Amin, op.cit., p. 123. 18

The Concept of Darwah bi 'l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

[Say: "O, My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins for He is Oft forgiving, Most Merciful. Turn you to your Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will), before the penalty comes on you: after that you shall not be helped. And follow the best of (the courses) revealed to you from your Lord, before the penalty comes on you - of a sudden, while you perceive not! Or (lest) it should say when it (actually) sees the penalty: ylf only I had another chance, I should certainly be among those who do good"，】49. There is a need to give hope for the sinners to amend. The c/a7 should not pass any remarks indicating that the fate of the sinner is doomed and that there is no room for repentance. Many a time we hear in the Friday khutbah, where the imam recites ittaqullah, which is most often translated as "fear Allah". This rendition may be wrong. Because the word 'taqwa', the root of which is 'waqa' has the meaning of protection or shield. When a person, more so a convert, is told to fear Allah, the first thing comes to his mind is that Allah is some sort of a tyrant that man has to fear Him. And that He is not Loving. This is against His nature of being the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate. He is reported to have said, "My Mercy precedes My wrath’’50. (11) Al~Tafhim la al-Talqin (understanding and not dictation) The da"i must make effort to make his mad'u understand his instruction rather than merely giving out notes and explanations without realizing the effect of the lack of understanding on the behavior of the madyu. Thus the approach to make an unlettered man understand the instruction is different from that of an educated person. The example the c/a7uses to bring understanding to different levels of people must be different. In the case of explanations given by both the Prophets Dawud and Sulaiman regarding the damage to crops caused by sheep, only the suggestion of Prophet Sulaiman is most appropriate, since Allah

Al-Qur'an, 39:53-8. Al-Suyuti, op.cit” Vol. 2, p. 106. 19

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inspired him the right understanding of the matter, despite giving both of them the judgement and knowledge51. There is no mistake in the judgement of Prophet Dawud, except that the judgement of his son Sulaiman is more correct as it was a divine inspiration. (12) Al-Tarbiyah la al-Ta^iyah (cultivation and not deprivation) The aim of a Muslim is to reform his self and direct it towards the good. The da’i must understand his own weaknesses before finding fault with others. As such he should refrain from condemning others for their mistakes. The self has the natural propensity towards loving that which is better than it is and to hate that, which is worse than it. Therefore, the da'i must approach people through ihsan. Certainly showing love towards a sinner and concealing his weakness without spreading it to others is better than exposing him. However, this should not mean that the crime he committed should be condoned. Because, there is a big difference in condemning a person and condoning a crime. In the incident where a young man came to the Prophet seeking his permission to commit zina, the Prophet made him understand by asking him whether he would like that to happen to his own mother, daughter, sister and other close relatives. Through this the young man was made to understand the prohibition of zina. Thus it is necessary for a dayi to cultivate the character of the mad'u through sound reasoning without rushing to condemn him or his act. Political and economic realities Daywah efforts should take into consideration the politico-economic realities of the community. Where Muslims are politically and economically strong they should promote and implement the 'azimah aspects of Islam, but if they are under the mercy of a non-Muslim majority and they find difficulty in promoting their religion they should adhere to its rukhsah aspects52. It would not be wise to implement the da'wah methods suitable for a Muslim majority country in a Muslim minority country. A study of the situation of Muslims and the potential of c/a Va/7 among non-Muslims have to be gauged and scrutinized

51 Al-Qurfan, 21:78-9. 52 This does not mean that one should not endeavor to implement the 'azimah aspect when there is a real opportunity and the situation is conducive do so. Since the natures of politics and economics are subject to uncertainty wrought by human proclivity to dominate and dictate the lives of fellow humans, the da'is must always be on guard not to fall into the snare of compelling temptations by gambling away the religious interests for personal gains. 20

The Concept of Da'wah bi U-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

before selecting the right da'wah method. A society where poverty prevails, the da'wah efforts should focus on alleviating their poverty through various welfare programs, income-generating projects and flexi-loan schemes, since it (i.e.: poverty) contributes to the spread of disease, illiteracy and all other social ills. There is no point in preaching Islamic values to a hungry person. His poverty might force him to renounce his faith. This is what the prophet meant when he said: [Poverty may drive one to the threshold of infidelity]53. Others have made use of this method to win over even the Muslims to their religious beliefs in Indonesia and other parts of Africa54. But there were many, who withstood great trials and tribulations to uphold their faith even under abject poverty. They were the souls who tasted iman and sanctified it above their own life and they were prepared to pay any price to safeguard their faith. The prophet is reported to have said: [The most tested people in terms of tribulation are the prophets, thereafter those who treaded their examples in succession. Every person is tested according to his religious commitment. Thus if one’s religious commitment is strong his tribulation will be intensified whereas if his commitment to religion is mild, he shall be tested to the measure of his religious commitment. Therefore, tribulation will not leave the servant till it leaves him walking on the earth with no fault]55. Again merely giving economic assistance to woo non-Muslims to Islam, without this being followed by other da'wah efforts has resulted in failure. In the past some have practiced this option. Sadly this approach did not succeed as most

Al-Suyuti, op.cit., Vol. 2, p. 89. 54 Denffer, Ahmad Von, Indonesia: A survey of Christian churches and missions among Muslims, (UK.: The Islamic Foundation, 1985). 55 Al-Suyuti, op.cit., Vol. 1, p. 42. And in another version of the hadith, the Prophet is reported to have said, "The most tested people are the prophets, thereafter the pious savants. Some of them may be tested with poverty to such an extent that he does not find anything to wear except the aba’a (i.e.: cloak-like woolen wrap occasionally striped)...”.

Ibid. 21

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of these converts reverted back to their previous religions with the demise of their reckless patron. This is the same situation that existed immediately after the demise of the prophet when some of them reverted back to their religions and refused paying zakat. They felt that Islam ends with the demise of its prophet. Likewise if a society has a large population of pagans and aborigines, da'wah to them could be done on the fundamentals of Islam. Countries like Papua New Guinea, Congo and Zaire where large population of animists and pagans live, the approach to da'wah could be through emphasizing on the practical fundamentals of Islam. Perhaps da'wah groups like the Tablighi Movement or any of the Tariqahs would do better da'wah work than groups like the Jama'at Islami, Ikhwan and other politically orientated da'wah movements. If in a country where a Muslim is intentionally doubted on his loyalty to the state on the basis of he being a Muslim and he, by virtue of that suspicion, is denied a decent and respectable employment, let alone sensitive ones. Muslims, in such situations, are better allowed to have their names based on their respective culture and language (that is if such change guarantees such security), just as in Indonesia, China and Thailand56. Such an option raises the issue of Muslim identity and undermines the wahdatu 1-Ummatu ’l-lslamiyyah (unity of the Islamic community). Which in its turn brings into conflict secular-nationalism with religious-ummatism. In such situations the da'wah efforts should focus on imparting a comprehensive religious program and not merely insisting on having Arabic-sounding names as a mark of Islamic identity. Looking at the history and present needs of the ummah, a da'i has to address many issues, including spiritual, political, social, economic and intellectual needs of the society. Thus c/a Va/? should solve the genuine needs of people in all the domains of their lives by abolishing all avenues of exploitations such that people can conduct their affairs in accordance with the established norms of social justice and fraternal co-operation. The aim of da'wah should be the constructive development of human and material resources of the society for the over all prosperity through appropriate educational and training programs,

56 Sadly in Indonesia, this is not clearly the case despite Muslims being the majority and having retained their names based on their culture. In fact the non-Muslims have made use of this approach to their own advantage. However, in China and Thailand, this option has made positive impact on the Muslim community. For further reading on the Chinese experience see, Israeli, Raphael, Muslims in China: A Study in Cultural Confrontation, Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies Monograph Series No. 29, (USA: Curzon Press, 1980). 22

The Concept of Da'wah bi U-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

so that the society can take positive and concrete steps to reconstruct mankind on sound moral and spiritual foundation to face the ever-mounting challenges posed by unfettered hedonistic pursuit. The presence of religio-cultural diversity The distinction between Islamic culture and Muslim culture has to be clearly understood, since the issue of culture is a very sensitive one. Many still believe that Islam requires the rejection of all other cultures. Thus they consider that retaining their original identities or names is not allowed in Islam57. This is one problem faced by many of our new brothers and sisters. They feel that by changing their original names to more Arabic-sounding-names will make their own culture subservient to the culture of the predominant Muslims in their particular localities. The proponents of this view substantiate their stand by quoting the Qur’anic verse: [O, You who believe! Enter into Islam in its entirety]58, wherein they interpreted the word kaffah (in its entirety) to mean that one should follow Islam without having any 'hangovers'from their past affiliations. This necessitates a total rejection of their past culture, however good they think that it is, since they unduly feel that the non-believers are najis. As such any lingering links with their past culture is considered as contamination. In explaining the above verse, the exegetes opine that; this verse was revealed in respect of the believers among the People of the Book ’Abd Allah b. Salam and his companions that when they accepted Islam they began to respect the commandments of Musa, thus they respected the Sabbath and disliked the camel meat and

57 In fact many of the early non-Arab converts to Islam like Salman the Persian and Bilal the Abyssinian retained their non-Arabic names, with the approval of the Prophet. The Prophet himself changed the names of several of his followers, for he did not want opprobrious names used in the young Muslim community. Thus one Shihab (quick flame) was called Hashim; a man by the name of Harb (war), became Silm (peace); and the clan of the Banu Mughwiya (sons of error), became Banu ar-Rushada (sons of right guidance). A family whose name was changed by the Prophet became known as Banu Muhawwala (the sons of the one who was changed). See Schimmel, Annemarie, Islamic Names, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1989), p. 72. As the name shows one’s identity, the adoption of a new name is part and parcel of the process of conversion, although not by formal baptism as in Christianity. Ibid.. SB

Al-Qur'an, 2:208. 23

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milk by saying that abstaining these things are considered mubah whereas in Tawrat it is considered as wajib. They also said to the Prophet that the Tawrat is also a Book of Allah as such they should be allowed to perform their night prayer with it. Thereafter this verse was revealed commanding them to enter the silm, that is the shari’ah of Islam and not to cling on to the Tawrat, since its application has been discontinued59 . In this connection a preacher of the Truth should be careful only not to adopt any of those methods with any moral evils attached to them, and if one feels compelled to use any such method, he must make sure to dissociate it from that evil before adopting it. In the very beginning of the call to Islam, says Islahi; the slogan which the Prophet raised from the top of Safa mountain to rouse his nation from its deep slumber and to invite their attention to his message, in its original form in Arabia of the days of Jahiliyyah, was that the person raising the slogan used to strip himself naked and hence called 'the naked wamer’. The Prophet in spite of adopting the method of the naked warner abstained from nakedness since it would have been shameful and immoral. This amending procedure tells us that total abstention from such social and cultural methods with an evil aspect is not necessary. What is needed is to rectify or reform the evil or immoral aspect before adopting them for promoting the interests of the message of the Truth..... Nevertheless Islam teaches us that all those methods which can be used for promoting the interests of the truthful movement, must be used after cleansing them of the evil attached to them; it would not be proper to ignore or condemn them outright60.

59 Al-Khazin, 'Ala’ al-Din 'Ali b. Muhammad b. Ibrahim al-Baghdadi, Lubab al-Ta'wil fi ma'ani al-Tanzil, (Printed together with the exegeses of al-Baydawi, al-Nasafi and Ibn 'Abbas under the title: Majmu, al-Tafasir), (Cairo: alMatba^ah al-'Amirah, 1317h.), Vol. 1, pp. 306-7. 60 Islahi, Amin Ahsan, Call to Islam and how the Holy Prophet preached, 2nd edition, trans. Sharif Ahmad Khan, (Kuwait: Islamic Book Publishers, 1982), pp. 78-9. 24

The Concept of Da\vah bi ’l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

Likewise, the prophet retained many jahiliyyah customs. This was not because they were good but because there was no explicit revelation permitting or prohibiting such customs, since He has said, with reference to His revelations, that "We have not left out in the Book anything (worth mentioning)"61 • Perhaps such jahili customs were not worth mentioning. But from the saying of the Prophet, "the best of you in the jahiliyyah are the best of you in Islam, if they only knew"62, it can be deduced that the best customs of the jahiliyyah is also considered as best in Islam, since the best people are those who reflect the best customs, provided such customs agree with the Qur’anic notions of good and bad. Again the prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said: [The most disliked person in the eyes of Allah .... is one who desires in Islam the customary practices of the jahiliyyah ...]63. And in another hadith, the prophet is reported to have said: [Whosoever introduces a good custom, he shall get the reward of it and the reward of, one who act according to it, whereas whosoever introduces a bad custom, he shall earn the sin of it and the sin of one who acts according to it]64. Thus it can be seen that the prophet has exercised caution, as much as he encouraged, in endorsing customs which aim at reviving the practices of their past.

61 Allah says in this regard, "Do they then seek after a judgement (based on the customs prevalent in the Days of Ignorance} But who for a people whose faith is assured, can give better judgement than Allah?' a/Qur'an, 5:50. Commenting on this verse 'Abdullah Yusuf ’Ali says, "The Days of Ignorance were the days of tribalism, feuds and selfish accentuation of differences in man. Those days are really not yet over {since the Arabs still retained their previous customs and cultures}. It is the mission of Islam to take us away from that false mental attitude, towards the attitude of Unity. If our Faith is certain (and not merely a matter of words), Allah will guide us to that Unity.w See his The Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary, new revised edition, (Maryland: Amana Corporation, 1989), p. 264, n. 763. 62

Al-Suyuti, op.cit” Vol. 2, p. 8.

63 Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 5. Ibid., Vol. 2, p. 25

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Commenting on the customs and usages (ta'amul, Wand yadat) as a source of Islamic law, Abdur Rahim comments that Islam recognizes them as such. He says further; The validity of such laws rests on principles somewhat similar to those of ijma'. In the case of those customs and practices which prevailed in the times of the Prophet when revelation, the recognized primary source of laws, was still active, and which were not abrogated by any text of the Qur’an or Hadith, the silence of the Divine Legislator is regarded as amounting to recognition of their legal validity. And to customs, which have sprung up since the Prophet’s death, their validity is justified on the authority of the text, which lays down that whatever the people generally consider to be good for themselves is good in the eyes of God. Thus the conception of law as an emanation from God is said to hold good in the case of customary laws as well. Customs as a source of laws resembles analogical deduction in one important respect, it has no legal force if it be repugnant to the revealed law, But customary law is or to the law founded on ijmay. of inferior authority compared to ijma', in as much as it is based on the practice of the people generally, while ijma’ implies deliberation on the part of men well versed in the principles of law. It is however, of superior authority to a rule based merely on analogy65. This is what the yulama's in various Muslim communities have done. They retained the local customs of their respective Muslim community after cleansing it of the objectionable aspects of such customs from the Islamic perspective. Some just maintained only the form and not the substance while some maintained the substance and not the form, depending on the religious objection. Let us look at some examples from the practices of the Muslims.

65 Rahim, M. A. Abdur, The Principles ofMuhammadan Jurisprudence, (Lahore: All Pakistan Legal Decisions, 1968), p. 55. Also refer to pp. 136-7 for further details. 26

The Concept of Da\vah bi 'l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

Immediately after his enthronement, for example, a Sultan of Perak is supposed to pay a pilgrimage to the graves of former rulers. As for mystic names and formulae, in Hindu days the Malay had invoked nature-spirits and deities by every possible designation so that an incantation might not go astray. It was therefore, no break with tradition to invoke Allah by all His Excellent Names and to replace Om the Hindu word of power with the Arabic Kun "Let it be” and with the Basmalah......The Malay’s new teachers taught him how the appropriate Arab text written on an amulet at the right astrological moment in the scented rose-water musk and saffron with a recitation of the proper formula would save a woman from all attempts on her virtue even by the black art and would protect a man from bullet, spear, pestilence and shipwreck66. In the same way the Indian-Muslims have adapted the Indian custom of placing victuals before deities to placing them there while reciting mawlidofthe Prophet and awliya/Allah. This custom though inherited from their past culture of their Hindu brethren now by just replacing the idols with the reciters and the recitals complying with Islamic criteria their 'ulama' have "Islamized" that custom. Another custom prevalent in the Indian community is the tying of marriage knot using a yellow string (thali). This has no Islamic basis. However, Indian Muslims still consider it as an essential custom symbolizing the marital bond between the couples. "The practice so commonly observed among Indian Muslims", writes Nadwi, "of marrying only in the family or in their own particular group of families or in a family of an equal genealogical status with them is also typically Indian and influenced wholly by the caste and other

66 Winstedt, R. O., "Malay Beliefs and Religion", in Readings on Islam in Southeast Asia, (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1985), pp. 78-81. Describing the Malay beliefs, Von Der Mehden says, "Although the rural Malay consider himself a Muslim and part of the world brotherhood of Islam, he is also deeply influenced by a set of primarily non-lslamic beliefs, a folk Islam that often combines Islamic elements with animist and Hindu factors... .The rural Malay has also incorporated into his belief system a wide-ranging spirit life that necessitates propitiation through various ceremonies. For example, there are evil spirits of animate and inanimate objects as well as spirits that can inhabit a man’s body and influence his actions. Illness can be the result of spells, spirits, and magic, and treatment can be provided through reliance on special magical cures. In rice-growing areas, the rice soul (semangat padi) had necessitated particular ways of harvesting and storage. The syncretic nature of many of these acts brings together animist, Hindu, and Islamic elements and involve local Muslim religious leaders, verses from the Qur'an, thoughts of God to ward off spirit, and so on. "There has been some decline in these more traditional beliefs and practices as religious leaders have urged the populace to give less emphasis to spirit and magic." See Mehden, Fred R. Von Der, "Malaysia: Islam and Multiethnic polities", in Esposito, John L., (ed.), Islam in Asia: Religion, Politics & Society, (New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp. 182-3. The same spirit is observed in Singapore Malays. See Peacock, James L., Muslim Puritans: Reformist psychology in Southeast Asian Islam, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), pp. 143-74. 27

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permanent distinctions of birth obtaining in the country..... Similarly, the custom of making too much fuss over occasions of joy or grief, of spending beyond means and going in for unnecessary ostentation, is a specialty of the Indian society which has made its way among Muslims, otherwise the Islamic mode of carrying out such ceremonies is one of simplicity and quiet dignity"67. In some parts of the subcontinent Muslims also follow the Hindu caste system by segregating the Muslims on the basis of ashrafs and non-asra/s68. The Indian Muslims have unwittingly adopted even the dowry torture of the Hindu customs. Attempts to purify these customs have not met with significant success, as they accuse these puritans as wahabis. Describing the conversion of African Muslims, Trimingham observes the methods adopted by the Muslim muballighs as follows: The difference between Islam as a developed civilization with a body of religious doctrine and the African religio-social systems with which it is in contact is so profound that the psychological shock of conversion would seem as great as with Christianity. It is not so in practice. The reason is that African Islam in contact with animists is characterized by a series of gradations which act as insulators passing Islamic radiation on, diminuendo, to administer societies. Thus the form in which Islam first makes its impact upon the animist seems little removed from animism. This gives Islam the advantage of rarely finding itself in direct contact with animists in a form whose cultural level is too high to render mutual understanding possible. Consequently the psychological shock involved in change of religion is reduced to the minimum69. The influence of Hindu folklore on the Indonesian Islam is reflected through their usage of the epics of Mahabaradha and Ramayana to convey Islamic teachings. Commenting on the disparity in the everyday religious experience in both Morocco and Indonesia, Clifford Geertz puts forward two factors for

67 Nadwi, S. Abul Hasan Ali, Muslims in India, trans. by Mohammad Asif Kidwai, (Lucknow: Academy of Islamic Research and Publications, I960), p. 74. Israeli, Raphael, ed., The Crescent in the East: Islam in Asia Major, (USA: RiverdaleCo. Publishers, 1989), pp. 85-90. Trimingham, T. Spencer, Islam in West Africa, (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1959), p. 33. 28

The Concept of Da\vah bi 'l-Hikmah and Its Applications in Modern Society

the variety in the two countries: First, "as a Muslim country, Morocco is of course the older. The first contact with Islam...came in the seventh century, only fifty years after the death of (Prophet) Muhammad"70 whereas Islam reached the shores of Indonesia "with genuine definiteness only after the fourteenth century’’71 • The second factor is the differences between their social context. In Morocco the society has a fragmented social structure, thus Moroccan Islam lacks the hierarchy in religious order. In Indonesia there is order and coordination in the social structure, so their version of Islam has a hierarchic order, which determines who could or could not aspire to leadership and sainthood72. Reflecting on this opposing religious attitudes between the two horns of the Muslim world, Von Grunebaum concludes that, "this diversity is a result of an unwillingness to sacrifice some local cultural elements,’’73 since "the farther the Islamic tradition goes away from the mainlands of Islam, the more diluted form it gets in other areas. "74 In explaining such unwillingness, Allah says: [Those who {intentionally} split up their religion {on the basis of cultural diversity), and become (mere) groups each party rejoicing in that which is with itself! When trouble touches men, they cry to their Lord, turning back to Him in repentance: but when He gives them a taste of Mercy as from Himself. Behold, some of them pay partworship to other gods besides their Lord - (as if) to show their ingratitude for the (favours) We have bestowed on

70 Geertz, Clifford, Islam Observed: Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968), pp. 4-5. 71 Ibid., p. 11. 72 Yel, Ali Murat, "The Great and Little Traditions" in Hamdard Islamicus, (Karachi: Hamdard Foundation Pakistan, Autumn 1993), Vol. XVI, No. 3, p. 109. Ibid., p. 108. 74 Ibid., pp. 108-9.

29

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them! Then enjoy (your brief day); but soon will you know (your folly). Or have We sent down authority to them, which points out to them the things to which they pay part-worship?]75. Thus, adherence to past customs and cultures, which contradict the principles of Islam, is tantamount to part-worship. It is through here that the earlier Qur’anic verse on entering Islam in its entirety can be correctly understood. In fact every Muslim is converting to the ideal Islam, as he becomes more enlightened. Thus, da'wah should begin with oneself. We should identify those elements, which we inherit as cultures and customs, and weed out such aspects, which contradict the form and substance of Islamic culture76. No point in doggedly clinging onto the past cultures, for their own sake, when Islam supercedes all other cultures. Conclusion •

Since the approach to da'wah differs according to the situation of Muslims in a particular locality, it would be wise to allow the existing da'wah movements, be they docile or hyperactive to function according to their local objectives. There is no doubt in the sincerity of each of these movements towards the overall Islamic cause. It is at present difficult to establish a unified International Islamic movement with its head quarter in one Muslim country or the other, since such international movements have so far failed to accommodate these elements. Many a time they have created frictions and schisms in the community even to the extent of financing organizations against each other to the detriment of the community. The situation is worst in Muslim minority countries where such approach to bifurcate the Muslims have resulted in weakening the community and damaging the image and reputation of Islam among the nonMuslim majority.

Al-Qur'an, 30:32-5. 7b One is faced with difficulty in defining the term Islamic Culture in the presence of multitudes of Muslim Cultures, which are colored and shaped by their respective inherited customs and practices which were not objected to in Islam. Defining Islamic Culture as the Prophetic Culture may narrowly situate it in the context of Arab Culture, since he, himself, was an Arab. This is unavoidable, for had he been sent in to another community, the same will be said of his culture. However, if Islamic Culture is defined as Qur’anic Culture than it transcends all ethno-cultural barriers. This is what meant by Lady ’A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her), when she was asked about Prophet’s character. Thus, there should be no hesitation in following the Prophetic culture, even though it may resemble some aspects of the culture of the Arabs. For, even in his culture he was divinely guided. The researcher feels that this aspect has to be dealt separately in greater details to clarify misunderstanding in this respect. 30

Issues in Cross-cultural Da'wah

2 Issues in Cross-cultural Dafwah Ridzuan Wu

I have coined the phrase "cross-cultural da'v/ah" in order to encourage its pursuit as a specialized discipline under the auspices of da'wah. It can be said to be a self-explanatory term, because of the term "cross-cultural” has gained popularity, in the last few decades, due to the remarkable strides that Western scholarship has made in such designated disciplines as cross-cultural studies in social sciences, cross-cultural communications, cross-cultural marketing, and cross-cultural conflict resolution. Despite the fact that there are more than a billion Muslims in the world, Muslims still constitute a numerical and religious minority in most nation-states in the world. As a minority, the exposure of Muslims to people of other religious and cultural traditions is unavoidable, unless they are able to live in isolation. In such an environment, Muslims may choose to stay as distant and as indifferent to people of other religious and cultural traditions as possible. Or they may recognize that it is part and parcel of their Islamic faith to interact and engage in cross-cultural communications, and to make efforts to explain its religious traditions to others in a manner that they can best be understood. In addition, Muslims have often complained that the people from other religious and cultural traditions are not familiar with the details of the teachings of Islam. This perception must surely be accompanied by a willingness, on the part of Muslims, to explain the beliefs and practices of Islam to other. And it would be extremely naTve to imagine that this can be done without a sense of consciousness and sensitivity to the nuances and intricacies of cross-cultural communication. In the past, Muslim intellectual interest in the cross-cultural study of religion has been largely confined in the areas of comparative religion. 31

Readings in Cross-cultural Da\v.ih

In comparison, Christian pursuits in cross-cultural missionary have been more inter-disciplinary in character. Their perception has been extensively influenced by developments in Western social sciences, such as in social anthropology and ethnography. Christians have coined name for a discipline, called "missiology", which seeks to "promote the scholarly study of theological, historical, social and practical questions relating to the missionary dimension of the Christian church”. The growth in the field of missiology has been influenced by Christian zeal in "planting churches among the unreached people of the world”. In the Western world today, there are Bible colleges and seminaries offering courses leading to a doctorate degree in missiology or applied missiology. Some of them also publish academic journals on the subject. The Institutions of Islamic learning have accorded low interest and priority to academic research in the field of cross-cultural da'wah. However, the extensive immigration of Muslims to the Western world may eventually change this scenario. As Muslims take root in the West, it is inevitable that more Muslims will become conscious of the need to communicate their religious beliefs and ethical values to Western audiences. In addition, as more Muslims pursue academic studies in Western institutions of learning, they will become increasingly exposed to the development of Western scholarship in the fields of anthropology, ethnography, psychology, sociology of religion, cross-cultural communication studies. This will, in turn, have an impact in influencing Muslim thinking in the field of cross-cultural da'wah. In this paper, I intend to explore four issues that arise from cross-cultural da'wah: 1. How has past studies in comparative religion or comparative theology influenced cross-cultural da'wah^. 2. How adequate are contemporary translations of Islamic theological terms and concepts in the language of other religious traditions? 3. How should Muslims respond when faced with a civilization that has a rich cultural tradition? 4

What are the priorities of fiqh in the context of cross-cultural da’wah? In recognizing of the socio-political conditions of countries where Muslims area numerical minority, is there validity in applying different set of priorities

of fiqh7.

32

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In this paper, I have attempted to apply my observations on the subject to the Chinese and South Indian communities, who are predominantly non-Muslims, in the geographical territories of Singapore and Malaysia. Owing to space constraints, I will not provide background details of these communities, and assume that readers are already somewhat familiar with the socio-cultural dynamics of the communities in the region. 1. Muslim approach on comparative religion and their implications for crosscultural dafwah In the past, Muslim literature on comparative religion has largely been concentrated in the area of comparative theology. There is almost an absence of comparative studies in methods of propagation. While there is a relative abundance of books, written by Muslims, on the subject of Islam-Christian comparative theology, it is difficult to find a Muslim book discussing Muslim approaches to da'wah in comparison with Christian missiology, or the Christian concepts of hermeneutics and contextualization. Interest in comparative theology, particularly between Islam and Christianity, is not a recent phenomenon. In the 10th/11th Century C.E., Ibn Hazm wrote made his well-known critical evaluation of the traditions of ahl-kitab - the Jews, the Christians, the Sabaeans (al-Sabi'un) and the Zoroastrians and Manichaeans (al-Majus).]3 In the 13th Century, C.E., Ibn Taymiyya wrote his famous book exposing the changes that Christians have made to the religion of Jesus (pbuh).2 The inter-faith debates between Sheykh Rahmatullah Kairanvi and Reverent C.C.P. Fonder in the Indian city of Agra in 1842 have been documented in Izhar-ul-Haq.3 In the 11,h Century, C.E., Abu Rayhan al-Biruni spent 20 years in India where he studied Sanskrit under Hindu religious teachers. He translated a number of

13 see Ibn Hazm’s Kitab al FasI a I Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal. Ghulam Haider Aasi has translated the book into English, under the title of Muslim Understanding of Other Religions, A Study of Ibn Hazm’s Kitab al Fast al Milal wa al—Ahwa" wa al-Nihal, (Islamabad, International Institute of Islamic Thought and Islamic Research Institute, 1999). 2 see Ibn Taymiya's Al Jawab Al-Sahih li-Man Badal Din Al-Masih (The correct answer to those who changed the religion of Christ). It has been translated into English by Thomas S Michel, S. J. under the title of A Muslim Theologian’s Response to Christianity, (USA, Caravan Books, 1984). 3 Maulana M. Rahmatullah Kairanvi, Izhar-ul-Haq, (Truth Revealed), (jeddah, World of Knowledge for Publishing and Distribution, 1992). 33

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Sanskrit text into Arabic, and wrote Kitab al-Hind, in which he described the religion and culture of the people of India. In 1642, the Chinese Muslim scholar, Wang Daiyu, published his book entitled Zhengjiao zhenquan (Genuine annotation of the Orthodox Teachings) in which he compared the teachings of Islam with that of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. In his book, Wang made attempts to express Islamic concepts (such as Allah, and Life and Death) in Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian terminology. However, he also gave his opinion, from an Islamic point of view, on the acceptability of Confucian concepts and ethics (such as filial piety) and Confucian rituals (such as funeral rites). Much of my comments on comparative theology will be influenced by the overwhelming preponderance of Muslim literature on Islam-Christian theology. One method of visualizing the styles of Muslim literature on comparative theology would be to draw a continuum. On one end of the continuum what could be described as the adversarial-polemical approach towards comparative theology. On the other end, we have the phenomenological approach to comparative theology. Most Muslim literature on comparative theology can be placed somewhere along this continuum. Not every book is stereotypically of one approach or the other. Most of the time, a book may appear to be more adversarial-polemical in style. However, in another place within the same book, it can be described as being closer to the phenomenological end of the spectrum. To explain that classification, we need to describe the two stereotypical ends of the continuum. 1.1 The adversarial-polemical approach This approach scrutinizes scriptural texts of other religious faith, on the basis of logic and reason, with the intention of showing that other religions are flawed, and to show that Islam is superior to all. Some of the more popular themes that have generally been featured in Muslim literature, in reflecting this approach, are:

a)

34

The presence of inconsistencies, contradictions and errors in the Bible, which is seen as evidence of the notion that the contents of Bible have been corrupted during the process of its compilation. Ahmad Deedat of South Africa has gained a reputation for his extensive work in this area.

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b)

Criticisms on the doctrines of the Pauline church, e.g., the concept of Trinity, original sin, and salvation. Although much of Al-Faruqi’s book on Christian Ethics can be said to fall closer to the phenomenological approach, his critique on Christian doctrines tends to veer in the direction of the adversarial-polemical approach.4

c)

That the Qur’an is more consistent, than the Bible, with the discoveries of modern physical sciences. Maurice Bucaille’s book on The Bible, The Qur'an and Science would be an example.5

d)

That Jesus (pbuh) was human and a Prophet and that he was not God, that the message he brought was never intended to be universal, and that he did not die from crucifixion. Examples would be Muhammad "Ata urRahim’s Jesus Prophet of Islam, and Alhaj A. D. Ajijola’s The Myth of the Cross.6

e)

That the Bible had foretold the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), which implies that Christians should accept the Muhammad (pbuh) as a Prophet.

f)

That the Christian church had historically been under the misguided zeal of the Apostle Paul, that it owed its renaissance to the borrowing of ideas from the Muslim civilization during the time when Europe was in the dark ages, and that present-day Christianity is in the midst of decline.

Beyond Christianity, there is a dearth of Muslim literature on other religions. Imran Nazar Hosein’s Islam and Buddhism in the Modern World represents a rare attempt to compare Islam with Buddhism.7 Though the writer tried to be polite, his style is still unmistakably one of asserting the superiority of every

4 Isma'il al-Faruqi, Christian Ethics: A Historical and Systematic Analysis of its Dominant Ideas, (Toronto: McGill University Press, 1979). 5 Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, The Qur'an and Science, (USA, North American Trust Publications, 1978). 6 Muhammad 'Ata ur-Rahim, Jesus Prophet of Islam (Johore Bahru, Omar Brothers Publications, 1972). AlHaj A. D. Ajijola, The Myth of the Cross, (Lahore, Islamic Publications Limited, 1975). 7 Imran Nazar Hosein, Islam and Buddhism in the Modern World, (Karachi, World Federation of Islamic Missions, 1972). 35

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aspect of Islam over Buddhism. Murtahin Billah Fazlie’s book on Hinduism and Islam: a Comparative Study is clearly written in the adversarial-polemical style. 1.2 The phenomenological approach The phenomenological approach attempts to see the scriptural text of each religious tradition as the sacred scriptures of its followers, and respect is shown and personal judgment suspended. However, the notion that value-judgment can realistically be suspended, when commenting on religious phenomena, has been criticized. Although it is useful to recognize the inevitability of an element of subjectivity on the part of the researcher, no matter how hard he consciously tries to avoid it, nonetheless the greatest contribution of the phenomenological approach has been to persuade us to see the religion of others through their own eyes. Kate Zebiri has argued in favour of this approach when she writes: "Although many Muslims argue that religious tolerance is an Islamic Obligation, this obligation is not usually understood as extending to the non-judgmental study of others' religious traditions, and in practice, few are willing to explore or show an understanding of what makes Christianity attractive to Christians’’9 In illustrating the need to show respect when studying the faith of another, the Christian writer, Kenneth Cragg, has said that one should feel as if he is "walking on holy ground”，and should he therefore, metaphorically-speaking, "take off one’s shoes. o How effective has the adversarial-polemical approach been from the perspective of cross-cultural da'wah"? A popular theory among Western communication psychologists is that whenever a person’s beliefs are attacked head-on, he is likely to defend those beliefs, and in the process, to reinforce them. When that

8 Murtahin Billah Fazlie, Hindusim and Islam: a Comparative Study, (New Delhi, Islamic Book Service, 1998). 9 Kate Zebiri, Muslims and Christians: Face to Face, (Oxford, Oneworld Publications, 1997), p. 175. Kenneth Cragg, Sandals at the Mosque, (London, SCM Press, 1959). 36

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happens, the person is likely to suffer a kind of "emotional deafness" to what is really being said to him, because we have allowed the message to be swamped by the private thoughts which it triggered.11 If this theory is correct, then the adversarial-polemical approach could be effective in circumstances where the non-Muslim listener (or reader) is already disillusioned with his own religion, and is only too ready to accept the criticisms. It would be like preaching to the converted. On the other hand, the phenomenological approach falls short of meeting the full expectations of comparative theology. By taking a so-called non-judgmental line, its writings tend to a descriptive account of a religion (typical of ethnographic case studies), juxtaposed with a descriptive account of another religion. There is no comparative comment, for fear of making judgments. As an example, Iqbal A. Ansari's Concept of Man in Comparative Perspective is a collection of separate essays by different writers on the religions of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Each essay is independent of the other, with little cross-analysis. 12 There is perhaps yet another approach in comparative theology that is worthy of consideration. I call this third approach:

1.3 An approach that begins with the search for commonality An advocate of this approach is Khurram Murad. In his book Da'wah among non-Muslims in the West: some Conceptual and Methodological Aspects, he argues:

Indeed, if I "We do not invite people to a 'new' religion am not misunderstood, we may be bold enough to say that we do not invite anyone to a rival religion. For, by our own admission, Islam is not a new or rival religion among the many competing for human allegiance; it is the natural and primordial religion.

n A useful book on this subject is Hugh Mackay’s Why don’t people listen: Solving the Communication Problem, (Australia, Pan Macmillan Publishers, 1994). 12 Iqbal A. Ansari (ed), Concept of Man in Comparative Perspective (Kuala Lumpur, Synergy Book International, 1997). 37

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All nature lives in submission to its Creator; all Messengers Adam to Muhammad - brought the same religion. This does not mean any change in the basic position of Islam. It does not mean that all religions, as they are, are eqfua//)/true. One will still be invited to follow the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, because he is the last Messenger, and to accept the Qur’an as the last revelation from God. But, I think, proceeding from the position I have outlined above, implies a radical change in approach, tone, style of Da’wah, and the order in which the teachings of Islam are presented". 13 He explains further: "We, therefore, do not start by repudiating what is wrong with others, but by inviting them to reflect on what is common between them and us.......following this order of priority will mean a radical change in approach, attitude, and polemic. The approach outlined by Khurram Murad is not beyond the framework of Islamic orthodoxy. The idea that some degree of commonality exists between Islam and many other religions can be traced to the Qur’an. According to the Qur’an, there has historically not been a community in the world that has not received a messenger from Allah and revelation in their own language: "To every people (was sent) A Messenger: When their Messenger Comes (before them), the matter Will be judged between them With justice, and they Will not be wronged." (Qur’an S10:47). /yVerily We have sent thee With truth, as a bearer Of glad tidings,

n Khurram Murad, Da'wah among non-Muslims in the West: Some Conceptual and Methodological Aspects, (Leceister, The Islamic Foundation, 1986), p. 18. 38

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And as a warner: And there never was A people, without a warner Having lived among them (In the past).’’ (Qur，an S35:24). Arising from these two verses, it would be reasonable to assume that some remnants of the Revealed Truth would exist in all communities, and these remnants would form the common ground to begin an inter-religious dialogue. Muslims will have to search for this commonality in the scriptures of other faiths. It would be fertile ground for further research in cross-cultural da’wah. This approach would indeed require a different mind-set beyond that which Muslims have become well-acquainted with. In the same book, Khurram Murad talks about the role of language and themes in da'wah: "Language and themes are extremely important for Da’wah. The message remains the same, but it should be conveyed through a medium that is understood by its addressees. All the Messengers of God employed a language and took up the themes that were suited to their people. For example, the language of Islamic state' may not be a suitable language for a Western society; instead, a Just World Order based on surrender to the One God and obedience to His Messengers, is likely to evoke a more favourable response. Drinking may not strike a sympathetic chord, drugs may.’’1 4 There are two different issues in Khurram Murad’s observation: 1

The adequacy of cross-cultural translations of Islamic theological key terms and concepts.

2

The suitability of the themes in terms of striking a sympathetic chord with a cross-cultural audience.

Ibid., p. 23. 39

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These are two issues to be discussed, in this paper, under the headings entitled "Is it a question of semantics?” and "Bridging the Cultural Gap.” 2. Is it a question of semantics? Western linguists and social psychologists have made us more conscious of the misunderstandings that can arise in communications, in particular between the "intended meaning’’ of a person who conveys a message and the "interpreted meaning” of the second person who receives that message. There are circumstances when different people may obtain different impressions from the same message. One statement may be "full of meaning” to one person and yet be considered "empty" to another. Meaning is in the minds of the people who use the language (and not in the language itself) in order to try to share their ideas with one another. Anthropologist Margaret Mead has given us an illustration on the difference in usage of the word "compromise" between the English and the Americans. She explains that in Britain, the word "compromise" would have a positive meaning in implying the process of working out a "good solution." In contrast, in America, the word "compromise" would have a bad connotation as it implies the process of working out a "bad solution’’.15 Some of the circumstances where misinterpretation of meaning can arise in communication are: 1. Semantic changes as a result of evolution in the vocabulary of a community, over time, within the same geographical area. 2. Semantic differences between people of similar cultural background who live in different geographical territories. 3. Semantic differences that have arisen as a result of differences in culture and worldviews.

15 Margaret Mead, The Application of Anthropological Techniques to Cross-cultural Communication, (Trans. N.Y. Acad. Sc., series II, vol 9, no. 4, February 1947. 40

Issues in Cross-cultural D2 Christian commentaries usually interpret the temptations of Jesus in a completely different way - he was tempted to turn stones to bread, to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple, and to bow down and worship the devil in order to be given all the kingdoms of the world. A careful reading of the words reveals that what Jesus was really being tempted to do was to say and believe that he was the Son of God, which he absolutely refused to do.

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Now let us very briefly consider some of the conclusions of Gospel criticism. Indeed, it seems that the earliest strata of the Synoptic Gospels13, especially the source known as /Q，certainly did not present Jesus (pbuh) as Son of God in any special sense, but as a man regarded by his followers as a prophet, hero and martyr. See, for example, Lk 4:19, 24; 7:16; 8:33 where Jesus is called a prophet; Lk 3:13, 26; 4:27, 30 - where Jesus is called a servant of God; Acts 2:22 - where Peter calls Jesus a /man approved of God’； and I Timothy 2:5 where Paul says There is One God, and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Jesus Christ. The most quoted Christian ’trump-card’ texts come from St John’s Gospel, such statements as: 7 am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father, but by me/ (Jn 14:6); 7 am the Light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life/ (jn 8:1 2);' \ am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live/ (Jn 11:25), etc. Christians would certainly take these sayings to mean that Muslims and Christians cannot both be right, and since from the Christian point of view Christianity is right, a person must be a Christian, believing in Jesus as the Son of God, in order to find salvation. The Muslim answer to that is two fold; firstly, one must go into the scholarly examination of the background to the gospels to try to deduce whether these phrases are genuinely from Jesus (pbuh) or from later editors with axes to grind. Most Christian scholars conclude that this Gospel is a late work, of multiple authorship, and in its final stage a profound meditation probably expressing the interpretation of Jesus current in Ephesus - and we should not attribute these sayings to Jesus himself. I have presented many thoughts concerning these subjects in my book The Mysteries of Jesus (pbuh)’，Sakina Press. Yet for centuries, instead of querying the background, authorship and circumstances of these verses, Christian preachers have been utilising them to justify a feeling of superiority, especially when confronted by those who claim to believe in their same God but have different views of the person of Jesus.

13 The three gospels names after Matthew, Mark and Luke are called 'Synoptic，because their outline of the the life of Jesus follows more or less the same synopsis or outline.

events of

m The name 'Q，comes simply from the German word ’quelle’, meaning 'a source，. By definition, it conskK nf verses common to Matthew and Luke which are not in Mark.

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An alternative Muslim reply could be that in fact one could accept that at the time when Jesus lived Jesus was indeed the Messenger of that period, and ’the way’ to God, but in the six centuries since that time his message had been corrupted. As for the notion that Jesus (pbuh) was 'one with GocT (7 and the Father are one'- Jn 10:39), Muslims suggest simply that the phrase does not at all imply the unity of Three Persons in One Godhead, but unity of purpose. 'Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, that they may be one even as we are one...the glory which Thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one../ On 1 7:11,22-24). The last sentence is the important one - it was never intended to imply that all believers in God should actually become part of the Godhead! Muslims using St. John’s Gospel should concentrate on Jesus’ own answer when he was asked specifically what a person had to do in order to gain eternal life. He replied that eternal life was this; 'that they know Thee, the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent/(Jn 17:3), 'so that the world may know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them even as Thou has loved me/ (Jn 7 7:23). 'He who believes in me, believes not in me but in Him who sent me/ (Jn 1 2:44). This is precisely what we Muslims maintain. Mercy bestowed freely as a gift of God’s grace was always an essential part of Judaism which stresses that God, in His infinite love and compassion, will always receive even the most objectionable sinners, so long as they repent. If a man is wicked all his life and repents at the end, he will be saved / (T.Kidd 1.15). 15 To have the good intention (niyyah) is sufficient for God to welcome any penitent back into the Covenant Bond. Jesus (pbuh) and the Pharisees both taught that not only was God always ready to forgive the penitent, but that the sins against God were actually more easily forgiven than sins against one’s fellow men, since those required proper restitution in human terms, and that was much harder to achieve. This is also taught in Islam. God will only accept the repentance of a person who had offended another person once he has appeased the human brother. 16 15 Jesus' Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) illustrates this nicely. A householder hired labourers at different times during the day, some at the eleventh hour, yet they all received the same wages - which greatly annoyed some of those who had worked longer. The parable taught not fair employment terms, but God's compassion and generosity. Cf Sifre Aha re Pereq 8.1. 186

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As Jesus (pbuh) said:- Uf you are before the altar of God and there you remember that you have offended someone, leave your gift and go! First be reconciled to your brother, then you may come and make your gift to Cod/ (Mt 5:24). The many moving hadith qudsi'7 express the same generous love, and longing to forgive. 7 am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he draws near to Me a hand's span, I draw near to him an arm's length/ (Hadith Qudsi). 7/A man said of another - "By Allah, Allah will never forgive him!" At this Allah the Almighty said - "Who is this who swears by me that I will never forgive a certain person? Truly I have forgiven him already/

(Hadith Qudsi). In other words, the idea that humanity suffered from the inescapable taint of Original Sin and the need for an atoning saviour was simply not a part of Judaism, and has never been a part of Islam. In fact, both faiths regard the idea that one person could 'buy off’ the sins of another as unjust, if not absurd. 18 The Qur’an is quite specific on the matter: "One burdened soul shall not bear the burdens of another. And even if the heavy-laden soul cry out for its burden to be carried, not one bit of it shall be carried, not even by the next of kin.f, (Surah 35:18). "Guard yourselves against the day when one soul shall not avail another, nor shall compensation be accepted from another, nor shall intercession profit, nor shall anyone be helped. 〃 (Surah 2^ 23; see also 82:19, 41:46, 45:15).

17 Hadith qudsi are revelations from Allah to the Prophet that were not directly given as part of the Qur’an, so he was free to express them in his own words. is Professor Sandmel, in his illuminating book w We Jews and Jesus11 (Gollancz, 1965, p40) made a statement with which all Jews and Muslims would surely agree:- "Sin as condition of Man is as unintelligible to us as sin as act is intelligible; the atonement which the person makes periodically, either on the Day of Atonement or whenever a person is moved to make it, roots that act of atonement within the lifetime of each individual, and we readily understand it. We do NOT readily understand an act of atonement external to the lifetime of any individual. We do not believe that a person needs baptism to wash sins away; we believe that every person must make their own atonement, not have atonement wrought for them." 187

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The point is that all who are Muslim in the true sense of the word (submitted to God) cannot consider for one moment that God can possibly be made more merciful by taking the life of some innocent creature. That is a notion Jews and Muslims find blasphemous. The way to be redeemed is to repent, and then cease to do evil, and to do well. That the entire notion of vicarious sacrifice had already been rejected in the Jewish prophetic tradition is a point usually totally ignored by Trinitarian Christians. Yet it is obviously of vital significance to the arguments about the role of Jesus (pbuh). The prophets always denounced the notion that God would be appeased by token sacrifice as a travesty of Divine Love. We have, for example, the famous words God spoke through the prophet Hosea: y/ desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings/ (Hosea 6:6). Similarly, God revealed through the prophet Amos: '/hate, I despise your feasts, I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened beasts, I will not look upon them. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing streamV (Amos 5:1824). The same God, speaking through the prophet Muhammad, stated: 'Neither the flesh of the animals of your sacrifice nor their blood reaches Allah - it is your righteousness that reaches Him/ (Surah 22:37). It simply will not do for Christians to shrug these teachings aside as no longer relevant after the coming of Jesus (pbuh). The Gospels themselves reveal that Jesus' opinion on the subject was straight down the prophetic line: 7 Co and learn what this means: ”1 desire mercy and not sacrifice”. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance/ (Mt 9:13, see also Mt12:7) If God is Supreme, He can do as He wills. He does not need a sacrifice in order 188

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to forgive anyone. He only wants them to turn away from evil, and ask Him for forgiveness. 'If f^\y people humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear them from Heaven and will forgive their sin/ (2 Chronicles 7:14) 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon/ (Isaiah 55:7). The epistle ascribed to St James the brother of Jesus (pbuh) - and how few Christians even realise that Jesus had a brother, let alone that he was the first Bishop of Jerusalem - is so different from the epistles of St Paul:- 'Religion that is pure and undefiled before Cod is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself untainted from the world/ (James 1:27). His theme reaches its climax in chapter 2. 'How does it profit you, brothers, if you say you believe, but you do not do good works? (1e - you have iman but no amal). Do you think your beliefs will save you? If someone clad in rags with an empty stomach comes in, and you say 'Go in peace, be warm and full'without giving them anything - how have you helped them? Belief not accompanied by deeds is worthless. Someone may say - ’you have faith and I have works’. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith ... Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? As the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead/ (James 2:14-6). Nothing could be more emphatic than that. James taught: 'Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hearts, sinners, and purify your minds. Submit yourselves before God, and He will lift you up ... O you who say Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain’. What do you know about tomorrow? What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say ’If the Lord wills, we shall live, and we shall do this and that!’ (James 4:8,10,13-15). In one of his most famous parables Jesus (pbuh) taught of God the Almighty 189

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sorting out who was to inherit eternal life and who was damned to punishment. He did not divide the ’sheep and goats' according to their beliefs, or their faith in Jesus as saviour, but according to how they had lived. 'The King will say to those on His right hand: ’Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you did not abandon me/Then the righteous will say - ' Lord, when did we ever see thee (like this)? And he will answer - ’Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of these the least of my brethren, you did it to me/ (Mt 25:34-40). The Hadith Qudsi give a very similar teaching: 'On the Day ofJudgement Allah will say, yO son of Adam, I fell ill and you did not visit me/ The man will answer, yO Lord, how could I have visited you when You are Lord of the Worlds?' He will say - 'Did you not know that My servant had fallen ill, and you did not visit him? Did you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him?’ 19 The Qur’an comments: ’They of God’s right hand will ask of the wretched - /yWhat has cast you into hell fire?” They will say, "We are not of those who prayed or those who fed the poor, and we wasted our time with many empty arguments, and we rejected as a lie the Day of Reckoning - till we were forced to accept the Reality." (surah 74:40-47). There is one vitally important passage in the Old Testament which is consistently ignored by those who accept the Atonement theory of the death of Jesus (pbuh). It is the revelation to Ezekiel (in the Qur’an, Dhulfikl) in chapter 1 8 of his book. The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel specifically denying the concept of inherited sin.

'Forty Hadith Qudsi1, Ezzedine Ibrahim (ed) Beirut, 1980.

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'What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, (that) 'the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge'? As I live, says the Lord Cod, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son are Mine; only the soul that sins shall die. If a person is righteous and does what is lawful and right.....he shall surely live, says the Lord God/ (Ezek 18:1 -9). Jesus (pbuh) taught this very clearly in the famous parable of the Prodigal Son. A foolish young man sinned, and ended up in the gutter. When he came to his senses and realised what he had done, he decided to go home and beg for forgiveness - perhaps his father would take him back as a servant. The father (who represented God in this story) saw him coming, while he was still a long way off, he ran out to meet him and welcome him back. This my son was dead/ he said, 'but now he is alive again. He was lost, and is found/(Lk 15:1132). Jesus (pbuh) taught that because of God’s compassion that there would be more joy in heaven over one sinner that repented than over ninety-nine just people who did not need to repent. (Lk 15:7,10). The split second a person turns from Christianity and approaches Islam is when a person suddenly realises the truth Jesus taught in his famous parables, and admits that Jesus'death was nofan atoning sacrifice, that his resurrection did not make him divine (nor did his virgin birth), and that belief in it all as the only means of salvation is actually a blasphemous denial of the compassionate nature of God, and is instead a suspect desire to form an "elect7 group of people.

Allah said: 10 son of Adam - so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me I shall forgive you for what you have done.... were you to come to Me with sins as great as the earth itself, and were you them to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would forgive you in equal measure/ (Hadith Tirimidhi, Ahmad). Islam (like all the Jewish prophets) teaches that it is nonsense to think that any sacrifice of blood, animal or human, can somehow bribe God, or 'buy' God’s forgiveness; it is only the turning of the heart that can do that. We can never really 191

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adequately earn God's forgiveness, but we have been taught that what matters is our love for Him, and how we live, how hard we try. All controversies about dogma and faith will of course disappear when we appear before God - who judges us not by the words that fall from our lips, but by what we are and how we have lived. The life and death of Jesus (pbuh) cannot cause any change in God’s already perfect mercy and compassion, no person's eternal future can be altered or /saved, by believing in the efficacy of the sacrifice of another person. What must be altered is the sinner's attitude to life and way of life. If Jesus (pbuh) had been some kind of divine avatar, then what are we to make of his agony in Gethsemane? To whom was he praying so desperately, in his agony of loneliness? To himself? And to whom did he submit? To himself? How are we to explain his suffering mentality, and his effort of will and discipline to submit? Did he shrink from accomplishing the world’s salvation at the cost of a few hours of suffering, while knowing full well that he would come right in less than three days! • 20 For centuries Christians have regarded Muslims as the enemy, the rivals, the infidels,21 the savage deniers of their God, and not as deeply devout believers in the same God, who also respected and accepted the Messenger Jesus (pbuh). Allah stated: "O people of the Book, you have no ground to stand on unless you stand fast by the Torah, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from God." (Surah 5:68). "Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians — any who believe in Cod and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, neither shall they grieve/'(Surah 2:62; 5:72; 22:18).

'The Distortion of Christianity, (V.A.Holmes-Gore, Scythians, 1980), p. 58. 21 Muslims at the time of the crusades always referred to Christians as the infidels, of course. 192

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It is the theology of the church that we believe is wrong, not the love of Jesus (pbuh) or the Christian way of life. God /5 still there, and Jesus the Master is still there. It is just that for centuries church people have never dared to admit that Trinitarianism might have been wrong, and Jesus might not have been the great sacrifice of propitiation, but exactly what the Muslims said he was - a sublime Messenger of God, one of a series of chosen people, of whom Muhammad was the seal and the last. Perhaps it is time now, as we are entering the twenty-first century AD, to consider an awe-inspiring possibility - that Christians should consider honestly and frankly whether to be a true Christian, one should in fact be a Muslim!

Sr Ruqaiyyah’s reading list: / The Mysteries of Jesus (pbuh)’, Sakina Books, 2000. 'What Every Christian Should Know About Islam/ The Islamic Foundation.

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8 Presenting Islam to Secular Humanists Ataullah Bogdan Kopanski

Identifying the dogmas of secular humanists Secular humanism is the last product of the agnostic cogitation, which came into being in the 20th century. Intellectuals who profess such a doctrine believe that in pursuit of truth, all human traditions, ideas and religions must be evaluated through a skeptical examination of an individual reason ,and not accepted on fundamentals of faith. The secular humanist seeks solutions to all social, cultural and political problems within a framework of the so-called 'critical reason’ and scientific methods of inquiry. A secular humanist rejects totally all sources of God’s revealed knowledge. According to him, human history is nothing more than the past, burdened with an erroneous and imperfect perception of reality. He is convinced that with a reason liberated from the yoke of religious faith7 alone, the human world can be made better for the future generations and ourselves. The secular humanist is obsessed with perpetual modernization and change, and his favored buzzwords are /progress"modernity,, 'science’and "tolerance7. The late secular humanist pundits accept only one Weltanschauung i.e., neoEpicurean universalistic hedonism. All supra-natural phenomena such as miracles and telekinesis are dismissed as hoax or viewed with a highest degree of distrust. The proto-ideas of the modern secular humanism can be traced in the classical Greek philosophies and the 1 8th century Aufklarung (Enlightenment). The western-educated secular humanists often called themselves as 'freethinkers'. Their favored celebrities are Robert G. Ingersoll, George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, and recently Paul Kurtz (a guru of 'Council of Secular Humanism7 in USA who introduced his term eupraxophy or ’living without Religion’). In the 195

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'Secular Humanist Manifesto 2000’，the authors declare that: We should not be bound by the dictates of arbitrary authority, comfortable superstition, stifling tradition, or suffocating orthodoxy. We should defer to no dogma - neither religious nor secular - and never be afraid to ask 'how do you know? It is irrational and ultimately harmful to hang our hopes on gods, the supernatural, and the hidden, which arise out of imagination and wishful thinking. Secular humanists preach 'tolerance of sex and sexual differences' and claim that they try to 'overcome divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality, creed and class’. Yet, when it comes to matters of religion, they are as tolerant as the Islamophobic Soviets or the Turkish Kemalist school of thought. They have promoted the idea of freedom from religion, and not for religion. The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) strongly supports such anti-lslamic persons like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasrin. Before I became a Muslim (officially in 1974), I was a staunch secular humanist of the most fanatical order. Like millions of other Polish Christians, brain-washed by the Communists lecturers and activists in my native Poland that had been misruled by the Soviet colonial regime, I had replaced the Roman Catholic dogmas (which I renounced when I was 12 years old) with a very militant agnostic philosophy. Today I know of several ex-anarchists, ex-communists, ex-fascists and former feminist extremists who are now very pious Muslims. A secular humanist loves to debate and to ponder. Discourses on the Creation of Universe and Origin of Mankind are well favored. The secular humanist believes, albeit blindly, in scientific paradigms (Greek paradeigma, paradeiknynai = 'to show side by side’). He repudiates all theistic cogitation’s as 'chimeras of mind, intoxicated by 'blind faith7, and as a contamination of 'pure reason’. Secular humanists believe, fanatically, that God does not exist. The task is to convince the secular humanist that that his venerated Reason, unsupported by the pure faith, leads not to liberty of humanity but to the wickedness of libertinism defined by Samuel Richardson as ’evil of knowledge of the world, a knowledge of human nature’. Marquis de Sade was an ardent secular humanist, as were Pol Pot, Mao-tze-tong, Joseph Stalin, Mustafa Kemal 'Ataturk7 and other /enlightened, eradicators of religion. Being a credo of a 196

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tiny educated minority, secular humanism became recently a dangerously dominant ideology of the ruling caste of the ’global village’. Like the Jewish and 'sexual minorities', after centuries of social and political ostracism or even persecution, the secular humanist minority suddenly emerges as a hardnosed supremacist oligarchy. In the 19th century, the spectrum of secularism had been extended to exemplify the denial of supernatural phenomena and Revealed knowledge. In the 20th century, it has led to an open and total rejection of the existence of God. Philosophers of neo-secular humanism have declared that 'God is dead’，and the end of Religion. For them, the religious faith is to be abolished as a spiritual and civilizational power and replaced by the new gods of Nationalism, Socialism and Zionism. As a result of the 'God is dead' proclamation and the birth of 'scientific humanism’，millions of people have died in the clash of nations, far more deaths than in the medieval crusades and the Baroque Wars of Religions between Protestants and Catholics. In the 20th century, the new apparition of humanized secularism has emerged from the ashes of European Fascism and Communism. In the late 1950s and 1960s, it was known as existentialism, and in the late 1980s as postmodernism. The last phantom of secular humanism, born in the so-called "Frankfurt school of Marxism’，presents itself as either 'political correctness’or cultural bolshevism. In the last decade of the past century many apostles of postmodernist /multiculturalism, preached a new epi-postmodernist 'privatization of religion in the Global Village’. Peter F. Beyer, in his essay 'Privatization and the Public Influence of Religion in Global Society: suggested that "like science, the economy or the health system, religion must provide a service that not only supports and enhances the religious faith of its adherents but also can impose itself by having far-reaching and religious revelation implications outside the strictly religious realm demanded by people in the present postmodern conditions of uncertainties and disintegration should be more comprehensively applicable than within the narrow confines of religious domains of religion".1

see Peter F. Beyer, 'Privatization and the Public Influence of Religion in Global Society'in Global Culture, Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity, ed. by M. Featherstone (London: Sage Publication 1990). 197

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The secular humanists, shocked by the phenomenon of mass religious revivalism (especially as-Sahwah al-lslamiyah), has rapidly naturalized themselves in the new 'fundamentalist times’ and reformed their manifestos according to the 'demands’of masses. Muslims should not be taken by surprise or feel disoriented by the presence of the 'postmodernist atheists' in churches, mosques, temples or synagogues. Recently, many postmodernists have rediscovered the ancient hedonistic pleasures of becoming actors and actresses of religious mysteries, masses or festivals. Life without religious duties, spirituality and prayers is considered as a monotonous, arid, and boring cycle of drinking, eating and copulating. But the 'return' of the orthodox secular humanist to the mosque, church, temple or synagogue is only a response to his new /demand, and not the genuine return to God. The majority of secular humanists believe that the Universe materialized itself, ex nihilo, and after billions of years of expansion in the infinite Nothingness, it will disappear. They deny the common sense expressed in the ancient Roman proverb of ex nihilo nihil fit (from the nothing comes nothing). Instead, secular humanism emerged itself not ex nihilo but ex capite, from the ’scientific’ speculations of 'freethinkers’. That is why the secular humanist tries to make ex rotundis quadrata facere, ex quadratis rotunda (a circle from a square and a square from a circle). Before inviting the self-declared secular humanist (or 'human secularist’）to Islam, Muslims have to identify what kind of secularist he is. Secular humanists can be divided into 7 categories: \J/

12 \--/ \ --/

3 4 5 6 7 VI/

\--/ \--/

\--

/

westernized 'secular’ Muslims ex-Christians, ex-Jews, ex-Buddhists, ex-Hindus, ex- Shintoists, and exbelievers of other religions. atheistic fundamentalists. agnostics Darwinists Postmodernists. The seekers of ’the better world’.

All secularist humanists have, in common with one another, is their loyalty to their ancestral religion. In almost all cases, they were either forcibly-educated by very ’repulsive’ religious instructors (such as the perverted, sadistic, poorlyeducated nuns, ministers, holy-rollers, gurus, ^mullahs’，and priests) in parochial 198

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schools, or they were brain-washed by their secularist parents and educators in a social environment dominated by religious restrictions. 1. The westernized /secular, Muslims. These are often western-educated or Marxist-leftist Muslims. They zealously reject everything that is revealed in the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and every aspect of Muslim faith and lifestyle. However, they constitute a very tiny minority in the closed-knit intellectual ghetto of secular humanists. Da'wah worker should visit them in their often very alienated environment and should not proselytize, nag or berate them. There are three rules to adopt: a)

Do not preach to them in the first minutes of encounter. They will try avoiding you by all means.

b)

If the secular humanist is a post-Muslim female and is provocatively under­ dressed, do not be distracted.

c)

Ask a lot about his or her ’angst’. The majority of post-Muslim secular humanist is the abused children of cynical tyrannical fathers or hysterical /feminist’ mothers. Most of them suffer from a deep complex of 'westintoxication' (Occidentosis入 Many of them have a 'dark room’ in their psyche (nafs). Be polite and unmoved when they try to treat you as a 'lesser brother or sister’ in their world of liberty. Be prepared for failure. If they criticize the political and cultural situation in certain Muslim societies, advice them to visit such places and to check /empirically, how the Islamophobic newsmakers and journalists have distorted reality. Focus your attention on the rapid degeneration and decay of the West that is dominated by secular humanist shibboleths (examples: racism, algolagnia, decline of family, prostitution, alcoholism, crimes, high number of suicides, etc.). The best Muslims who are best appreciate and reach out to this category of secular humanists are the ex-leftists and Western born-again Muslims (former atheists).

2. Ex-Christians, ex-Jews, ex-Hindus, ex-Buddhists, and ex-believers of other religions. Usually they are rebelling against religion, and are alienated, insecure, and full of vacillation. They have not stopped their search for goodness and True Faith. To them, the Christian/Buddhisl/Hindu/Sikh God is dead, but they are still ready for the Almighty, if the Muslim da’i is able to show them the

Right Path. 199

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3. Atheistic fundamentalists. They want to convert the people of all religions into their disbelief, even if it is by force. For them, the universe was created in accordance with the Big Bang theory, and man's creation is linked to the primordial piece of Lucy's jaw and bones of Homo erectus. Despite their ferocity in debate, they will listen to Muslims who do not attempt to make fun of their /scientifically-provened, beliefs. I was an atheistic and militant secular humanist until I became drawn by the azan (Muslim call for prayer) and the warm hospitality of Muslims during my travels for the 'exploration of the Moslem Orient’ that were sponsored by the Polish Communist party of my alma mater in 1974. Dum spiro, spero. 4. Agnostics (nihilists). They are similar to the atheist fundamentalists in their Machiavellian tendencies. They tend to read voraciously on all religions. The highly educated and narcissistic agnostic extremist is not a 'reformer and liberator’ of mankind. He is not interested in discourses on religions, revolution or evolution. Like the Gnostic who 'knows the secret of revealed religion’，the agnostic claims that he knows enough to declare all religions as the lower forms of human cognizance. He considers nothing to be alien to him. According to the agnostic credo nihil est in reIigo quod prius non-fuerit in sensu" man created his God and not vice versa. The best approach is to maintain a long-distance form of contact, such as through the Internet and by mail. Mail him as many Islamic books as possible as some of them, mostly post-Christians, express the desire to 'understand the Moslem mind’. 5. Darwinists. Darwinists believe that they are the last and most sophisticated version of the pre-historical apes. Some of them are social-Darwinists (Spencerists) and they believe that some human races are still more closely related to the prehistorical primates than other more ’superior races’. Such Darwinists tend to be either paleo-communist or neo-nazis. If a Muslim c/a7 does not belong to such a 'superior race’ (that is, Nordic, Aryan, Teutonic, Celtic, Cro-Magnon Painters and Hunters) they will be looked down upon as Neanderthals with an "Oriental religion’. 6. Postmodernists. They tend to be of two kinds: debauched dropouts and decadent yuppies. The formers are impecunious persons who will write anything against every religion for money, while the latter are those who have acquired wealth and worship Mammon openly. Both are as gifted and professional, as they are cynical and arrogant.

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7. The seekers of the 'better world’. They are the dreamers and bon souvages of the industrial world, green proletariat and moderate anarchists and can potentially become good Muslims. They are passionate people, and have pure hearts and opened minds. Being secular humanists, and even as feminists, some of them in the West defend the religious rights of Muslim women to be veiled, and men to be turbaned or to keep beards in the West. A discourse on paleontology Thousands of discovered fossils abolish the hypothesis of evolutionary proliferation of organic life in the Earth, and until today, the astronomers did not find any form of organic life in the Universe. Evolutionists maintain that archaeopteryx appeared probably 1 50 million years ago, first bipedal erect hominidae (/Lucy,), and probably 3 million years ago and the tool-making homo sapiens between 350-250 years ago. All descriptions of age of the fossils given by evolutionists are not reliable at all and very speculative. Evolutionists believe that the Earth is probably 4 billion years old. The discovered fossils indicate that the fossilized forms did not evolved. Coelacanth was assumed to be a transitional from representing the transformation of fish into reptile. The discovery of living samples of this primitive fish declared by the evolutionists as a 300 million-year old fossil cracked the foundation of the evolutionary theory. According to Marvin Lubenov, a leading creationist paleontologist and the author of 'Bones of Contention, (1992), the various species of hominid cannot form an evolutionary progression because they overlap one another in time, and species cannot survive once it has given rise to a new species. Logically, fitter descendant species of the 'higher class of evolution’would drive its paleospecies into extinction. But this theory has been dismissed by speculative evolutionists, who argued that the more primitive parent forms could survive in separate regions. Lubenov claims that homo erectus overlaps the entire range in which homo habilis is found. The oldest habilis humanoid is probably 2 million years old. Almost all habi/fs fossils have been found in Olduvai Gorge and Koobi Fora, in the East Africa, declared as the cradle of mankind. But paleontologists found human fossils 4.5 million years old outside Africa (australopithecines). McHenry, Corrucini, Aiello and Dean found in 1990 that the leg bones (ER 1481), probably 2 million years old, are similar to those of modern human beings.

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The early 20th century evolutionists declared homo neanderthalensis as the primitive subspecies of humans. Nowadays, the Neanderthal Man is classified as completely human homo sapiens (Huse 1983) of the post-Flood Ice Age who suffered from severe rickets (nutritional disorder characterized by skeletal deformities, due to the deficiency of vitamine D). Doug Sharp (1997) has claimed that Neanderthals existed in historical times and their bodies in a suits of chain mail armor were found.2 Some racialist evolutionists classified the Australian aborigines as Neanderthals. The Neanderthals lived together with the 'CroMagnon men' who are regarded as the ancestors of the southern European races. All those speculations and conjectures indicate that scientifically correct evolutionist theories are constantly in a state of revision and reformation. They should not be used as the reliable evidences against the revealed knowledge of the Qur’an on the primeval "Parents of Mankind”，Adam and Eve (Hawwah). The same deer horn tested by the Carbon-14 method appeared to be either 5,340 years, or 9,310 years, or 10,320 years old. The trees of Jarmo city in Iraq tested by the C-14 method were classified as being 1,300 years, or 4500 years or 6,000 years old. Since the fossils and volcanic rocks cannot be exposed to radiometric tests like the C-14 method (nearly all fossils exist in sedimentary rocks), we do not know their true age, and the Pre-Cambrian Period is an enigma. The reason for a lack of fossils in the Pre-Cambrian Age is unknown to the evolutionist paleontologists. For this reason many secular humanists adopt a new theory of 'genetic revolution', proposed by Stephen Jay Could of Harvard University and Niles Eldredge from the American Museum of Natural History, as the 'punctuated equilibria’ hypothesis. According to the newest reformation in the evolutionist academia, species do in fact tend to remain un-evolved for very long periods (probably millions years) and then suddenly, for unknown reasons, are "replaced by more successful forms’. The reason of the sudden extinction of dinosaurs and survival of many mammals probably 65 million years ago is hotly debated among the evolutionists who still reject the Qur’anic revelation of the Great Flood which ended the pre-Nuhian ages and annihilated almost all corrupted Adamites and unknown number of species. But the modern secular humanist

2 Nature, (Apr.23, 1908), 77:587. 202

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finds it easier to believe in UFOs and Green Aliens than in the existence of malaika and jinns. Beyond the lenses of telescopes and microscopes exist the Dimension, which is not penetrable by scientific instruments alone. This is a zone of ad-Din to which we have to expose the rebellious mind of secular humanist. A deconstruction of Big Bang hypothesis The most popular scientific theory about the genesis of the Universe is the socalled Big Bang, a term coined by astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle who in 1930s was impressed by discovery of Edwin Hobble, a lawyer-turned-astronomer, that our galaxies are flying apart from each other. This observation led all secular scientists to believe that our cosmos is a fragment of an immense super­ explosion, which flew away from a pivotal hot core into the endless Unknown. This theory of Origin Explosion was ameliorated by Andre Linde, Professor of cosmology at Stanford University in California. According to him our 'Big Bang' might be just a fraction of the act of Creation and other cosmic 'shrapnels’ of our Universe are still being created. In 1999, Linde argued that if in our part of Universe life were to perish, then it will continue to exist in other parts of the Universe which, as a whole, becomes immortal. Many astrophysicists claim that this immortal Universe was formed from a single helium blast probably 15 billion years ago. They believe that they know the circumstances that existed from 0.0001 of a second after the act of Creation. According to their theory, 'everything’ that existed before the explosive Creation (but they do not know what existed before Big Bang) was squeezed into a highly radioactive fireball with a density 100 000 billion times that of water and it was extremely hot (1000 billion degrees above absolute zero). In this moment of creation, ’particles’ of light became so active that they were able to transform themselves into atoms of matter, changing energy for mass (Einstein’s universal constant E=mc2). Lee Smolin, an American theoretical astrophysicist maintains that the Universe might have been evolutionary, that is, correcting itself like Darwinian species. Our question for these secular humanists is: what happened before that 0.0001 of second after the Big Bang? Some secular humanists will answer by trying to explain the existence of the so-called 'singularities'defined by Stephen Hawking as points of infinite density or the super-powerful gravitational forces called as ’black holes in space’. We then ask the secular humanist: "What was the black hole before the act of 203

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/densification,? Some secular cosmologists will say that it was a collapsed star, which possessed gravity so strong that even light was not able to escape from its sucking 'singularity’. This black hole (ex-star) had also squeezed time, space, energy and matter into a single invisible microscopic fleck or particle of the Universe. We ask the question: "Why?” In all likelihood, the secular humanists do not know the answer. Albert Einstein believed that all things are indeed events give us a sense of perspective of the 'before’ and 'after' in time. Without events, the phenomenon of Time simply cannot exist. If there was only one event in the whole Universe, Time would have no imaginable meaning. We ask: "What happened before?” This question will help the secular humanist to ponder over the question of the Creator of the smallest black hole and the first case of the detonation of the Pre-Universe. If ’before’ was not yet before, and 'after' did not exist as an event, then what did exist? Who or what blew up the singularity of helium? Big Bang sounds like a first terrorist activity in the Pre-Universe. Why should a person believe in 'singularity' and Invisible dots ' or black holes in space? Why should these abstractive measures of time, space and matter more 'scientific' than the revealed knowledge in the Qu’ran? The Qur’an introduces us to think of the Source of knowledge about the Universe and we can see the Qur'an's affinity with the epistemology of modern science: Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have made it and draped it, and there are no lapses in it?3 The Qur’an says that the material worlds are as much as the signs of Allah as were the verses of the Qur’an. Ayat (signs) are both the verses of the Qur’an and the occurrences in the Universe. Any allegation of a deficiency in Allah’s Creation is futile because the flaw is not in His Opus but in either our scientific theory or our observation. The Universe’s order and its genesis is a clear sign of the Allah's Eternal pre-'Big-Bang' Presence and Oneness. The ancient Prophet Ibrahim re-discovered the presence of the One God by looking at the motions of the celestial objects:

J Qur'an, 50:6 204

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So that We show Ibrahim the power and the laws of the heavens and the earth that he might understand and have certainty. When the night covered him over he saw a star and he said 'this is my Lord’. But when it set he said 7 love not those that set'. When he saw the moon rising in splendor he said 'this is my Lord'. But when the moon set he said 'unless my Lord guide me I shall surely be among those who go astray’. When he saw the sun rising in splendor he said 'this is my Lord, this is the greatest of a/". But when the sunset he said yO my people! I am free from your guilt of giving partners to Allah. For me I have set my face firmly and truly toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall I give partners to Allah.4 In the 6th century AH, the Muslim astronomer Nasir ad-Din at-Tusi, the rector of planetarium at Maragha, knew not only that the pole of the Earth is 'wandering’，but also discovered that Claudius Ptolemeus (Ptolemy), who was the highest authority on astronomy of the medieval Christendom, had wrongly revised Hipparchos, catalog of positions of the stars in 1 79 BC. At-Tusi and other Muslim astronomers before him did not blindly redraw the ancient atlas of the sky but instead measured the positions of the stars and found that they do not conform to the ancient Greek theories. They scientifically discovered that the frequency of procession of the stars is constant, and substituted the obsolete Ptolemaic theory with a completely new one. At-Tusi’s famous astronomic research center at Maragha (with a half million books in its library!) attracted many Muslim and Chinese astronomers who used his marvelous astronomic instruments. In the 14th century CE (7th century AH), Ibn ash-Shatir found errors in Ptolemy’s theory of the moon. Many decades later, Nicolas Copernicus confessed that his lunar theory was based on at-Tusi’s observation. In order to convince the secular humanist that fide islami et scientia moderna is not contradictory; we do not need to quote Maurice Buccaille, physicianturned-lslamologist. The Qur’an is the Book of Faith and Guidance, but despite its verses about History, Nature and Universe, it is not a catalog of scientific paradigms. To claim that the Qur’an ’confirms’ Hubble's theory of expansion of the Universe and Big Bang is a methodologically dangerous because the

4 Qur'an, 9:75-79. 205

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scientific paradigms are constantly being revised and changed. Does it mean that if a new scientific theory, for example, of Shrinking of the Universe or Primordial Implosion, were to replace Hubble’s theory, we will then have to question the Qur’an’s infallibility? The correct’ approach is to recognize that the knowledge we derive from the Qur’an is constantly being reinforced by new scientific discoveries. The more scientific knowledge we possess, the easier it will be for us to decode the metaphors and hidden messages of the Qur'an. There are three degrees of certainty in the Islamic epistemology introduced by the early Muslim scholars: cognitive (/7m at yaqin), visual (ain al yaqin) and verified (haqq al yaqin). Presumption and skepticism (zann) is antithetical to the revealed Truth (al-Haqq) and religious conviction (yaqin), but as a auxiliary hermeneutic tool it may lead to scientific discovery of the unseen reality (ghaib). Some postmodernist philosophical extremists abandon the previous dogma of classical humanism (that is, empirical reality), and have come to conclusion that there is no objective certainty at all and that social conditions determine the truth. They believe that there are many truths, which depend upon individual or collective Weltanschauung. The Muslims do not deny that their understanding of the premise that by being only human, they can only possess a limited knowledge about Creation. This does not mean that there are many truths, or that there is no Absolute Truth. It only means that Absolute Truth (as Muslims believe) is known only to Allah. If the secular humanist denies the existence of God, his logical next step is to deny the existence of not only empirical reality but also the objective actuality. He then has to answer the question ' is the Moon there when no one is looking?’ For the secular humanist, who does not believe in God, the Moon cannot be there if no one is looking, and the material world cannot exist if no one thinks about it because the postmodernist secular humanist denies that such think as empirical objectivity exists. One may recall the Heinrich Olbers’ paradox. This 19th century German astronomer discovered that there is no night sky over our heads. Olbers argued that if the night sky is really an infinite space filled with an infinite number of twinkling stars, then how come it is dark? If space is really infinite and the number of stars is infinite, we should see only a brightness. The 1 7th Century European scientist, Johannes Kepler, pondered over this question as well.

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Concluding remarks When approaching the secular humanist, one should not over-rationalize Islam, and should not try to prove that Islam is ’scientifically correct’. Islam is not to be conveyed as a scientific paradigm, which runs the risk of being replaced by new paradigms in the future. Islam must be conveyed as a revealed Certainty. One should ask the secular humanist to help answer the question as to why God does not exist. One should engage the secular humanist to explain the genesis of Mankind and Organic Life. The Muslim should endeavor to be well informed on the subject of paleontology and archeological discoveries, and should take lessons in astrophysics and microbiology. Above all, he should be well versed in the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith. If nothing else, the secular humanist will at least admire you for your belief and understanding.

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