Ten Philosophical Questions
Question:-
Could you answer some of the questions that have engaged Muslim and other Philosophers in the past:-
(1) Is God, Allah, outside he Universe or within it?
(2) Are the attributes of Allah part of the Essence of Allah or separate from it?
(3) Has Allah organs and characteristics? How are we to understand the references to the hands, mouth, eyes and face etc. of Allah and to His sight, hearing, wrath and benevolence?
(4) Can or will human beings see and hear Allah? What are the limits of human faculties?
(5) Is the ascent of the Prophet Muhammad to heaven (the Miraj mentioned in Quran 53:1-18) to be taken literally? In general how are miracles to be understood.
(6) Is the Quran or the Word of Allah in general created or uncreated?
(7) What is relationship between Allah, His Word and His Spirit? How does this relate to the Christian Trinity?
(8) Is Allah omnipotent or does man have an independent Free Will?
(9) Can we understand existence through reason?
(10) Is Philosophy a valid method of understanding Allah, Reality or Religion?
Answer:-
I will answer these questions as best I can, according to my understanding and as Allah wills. But there is no guarantee that the reader will understand the answers in the same way as the writer intends. He will have to verify them by study, thought and observation according to his understanding and the help of Allah.
(1) The Quran states:-
"Allah surrounds all things." 8:47 Also 11:92
"He is the First and the Last and the Evident (or Outer) and the Imminent (or hidden or Inner), and He is Aware of all things." 57:3
"To Allah belongs the East and the West, and wherever you turn there is Allah's face (presence); for verily, Allah is All-pervading and All-Knowing." 2:15
"He is with you wherever you are; and Allah is Seer of what you do." 57:4
"And certainly We created man, and We know what his soul suggests to him, and We are nearer to him than his life-vein (Jugular or Carotid)." 50:16
So Allah Transcends the Universe, is Imminent in it and He is also Personal.
This can be illustrated by a diagram, which should not to be taken literally but only symbolically. Draw a large circle "A" for Absolute or Allah but the circumference is not finite - i.e. there is no real border. In this draw a circle "U" for Universe. The area outside "U" is "T" for Transcendental. In this draw a smaller circle "M" for man as represented by the Messenger. The Universe and all things in it, including man are not Allah. But Allah can be regarded as having the three aspects mentioned. They are only distinctions in thought. They can also be regarded as three layers of reality.
(2) Allah is One. He has no divisions, is not part of anything and He is unique, not like anything. His essence cannot be known. He is the originator of all things and is Absolute Reality. But he has created the Universe. Therefore, there is a relationship "R" between Allah "A" and what He has created, the Universe "U" and all things in it. Allah is known by His attributes. The Attributes refer to "R". Attributes like Power, Compassion and Justice need not only someone who has them but also something on which they are exercised. The Attributes, therefore, refer to this relationship. They are different from each other according to different points of points of view. They can be regarded as the basic notions, the categories of thought by which we understand the world. We need to know these before (a priori) we can interpret and understand our experiences, the result of our interactions with the world. They are not part of the experiences of the world.
(3) The Quran tells us:-
"Say: He is Allah, the One and Only. Allah the Eternal, Absolute, Infinite, besought by all! He begets not and is not begotten! Nor is there like unto Him any thing!" 112:1-4
"Vision comprehends Him not, but He comprehends all vision, for He is the Subtle, the Aware. " 6:104
"Allah surrounds all things." 8:47
Allah is not, therefore, a human being or like anything else we know. The references to his organs and characteristics are symbolic. That is, they refer to something real, but which is normally outside human experience. The description is given in terms that human beings can understand but they are not to be taken literally. They are similitudes like pictures or images in a mirror. We have to distinguish between the real thing, the experience of it and the verbal description. As the Quran says:-
"He it is who has revealed to thee the Book, in which there are some verses that are Basic (decisive, or of established meaning) they are the mother of the Book; and others are allegorical. But as for those in whose hearts is perversity, they follow what is allegorical seeking discord, craving their own interpretation of it; but none know the interpretation of it except Allah and those who are well grounded in knowledge. Say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord, but none will grasp the message save those who possess understanding." 3:7
(4) The Quran tells us:-
"Then He fashioned him (man) and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you the faculties of hearing, and sight and hearts (feeling); little is it that you give thanks." 32:9
"And follow (or pursue) not that of which you have no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart, of all of these it shall be asked (to give an account)." 17:36
"He it is who produced for you hearing and sight, and hearts. Little thanks give ye. " 23:78 and 67:23
"And certainly We had established (empowered) them in what We have not established you in, and We had given them (the faculties of) hearing and seeing and feeling, but neither their hearing, nor their seeing, nor their hearts availed them anything, since they denied the revelations of Allah, and that which they mocked encompassed them." 46:26
"Have they not travelled through the land? And have they not hearts wherewith to feel (understand), and ears wherewith to hear? For, indeed, it is not their eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts which are within their breasts that grow blind." 22:46
We see that the faculties for seeing, hearing and feeling cannot be identified with the physical organs. These may be sensitive to various degrees and some people have a greater range of sensitivity and perception than others. Apart from outer sight, hearing and feeling there is also inner sight, hearing and feeling. They could refer to insight, awareness of one's motives and actions They can also be identified with consciousness, conscience and will. They could refer to the three sources of knowledge, namely experience, reason and inspiration. Seeing could refer knowledge that comes from personal experience. Hearing could refer to reported knowledge that we acquire by learning from others or other kinds of verbal knowledge that comes from thinking. The knowledge of the heart could refer to gnosis, direct knowledge rather than the indirect knowledge of reason. Human beings do have direct access to their own physiological system and are connected directly with the rest of the world through all kinds of forces.
(5) The Quran tells us:-
"And when We said to thee (Muhammad): Verily, thy Lord encompasses mankind! and We granted the Vision which We showed thee only as a trial unto men - and also the Cursed Tree (mentioned) in the Quran; for We put warning into them, but it only increase them in gross rebellion." 17:60
"Certainly he saw of the Greatest Signs of his Lord." 53:18
The Miraj (Ascent) of the Prophet can be regarded as a vision. But it is nevertheless real. Much depends on what is meant by "real" and "literal" here. Our knowledge is limited and though it progresses it cannot be said to be complete at any time. If these words refer to the material body as we understand it then, of course, we know about the limitations of matter. But man also has a spiritual existence. And the Miraj can be regarded as the ascent of the Spirit.
As all things are made and controlled by Allah, there is no distinction in Islam between the natural and the miraculous. A miracle is merely something that happens rarely, is unfamiliar and of which the direct causes are not known or understood. In fact, all things basically are miraculous including the coming into existence of the Universe, including all the forces regulating it, the arising of life and consciousness.
(6) The Quran tells us:-
"Thus Allah creates what He pleases. When He decrees a matter He only says: BE! And it is." 3:47
"His command, when He intends anything, is only to say to it, " Be", and it is." 36:81
"His word is Truth." 6:74
"That is because Allah, He is Truth (or the only Reality), and because what you call on beside Him is the False, and because Allah, He is the Sublime, the Great." 31:30
"He has created the heavens and the earth with Truth." 39:5
"He (Allah) said: The Truth Is, and the Truth I speak." 38:85
We see that no distinction is being made between Allah and His Word. As already stated Allah is one and the attributes of Allah are not separate from Him but refer to the relationship between Allah and His creation and they are also symbolic not literal notions. Allah created the Universe with His Word, which is Truth. It is Universe that is created not the Word. The Quran is a book in the world as to the ink and paper and the Arabic language. These are creations. But it does contain the Word of God, which refers to the creative and transforming force, the Truth. That is not created.
(7) The Quran tells us:-
"They will ask thee about the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by the command of my Lord, and you are given but a little knowledge thereof." 17:85
"Then He fashioned him (man) and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you the faculties of hearing, and sight and hearts (feeling); little is it that you give thanks." 32:9
The Word or Command of Allah is not separate from Him and the Spirit proceeds from the Command. It is not a creation, though spiritual beings such as Gabriel are. The Spirit can be regarded as something that carries the Word of Allah and pervades the Universe. It also exists in man where it bestows the faculties of awareness. But it is dormant in most people to various degrees because they have lost contact with Allah. It is active in the Messengers who are guided through the Spirit. It is their task to reawaken man.
"O you who believe! Respond unto Allah and His Messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you; and know that Allah comes in between a man and his own heart; and that He it is unto Whom you shall be gathered." 8:24
We conclude that Allah, "A" in the illustration above is One but in thought can be regarded as having three aspects the Transcendental Essence "T", the Imminent in the Universe "U" and the Personal, as illustrated in the Messenger "M". But, though Allah works through them, neither the Spirit nor the Messenger are separately Allah. However, religion rather than Allah, are presented to us by Allah, the Messenger and the Spirit (that informs the Messenger as well as his followers).
(8) The Quran tells us:-
"There is no power save in Allah!" 18:40
"And unto Allah do prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening." 13:15
"Nay, verily, man is indeed rebellious in that he thinks himself independent (or self-sufficient or rich)!" 96:6-7
"Allah is He Who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them. The Commandment continues to descend among them slowly, that you may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah indeed encompasses all things in knowledge. " 65:12
The cause of all things is ultimately Allah. There is, therefore no Free Will, that is one that operates independently of Allah. This would create polytheism and flout the Islamic principle of Tawhid (Unity). But Allah does not always control things directly. There are many levels of immediate direct causes. All these operate in man. Human beings have been given various faculties above those of other creatures, but this does not make them independent of Allah. The behaviour of creatures is not always dependent on external causes. There are also inner causes and these make them self-regulating and partly independent of their environments to various degrees. This is mistaken for free will. But though there is no Free Will, human beings are responsible for their actions because of the faculties that they have been given.
(9) As indicated above, Human beings have been given three sources of knowledge, namely:- (a) experience (b) reason and (c) inspiration. Experience does not necessarily refer to only the external senses, but we also have feelings and awareness of inner physiological processes and of our thoughts. Different people have different amounts of sensitivity. These faculties bring us in touch with the created world. Experience consists of sensations, characteristics, objects, patterns, events, relationships and processes. These experiences are memories and differ between individuals and can be regarded as personal, and form their "Subjective Universe".
Reason consists of the ability to manipulate and process the data received from experience. This is done through analysis, synthesis, association and abstraction into concepts that can be further processed. The interpretation and organisation of experience and ideas depends also on certain built-in modes of thinking that exist prior to experience of the created world and are connected with the Laws which control the processes of the Universe including man. These could be called the Categories of Thought.
"And He (Allah) taught Adam the Names, all of them; then He propounded them to the angels and said: Declare to me the names of these, if you are truthful." 2:31
The "Names" can be regarded as the ability of human beings to form concepts as well as to the Attributes of Allah. Reason, therefore, can deal with the created Universe.
Inspiration (of which insight, intuition and revelation are degrees) consists of the ability to see things within a Unity, as belonging to a self-consistent system. This ought to harmonise outer experiences with inner ones - with realities with which one is more directly and intimately connected. However, the awareness of inner realities and such consistencies varies.
In a sense there is a correspondence between the three sources of knowledge and the three aspects "T", "U" and "M" if these are seen as different layers of existence.
(10) The question whether Philosophy is a valid method of understanding Allah, Reality or Religion depends on what is meant by Philosophy. If it means something like Greek Speculation based on formal logic and the definitions of words then it is not valid. Verbal descriptions of things are not the objects or even the experience of things and can be understood differently by different people because they may refer to various aspects of things or their experiences, and include fantasies and prejudices. Formal logic is a restricted form of reason based on assumptions and axioms that are not universally valid. However, it can be useful in creating self-consistent systems of meaning of words. Sometimes the word Philosophy is understood as referring to all thinking about existence in a self-consistent manner. It then includes Science as a subset.
Science, when it relies on observation and empirical verification is different from mere verbal speculation. It asks and accepts the verdict of nature as made by Allah. It has a practical aspect that creates a better interaction with reality. However, the conceptual system in which it interprets data still contains unproved assumptions and unrecognised value judgements. It is supposed that it deals with bare impersonal facts when in fact it is a human activity that requires human motivation for human purposes and uses human interpretation of facts in a social and cultural context. It cannot be independent of the nature of the mind of those who deal in science, and these have limitations. It does not create a self-consistent system from all aspects of life, including facts, meaning and values, causes as well as purposes, and consciousness on which science itself depends.
Religions deal with values, with human adjustment to the Fundamental Reality, Allah. It deals with the process of living and development and, therefore, with thought, motive and action in a co-ordinated manner. This requires concepts, methods and institutions that are different from science. It requires a more intimate contact with Reality and an enhanced awareness. We have a much closer access to our own organism that is part of the created universe and in interaction with it through all kinds of forces more directly than through the sense organs. Genuine Religion, Islam, is based on revelation and inspiration and is understood that way. This refers to a greater area of consciousness than that in which we normally operate. It is meant to facilitate human development, to take man to a level that he has not yet reached. It will inevitably contain ideas that are not comprehensible at lower levels of development. But to reach a destination one must have some idea about the destination, a road map to guide us, and knowledge about the equipment required and how to get it. Many religious ideas are presented in a symbolic or allegorical manner because it deals with matters outside normal experience. This aspect cannot be dealt with by Philosophy or ordinary reason. But, in so far as Religion deals with the whole of life, it can include philosophy as a subset and therefore, also science as a co-operative part or aspects of the whole. Religion conceived of in this way is a necessity if harmful wasteful psychological, social or even environmental contradictions and conflicts are to be avoided.
There is a correspondence between the triad Religion, Philosophy and Science on the one hand and the spheres "A", "U" and "M"
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