28. Civilisation
Human beings are part of a world with which they interact and to which they must adjust. To do this they have faculties for perception, motivation and action. A Human being is described as a combination of spirit, mind and body. These interact and are to a large extent interdependent. Spirit refers to the existence of consciousness, conscience and will; mind refers to the faculties for thinking, feeling and voluntary action; and body refers to anatomy and physiology and the mechanisms for sensation, reflex and instincts, and movements. All three have their own nature, needs, motives and capabilities and these require self-fulfilment and manifest in the life of the communities. These three correspond to values, meanings and facts, which are also interdependent and are required by human beings to live an intelligent life.
Human beings are motivated by three main sets of drives:- the self-preservative, the reproductive which also creates families, tribes and communities, and the self-expansive which is responsible for the search for knowledge, exploration, adventure, enterprise and development. Physically, the needs of self-preservation must be fulfilled first before reproduction can take place and communities can be formed. These reproductive and social needs must come before any development, progress or evolution can take place. But Mentally, it is possible, and often happens, that people sacrifice their own welfare to various degrees for the good of the family or community. It also happens that they sacrifice their own welfare and that of their family or community for what they perceive to be a higher or spiritual goal. From the Spiritual point of view the order of value in these drives is the reverse of the order of urgency. The individual is limited and has a short life, his existence depends on others e.g. parents and he is dependent on the rest of the society. The community and its maintenance and welfare is, therefore, of greater importance than that of the individual. But humanity is itself part of a greater world in which it has a function, and on which it is dependent. The Human race, therefore, itself has no meaning unless it has a Cosmic purpose.
There are, therefore, three value systems from which human affairs can be judged – the physical, mental or spiritual. When conditions were harsh and self-preservation was difficult as in the past then the Physical Value System (PVS) prevailed. As conditions improved an increasing proportion of people adopted the Mental Value System (MVS). However, it could be that conditions did not improve in some places until some people had adopted this value system. As conditions improve still further then an increasing proportion of people adopt the Spiritual Value System (SPS). Some people must have this system in order to make improvements.
However, it is also perfectly possible for people to form mental attachments to physical things through the senses. Greed, conditioning, fascination, habit or fear of loss can cause this. The desire for things then increases beyond needs. Persons or communities who suffer from this condition get stuck at a lower rung of the ladder. Similar attachment to ideas, feelings or actions can arise at the mental level. The person or community will then be stuck at a level below that which is appropriate. On the other hand the reverse of this is also possible. Persons and communities may rise to a level higher than is appropriate owing to self-sacrifices encouraged by an ideology. Attachment at the Spiritual level can cause this.
Human affairs are governed by a balance between the needs and wants of the population W, the natural resources R and the efforts made by people which depend on their talents and energy, their human resources H. Civilisation and its progress depends on leisure, the surplus of the human resources over that required to just make their living. It can be regarded as Capital C. This surplus can be used for the development of knowledge, ideas, art, organisation, civics and law, crafts, technologies, and industry. Civilisations, therefore, develop in areas where resources are abundant such as in lush valleys and river banks or where there are rich mineral deposits.
The products of human work P can increase the resources or decrease the amount of work required. It allows wants to increase and a greater population to be sustained. This increases the surplus and the rate of development may accelerate. However, it may also increase the total wants because of an increase in population, increase in wants per person, and the requirements of the products themselves – the requirements of maintaining knowledge, organisation and industry. It may also deplete the resources. There is, therefore, a constant tension between developmental and degenerative forces. The balance can be altered either by environmental changes, social changes in the population or psychological and ideological changes. Human beings have the capacity for conscious and deliberate intervention and control.
The Surplus or Capital can be obtained in three ways:- (a) When there is an abundance of resources and the individuals do not increase their wants or they deliberately reduce their wants. (b) When the society is so organised that there is a group of people who have control over most of the resources R, H and C. They may enslave or control others to do the work the products of which they use for the satisfaction of their own wants. Those controlled are made to work more than they require for their own needs and the masters are left with resources. (c) When a portion of the surplus is used to create more.
Human beings do not merely interact with the world, their environment by outer actions. They are embedded in a Field consisting of many subtle types of chemical elements, molecules and radicals, biological entities such as parasites, bacteria, viruses, pollen, and many kinds of electromagnetic fields and radiation, cosmic rays, and gravitational forces some arising in this planet, and others affected by or coming from long distances in the rest of the Universe. Human beings interact with their environment and the entities in it in all these ways. There are influences that are beneficial to human beings to various degrees and there are harmful influences. The balance between them keeps shifting and is to some extent controlled and controllable by human beings themselves. Their attitudes and inner states, individually and collectively, affect these fields and the entities in the environment and this affects their state and behaviour which in its turn affects human communities and their culture and civilisation. Diseases, genetic factors creating immune systems, nutrition, natural antibiotics and predators of predators, for instance have certainly affected cultures and the fate of civilisations. The nature and development and rise and fall of civilisations may, therefore, depend on very subtle processes that are also connected with human values, attitudes, behaviour and organisations, which could come under their conscious control.
It has been known since ancient times that
things, including human civilisations and the Universe itself, tend to
degenerate. There is even a Law in Physics which asserts this, the Second Law
of Thermodynamics. Therefore, evolution or the rise in civilisation always
requires the introduction of an impulse from a higher source. The ancient
Egyptians attributed their civilisation to Osiris or Horus, the Sun and to
Mercury, the Messenger. These were regarded as god and son of god respectively,
represented on earth by the Pharaoh.
Islam, however, tells us about the evolution of the religious consciousness in the story of Abraham. He worshipped a star first, then the moon and then the sun, and eventually disentangled himself from all idolatry to objects (6:76-80). Allah is the ultimate creative power far beyond the Sun. Islam has to a large extent demythologised religion. However, we are told that, apart from the clear instructions in the Quran, things are also being explained by similitude and allegories (e.g. 2:26, 3:7, 4:157, 11:24 etc.). The rise of civilisations is attributed to the spiritual force symbolised by Light, which is introduced by Prophets into human affairs. He receives knowledge and power through the Spirit from Allah. If Allah is represented by the sun then the Prophet can be represented by the Moon – the light he sheds is reflected from the sun. However, this spiritual force degenerates, probably being used up in creating the culture by which civilisation is known. Man degenerates, followed by his civilisation and then his economic and physical conditions. A renewal and regeneration is needed from time to time by the coming of another Prophet. This is like spring and summer being followed by autumn and winter, which is followed by spring and summer again. The purpose of the religion is the spiritual regeneration, not the civilisation that is a side effect or consequence, but which tends to trap the human spirit.
The whole of the Islamic Empires and
Civilisation can certainly be attributed to just one man, The Prophet Muhammad
and the Quran he brought. But this civilisation degenerated and was replaced by
the Western one. At first glance there does not seem to be a Prophet to whom
Western civilisation can be attributed, though there were certainly a number of
spiritual reformers. Though Jesus was expected to return, this does not appear
to have taken place. On the other hand the forecast was for the return of the
"Son of Man" after a period of great tribulations (Matthew 24:29-33).
This is a general term that refers to a perfected person, a Prophet. Jesus also
told his disciples that they could not yet understand much. The more complete
truth would be brought by the Spirit of Truth (John 16:12-15). This certainly refers
to a person, an incarnation of the Spirit or Light (Hadith), just as Jesus was
regarded as an incarnation of a Word of God (Quran 3:45, 4:171). Note that John
16:7 tells us that the Comforter would come after the departure of Jesus. This
cannot apply to the Holy Ghost, which was already there and informing Jesus
(Luke 3:22-23 and John 3:5). The times of trouble were to come after the
destruction of
It can be asserted, and it has been asserted,
that the present Western civilisation is the result of the impact of Islam on
Islam had encouraged trade and Muslim merchants
had established many sea routes. They brought spices, silks and porcelains of
the East to Europeans and instilled in them an appetite for trade. But because
the overland routes to the East had been closed by the Muslim conquest of
To support of part of this thesis the following quotations are given. They are from the book, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” Volume 1 - The Crusades by Charles Mackay.
After describing the First Crusade as a completely chaotic, blood thirsty and indiscriminate assault by a mob whipped to superstitious hysteria and madness by fanatical priests, he writes:-
"We find, however, that the enthusiasm of
the Second Crusade did not equal that of the first crusade; in fact, the mania
had reached its climax in the time of Peter the Hermit, and decreased regularly
from that period. The Third Crusade was less general than the second, and the
fourth than the third, and so on, until the public enthusiasm was quite
extinct, and
"This is, in fact, the secret of the
change; and its truth becomes more apparent as we advance in the history of the
Crusades, and compare the state of the public mind at the different periods
when Godfrey of Bouillon, Louis VII, and Richard I, were chiefs and leaders of
the movement. The Crusades themselves were the means of operating a great
change in national ideas, and advancing the civilisation of
The account of the Crusades ends with the following: -
"Now what was the grand result of all these
struggles? Europe expended millions of her treasures and the blood of two
million of her children; and a handful of quarrelsome knights retained
possession of
According to
"When one becomes aware of the full extent of Arab experimenting, Arab thinking and Arab writing, one sees that without the Arabs, European science and philosophy would not have developed when they did...and the Europeans had to learn all they could from the Arabs before they themselves could make farther advances."
"Because
We may conclude that Western Civilisation is not the product of Christianity but the result of the impact from Islam. But this civilisation is also declining, as the environmental, social and psychological problems it has created and continues to create become more widespread and destructive. But as increasing problems increase suffering, it also causes an awakening and an increasing urgency in the search for solutions. These must come from outside the system in decline. Indeed, the chaos and suffering created tend to loosen the hold of the old ideas, habits of thought and attitudes. This, itself, allows the new to gain a foothold.
Though Muslim people degenerated there are signs of revival now and Islam is making new converts in the West. It is likely that this will gather momentum when Muslims begin to re-examine their faith, and make new and more sublime discoveries, which were not possible in a less knowledgeable age. This in turn is likely to transform the world quite fundamentally. That which was regarded as an essential part of civilisation will be regarded frivolous and the more spiritual values may then become established. Materialism will give place to increasing social consciousness, the signs of which are already becoming manifest, and then to an increasing emphasis on psychological matters. No doubt it will also be understood that all religions, beings based on the same foundations, cannot possibly be contradictory, but that the unitary truth they point to lies at a level much higher than the forms to which minds have become conditioned.
It is necessary to distinguish between three things though there is inter-dependence between these:-
(a)The Psychological factor - The nature, quality and behaviour of human beings, the level of their consciousness, conscience and will – their knowledge, virtues and abilities. Religion is concerned mainly with this.
(b) The Social factor - The culture they produce – This depends not only on their ideas, but also on motivation, and action. It produces the sciences, arts and social systems, the enterprises, political, economic and cultural organisations. The word “civilisation” usually refers to this.
(c) The Physical factor – The physical changes human beings create in their environments – the structures, cities, farms, factories, mines, parks, roads, hospitals, schools, transport and communication systems, trade routes, water, electricity and gas supplies, sewage works and so on. The inventions of artefacts through their technologies such as cars, aeroplanes, radios, televisions, computers and so on. Humanity also affects animals and plants through selective breading and the mineral world through chemical and physical transformations.
From the Islamic point of view, the creative impulse can be said to come down (1) from Allah, the Origin (2) to the Objective World of forces, laws and processes (3) to human nature (4) to their social system (5) to the human environment (6) to produce changes in the nature of this planet (7) which affects the rest of the Universe by affecting the exchange of energies. The word “Universe” is used here to refer to all the physical bodies collectively as opposed to the forces and laws at stage 2.
“He knows that which goes down into the earth and that
which comes out of it, and that which comes down from the heaven and that which
goes up to it; and He is the Merciful, the Forgiving.” 34:2
“He it is
who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, then He firmly
established Himself on the Throne (of authority); He knows that which goes deep
down into the earth and that which comes forth out of it, and that which comes
down from the heaven and that which goes up into it, and He is with you
wherever you are; and Allah is Seer of what you do. His is the kingdom of the
heavens and the earth; and to Allah are (all) affairs returned. “ 57:4-5
There is a flow of influences in both directions. Human beings, for instance, are affected by Cosmic forces and their evolution is a result of Cosmic processes, but they are not passive with respect to them. They can process these forces, be selectively receptive or obstructive, and transform them through analysis and synthesis and reorganization, and assimilate and radiate them. Religion consists of a conscious way of relating and adjusting to the Objective World created by Allah.
Stage 4, the Social system, lies at the midpoint in this series and is more immediately affected by, and affects, Stage 3, human nature and Stage 5, the human physical environment. There are three aspects to the way the Social System can be organised – (a) It can be Authoritarian to various degrees. This requires a pyramidal or hierarchical structure. (b) It can be Democratic to various degrees, based on rules created by social contracts and agreements. (c) It can be Individualistic to various degrees such that the independence, initiative, self-determination and responsibility of the individual is maximised. Societies differ in the balance between these three factors and political systems and political ideologies differ in the way they deliberately balance or wish to balance these three. Islam recognises all three factors (4:59, 42:38, and 5:105) and also creates Social Systems where these are balanced in various ways. Unfortunately, these have arisen in a non-conscious accidental uncontrolled way. The Muslim world is gradually waking from centuries of sleep and conscious attention is now being given to this subject. But controversies have arisen because different groups place emphasis on only one of these factors. The question of balance and co-ordination between them has not been worked out. In fact, Islam being surrender to Allah makes Allah the supreme authority. He is Reality and His word is Truth. It is objective Truths, which must be supreme. But man is a Vicegerent, and Allah works through human beings. Human development and the welfare and development of the environment is a human responsibility. It is those in whom the consciousness of their vicegerency is best developed are those who must have authority. This authority must be exercised to enhance the vicegerency of others. There is, therefore, no conflict between the three factors at the level of Surrender. But this fact and its implications have not yet been understood. The conflict exists because of the absence of Surrender. An Islamic organisation could, perhaps, be best described as an Organic Layered Network or Brotherhood rather than a hierarchy.
A Civilisation or Culture is a third, mediating factor, “B” between Human Nature “A” and the World “C”. It is itself affected by the other two factors and affects them. “A” and “C” also affect each other:- A <> B, A<>C, B<>C.
In fact, human beings cannot be apart from their social and physical environments. Therefore, every condition requires all three factors. This gives us 7 (or 8) possible conditions:-
(1) X1, (2) ABC, (3) ACB, (4) BAC, (5) BCA, (6) CAB, (7) CBA, (8) X3
We can call this a Developmental Series. It describes different possible kinds of individuals, groups or communities as well as possible stages of development.
Here X means that the three factors are unified and have not differentiated. X1 is the original state. The second stage shows that A dominates over C and is mediated by B. That is, it is impulses from within man which play the active part in transforming the environment, mediated by the social conditions - the culture, ideas, industries, organisation, family life, education, economic and political systems. At the third and following stages the human Will becomes progressively more passive and the effects of the environment become increasingly more dominant. At stage 4 and 5 it is the Civilisation, culture or Social factor which has the dominant role. The human Will mediates in stage 4 and becomes passive at stage 5. At stages 6 and 7 the physical environment has the dominant position. X3 at Stage 8 represents a reflection of X1 at a lower point. Reunification of the three factors has taken place.
Note that:- (a) These 6 stages may collectively be regarded as X2, which is the intermediate stage between X1 and X3. (b) If we look at the factors which dominate then we get 3 pairs e.g. 2 and 3, 4 and 5, 6 and 7. These are also related in the same way as “A”, “B”, “C”. But we can also consider the passive factors or the mediating factors and they also form 3 pairs. (c) The sequence of first 4 stages are reversed in the other four. E.g. 1-2-3-4 is a mirror image of 8-7-6-5. We could describe four stages and this description would fit the other 4 at a lower or higher level in reverse. (d) The Created World is Fractal in nature, “As above so below”. This is partly demonstrated above and will be further shown elsewhere. Therefore, each of these 7 elements, parts or stages, can be divided into similar parts or stages. (e) The sequence of stages in the series as shown represents degeneration or Involution. The reverse direction would represent development or Evolution. Humanity can be regarded as ascending a ladder through the rungs:- 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
Humanity, when it first emerged on this planet may be regarded as having been in the condition X3. They were part of the environment. This is also the condition of the new-born baby in whom no awareness of the distinction between “I”, “Other-Is” and “Not-I” has yet arisen. There is then a gradual ascent. A vague awareness of self as distinct from the other two factors gradually arises. This Self gradually takes, or ought to take, greater and greater conscious responsibility and control over affairs in the physical and social environment and also in the inner psychological sphere. At last, it should reach X1 where the three factors are again re-united but at a higher level. It is this stage which is properly the state of “Surrender” (Islam).
Not a great amount is known about the first three stages except that they are thought of as:- (i) The Fruit Gathering, (ii) The Hunting, (iii) The Herding Nomadic stages. The conflict between Able and Cain could, perhaps, refer to the second and third stage. This is followed by:- (iv) The Agricultural and then (v) The Industrial Stage. This is to be followed by:- (vi) A Sociological and then (vii) A Psychological or Spiritual Stage before (viii) The Final Return. All these require a different ways of thinking, attitudes, motives, modes of action, social interaction, relationship with the environment, and ways of looking at the world, behaving and living. This can be called a “Spirit of the Age”. Each requires a different State or Level of Awareness. After a period of gradual development there tends to be a sudden rapid revolutionary change from one state of equilibrium to another, a change of quantity into quality. This is like water coming to a boiling point and turning to steam or like the spring in a switch. Chaos and Catastrophe Theories are making a study of this. This is usually triggered by some external impulse, which may be a geophysical disaster or crisis in the balance between population and environmental resources.
We can distinguish between four possible Levels of Awareness corresponding to the stages 4 – 3 – 2 - 1
(1) Thinking of the World in Space terms. Things are seen as “Static” consisting of structures and patterns in space only. Even if time is taken into consideration, it is regarded as cyclic so that the overall state remains static. For instance the alternation of day and night and the changes of the seasons within a year constantly recur. The cycles of heaven are Eternal and unchanging. All past Civilisations appear to have had this attitude in thought, organisation and behaviour.
(2) Thinking of the World in terms of Time. The emphasis is on motion, change, energy, life, growth, development, evolution and progress. The World is seen as “Dynamic”. Western Civilisation may be regarded as belonging to this stage. Instead of the Circle where all points on the circumference are equidistant from the centre, we now have the Ellipse where distances and speeds vary. This describes the motion of the planets and other heavenly bodies. In mathematics, Calculus which deals with change and growth, is invented. Change also implies relativity and changes in perspective. We have The Theory of Evolution and of Relativity. This is also reflected in the development of the Arts. Political systems incorporate tolerance for differences of opinion and facilities for political change. Industry and the Economic system allows and encourages competition, research and development, and a constant flow of new inventions and encourages changes in fashion. The mentality of the people incorporates the notion of change, progress and diversity in all fields, even in conventions, morality and behaviour.
(3) A third higher stage is gradually becoming discernible, but is not generally perceived just as the second stage could not be generally perceived from the first. This sees the World in terms of “Levels of Order”. This combines constancy and change. All changes have a pattern and even if this pattern changes it does so according to a pattern. In fact, it is not possible to recognise, understand or control anything if there was not some kind of regularity. But this regularity need not be a simple one. That is, its elements need not be identical. They may be different but some rule connects them. Things are seen as belonging to a system such that there are interactions between the parts with feed back cycles. Changes in the real “live” world are, therefore complex and not simple and linear, except when isolated from their context which “kills” them. This makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts. The rule by which the phenomena of the world are described can not be regarded as independent of the quality of the mind which apprehend them. Discriminating between one thing and another and the ability to see similarities by which we perceive classes and understand concepts can vary.
(4) The State of
The above three stages or Levels of Awareness may be regarded as the Stages 4, 3 and 2 in the Developmental Series. Or they could be regarded as each consisting of the pairs where “C”, “B” and “A” respectively have the dominant position. Stage 1, described as X1 would then be the Fourth Level of Awareness.
It will be found that though the Islamic
Civilisation itself belonged to Stage 1, it did lay down the seed for the
development of the other stages. While the Muslims themselves were caught by
the habits and traditions they had created, further development required another
set of people under another set of conditions. The collision with Islam and the
discovery and settlement of the New World away from the congestion and
traditions of the
Is it possible that just as the impact of Islam
on Europe and the discovery of the
It is, however, certain that if Muslims or others do not adhere to true religion intelligently understood, to Truth, they will certainly be replaced by those who will.
"But
if ye turn your backs, then I have conveyed to you that wherewith I was sent to
you; and my Lord will replace you with another people. Ye cannot harm
(frustrate) Him at all; verily, my Lord is Guardian over all things!"
11:57
“Do you
not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth in Truth? If He please He
can remove you and replace you with a new creation;” 14:19
“We, even
We created them and made firm their frame, and when We will We will replace
them, bringing others like them in their stead. Surely this is an admonition;
whoever will, let him take a straight path to his Lord.” 76:28-29
“Do not
they see how many a generation We have destroyed before them, whom We had
established more firmly than you, and sent them abundant rain from heaven, and
made the rivers flow beneath them? Yet We destroyed them for their sins, and
raised up other generations after them.” 6:6 See also 21:11, 28:58, 40:21
It is important to note the following:-
“Every
nation has its appointed term, and when their appointed term is completed they
cannot delay it an hour, nor can they advance it.” 7:34
Nations and Civilisations do rise and fall and are replaced by others just as one generation of human beings replaces another. This allows adaptation, development and evolution. Nations rise because of a set of characteristics that give them advantage over others. But this advantage brings them success and transforms the world. But it also conditions them mentally, creating habit and automatism instead of conscious action. This obstructs adaptation to change. There is a gradual increase in the divergence between these two factors. This increases suffering which may break the shell of automatism and wake them up gradually in increasing numbers, the more intelligent and sensitive first. A new conscious examination of the foundations of thought begins and there must be a reformulation and deeper understanding of the Foundation Truths. The older ways of seeing and thinking which were understood when times and conditions of life were different must give way to formulations which will be understood in the new times and conditions of life. Let it not be misunderstood. It remains true that the degeneration of man, as well as his civilisation and environment is the result of the abandonment of Islam (or true religion in general) because that is what provides a value system and gives controlled direction to psychic energies which would otherwise be squandered. But it needs to be consciously understood and applied. The following verses, though interpreted in an unorthodox manner, can be seen as supporting the above thesis.
“When it is said to them: Follow what Allah has revealed, they say: Nay, we will follow the way of our fathers. What! Even though their fathers had no sense (or wisdom) at all or guidance?” 2:170
“Say: He is able to send calamities on you from above you and from beneath your feet, and to confuse you with dissenting sects, and to make you taste the violence of each other. See how We explain the Signs, in various ways that haply they may understand. Thy people called it a lie, and yet it is the truth. Say: I have not been put in charge over you. For every Announcement there is a set term, and ye will soon know it.” 6:65-67
However, as verse 7:34 above indicates, it is not possible to revive the whole nation or community. Most people in those communities have either abandoned their religion altogether, or being uneducated and having different native languages do not understand it, or are entrenched in the old forms and formulations which have become meaningless. There does not seem to be any way of stopping the sectarian disputes and conflicts that corrupts and weakens them and brings down the wrath of Allah. The dogmas of the sect have become the idols they worship. Those who awake must form new communities. Islam itself has undergone several such phases. The power passed from the Arabs to Persians and then the Turks.
It is a habit among Western scholars, owing
perhaps to ego-centric reasons, to trace the present Western Civilisation to
It seems that not only has Islam been corrupted by the attempt to interpret and justify it through Greek Philosophy and Logic and Roman Law and organisation, as has Christianity, but that this has also imposed severe restrictions on Muslim thinking as it has in the West. This is because instead of an emphasis on awareness and observation and on the virtues, it has tended to concentrate efforts on verbal jugglery. This it seems to me is a kind of intellectual game played by those who were well off and had leisure because all the real work was done by slaves and, therefore, it is these who had contact with realities while the masters could indulge themselves in fantasies.
----------<O>----------
29. Healing........... Contents