68.
To Hostile Critics
Many articles
criticizing Islam have appeared in a hostile media, some by seemingly
intelligent people but who appear to have misunderstood Islam completely.
It may be that
the following observations will lead to a better understanding.
(1) Critics are
often too literal minded. The literal use of language is only a recent
development associated with science, technology and legalism. Religious
language belongs to the past when words stood more for experiences and feelings
and not for purely intellectual and narrowly defined concepts. In fact, the
Quran constantly tells us that it uses symbolism.
"As for these similitudes, We coin them
for mankind, but none will grasp their meaning save the wise." 29:43
"Seest thou not how Allah coins a
similitude: A goodly saying, as a goodly tree, its roots set firm, its branches
reaching into heaven, giving its fruit at every season by permission of its
Lord? Allah coins a similitude for mankind in order that they may reflect. And
the similitude of a bad saying is as a bad tree, uprooted from upon the earth,
possessing no stability." 14:24-26
"Lo!
Allah disdains not to coin the similitude even of a gnat. Those who believe
know that it is the truth from their Lord; but those who disbelieve say: What
does Allah wish to teach by such a similitude? He misleads many thereby, and He
guides many thereby; and He misleads thereby only miscreants." 2:26 See
also 16:60,74, 30:27, 17:89, 18:55, 39:27
"He (Allah) it is Who hath revealed unto
thee (Muhammad) the Scripture wherein are clear revelations - They are the
substance of the Book - and others which are allegorical. But those in whose
hearts is doubt pursue, forsooth, that which is allegorical seeking to cause
dissension by seeking to explain it. None knows the explanation save Allah, and
those who are of sound instruction say: We believe therein; the whole is from
our Lord; but only men of understanding will really grasp the message."
3:7
Symbolism may be
used in three ways:-
(a) Real
physical events may be used to symbolize some psychological or spiritual event
or condition.
(b) An object or
event stands for the general characteristics it illustrates
(c) A story may
be invented to illustrate a general pattern which often recurs, and at many
different levels. It could be like a scientific formula.
The stories in
the Quran are regarded by critics as having been lifted from the Old and New
Testaments. This, it is supposed, proves that the Quran is not inspired. The
fact that they vary from the original is attributed to mistakes on the part of
Muhammad (saw). It is, however, perfectly possible for unconnected people to
have the same experiences or make the same observation and describe it in
similar or in different ways. A person who wishes to make himself understood by
the people will have to use their language, concepts, idioms and also the
stories and other references which already exist within the community. He may
use the same stories in a slightly different way in order to show that it is
not the literal event that is important but that it has a higher meaningful
dimension. The same idea could be conveyed through different forms or the same
vessel could also contain multiple or different ideas. There are also a great
number of stories and legends in the Old and New Testament and in the
traditions of
It is supposed
that stories such as those of Moses and Pharaoh are historical records. Though,
there may be some historical basis, religion is interested in the meaning and
value of the event for the spiritual welfare of the person. Some people point
out that Moses and Pharaoh may be regarded as types of persons in any society.
The story, therefore, illustrates something time independent about human
societies. The main significance, however, lies in the psychological field.
These persons stand for entities or tendencies within the psyche of each person
and we are required to become self-conscious of the inner processes that the
interaction between these entities creates. The believer might identify himself
with Moses, the representative of Objective Reality. But in the disbeliever,
Pharaoh, the ego remains dominant until confronted by Moses.
The Quran is
mainly a spiritual or psychological work concerned with human transformation.
(2) The
negativistic attitude of people. As shown by the above verse and is also well
known, attitudes matter. What a person sees depends on the condition of his
mind. A negative attitude closes the mind, while a positive one makes one
receptive. The mind may be closed by pre-conceptions: -
"They say: We follow that wherein we found
our fathers. What! Even though their fathers were wholly unintelligent and had
no guidance? The likeness of those who disbelieve is as the likeness of one who
calls unto that which hears naught except a shout and a cry. Deaf, dumb, blind,
therefore, they have no sense." 2:170-171
"And when you recite the Quran We place
between you and those who believe not in the Hereafter a hidden barrier; and We
place upon their hearts veils lest they should understand it, and in their ears
a deafness; and when you mention thy Lord alone in the Quran, they turn their
backs in aversion." 17:45-46
(3) How
ingenious people are in defending their narrow sectarian understanding of
things! They seem to want to defend to the death or viciously attack all other
ideas, which they regard as contradicting these ideas, rather than trying to
understand what the scriptures are really saying. This appears to be connected
with the ego, which identifies itself with thing so that any threat to it is a
threat to them personally. An illusion of self importance, of personal
significance, is created by the belief that one’s planet is the centre of the
Universe, that one’s nation is the centre of civilization, that one’s group,
political party, ideology, sect, family is the greatest, but of course only
because it is associated with oneself, who is god. It is an attachment or
fixation, a form of Idolatry.
"Have you see him who chooses for his god
his own desires? Would you be guardian over him?" 25:43
"But lo! Many are led astray by their own
desires through ignorance." 6:120
"....Obey not him whose heart We have made
heedless of Our Remembrance, who follows his own desires and whose case has
been abandoned. Say it is Truth from thy Lord of you all. Then whosoever will,
let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve." 18:29-30
(4) Ignoring the
fact that there may be many levels of understanding. Whereas most people are
willing to admit that when it comes to mathematics or science many years of
study might be required and one has to climb through many levels of classes,
the same is not admitted for religion. That which they have been taught in the
lowest class is to be regarded as the absolute truth and there is no need to
make any efforts to understand things at higher levels.
"He gives wisdom unto whom He will, and he
unto whom wisdom is given, he truly has received abundant good. But none
remember except men of understanding." 2:269
"Is he who knows that which is revealed
unto thee from thy Lord is the truth like him who is blind? But only men of
understanding heed..." 13:19
(5) Because of
these limiting characteristics few people have wondered why there are so many
apparently different religions when each of them is justified exactly in the
same way - they arise from people who have experiences of the transcendental.
But those who discuss and criticize these usually have no such experiences. How
then do they judge those who do? Is it an intelligent thing to do?
"Most of them follow naught but
conjecture. Assuredly conjecture can by no means take the place of truth. Lo!
Allah is aware of what they do." 10:37
It is necessary
to understand that Religions descend from a higher consciousness and the truths
they contain, therefore, exist at a higher level than the ordinary mind understands.
This is so even if it is very sophisticated mind and understands religion at a
more profound level. Generally, people tend to understand their own religion or
systems of thought at a higher level but other religions or systems of thought
in a naive way. This may be done sub-consciously to justify their own choice
and their own superiority. As they judge religions according to their own
subjective opinions, this cannot do them any good. The purpose of religion is
to cause development, to take a person from a state he is in to a higher state
which he has not yet reached. This means that he must suspend his own opinions
and accept the objective values which get him there.
A supposed
scholar of the Quran, but a non-Muslim wrote as follows :-
"According to traditional understanding
one has to translate Quran 96:1-5 like this: (1) Read in the name of your Lord
who created (2) created man out of a clot (understood as an embryo) (3) Read!
For your lord is most noble-minded, (4) Who taught by the writing cane (5)
taught man what he did not know.
"It really
is odd that a book should appeal to the reader to read when he already is
reading it ˜ and that even twice! The translation should be..........."
Firstly, the
verse is not telling the reader to read. It is telling us what Muhammad (S.A.W)
heard. Quotation marks should, therefore, be understood. Apart from this, there
is reading and reading. You can read with or without understanding, as the
above writer is doing.
Secondly, like
the other verses in the Quran this verse has many meanings condensed into it. I
will not go into details, but here are some pointers:-
The word
"Iqra" (translated as "read" in the above) is also
understood as proclaim, call, declare, announce, preach, cry etc. and not just
read. It may also be an instruction to discern, to concentrate, to decipher, to
interpret and so on. Iqra and Quran are related words.
The
"clot" may mean an embryo but it refers to something clinging
together, and though this could refer to clay it also refers to a family and to
a society. That is human beings are not isolated individuals but are formed
physically by clinging of husband and wife and the family, and they are
gregarious socially, and psychologically they are the products of mutual
influences.
The words Your
Lord is "most noble-minded" are a translation of a word that also
means
The words
rendered "writing canes" could refer to the pen with which human beings
write or any implement with which records are made. It refers, therefore, not
only to written books but also to the book of nature, both external in the
environment and within the individual. A person is himself a record, and the
commands and laws of God are inscribed in him. No man is born with a completely
blank mind. There is inherent knowledge (you might call it genetic information
today).
In order to
understand the verses we must not only see the meanings contained in the words
but also try to understand how they relate to the rest of the Quran, and to the
times and life in general and to oneself. Not just the meaning but also the
associated feeling should be considered. The reference to the pen and to
writing and reading should be understood as referring to a new coming age when
these things would become progressively more important. The Quran itself is a
written record of the original message.
Recording is
something that allows ideas, images and when properly encoded and decoded,
experience to be transmitted far and wide in space and time, reproduced and
also with greater accuracy. But there is a penalty - because the situation in
which something is said, and the gestures, intonation, facial expressions etc.,
are missing, then there is a danger of misinterpretation. This can only be
counteracted by ensuring that all parts of a message are inter-dependent, it is
recited in certain ways and in certain associations, and that it is socially
reinforced by practices etc. - the “clinging". Hence also the exhortation
to not just read, but read correctly.
"Those unto whom We have given the
Scripture, who READ IT WITH THE RIGHT READING, those believe in it. And whoso
disbelieves in it, those are they who are the losers." 2:121
"And We reveal in the Quran that which is
a healing and a mercy for believers though it increases the evil doers in
naught but ruin." 17:82
Critics and
others tend to criticize the Quran on irrational grounds or on superficial
rational grounds based on alien presuppositions, partial knowledge, selective
and out of context reading. In fact, if they really wish to understand the
Quran, they are required to use, not their intellect, but their hearts. That
is, they must engage their feelings as well.
“…And have they not hearts wherewith to
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
This blindness
is often caused by rationalization.
“That is because they preferred the love of the
life of this world to the Hereafter, and because Allah guides not unbelieving
people. These are they on whose hearts, and hearing, and sight, Allah has
sealed, and these, they are the heedless.” 16:107-108
The advice of
the Quran to critics of Islam is given in the following:-
"Argue not with the People of the
Scripture unless it be in a way that is better, except with such of them as do
wrong: and say: We believe in that which has been revealed unto us and revealed
unto you: Our God and your God is One, and unto Him we surrender." 29:46
"And when you see those who meddle with
Our revelations, withdraw from them until they meddle with another topic. And
if the devil cause thee to forget, sit not, after the remembrance, with the
congregation of wrong-doers. Those who ward off evil are not accountable for
them in aught, but the Reminder must be given them that haply they too may ward
off evil." 6:68-69
"Say: O People of the Scriptures! Come to
an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that
we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for
lords besides Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are
they who have surrendered unto Him." 3:64
"Revile not those unto whom they pray
besides Allah, lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance. Thus unto
every nation have We made their deeds seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their
return, and He will tell them what they used to do." 6:109
"Say: O disbelievers! I worship not that
which ye worship; nor worship ye that which I worship. And I shall not worship
that which ye worship. Nor will ye worship that which I worship. Unto you your
religion, and unto me my religion." Quran 109
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Someone wrote to
say that there is no similarity between Islam and Christianity. They are
totally opposed. Islam can be regarded as anti-Christian and the works of
Satan.
Answer:-
Obviously the
writer has not studied the Quran. Muslims accept Jesus and his teachings because
the Quran confirms his mission. It also contains all the moral teachings which
exist in the Old and New Testaments. It is not reasonable to suppose, as Jesus
himself pointed out when he was accused of doing Satan’s work, that Satan would
be undermining himself by teaching what the Messengers of God were teaching.
The Quran contradicts the teachings of Christianity on those points that are
not to be found in the teachings of Jesus. These even contradict his teachings
such as the divinity of Jesus, the trinity and vicarious atonement.
Christianity is about Jesus whereas the teachings of Jesus are about God and
the message He sent through him.
All depends on
what you mean by "Christianity", on whether one wants to go by the
realities or by conventions.
If we go by
realities then because it contains that which Jesus taught, Islam is the real
Christianity. As Christians teach that which contradicts the teachings of Jesus
then Christians are not true Christians but Pagans.
Christian who
really wish to follow Jesus will have to become Muslim or at least accept
Islamic teachings.
But there is no
point in arguing about this. Anyone who really wishes to know can verify this
for himself if he is impartial and unprejudiced.
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69. Questions about Man......... Contents