The progress and
success of science, it is believed, rests on facts, and visible external
changes. But religion is thought of as being based on faith, which requires no
such evidence and its results being within a person are invisible. It is,
therefore, supposed that there is a contradiction between science and religion
and everyone these days wants external factual evidence for everything. Faith
is said to be blind. But this dichotomy is based on a misunderstanding. Islam
does indeed place emphasis on belief, but it also require us to follow only
that for which we have evidence (17:36) and that which has been inspired
(33:2). Therefore, no such contradiction is recognised.
"Believe in what I have revealed,
verifying what ye have got, and be not the first to disbelieve in it, and do
not barter my signs for a little price, and keep your duty to Me. Cloak not
truth with vanity and falsehood, nor knowingly hide the truth." 2:41-42
"And as for those who disbelieve, I will
punish them with grievous punishment in this world and the next, and they shall
have none to help them." 3:56 Also 4:151, 58:4
"Allah loves not disbelievers" 3:32
"Allah guides not disbelieving folk"
2:264so 5:67, 9:37, 16:107 etc.
“And follow (or pursue) not that of which thou
hast no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart, of all of
these it shall be asked (to give an account).” 17:36
“And follow that which is inspired (revealed)
to you from your Lord; surely Allah is Aware of what you do; And rely on (or
trust in) Allah; and Allah is sufficient for a Protector.” 33:2-3
Religion is
about life. Living implies interaction with the world. It requires not only an
input including materials and energy and also information, processing of this
information and motivation, but also action, an output. That which we do not
believe cannot be called knowledge and action depends on faith. Action requires
that we have some confidence that a certain action will produce a certain
result. This involves a faith in the nature of existence and ultimately in
Allah. We must have faith in our ability to do things or find a solution and
this depends on our self-image. The greater this confidence the more decisive the
action. There is, however, a difference between unconscious acceptance of
something and a conscious acceptance. The former is uncritical and may have
been acquired through addictions, fixations, habit, fantasies etc. Faith refers
to ideas that are consciously accepted, but differs from mere intellectual
assent because it involves not merely thought, but also feeling and action. It
controls the worldview, motives and behaviour.
The fact is that
we are able to control our bodies to various degrees consciously and
unconsciously. We do this every time we walk, handle things or do anything.
Though most of our physiological processes are outside voluntary control, they
are nevertheless affected by our intentions and ideas. In some societies faith
in the medicine man is so great that when he puts a curse on people they
actually die. Throughout the world faith in doctors allows them to cure
patients by means of placebos - pills and potions which have no physical effects
whatever. It is possible to hypnotize people and plant a suggestion in their
minds so that they are made to see what is not there or not see what is there
and act accordingly. They can also be made to feel pain or become unaware of
it. People can also hypnotize themselves. Suggestion is used by fortune tellers,
faith healers and practitioners of alternative therapies. It is used by
politicians, advertisers, publicity agents, propagandists and other
manipulators of opinion and behaviour.
Psychosomatic
diseases are now well known. Mental states can produce physical symptoms and
physical diseases produce associated psychological problems. On the other hand
many physical, moral or psychological diseases have been cured or overcome
through the mental attitudes and determination and baffled many doctors. Illusions,
hallucinations and delusions do exist where inner mental states are mistaken
for real external phenomena. These are recognised only because others do not
experience them. But it is perfectly possible that an entire community has the
same state owing to a common cause and this would then be regarded as real by
the majority. It may be that it is the few who are not under illusions or
delusions. In general, it is only possible to distinguish between the true and
the false by the consistency of an experience with the rest of experiences if
these have formed a system where the parts are inter-dependent. This can be
best done by those who have the appropriate abilities and have made the
required effort. This is why people follow leaders who have these abilities and
have made the efforts, but only if they have not already been misled by
illusions etc. The intelligent thing would be that they follow those who can
lead them to develop their own capacities for discrimination and discernment of
truth. Ultimately, however, the distinction is made by whether or not the ideas
enable a person to adjust to reality or not. That is, Allah is the final judge.
These
considerations show that faith is a very powerful force. It usually develops
unconsciously and may then remain weak and may also be attached to limited and
limiting things and channelled into harmful directions. But the same force can
be deliberately cultivated and used for beneficial purposes. Instead of putting
a person into the control of others who can manipulate him, it is possible to
put him into his own control and liberate him.
Human beings
like other things are instruments through which the processes of nature take
place. As such we create facts. We do so by our actions that create events, but
also by making inventions in the form of machines and instruments. We
re-arrange our environments by making farms, cities, mines, factories,
laboratories, hospitals, schools, parks, roads and homes. We also form
organizations and we create ideas, techniques, and art forms. From this point
of view, faith is prior to facts. It is a mistake to confuse "the real
world as it is" with "the world we see". The world we see is a
product of our thinking, motives and inter-actions and these are affected by
faith.
If we keep an
idea or goal in mind with sufficient tenacity and persistence, then as we go
through the processes of life we come across events, things people say, or
things we have read which we begin to interpret in a manner such that they will
serve the goal. Things, events, ideas that we might otherwise have ignored now
acquire significance and fall into place. Indeed, our actions also tend to be
such as to evoke relevant experiences in response. The problems, in fact, solve
themselves sub-consciously.
The language we
use draws our attention to things we would not otherwise have seen. New
concepts are invented and older ones are ignored and this changes perception.
If you scribble lines and dots at random on a piece of paper with different
colours or make an ink blot or look at patches on the wall, it might be that at
first you see nothing recognizable. But once some kind of pattern has been
extracted by selecting some features and ignoring others, it becomes easier and
easier to see it again. Patterns of patterns may be discerned to several
levels. It is possible that is how we make sense of the world that is otherwise
a bewildering jumble. But obviously many different and even contradictory
patterns can be seen by different people according to their personality type
and interests. Those who see one pattern or set may not be able to see another
pattern or set because of the contradictions involved or because the elements
that belong to one have been used to make another. In so far as we are all
human beings and have common experiences in environments, which also have
something in common, then certain patterns and concepts will be held in common.
Others will be specific to certain cultures or types of environment. Some of
these patterns are more useful and more comprehensive than others or better for
some purposes or more acceptable to some people. Some systems become very
popular or fashionable at one time but are ignored at other times, and are
replaced by new or older ones. It is necessary to understand, however, that
faith refers neither to the elements of experience or concepts nor to the
systems we build, but to the reality that we try to understand by these
systems. There is a tendency for the mind to get fixated on these systems or
the elements.
In order to arrive
at valid beliefs we need (1) sufficient and appropriate data of experience. (2)
a framework of reference within which we interpret this data. (3) Efforts by
which we process and integrate experiences into a single self-consistent
system. Efforts consist of search, observation, selection, evaluation,
interpretation, analysis, association, synthesis, organization, assimilation,
thinking, reasoning, prayer, meditation. It is exercise of the faculties,
prayer and meditation that develops the capacity for consciousness and the
facility to receive inspiration. Inspiration could refer to the perception of
patterns within the system of experiences.
We acquire data
about the external world through the senses but we are aware only of a fraction
of this. We do react to, and transmit, many signals unconsciously. All kinds of
forces also affect our bodies and minds more directly without going through
sense organs. We also have some inner awareness of physiological conditions and
of thoughts and feelings, and there is built-in knowledge and tendencies in the
genes, which, though we may not be aware of directly, affects our behaviour,
thinking and experiencing. We might become aware of this. In fact, most of the
knowledge is in the sub-conscious mind and the conscious mind may be regarded
only as a small window into it. The data of experience we acquire depend to a
large extent on what we do, what discipline we follow, what our motives and
interests are - these direct our attention and actions. Actions elicit a
reaction from the environment which also becomes data for us. Motives determine
what we search for, how we select, interpret and organize data, what we see and
what we direct our reason to. It is important to have a correct set of motives
and value system. This data has to be recorded in memory where it forms certain
associations with past and inherent data. We have to interpret this data and
see the connections between them and the pattern and order in them. We abstract
common elements to form concepts and we relate and organize these. We make even
further abstractions from these. The perception of this is not a matter of the
senses but of consciousness. A self-consistent system must be formed in which
no contradictions exist in order that understanding and control should develop.
The framework of
reference could be provided by science, commerce, politics, art, a
philosophical system or a religion. We need one that is comprehensive enough to
include all aspects of life. If the framework is narrow and restricted then
reason, prayer and meditation can more easily integrate the data. But numerous
separate systems can be formed all being confirmed and reinforced by different
experiences, but contradicting each other. There will be differences not only
between different religions, sects and individuals but also between complexes
within the individual. A person will compartmentalize himself and different
systems will govern his behaviour at different times. This is because it is
possible to cover the whole of reality or "field of possible
experience" with several different mutually exclusive or overlapping
frameworks.
Usually, owing
to insufficient processing and assimilation of the data of experience or
because of the obstruction of strong fixations, obsessions, prejudices, or the
narrowness of the framework of reference, there are several such complexes
within the individual, which may be linked or mutually exclusive to different
degrees. The person having these is in a state of disintegration and often in
inner conflict, uncertainty or doubt (39:29). Belief and faith refers to the
consistency within these systems. Islam requires us to become integrated,
whole, to form a single inner system. The concept of Allah and the doctrines
and disciplines centred around the concept of Allah are aids to this. Unbelief
or misbelief is, therefore, thought of as disease or a malfunction. Doubts
arise only when there is a conflict between experiences or beliefs because no
self-consistent unified system has been formed or the various systems or
complexes have not been kept apart by strong enough Barriers. These, like
political boundaries, have immigration and import and export laws and enforcing
agents.
The purpose of
doubt is to activate efforts in order to reconcile and restore harmony and
unity. A stimulus to action or awareness may be defined as an opposition or
conflict between two factors A and C. This may also be defined as a problem. It
is a state of tension, discomfort and suffering which the organism wants to
neutralize by attack, defence or escape. The purpose of the activity is to
remove the source of the discomfort, the opposition; to seek and supply a third
relating factor B, the solution. If we denote the original state of Unity by U,
then we may also regard B as having been produced originally at the same time
as the separation into A and C. U=ABC. It is, therefore, an integral part of
the nature of human beings to get rid of doubt and seek faith, and this is
connected with their own psychological welfare and spiritual integrity.
"Verily, those who misbelieve, it is the
same to them if ye warn them or if ye warn them not, they will not believe.
Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and on their hearing; and on their eyes
is dimness, and for them is grievous woe. " 2:6-7
"Nay but those who do wrong follow their
own lusts without knowledge. Who is able to guide them whom Allah hath sent
astray? For such there are no helpers." 30:29
"Those who buy error for guidance, their
traffic profits not, and they are not guided. Their likeness is as the likeness
of one who kindles a fire; and when it lights up all around, Allah goes off
with their light, and leaves them in darkness that they cannot see. Deafness,
dumbness, blindness, and they shall not return!" 2:16-18
"They to whom we have brought the Book and
who read it as it should be studied, they are the ones that believe therein;
and whoso rejects faith therein, it is they who are the losers." 2:121
"It is those who believe and obscure not
their faith with wrong, they are those who shall have security, and they are
the rightly guided." 6:83
"Say: I only follow what is inspired in me
by my Lord. These are lights (insights) from your Lord, and a guidance and a
mercy to a people who have faith." 7:203
"This is the book! There is no doubt therein;
a guide to the pious, who believe in the unseen, and are steadfast in worship,
and spend of what we have given them; Who believe in what is revealed to thee,
and what was revealed before thee (Muhammad), and are sure of the Hereafter.
These are guided by their Lord, and these are the successful." 2:2-5
"O Lord! Pervert not our
hearts after Thou hast guided us, and grant us mercy from Thee, for Thou, only
Thou art the Bestower (the Giver of Bounties). “ 3:8
“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
It is evident
from these verses that Faith does not refer to blind belief. It refers to inner
discernment that includes thought, feeling and action and refers to things that
are consistent with the system of experiences. Faith develops after experiences
and these have been thoroughly processed and assimilated. Experiences, however,
depend on what a person has been taught, what his motives are and what he does.
"The desert Arabs say: We believe. Say:
You believe not, but rather say: We submit; for faith has not yet entered into
your hearts; and if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish
aught of your deeds; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." 49:14
This is not
unlike science. It has to be remembered that we do not know reality as it
exists, but only its effects on our minds. We do not even experience things
directly but their effects on other things. The notion of “force” in science,
for instance, refers to that which causes changes but is only known by these
changes. Matter, on analysis, turns out to be describable only as packets of probability
waves. These notions are based on faith. So is the reliance on the efficacy of
Logic and Mathematics. The scientist has to be trained in a certain language or
conceptual system and he must do certain experiments in a certain environment,
the laboratory, and with colleagues similarly trained. The experiences so
gained must be interpreted in the scientific conceptual system. If the proof of
science is in its effectiveness, in the useful technology it creates, then the
proof of religion is that it improves a person and creates righteous people,
saints, people well adjusted to reality, who have greater knowledge, ability
and virtue, greater self-control, awareness and conscience, trust, charity,
fellow-feeling, consideration and a sense of responsibility. It is these things
which are the results and the proof of faith.
Faith may be
regarded as a relationship between man and Reality or the Cosmos. This
relationship is based on, and provides, a concept about the nature of Reality
as well as a self-image for man. We create facts through faith. That which we
do not believe does not exist for us. And that which we believe leads us to
create it. As faith refers to a conscious state, the person we are speaking
about is the conscious entity or centre of integration, the "I", and
Allah is the "I" of the Cosmos. The belief and faith in God is not
different from the belief and faith in “natural forces”, but has a much more
profound affect on the psyche. As man derives from Allah and has a function
towards Him, he is a Vicegerent through whom the spirit of Allah works. Islam,
therefore, requires faith only in Allah who is the ultimate source of all
things. This includes a proper knowledge about who Allah is, awareness of His
presence, the duties of man with respect to Him, fear , awe, love, hope, trust
in Him, reliance on Him, gratitude for what He provides, obedience, and the
desire to serve and please Him. A Muslim should cultivation all these. It makes
for objectivity and adjustment to Reality.
Some people feel
that certain experiences appear to be inconsistent with certain religious
doctrine. How is widespread suffering to be explained if Allah is compassionate
and Merciful?
(a) Living
things need to chase, injure, kill and eat other living things in order to live.
(b) There are
wars, revolutions, persecution, torture and other man made sufferings.
(c) Faith is
often shaken by natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
storms, and droughts, which bring suffering.
Since suffering
exists, it is argued, then either Allah is not compassionate or He is not omnipotent.
In either case, they feel, things can be better explained by supposing that
there is no Allah and things have arisen by accident or chance and evolve by an
accumulation of random mutations selected because of some kind of advantage.
But this too is unsatisfactory to many people. How can one explain the
existence of consciousness, purposiveness and creativity, the divine qualities,
in human beings, if there is no source and they are not already potentialities
in the Universe. Since Evolution is an increase in order, how can there be a
direction of development and selection without some kind criterion or directing
principle - one random mutation would simply be abolished by another. There must
be some regularities or Laws that govern events. But how does one explain the
existence of Laws without which the Universe could not exist. They are not
merely descriptions of observed regularities, but something that drives the
processes of the Universe. We are certainly physical beings and yet we are
conscious and this consciousness varies. Not only does it exist but without it
nothing would exist for us not even ourselves. It recognizes facts but also
meanings and values. Our brains, to which consciousness and the feeling of
"I" is attributed, is said to be a chemical and electronic organ
sensitive to electromagnetic, gravitational and other forces. But so are other
things to various degrees, including this planet, the sun and the Universe
itself. There must be something ultimately which is self-existent from which
all other things derive. It is clear that some other explanation is required to
create a self-consistent system.
One answer is
that both pain and pleasure provide direction to development - one attracts
towards a goal and the other repels from the opposite. It is not the pain and
pleasure themselves which are the point of interest but that which causes them.
Pain is an indicator of something malfunctioning. When we injure ourselves then
were it not for pain we would not know that something was wrong and could not
put it right. In the case of animals eating each other, this has certainly
promoted evolution. It is also likely that there is really no real suffering
because certain chemicals are released in the brain because of the chase which
actually remove the pain. Most people have had experiences where they injured
themselves without being conscious of any pain because their attention was
engaged in something else. Pain and pleasure are really proportional to the
degree of consciousness.
Goodness and
virtue are produced by overcoming evil and suffering. Whereas the fear of
suffering makes us into cowards, we can only achieve things after the suffering
entailed in hard work. Suffering strengthens us while ease weakens. All
construction and change involve some kind of destruction and pain. Life
includes both pain and pleasure and death is inevitable. We learn much by
realizing this, and can use both for development.
Man made sources of suffering can be blamed on
human perversity, that they have not followed and improved by applying religion
correctly. The resulting suffering is the punishment. However, many innocent
and pious people also suffer. To some extent they can be blamed for doing little
or nothing to improve others. We are all inter-dependent and influence each
other and must take responsibility for each other.
On the other
hand adversity and suffering can be regarded as a test of one’s endurance and
something by which one can be strengthened (2:155). This applies also to the
natural disasters. Some of these may well be the consequences of human actions
and ways of life. Greed, for instance, puts pressure on resources and causes
pollution that leads to weather changes and disruption of the ecological
balance. Heavy cultivation for profit using only single crops, killing weeds,
destroying animal habitats and reducing the diversity of life, using
insecticides which kill birds and other creatures, removes the nutritious
elements from the soil. The crops are sold to people who extract the nutrition.
The waste matter, instead of being recycled, is drained away through the sewage
system into the sea where it causes further pollution, poisoning and killing
sea creatures. The crops grown on the land require fertilizers which do not
contain all the trace elements and become poorer in quality. Much of the
fertilizer is washed deep into the ground by rain and not available to short
rooted crops. The Trees with deeper roots would have brought up the nutritious
elements into their leaves which, being dropped on the surface in the autumn,
would have formed a natural cycle. The removal of these trees affect the
rainfall in the area, turning it into a desert by making the erstwhile fertile
surface into dust, which is blown away by the wind. In other places there may
be torrential rains that drain away the soil. Pollution may cause global
warming and melting of the Arctic and
Antarctic Ice causing the rise of sea levels which drown much land. It is not
inconceivable that volcanic activity and earthquakes may also be the indirect
result of human activities, the result of their greed and ignorance. It may be
that they have become unbalanced owing the fact that their technology and
powers have outrun an equivalent development of motives and knowledge. Human
beings can develop sufficiently to prevent or deal with natural disasters. Some
nations with superior knowledge, organization, and technology are certainly
better than others in minimizing the effects of these.
It may also be
argued that the Universe has a direction of development and a goal, and that
man has a function with respect to this as vicegerent. We must not, therefore,
expect the world to be perfect already, but we have been created as instruments
to aid in its development.
However, the
main answer which faith must give is that human beings are only a small part of
the total existence. They cannot impose their own values on Reality, but the
laws which sustain the world must certainly have priority. We cannot judge
Allah, but Allah judges us. It is these objective values which must replace our
subjective ones. This is integral to the notion of Surrender (Islam).
Another source
of doubt is the scientific description of the world. It regards the universe as
dead while observing man is conscious and explains things by either full causal
determination or by chance. These two notions appear to be mutually exclusive.
Islam on the other hand explains things in terms of the Will or Command of
Allah where no such dichotomy appears. All natural forces derive by
differentiation from the Will of Allah as it percolates down the levels of
existence (heavens). The cause of chance or randomness is also the Will of
Allah, but implies that human beings do not know how to calculate or predict
these events. But as pointed out above the scientific description of the world
is only one of many ways of describing things. It depends on the purpose, which
is to develop a technology that is predictable and controllable. Yet all machines
go wrong. The notion of “force” and “machine” as applied in physics is then
applied to the industrial, economic, business, social, psychological, legal,
and political fields also. Here they become increasingly more inappropriate and
oppressive, leading to all kinds of malfunctions and uncontrollable reactions.
But this is seldom realized. Recent advances in knowledge have also shown that
fundamentally even in the dead material field things are not as rigid as was
supposed and that chance is restricted and not completely random - there are
certain calculable probability that something will happen. A particle may be
regarded as a bundle of probability which when it encounters another particle
or the measuring device collapses into an actuality. These particles are
themselves fluctuating or constantly dying and being replaced. This
fluctuation, the restriction of probabilities, and the collapse have not been
explained.
From the point
of view of the Islamic faith we have no power ourselves apart from that which
Allah has placed in us and that which we can obtain from Him. But Allah is Bountiful, Compassionate
and Merciful and shows this in the following ways:-
(a) He has made
us with the faculties, capacities and built-in motives to benefit ourselves
(32:9).
(b) He has given
us an environment from which we obtain our resources, towards which we have a
function, and by interaction with which we can learn and develop.(16:71, 67:15
etc.)
(c) He sends us
the Prophets with guidance, criteria and the doctrines and the discipline by
means of which we can interpret our experiences correctly and control and
change our affairs and ourselves. (2:213, 81:27-29
(d) He answers
prayers (2:186, 7:57)
(e) He has given
us the capacity to receive inspiration and sends inspiration to the sincere
(29:49, 40:15).
(f) He is forgiving
and the world has some flexibility and tolerance so that there are no immediate
or rigid irreversible consequences. We can repent and make amends (2:173, 182,
192, 218 etc.).
This flexibility
implies that a thing or person can be regarded as a field of potentialities, P.
Things are recognised only by their relationships and any particular situation
or context C causes a particular set of potentialities S to be actualised.
Changes in context C1, C2, C3...Cn will bring out different sets of
potentialities S1, S2, S3....Sn. Things seen from different angles look
different. Thus P=S1,S2,S3...Sn. C may change owing to introduction into it or
removal from it of some factor, or changes in its pattern or order. But C
itself may be regarded as a system having its own potentialities. These are
affected by the introduction of different objects P1, P2, P3 etc. However, the
interaction I, between the object P and its context C may also cause a
modification in both P and C. There is a total situation T=PIC which is itself
a part of the Universe U, and interacting with it. This has a function or Duty
D with respect to the Absolute A. A<>D<>TIU
Faith may be
thought of as something in P which governs the interaction I, which changes T
and U. Faith F may also be regarded as the relationship between person P and
the Absolute A, and as such it is part of D. This ensures that T will be in
harmony with U and U with A. Thus A<>F<>P<>I<>C<>I<>U<>D<>A