The Error of their Interpretation of Islam - Islamic Renaissance

7. The Error of their Interpretation of Islam

These movements’ understanding and view of Islam are based on the same Western standpoint, preferring material existence and worldly pursuits to spirit and the life Hereafter. Though the metaphysical beliefs of Islam which collectively constitute Islamic faith are affirmed in their studies of Islam, they have not been properly stressed. Their gaze has been exclusively fixed on the teachings and precepts which Islam has laid down for the multifarious practical aspects of life and to which they have given the name of Islami Nizam-e-Hayat. Their interpretation of Islam affirms all the religious beliefs but it lacks the inner state of deep faith in God (Iman Billah) which alone makes us know Allah as the only absolutely powerful agent and the ultimate cause within us and in the cosmos. The belief in the Hereafter is asserted but it is practically devoid of the living faith, which was described by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) when he commanded: “Live in this world like a stranger or wayfarer.”

Similarly, the prophethood of Muhammad (SAW) is not denied, yet there is no real love or heart-felt attachment to him. For the more progressive elements, the Prophet had a role hardly higher than that of a postman or a leader of the social life of the Muslim community. And even those who hold the Sunnah as definitive and fundamentally important in religious matters, have created a loop-hole in it by making a distinction between Sunnah adat and Sunnah risalat. This bifurcation has made it possible for its propounders to live freely at least their private lives in harmony with the fashionable trends of the times. In a word, faith is upheld only to the extent which suffices for one to be called a “Muslim” in the legal sense of the term. The inner experience of faith which truly fulfills and validates the propositions of Islamic belief is not present. Indeed nobody seems to be aware of its importance and indispensability.

It is an outcome of this very standpoint that the practice of the Islamic faith has come to be regarded as synonymous with the State, and worship (Ibadah) simply equivalent to obedience (Ita`ah). The Prophet’s statement that prayer (Salat) is the spiritual ascension of the believer is completely disregarded. The attachment of the human soul to prayer to the degree that it becomes the only source of inner happiness and peace is nowhere to be seen. 

Contrary to this, the more progressive elements have identified the canonical prayer with the social order of the community. Some others assign importance to it only in so far as it is a comprehensive method for the organization of the Muslim community. The power of Zakat, the annul poor due, to develop and purify the soul is regarded as secondary to its role in the Islamic economic system or national welfare scheme. Fasting is commonly said to be an exercise in self control, but its potency to vitalize the soul by relaxing the shackle of the corporeal body upon it is either not fully realized or left unexpressed. The Prophet’s saying (Al Saum Al-Junnah) is often reiterated in religious writings and sermons and a good deal of time is spent in its explanation. But the holy traditions (Al-Saum li…) is mentioned briefly and cursorily if at all. Similarly it is common knowledge about Pilgrimage that this provides the pivot of worship around which a vast universal brotherhood is organized. But its deeper religious significance and the spiritual blessings it brings are seldom expressed.

This new interpretation of Islam is a direct result of the universal domination of Western philosophical thought which has completely secularized the point of view of Muslims. Consequently the soul and its inner life is wholly discarded in favor of the affairs of worldly life which constitute the sole object of thought and reflection. This has resulted in a materialistic interpretation of faith and religion. Though at the theoretical level it is said that Islam is a comprehensive system of human welfare, concerned with both this world and the Hereafter. But since their eyes are firmly fixed on the problems of this-worldly existence. Islam is in the final analysis reduced to a political and social system. Theological beliefs are considered as no more than a “veil,” facade, or outer crust. 

The real mission they have set for themselves is the enforcement of this system of life and conduct. The yearning for communion with God, adoration of Him and humble supplication before Him, which are the real essence of worship, are relegated to a peripheral status.

The import of all these movement is more social and political than religious. They are more this-worldly than other-worldly. They are distinguished from other political and economic movements only in holding the Islamic way of life as a better solution to human problems than the life systems enunciated by capitalistic democracy or communism. And this is tantamount to saying that the task of reviving the real values of Islam has not yet even started.

This is the reason why these Islamic revivalist movements are comparable to ships without anchors drifting to and fro on the waves. Quite often they behave helplessly like a traveler who neither knows his destination nor remembers where he started from.

Source: Islamic Renaissance - The Real Task Ahead
To be Continued....