Tradition and Traditionalism in Muslim Community
By Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef, New Age Islam
27 January 2022
Why Is
So That Whenever There Is Any Progress In Medical Field Or In Any Scientific
Branch Of Knowledge Our Ulema Feel Challenged
Main
Points:
1. Western
infidels are interfering in God's affairs!
2. how can we
as an Ummah be so narrow-minded while we are the inheritors of great legacy
Muslim philosophers, scientists and inventors
3. Most often
we ourselves are the cause of this rampant islamophobia.
-----
The Western infidels are interfering in God's affairs! latest is the case of transplanting the pig heart in a human body by medics in US; the enemy number one of Islam! This is a sample of jargon proclaimed nowadays from rooftops in our religious circles, time and again, especially among the ulema of our neighbouring country, Pakistan.
We have been hearing from
our childhood and it is very vehemently being reiterated that "the
knowledge of all kinds of the unseen is with the Almighty God and no one can
know it". But today a lot has become known by scientists and this speed of
knowing is increasing day by day. From new cosmology based on natural evolution
explored and explained by Charles Darwin, human "DNA" and genetic
engineering, cloning of the sheep named as Doli, lab-born usable flesh,
Artificial Intelligence, the cyber world, automation age ushered in by Nano
technology and more recently the James Webb telescope's journey to the skies to
unravel natural mysteries and so on. There are much more hidden facts in the
universe that remain to be revealed but could be explored and revealed in due
course of time.
Why it is so that whenever
there is any progress in medical field or in any scientific branch of knowledge
our Ulema feel challenged and, therefore, oppose it initially then gradually
they come to terms with it. For example, they resisted telephone, tv etc,
saying that some Jinny speaks in there. They resisted in the beginning loud
speaker with heated debate around it. They opposed photography, and strangely a
section of Ulema is still opposing it, while many of them are using photography
and images for personal gratification or propagating their ideas with this tool
unscrupulously, though still giving fatwas, dubbing it forbidden and haram to
the masses! They still grudge the banking system, on the ground that it is a
damned Jewish invention, yet are unable to give satisfying answers legitimizing
their objections to it.
That is why I was not
surprised at all when they express confusion in the case of heart
transplantation. The question is how can we as an Ummah be so narrow-minded
while we are the inheritors of a great legacy of Muslim philosophers,
scientists and inventors like Jabir bin Hayyan, Ibn Al-Haytham, Al-Khwarizmi
and Abul Qasim Al-Zahrawi, Ibn Rushd and Ibn Sina et al?
Time is defeating us day in
and day out and science is venturing into miracle after miracle. We Muslims, a poor
lot, still trying to apologize, defend or somehow justify our traditional
thinking which is sacred to us. But how long will it continue to perform this
duty of adjusting the rotten traditional thinking with the scientific one? Our
traditional views -- such as the unscientific notion of revolving of the sun
round the earth! -- are constantly being challenged by new scientific conquests
and researches, arising from the scientific revolution. We have in our ranks
many people, YouTubers, bloggers, and Shariah proprietors who try in vain to
defend bizarre viewpoints belonging to our “sacred” past. But for how long?
Isn't now a hard time for our interpretations of religious texts in the face of
new cosmology based on natural evolution?
We have been hearing since
childhood that it would be near the Day of Resurrection that knowledge will be
taken away. Knowledge has really been taken away but from which nation has it
been taken away? This is the billion-dollar question.
Our religious zealots poetically say and boast
that it is the heart of a believer that is the centre of enlightenment and
Godly manifestation and now it is being preyed upon by putting a pig's heart
there. According to our popular thinking
pig is a very impure animal and eating its meat produces savagery and
barbarism, so it could not be sanctioned religiously of taking advantage of
it's impure heart. But the question is if this is the case then why God created
a pig heart similar to the human one? And why pig eaters, the Goddamned
westerners are more humane than non-consumers of pig flesh? And more
relevantly, where has gone our principle of iztirar( اضطرار
a dire and invariable need) to save a human life? What should we do now?
The biggest tragedy for us is that our
wallet is empty of research and our collective heritage of nearly three past
centuries is nothing but "good tidings’" for believers! when Charles
Darwin came up with his theory of Human evolution, Muslim scholars and
ideologues such as Maulana Maudoodi failed miserably, either to appreciate that
aspect or even refute it with good, sound and convincing methodology and
scientific reasoning. They could do nothing except mocking the theory by saying
that Darwin made human beings children of apes and monkeys. They could not
delve deep into the matter, even though the theory has its roots in the rich
Islamic scientific heritage in the writings of Ibn Miskawayh ,Al-Jahiz and Rumi
et al.
Tradition is a good thing and a healthy mind
does not deny the value of tradition, but tradition should be used as a tool to
explore new vistas of knowledge, invent new methods and use that for betterment
in future. So, we have to think that we have become a burden on earth by our
perverted, parochial thinking, narrow mindedness and blind imitation of our
clergy.
Nobody can deny that by
dint of new technology the world now has become a global village. It has shrunk
down to your fingertips as it is popularly said. Now no nation, no faith group
or no country can live in isolation from other nations and countries. Clearly a
tolerant and science-oriented outlook is required.
Coming to Muslim Ummah, we see that
it is still living in its past glory. That past is now a bygone era, our
present is not so good and our future is depending on what we do now and what
steps we would take for betterment of the future. We generally mourn and bitch
about our clergy and their unscientific approach and rotten ways of thinking.
Yet the irony is that there are so many modern educated people, drawing upon
Urdu critics and writers like M. Hasan Askari, Saleem Ahmad and Javed Akbar
Ansari or following blindly the footsteps of some western converts like Abu
Bakar Martin Lings and French convert Rene Genu (Abdu Wahid Yahya) etc. These
rather extremist thinkers and critics of the West abhor all western scientific
achievements. In Pakistan these traditionalists have now became a school of
thought which is unfortunately waging a misguided jihad against all rational
activities and scientific research.
Most of the time we
complain of growing Islamophobia around the world, yet if we could introspect,
most often we ourselves are the cause of this rampant islamophobia. The holy
Quran says: "Verily those who believe and do righteous works, the
Compassionate will assign for their affection" (Maryam:96) It was a
promise made by God for the prophet and his companions and was fulfilled in
very gigantic mode. AS history tells us Muslims of the first generation were
welcome around the world most of the times, after initial resistance and
warfare because they were not the epitome of dreadfulness, terror and extremism
from which human being will more likely flee. Instead they were a messenger of
love, peace, and justice, virtues which human beings are always in want of and
aspire to. That is why people invited them, opened their doors, cities and
citadels and rendered their keys to them.
History testifies that when the Byzantine
imperial forces were busy in fighting the invading Arabs in Yarmok and
Ajnadeen, people of Syria were sending love letters to them, Busra opened her
door, Hums requested them to come, Tripoli was waiting for them and not only
that they were welcomed in Egypt too. It was all for one reason, that they were
the salt of the earth in the words of Jesus. They were useful for the people,
for the human sciences, for the research and knowledge and for human
civilization. And it is law of nature that ‘’Then as far the scum, it departs
as rubbish, and as far that which benefits mankind, it lasts on the earth!
(Ar-raid:17)
The question is, how long will we
continue to use failed "justification tactics" to make ourselves
falsely compatible with the times, only to the extent of mouthing big words and
doing nothing? The biggest question that arises today on our traditional
thinking is that we are so stunned by some scientific discoveries today, and in
the time to come more such revelations will surely come to light for which we
may have no response except bowing down in shame before other people.
Do we have an any plan for that? Or will our
demagogues continue to speak loud, only with stubbornness. But the question
will be the same, till when? Isn't it true that we have changed completely from
what we were in the past? This is something to think about.
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Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef is a Research Associate
with the Centre for Promotion of Educational and Cultural Advancement of
Muslims of India, AMU Aligarh.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/tradition-traditionalism-muslim-community/d/126249
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