Islam Requires A Renewed Scientific Rigour, Philosophical Vigour And New Hermeneutics: New Age Islam Columnist Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi On The “Ghazali Day” In Jamia Arifia— Khanqah-e-Arifia, Allahabad
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
18 November
2022
The “Ghazali
Day”—an annual educational and cultural competition among the madrasa
graduates and students of Alimiyat and Fazilat (courses on classical Islamic
sciences)— is organized by Jamiyat-al-Talaba (students’ association) of Jamia
Arifia, Saiyed Sarawan, which is running under the aegis of Shah Safi Memorial
Trust of the Khanqah-e-Arifia in Allahabad (Prayagraj) in Uttar Pradesh.
Students of Dars-e-Alia Nizamia and Advanced Diploma in Dawah & Islamic
Studies (a specially designed two-year program at Jamia Arifia) rigorously
participated in this three-day event (13-15 November) which sought to highlight
the role and perspective of Abu Hamid al-Ghazālī (1056–1111) popularly known as
Imam Ghazali in India who was one of the most prominent and influential
philosophers, theologians, jurists, and Sufi mystics of Sunni Islam.
On this
occasion, Mr. Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi an Indo-Islamic scholar and regular
columnist at New Age Islam was invited as the Chief Guest to address the
students enrolled in various theological courses and programmes running at
Jamia Arifia of Allahabad. Before proceeding ahead, an introduction to the
broader vision of the Khanqah-e-Arifia and educational curriculum of Jamia
Arifia along with the background of its inception is worth mentioning:
Historically,
the Madrasa curriculum in the Indian subcontinent was based on Ma’qulat
(rationalistic discipline in Islamic studies) along with Manqulat (traditionalist
sciences). Mughal Emperors took personal interest in Islamic theology so much
so that they encouraged the Muslim seminaries in the then India to foster Ma’qulat
(rational disciplines) in their textbooks in consonance with the medieval
Muslim intellectual tradition. But later on, due to political reasons Ma’qulat
was side-lined and thus it gradually gave way to Manqulat which is now accorded
precedence over all rationalistic disciplines in Islamic theology and divinity
(Ilahiyyat) in almost all Islamic schools of thought in Indian Madrasas.
In this backdrop, the Allahabad-based Khanqah-e-Arifia which adheres to the
Chishti-Nizami Sufi Order established an exemplary Sufi seminary called, Jamia
Arifia in 1993 which has emerged as modern Islamic educational institution
distinct from most of the traditionalist madrasas in the country. As clearly
stated in its objectives, the theological curriculum of Jamia Arifia aims to
fill up the gap between orthodoxy and modernity, spirituality and
intellectuality, rationalistic disciplines (Ma’qulat) and traditionalist
streams (Manqulat). Thus, this wonderfully unique modern Islamic educational
institution on the outskirts of the Ganges in Allahabad was born out of a noble
vision of a contemporary Sufi master and rector of Khanqah-e-Arifia, Sheikh
Abu Saeed Shah Ehsanullah Mohammadi Safawi.
Mr.
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi
in his address which he delivered at Jamia Arifia, Saiyid Sarawan as the Chief
Guest on the “Ghazali Day” focused on the reconciliation of traditional thought
with contemporary scientific progression in Islam with a particular reference
to the epistemology of Imam Al-Ghazali’s Usul al-Deen (genealogies of
Islamic thought resources). At the very outset, he attempted to clarify the
concept of Deen in the light of Al-Ghazali’s writings on Usul al-Fiqh
(principles of jurisprudence), Kalam (Muslim philosophy), Mantiq (scholastic
logic) and other “rational disciplines” or Ma’qulat in the Muslim intellectual
tradition. Addressing a mixed gathering of Ulama and madrasa graduates at the
Khanqah-e-Arifia’s Sema Khana, Mr. Dehlvi stated:
“Muslim
world was the epicentre of innovation throughout the Golden Age of Arabic
sciences (800–1100), which served as the impetus for the Renaissance and
Enlightenment in Europe. But deplorably, the modern Muslim world has made very
little and abysmal contribution to science. More scientific literature is
created in India and Spain than in all the Muslim nations combined. With the
Muslim world’s role in religion once again being highlighted in the wake of the
Arab Spring, the Amman Declaration, the Moroccan Charter and the most recent
R-20 in Indonesia, the question of what went wrong about the Muslim
intellectual tradition of science and philosophy is quite pertinent today…………
“Islam needs a renewed scientific rigour, philosophical vigour and new
hermeneutics in light of the 21st century requirements”, he said. For more than
a century, several academics especially the Orientalists have believed that
Imam Al-Ghazali has caused the scientific decline of Muslim world after writing
his seminal work in Arabic "Tahafat ul Falasafa" (The
Incoherence of Philosophers). They tend to believe that Al-Ghazali demolished
philosophy in a way that prevented it from re-emerging in the Muslim world.
Thus, many of today’s Muslim modernists, heavily influenced by the
Orientalists, assert that Imam Al-Ghazali instilled hatred against science and
philosophy in the Muslim minds by his own understanding of philosophy as
antithetical to the Islamic tradition and religion, which ultimately
contributed to the fall of the Islamic civilisation.
“But I
think it is an inaccurate and untenable accusation against Al-Ghazali”, said
Mr. Dehlvi. In his rebuttal to such arguments, he extensively quoted from the
original books of Imam Al-Ghazali on philosophy and science as well as those
written by modern scholars on religion such as “Ghazali and the Poetics of
Imagination” by Ebrahim Moosa in which he lays great emphasis on his
poiesis—creativity, imagination, and freedom of thought—as well as
“Al-Ghazali's Philosophical Theology” by Frank Griffel. In fact, Al-Ghazali’s
intellectual, theological and philosophical worldview provides a sorely needed
model for a cosmopolitan intellectual renewal among Muslims of today, he
concluded.
The Chief
Guest speaker of this event was introduced by Dr. Zishan Ahmad Misbahi,
himself a classical Islamic theologian, faculty member, trainer and mentor in
Jamia Arifia, Khanqah-e-Arifia, Allahabad. An emerging Muslim faith leader and
theologian, Dr. Misbahi has authored a dozen of seminal works on the
contemporary issues in Islamic theology such as Takfeer (Dealing with Issues of
Excommunicating Muslims), and epistemology of Imam al-Ghazali, etc. He is the
editor of the research-based Sufi journal “Al-Ehsan” and is in the editorial
board of the Khanqah organ Khizr-e-Raah (an Islamic Urdu monthly magazine).
The event
was attended by the highly qualified teachers and faculty members of Jamia
Arifia who are educating their students both religious and social sciences,
preparing them for the universal representation of Islam with spiritual
training, moral values and Sufi spirit. It is not just an educational
institute; but rather a voice of renaissance of the peaceful Mystical Islam in
India in the modern context, said Mr. Dehlvi.
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