Muslim Ethics: Emerging Vistas

Muslim Ethics
Emerging Vistas


Author: Amyn B. Sajoo

Published by: I. B. Tauris Publisher’s London: New York in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies

In this book Amyn Sajoo has undertaken a detailed analysis of Muslim Ethics and its impact on society in past and present. The focus of his studies is on practical implementation of ethics which reflects Islam as a way of life. His reasoning on ethics was not based only on good or bad, rather he uses his intellectual energy in exploring the question “Why act ethically?” His study is based on very nature of pluralistic Islamic society which is very different from those portrayed by fundamentalist persuasions or better referred to as political Islamists.
He concentrated his thoughts on practical applications of Islamic ethics, which requires balance between material and spiritual life; and all definitions of good and bad lie on that balance. He very intelligently defined ethics and morals and the fine line between them; an how it defines individual identity and its impact on society.
I quote:
“….In formal disclosure, however, ethical perspectives are about what guides an individual or a community in choices that concern the “good” relating closely to perception of who one is and how best to live in one’s universe. Moral, on the other hand, are more specifically about rules that concern what is right and wrong, whether for individual or society.”

Certainly, ethics and moral overlap each other. As the social fabric of Muslim society is woven by those threads of ethics and morals, Muslims see Islam as a way of life.

Amyn Sajoo sees ethics as a common thread between all the ethics based religions. This thread ties all human beings and connects them to work in unity for the betterment of all mankind. This view was depicted by the illustration on cover page of his book, which is Noah’s Ark painting from Mughal period.

He explains this painting as follows:

“…consider the sheer diversity of life in the vessel where humans are far outnumbered by the birds and animals, and human themselves come from various walks of life. No overt religious symbol appear in their midst, even though the depiction stems from a scriptural narrative: God’s message to the Prophet Nuh (Noah) to salvage life from the flood (detailed in the Quran 11:25-49). Rather, secular and sacred are in easy confluence. The dragon-motif of the vessel itself is a popular borrowing from Chinese tradition, recalling a pluralist impulse that imbues Islamic Art.”

Amyn has divided his book into four chapters:

- Taking Ethics seriously: Adab to Zygotes
- Civility and its Discontents
- A Humanist Ethos: The Dance of Secular and Religious
- Pluralist Governance

I will tackle each chapter separately for easy reading.

I Heard God Laughing

I Heard God LaughingPoems of Hope and Joy
Renderings of Hafiz
By: Daniel Ladinsky
Published by: Penguin Books

This thin book of poems of hope and joy is a treasure of spiritual assets. This selection of Hafiz's poems, by Daniel Ladinsky, is certainly marvelous. Hafiz, whose real name was Shams-ud-din, was born in Shiraz, Persia. He was gifted with natural poetic talent. Hafiz was a student of sufi teacher Muhammad Attar till the age of 60, and was guided by him through different spiritual stages of understanding of divine love. Later on he himself became a sufi master.

In his poem, and his experiences, Hafiz uses symbolic numbers or words which need to be understood to get the inner meaning of his poems before reading them. For example, the number forty is used on multiple occasions as a symbol of learning and change. I will quote the significance of this number direct from the book, "I Heard God Laughing":

"....forty is often used to indicate a term of learning and change, such as the "forty days and forty nights" of Noah's flood. Forty is also called "the number of perseverence" marking a period of growth through testing, trial and purification. After the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites endured "forty years of wandering" in the wilderness before they were ready to enter the Promised Land. Jesus, following the ancient practice of the prophets, went into the desert for a great seclusion of forty days, which he described as a period of purification and preparation for the next stage of his work. The Buddha attained final enlightenment after forty days of continuous meditation. Or the words like "aged wine" are used to represent the purified (distilled) essence of knowing of love."

I would suggest the reader should first read "The Life and Work of Hafiz" by Henry S. Mindlin, towards the end of the book before reading the poems. This will give the reader a deeper meaning and understanding of poems selected by Daniel Ladinsky.

Ladinsky has presented the poems under seven headings, each with a specific theme.

1. "You are with a friend now" has those poems which talk about those preparations which are needed before begining the journey of love.

2. "Come to My House" is the part where Hafiz introduces himself as a Guide, Friend and Lover who invites us to share his life and see the world through his eyes.

3. "We All Sit in God's Classroom" consists of all those poems that unfold the journey of love through process of life, not by talking but by experiencing love.

"Someone Should Start Laughing"

I have a thousand brilliant lies

For the question:

How are you?

I have a thousand brilliant lies

For the question:

What is God?

If you think that the truth can be known

from words,

If you think that the sun and the ocean

can pass through that tiny opening

called the mouth

O someone should start laughing

someone should start wildly laughing

now

4. "Set this Dry, Boring Place on Fire" consists of selected poems that deepen the understanding of real love. Hafiz challenges the love to reach its extreme intensity and then experience the divine love.

"

Spill the Oil Lamp!

Set this dry boring place on fire!

If you have ever

Made wanton love with God,

Then you have ignited that brilliant light inside

That every person needs

So ____

Spill the Oil

5. "Let Me Near You Tonight" describes the relationship between spiritual teacher and student. It talks about the bond between master and disciple (teacher and student).

"Something Invisible"

Once I asked my Master,

"What is the difference

Between you and me?"

And he replied,

"Hafiz, only this:

If a herd of wild buffalo

Broke into our house

And knocked over

Our empty begging bowls,

Not a drop would spill from yours

But there is something invisible

That God has placed in mine

If that spilled from my bowl,

It would drown the whole world."

6. "May be I could become a poet" is the section that consists of all those poems that reflect why Hafiz chose to be a poet to express the divine beauty and love.

"Your beautiful parched, holy mouth

A poet is someone

Who can pour light into a spoon,

Then raise it

To nourish

Your beautiful parched holy mouth

7. "God's Laughter" is the last section consisting of those poems that talk about God's laughter. This laughter, which is pure joy, can be heard through His closeness and the reader can feel the joy. This laughter is a music of love on which you can dance with God.

"Forever Dance"

I am happy even before I have a reason.

I am full of light even before the sky

Can greet the sun or the moon

"Dear Companions"

We have been in love with God

For so very very long

What can Hafiz now do but Forever dance!

This beautiful book is definitely worth reading. It's tickling poems trigger the rythem in soul and give smile to my lips. Melodious words of these poems made my soul dance and my inquisitive being is trying to hear the God's laugh to eliminate my sorrows and enlighten my heart with joy.

The Conference of the Birds

The Conference of the Birds
By: Farid ud-din Attar
Translation and introduction by: Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis
Published by: Penguin Classics

The book "Conference of the Birds' highlights the disciplines of life which are required by a Sufi to reach the stage of baqa means everlastingness. This poem starts with a allegoric form in which birds of the world were told by Hoopoe that they have a king - The Simorgh - but he lives far away and to reach him they have to travel seven valleys. Those valleys are Search, Love, Mystic Apprehension (understanding), Detachment/Independence, Unity, Bewilderness (confusion) and Fulfillment in Annihilation (destroying lower self to achieve higher and complete life).

Initially birds were very excited to go in search of Simorgh but when they realize how difficult the journey would be they started to make excuses. Hoopoe answers those excuses with beautiful small stories.

In this poem birds are identified by their species and each specie clearly indicates a human type. Such as Nightingale is a lover, the Finch is the coward etc. Each of them makes excuses according to their type, for not going on the journey. Once the journey began, the birds started asking questions about the path or the way and why a certain way was taken; just like a beginner asks question to the Sheikh in the spiritual search.

All the excuses which the birds initially used for not going on the journey are very close to human excuses for not leaving material luxuries for the sake of the soul. For example, Nightingale says she loves roses and roses love him. Anyways, Nightingales are not very strong and cannot take the pains of travelling very far in the search of Simorgh; and besides that if he will leave the roses and not sing for them then how roses will blossom. Hoopoe answered this question and said to him that the rose's superficial love is not real. Rose does not love you.

"...Forget the rose's blush and blush for shame.
Each spring she laughs, not for you, as you say,
But at you - and has faded in a day."

Then to support his answer he says the story of a dervish and a princess. There was a beautiful princess and anyone who saw her once would fall in love with her. A dervish accidentally saw her while she was giving bread to the poor. He was in line to recieve a piece of bread from her. When she came closer he almost dropped the plate in nervousness. Princess smiled when she saw that and he dervish thought that she is also in love with him. He waited outside her palace gate for seven years and cried every day to see her again. Everybody told him to leave the gate and move forward for whatever he thought was not true. He, however, stayed there and kept on crying. Finally the servant of princess got tired and decided to kill him. Princess felt sorry for him and came out and told the dervish to go away otherwise her men will kill him. He replied that he would give away his life for her love. Princess was surprised to hear that and asked who told him that she loved him. "You and I have no match" she said. The dervish said that when she gave him the bread that day she smiled at him. Princess responded:

""Poor fool, I smiled from pity, almost ridicule - your ignorance provoked that smile." She spoke and vanished like a wisp of strengthless smoke."

There were plenty of such stories. Another story which I liked about obedience is when birds were convinced to go for the search of Simorgh and they accepted Hoopoe as their guide by a bird saying that "I am ignorant of right and wrong. I'll wait for any orders that you stipulate. Whatever you command I'll gladly do, delighted to submit myself to you."

Hoopoe was happy to take the birds under his guidance and promised to give a refuge and lead the way.

Then he told the story of a king who stopped at the prison gates; The king was returning to his capital and his subjects prepared a festival to pay him the homage. Whole towns participated in festivities. Prisoners who were in chains (in the jails) had nothing to decorate so they came near the gate with the chained hands and racked limbs and their ruined lives, to greet the king. The king stopped and met them and told them that they are free and would be paid in gold. The courtier asked the king that the whole town prepared to pay him homage with beautiful decorations and dances and the king did not stop to reward them, what was so special in those prisoners that he chose to reward them. The king answered that the rest of the people were like rowdy children who were playing with new toys and participating in festivities to please themselves and the king whereas the prisoners came near the gate purely to pay homage to the king. The king said: "I see the obedience here. They bow to my commands through good and ill. They know they will die in prison but they still took the pain to come near the gate to pay me the homage. So I will use my authority to reward their wisdom by giving them the freedom and paradise."

This book is definitely worth a read. The translators have done well in retaining the poetic expressions of Attar's work.

Knowledge and Liberation - Review

Nasir Khusraw

Knowledge and Liberation
A Treatise on Philosophical Theology
Edited and Translated by Faquir M. Hunzai
Introduced by Parviz Morewedge
Published by I.B.Tauris Publishers in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies

This book is the English translation of Nasir Khusraw's "Gushayish wa Rahayish." Nasir Khusraw was a leading Ismaili poet and theologian philosopher of 11th century. In "Gushayish wa Rahayish" Nasir Khusraw addressed some philosophical and theological issues of tht time from Ismaili perspective. All these issues are addressed in the form of questions and answers. These inquiries are ranging from creation of the world to responsibility of human being. There were all together 30 questions which Faquir M. Hunzai (Editor and Translator) divided beautifully into five parts. Each part is made of a central focus theme and questions are based on those themes, such as:

1. Cosmogomy - Under this title, questions (1-5) are answered which are related to creation of the world or universe.

2. Ontology - This heading examines those questions (6-11) which deals with the meaning of existent, not being and mind sould problem.

3. Physics - This heading explores the natural and material world and its phenomenon (12-20)

4. Theology - (21-25) Deals with the study of God with some silent question such as the Quran being created or eternal, the Divine Word, and the Unity of God.

5. Theodicy - In this topic all those questions (26 - 30) were answered which provide justification of God's goodness and justice in the face of existence of evil.

This is a complex book but I couldn't avoid reading it because it deals with soul searching questions and when I started reading I felt I was getting answers of those questions that occupied my mind since a long time. Even with all its complexity this book has the power to get you completely involved in it. I experienced a paradigm shift in my understanding. Nasir Khusraw is really very good in relating difficult philosophies and theologies to every day material to clear the understanding. Here I will give some examples under the title of "Sneak Preview" of these concepts, which will give an idea to the readers about what kind of secret treasure Nasir Khusraw has to offer in this book.

Sneak Preview - "TIME"

In one of the questions it was asked what was the time distance between Creator and creation. To answer this question he explained in detail what is time. Not to take the beauty of illustration from words, I will quote.

"We say that first it is necessary to know what time is so that this knot can be untied. It should be known that in reality time is [contained in] the act of an agent, because it is [a measure of] the movement of the [celestial] sphere. Thus when a measure [equal to] a constellation passes from the sphere, we say that two hours from night or day have elapsed, and when a half of the sphere pases we say twelve hours of time from day or night have elapsed. [However], if you take away from the sphere from [your] imagination, nothing remains of time. When the existence of a thing depends on another thing, then if you remove the later, the former which had come into existence through the later [also] disappears. For instance, if we remove the sun from [our] imagination, the day would be removed. From this demonstration it is evident that if from the imagination you remove the sphere, time [too] would be removed. [In reality], since the rotation of the sphere is the act of an agent by the command of the Creator, Time is [caused by] the act of the Creator Himself.

In this connection, those in possession of wisdom have also said that time is nothing but [a measure of] change in the condition of body, one after the other. This view is the same as that of time being [contained in] the act of an agent, because the totality of [the world's] body is within the vault of the spheres, and when the spheres rotate its condition changes as every point of it moves from its existing place to another place. [Furthermore], the rotation of the spheres does not stop because of its time is never ending.

It is inconceivable for a simple [person] that time can be removed from the imagination. This is because of the fact that since the human soul is linked with a body which is under time, it cannot go beyond [time and space] without being nurtured with the knowledge of the truth. As God says: "O assembly of jinn and men, if you can penetrate the bounds of the heavens and the earth, do so, but you cannot without the proof" (55:33) - that is, jinn and men cannot conceive anything in their souls other than what they see in the heavens and the earth, and they cannot go beyond what is under the heavens and time unless they receive nurture [of true knowledge] from the Imam of the Time who is the proof of God [hujjat-e-khuda] on earth."

Sneak Preview - "Sirat" (Path, Bridge)

"...When we come to know that the "Sirat" is the path of the soul not a path for body, and with regards to what has been said that it stretches over hell, that it is thinner than an hair and sharper than a sword, that people have to traverse it in order to reach paradise, and if they fall from it they reach the eternal fire - all this is correct, but it is necessary to know its esoteric meaning (ta'wil) not [merely] the exoteric description. Thus, we say that the "siraat" has the status of man, [who is positioned] between animality and angelicity, and is required to walk on it straight because unless he traverses it he will be unable to reach paradise. Paradise is the higher [spiritual] world and hell is the fire which surrounds this lower [material] world. The Ta'awil of this statement is that paradise means our liberation from the world of animality, and hell means to remain in that [animal] nature. If man practices the "Shariat" without [understanding] it's ta'wil, then he makes himself into an animal, he inclines toward the left hand and falls into hell from the sirat. If he acquires [esoteric] knowledge, but does not practice the shariat while claiming angelicity he inclines towards the right hand and falls into hell from sirat. However, when man walks on the path of humanity, in which he has a share from both animality and angelicity - that is he does the work which is the share of his body and acquires knowledge which is the share of his soul - he walks on the straight path (sirat-i-mustaqim); then when he traverses the sirat he is said to have reached paradise. This is so because having walked on the straight path using both knowledge and practice, when his soul leaves the body which is his sirat, he reaches the higher world, the place of angels and the true paradise."

Such a beautiful and full of wisdom explanation of sirat changed my understanding of Surah Al Hamd, or Surah Fateha (which is the begining of every prayer). Now it is very clear in my mind why balance between Deen and Duniya is important for the salvation of our soul.

There are plenty of detailed explanations of many Quranic verses, or ayats, in which Nasir Khusraw helped me in searching my sould and exploring the world unseen. This book is definitely worth reading for those readers who are curious about understanding their own soul, their role in the world, their obligation toward body and soul and how knowledge is required for liberation of soul.

Transmutation

Word of the Day

Transmutation

Change the form or nature of

Transfigure

Word of the Day

Transfigure

Change in

Annihilate

Word of the Day

Annihilate

Destroy utterly

Omnipotent

Word of the day

Omnipotent

Unlimited power

Ordeal

Word of the Day

Ordeal

Painful or difficult experience

Teachings of Rumi by Andrew Harvey

"Teachings of Rumi" by Andrew Harvey is a simple, beautifully narrated, and nicely organized book on teachings of Rumi, one of the greatest mystic of Islam. Certainly Andrew Harvey has worked as a smart messenger of Rumi's message with touch of his intelligence in the form of recreation of message to make it understandable to today's reader.





"Teachings of Rumi" is divided into four different "movements" and it can be seen as a beautiful inter-connected "symphony" of mystical teaching. Those four "movements" are "The Call," "Be a Lover," "Ordeal," and "Union." According to Rumi's understanding these "movements" can be seen as stages of journey of soul towards its origin.





The first stage of the journey "The Call" is devoted to the beauty, glory, trails and demands of the stage of "Awakening." In this stage a person has to be committed to prayer and spiritual disciplines, which can deepen their understanding of truth within themselves. Andrew Harvey used the sources like "Aflaki's" - Biographics of Mystics, Letters, Odes, "What Is in It, Is in It" Rumi's Table Talk and Mathnavi. He carefully selected wonderful mystical instructions of Rumi to clarify the stage of awakening in the first phase "The Call."





For example, he uses instructions from Mathnavi:





The Wine and the Cup





The wine of divine grace is limitless


All limits come only from the faults of the cup


Moonlights flood the whole sky from horizon to horizon


How much it can fill your room depends on its windows


Grant a great dignity, my friend, to the cup of your life


Love has designed it to hold His eternal wine





Or from Aflaki, like





The Three Pearls





When God created the pure body of Adam he drew it out of the earth and breathed into it His sacred breath and said to Gabriel, "Take from the sea of My Omnipotence three pearls, place them on a plate of light, and present them to Adam so he can choose one. The three pearls were Reason, Faith and Humility.





Gabriel presented the plate to Adam and told him what God wanted. Adam illumined by the divine light, chose the pearl of Reason. Gabriel wanted to take back the plate with the two pearls it still held to the sea of Omnipotence, but, because of their heaviness, he did not have the strength to lift them. The pearls of Faith and Humility then said to him "We cannot separate ourselves from the holy company of our friend Reason, without him, we cannot establish ourselves firmly or even exist.....





Or from the Table Talk, like





Be Worthy of My Gifts





The Queen of Sheba sent a gift of forty horse-loads of gold to Solomon. When she came to Solomon's country, however, she saw the mountains and fields, and even the dust on the roads, were all pure gold. Day after day she rode on gold until gold lost all meaning or value for her.



When Solomon saw her gifts he laughed out loud, "I never asked for - or wanted - gifts of any kind. All I ask from you is to be worthy of the gifts I'll give you."



All these beautiful narrations selected by Andrew Harvey were thought provoking and certainly lit up the candle of awakening in my heart. There are lots of narrations with underpinning message of awakening which as a reader of the book I enjoyed.



Now I am heading towards the second phase "Be a lover" which is a journey into the heart. Where supreme secrets of love find the reasoning and logic behind his/her power of wisdom.



At this stage the lover understands and reasons behind his/her own creation and celebrates that understanding in his/her heart. In this section Andrew Harvey selected many of those of Rumi's thoughts which vividly describe the pain and agony in lover's mind to reach his/her destiny. Those thoughts of Rumi are very open ended and has lots of room for different interpretations and meanings depending on the background knowledge of the reader. In my understanding the pain of lover that Rumi describes is the pain of detachment of lover from the world to achieve the bigger destiny to be attached with the Creator. In is the process of transformation or losing human soul to be one with the universal soul.



Verses from Odes



It Itself Becomes Sign



The one to whom's unveiled the mystery of love exists no longer, but is annihilated in love. Place before the sun a burning candle, see how its shining disappears before those lights? The candle exists no longer, is transfigured into light. There are no more signs of it; it itself became a sign.



The third stage of movement is "Ordeal" which explores the nature, meaning and price of painful experiences of lover which prepare him/her for the Great Death, the Annihilation-in-love or in other words Ordeals prepare the person to be one with the God by surrendering human attributes to revitalize in God. The following thoughts express that stage:


"You want reality unmasked? Choose death.
Not the death that drags you to the tomb
The death that is a transmutation
So you at last change into the light.

(Odes)

Destruction Precedes Renewal

"A man started to break up the earth with a spade. A fool came and shouted at him: "Why are you ruining the soil?"

"You idiot!" the man cried, "go away and don't bother me! Understand the difference between destruction and growth.

How could this soil become a rose garden or wheat field before it's broken up and ruined and made ugly? How could it become orchards and harvest and leaves and fruit, before it is utterly destroyed and worn down?

Before you pierce an abscess with knife, how can it heal and how can you regain your health?

Until the doctor purifies your tumors with his cures, how can your illness disappear and true healing arrive?

When a tailor cuts up a cloth, piece by piece, does anyone go up to him and strike him and say, "Why have you torn up this beautiful satin; What can I do with scraps of torn-up cloth?"

Each time that builders come to repair an old building, don't they begin by destroying what was there before?

Look at the carpenter or the blacksmith or the butcher; with them too, you'll find destruction precedes renewal. If you don't subject wheat to the grinding millstone, how will bread ever come to decorate your table?" (Mathnavi)

The last movement in this symphony or mystical journey is "Union." It opens up endless possibilities for the seeker; which is celebrated from many different angles. "In Union, the journey to God has become the journey in God." Rumi makes it clear that such a journey has no end in any dimension, and that its mysteries are finally beyond the reach of any human expression or even understanding."

Here Andrew Harvey sums up the book with the collection of those thoughts of Rumi that work as streams of guidance and a sensitive reader can feel that Rumi's words can work as medium of transmission depending upon the gnosis, courage and experience of the reader to be fruitful.

The following thoughts of Rumi shows a glimpse of Andrew Harvey's selection to reflect the last stage of union.

Divine Pride

One day, someone asked Rumi, "We see that certain ancient sages were extremely proud - what does such pride mean?"

He replied, "In people of God, pride is a pride of divine greatness, and not a pride of opinions or passion, nor a presumption that arises from high spiritual rank. When the Imam Dja'far Sadiq, who purified his soul and paid no attention to caliphs and kings, was asked about this pride, he replied, "I myself am not proud. I have abandoned my own existence, the greatness of God has annihilated me and installed itself in place of my pride; the pride I am speaking of springs directly out of the heart of the greatness of God; as for me, in the middle of all this glory, I do not exist." (Aflaki)

This book is definitely worth a read and certainly triggered my thought process. After reading this book many questions arose in my heart about myself. To a certain extent this reading was quite helpful in answering some of the questions I often asked myself, such as, why people who love God go through the agony of pain? or why I feel lonely even when I am in the crowd? etc.

Intellectual Traditions in Islam - My Closing Comments

I started reading this book "Intellectual Traditions in Islam" like an explorer who knew the homeland well but did not know the world beyond his or her own homeland. I understood many traditions of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) but beyond that I was curious and inquisite to know Islam from points of views and interpretations. I wanted to understand the underpinning thought a little better. It was like a "mapwalk" from history to the current times. All the authors of the different essays worked as a travel route helping the reader to understand the origin of their interpretation of divine guidance and leaving the reader at the intersection to choose his or her own path further.

It is a wonderful book for all those people who share the same curiousity as mine. It requires an open mind of a reader, just like a traveller who sees the places with his or her own eyes and through the tales and stories of the host of the place. Certainly this book is worth a read, with an advanced dictionary beside you to fully comprehend the content of the book.

To create some ease for the readers I wrote some "Words of the Day" for better understanding of the content, using "Websters" and "Collins" Dictionaries and for Islamic terms I used "Dictionary of Islam" by Azim Nanji.

Jihad

Word of the day

Jihad

As a general term, the struggle to create a just and divinely ordered society. The Quran refers to armed defence and justly executed warfare, for which Islam specifies the conditions of war and peace, the treatment of captives and negotiation and resolution of conflict.

In juristic writings Muslim scholars developed further the idea of jihad both as concerned with the defence of Muslim society and also as an extension of its borders. Such writings include extensive discussions of all aspects of warfare, including the notions of justifiable aggression, the authority for and conduct of war, the appropriate treatment of captives, including women, children and the elderly, and the role of arbitration and negotiation in bringing hostilities to an end.

Among Sufi Muslims and others, the idea of jihad as warfare represented incomplete understanding of the concept and interpretation of the Prophetic tradition. They emphasized the distinction between the lesser jihad, for war and defence, and the greater jihad, the struggle for mastery of one's own self to gain deeper spiritual understanding of the inner meaning of the faith.

In contemporary times Muslims have defined jihad in broader terms to encompass ideas of resistance to colonial rule, the struggle for emancipation and the fight against injustice and tyranny as well as ignorance. The term JIHADIST is now sometimes used in the media, to describe those who argue for and undertake war against the state or those they believe to be against the restoration of a true Muslim society and state. To such groups, Muslims and non-Muslims are equally culpable and therefore legitimate targets against whom violence and killing is justifiable.

McWorld

Word of the Day

McWorld

Term used by Mohammed Arkoun in Intellectual Traditions in Islam for describing the following:

• blind forces of globalization
• globalization, viewed from the perspective of United States and Western Europe
• characterized by its market economy, monetary system, technology, media and revelation in informatics which affects work and leisure, genetic engineering etc.

Impervious

Word of the day

Impervious

not capable of being affected or disturbed, incapable of being penetrated

Intellectual Traditions in Islam - 11th Essay

The Eleventh, and the last, essay "Present Day Islam Between it's tradition and globalization" by Mohammed Arkoun is the detailed analysis of globalization and its effects on today's world in general and its impact on Islamic world in particular.

He explained in detail what is globalization and how it upsets all known cultural, religious, philosophical and political and judicial traditions. How its monetary and technological forces achieve priority over ethical, spiritual and philosophical values.

After the collapse of Soviet Union, United States enjoyed the political domination and have control over global forces. Newly liberated nations faced by global forces and in danger of genocides, gave birth to the concept of humanitarian aid; which came with a baggage of languages, cultures, ecological equilibrium and customary codes and traditional solidarity of elite nations who were providing those aids, overriding the cultures, customs and codes of those nations who are receiving those aids. In other words economic, technological and monetary globalization for the desire of power and profit, stand in sharp contrast against the crisis of study of man and society. In Islamic context the rich philosophical traditions that were developed from the 8th century until the death of Ibn Rush (Averroes) have been lost.

Mohammed Arkoun raised the question of reforms in educational system in order to adapt them everywhere with the urgent needs of globalization. Other important question he asked was "Is Present Day Islam Impervious to Globalization?" He discussed the root causes of today's image of Islam and how Quranic concept of jihad was manipulated by some incomprehensible, anonymous decision makers with ethically irresponsible, murderous, physical violence supporter as a protest against structural violence of McWorld (blind forces of globalization). Promoters and manipulators of jihad and McWorld both have their own underpinning agendas. First one (jihad manipulators) want to bring back and revitalize vague religious mysteries and ruling bodies of clergy organized by the rank and traditional, historically suffocated rule. Whereas second (McWorld) wants to promote the market over the rights and spiritual aspirations of mankind.

Both those polarized notions of today's world need an alternative model which can integrate traditions and needs of globalization well. Arkoun gives a detailed account of suggestions on how this can be achieved which is worth reading.