One of the difficulties that stand in the way of resuming the Islamic way of life is giving some cultural matters, such as sociology, psychology and education science, too much respect and considering them to be universal sciences.
Most people recognise these informations (skills) as being scientific and that the facts which these studies establish have come by way of experimentation, as a result they treat them with high regard and they consider the findings of such studies to be indisputable. In so doing they turned to them in order to solve their life's affairs and they taught them in our schools and universities as sciences, as well as implementing them in various aspects of life, and referring to them when solving their problems.
Consequently, whatever the psychiatrists, sociologists and educationalists say is taken as a guide and reference ahead of the Qur'an and hadith, and thus we carry today erroneous concepts and viewpoints because we give a lot of respect and admiration for such informations (skills), hence we refer to them in order to solve our problems in life. It has thus become extremely difficult for people to accept anything which contradicts this state of affairs; knowing that it generally leads to the separation of the deen from the temporal life and that it stands in the way of establishing the Islamic State.
The truth of the matter is that those skills cannot be scientific, because they are drawn from observation and inference and they are not based on experimentation. Simply to implement them on people cannot be referred to as experimentation, but merely repetitive observations carried out on different persons in different situations and circumstances, and therefore they are just observations and inferences and nothing like the experiments carried out in laboratories where something is tested or indeed put to the test.
Thus they are classified as cultural studies and not science, and besides, the findings are always doubtful with some considerable room for error. Furthermore, these informations (skills) are based on a false premise because they are based on viewing the individual as such and the society also as such, i.e. they are based on the individualistic viewpoint and therefore their vision moves from the individual to the family, to the group and then to society on the basis that society is formed by a group of individuals. This leads to the understanding that societies are split and that what is valid for one society is not necessarily valid for another.
In fact society is formed by the human (individual), the concepts, the emotions and the systems, and what is valid for the human in terms of concepts and solutions in one place should be valid for him everywhere else. These concepts and solutions would transform several societies into one single society for which the concepts, emotions and systems would be valid. It is therefore the wrong conception of society which has led to erroneous theories in education and sociology because they are based on that misconception.
It is also the wrong conception of society, because it is based on psychology which in turn is false for two reasons: Firstly because it considers the brain as being divided into segments with each of these segments having a distinct function or aptitude and claiming that some brains have certain aptitudes which other brains may not have. The truth of the matter is that the brain is one unit and the disparity of concepts and their difference come as a result of the disparity of things, which are perceptible through the senses, and of the previous information and its variability. There is no aptitude in one brain which is not found in another, but all brains contain the ability to think about every matter whenever the tangible reality, the senses and the previous information, were made available to the brain. Brains however differ in their ability to assess and link, and in the ability and the power of the senses - just like the natural variation in eyesight. It would be possible therefore to feed any person with any type of data and he would have the ability to digest such data; thus the claims which psychologists make about those aptitudes are groundless.
Besides, psychology considers the instincts to be numerous, some of which have been discovered and others which are yet to be discovered; some theorists went on to establish false theories based on this concept about the instincts. In reality, if we observe the human reaction one can perceive through one's senses that the human being possesses a vital energy which has two aspects; one which needs to be satisfied, otherwise the human would perish, and the other which needs to be satisfied otherwise the human, although he would survive, would become agitated and troubled. The first one represents the organic needs, such as hunger, thirst and the call of nature, and the second represents the instincts, which are the instinct of spirituality, the instinct of the species and the instinct of survival. These instincts reflect the feeling of weakness, the feeling of the preservation of species and the feeling of survival, and there are no other instincts except these three. Anything other than these three instincts would be merely aspects of these instincts; as for example, fear, supremacy and ownership, which are aspects of the instinct of survival; sanctification and worship, which are aspects of the spiritual instinct; and parenthood and brotherhood, which are aspects of the species instinct. Evidently, psychology's vision of the instincts is false and its claims about the brain are also incorrect, which in turn leads to the falsehood of the theories upon which it is based and consequently to the falsehood of education which has all along been influenced by psychology.
Sociology, educational science and psychology are therefore educational matters which contradict the Islamic ideology and which are in general false.
[Extracted from the writings of Sheikh Taqiuddin an Nabhani (ra)]
About this blog
In recent times a plethora of misconceptions, misrepresentation and myths have been forged about Islam
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.
This blog is dedicated:-
1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.
This blog is dedicated:-
1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.
29 Jun 2008
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What they said...
“Islam represented the greatest military power on earth…It was the foremost economic power in the world…It had achieved the highest level so far in human history, in the arts and sciences of civilization...Islam in contrast created a world civilization, poly-ethnic, multiracial, international, one might even say intercontinental.”
[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]
"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"
[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]
"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."
[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]
"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."
[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]
"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."
[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]
“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”
[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]
"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."
[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]
"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."
[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]
“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”
[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]
"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"
[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]
"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."
[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]
"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."
[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']
"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"
[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']
"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.
[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]
"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"
[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]
"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"
[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]
“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”
[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]
[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]
"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"
[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]
"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."
[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]
"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."
[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]
"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."
[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]
“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”
[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]
"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."
[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]
"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."
[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]
“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”
[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]
"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"
[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]
"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."
[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]
"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."
[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']
"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"
[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']
"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.
[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]
"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"
[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]
"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"
[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]
“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”
[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]
“Throughout much of the period in question, Arabic served as the global language of scholarship, and learned men of all stripes could travel widely and hold serious and nuanced discussions in this lingua franca. Medieval Western scholars who wanted access to the latest findings also needed to master the Arabic Tongue or work from translations by those who had done so.”
[Jonathan Lyons, Author, Writer and Lecturer, 2009]
1 comment:
Asalamu alaikum, there's more depth than that presented here within the subjects mentioned, thus picking and choosing one or two aspects does not suffice to cover the wide range of topics covered by the sciences of psychology, sociology and education studies (and even the aspects mentioned are questionable as advances in modern day technology have allowed for a wide spectrum of research to be carried out in these areas). Let it be said that the only way to learn about the world is to observe it and the origins of science were indeed formulated by this very method of observation followed by trial and error waAllahu Alam. Our hukum or judgement of the world is through aqual (intelligence)and adhaat (experimentation). Similarly the social sciences seek to understand human behaviour through a means of observation tempered with experimentation. Advances in technology have also allowed for the more 'scientific' research in areas of psychology especially to be undertaken whereby actual bodily response, MRI scanning of the brain responses, Hormonal regulation and neurotransmitter activities, FMRI scannings of brain activities, PET scannings, EEG (and the list goes on) have allowed for proper scientific experiment based research in these fields and contributed hugely to our understanding of the human psyche,diseases and disorders as well as more social aspects such as methods of changing adverse behaviours and parenting (examples). Of course with any field of study the 'fact' before us must be in lieu with our Islamic teachings and the daleel naqli of any given subject overrides our own pitiful knowledge in the area (such as cause and effect which is a fundamental basis of natural sciene, that a cause is followed by an effect) but we know that this principle by which the world is governed is not conclusive as we take the example of Ibrahim(as) going into the fire yet remaining unscathed (fire usually burns, in this case it did not, by the will of Allah swt). So from the given example, this is a miracle in which Muslims must believe in despite it breaking the scientific law of nature. However, to discount a whole field of research (granted that some aspects, as with any science i.e. evolution, will counter the teachings of Islaam and can be duly rejected) seems quite naive, waAllahu Alam. Wasalaamu Alaikum.
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