THE QUR’ANIC WORLDVIEW:
A springboard for
cultural reform
Abdulhamid A. Abusulayman
The International Institute of Islamic Thought
London – Washington
©THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT,
1432AH/2011CE
THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
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ISBN 978-1-56564-365-9 paperback
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The views and opinions expressed in this book are
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Typesetting and cover design by Sideek Ali
(pg.iv)
To
the sons of Islam, to the sons of man, a hope and a prayer that the Muslim community
and humanity at large might recapture the primordial Islamic vision, the
worldview that encompasses human accountability before the Divine both
individually and collectively: a vision of ‘power in the service of truth,’ a vision
of justice and charity, a vision of striving, creativity, and giving, a vision of
knowledge and globalism, a vision of pride and dignity, a vision of brotherhood
and solidarity, a vision of compassion, security, and peace…
A
hope and prayer for coming generations that are diligent and capable, that lead
the procession of pioneering leadership, that rescue the spirit of humanity,
guiding it toward the horizons of brotherhood and justice, and bringing us soon
to the shores of security and peace.
A
hope and a prayer to the Most Compassionate, Who hears our pleas.
(pg.vi)
CONTENTS
Foreword
-- xi
Preface
-- xiii
Introduction
to the Arabic Edition -- xv
CHAPTER I
The
Qur’anic Worldview and Human Culture: -- 1
The Qur’anic Worldview as the Foundation for Reform --
1
How Did the Islamic Worldview Become Distorted? -- 4
The Conflict Between Revelation and Reason: Reality or
Illusion? -- 15
The Islamic Worldview Between the Prophet’s Companions
and the Desert Arabs -- 22
What is the Qur’anic Worldview? -- 30
Self and Other in the Qur’anic Worldview
-- 40
The Qur’anic Worldview is One of World
Peace -- 55
Constants and Variables in the
Dimensions of Time and Place -- 63
A Realistic Idealism – 66
CHAPTER II
The
Principles Embodied in the Qur’anic Worldview -- 73
Monotheism -- 73
Divinely-given Stewardship -- 76
Justice and Moderation -- 78
Freedom -- 80
Responsibility -- 84
Purposefulness -- 85
Morality -- 87
Mutual Consultation -- 89
(pg.vii)
Freedom and Consultation as Necessary Conditions for
the
Survival of Human Civilization -- 92
Law-governed Scientific Comprehensiveness -- 97
Globalism -- 103
Peace -- 108
Reform and Construction -- 109
Beauty: Reality or Illusion? -- 111
CHAPTER III
The
Qur’anic Worldview: The Foundation, Starting Point,
and
Inspiration for Reform and Construction – 117
CHAPTER IV
The
Islamic Worldview and Humanitarian Ethical Concepts -- 122
Beyond Vision: Lest We Sow the Sea -- 124
How Do We Develop Islamic Social Sciences and Live Out
the Islamic Vision? – 130
CHAPTER V
The
International Institute of Islamic Thought’s Plan for the
Development
of University Curricula -- 137
A Flexible Program -- 141
Educational Curricula and Programs -- 141
A Final Word -- 143
Appendix
1: Equations for Reform -- 145
Appendix
ii: Faith: A Matter of Reason, or the Miraculous? -- 149
Introduction -- 149
Rational Proof as the Best Foundation for the
Authoritative
Claims of Revelation -- 150
Notes
-- 165
(pg.ix)
The
Qu’ran
وَمَنۡ أَرَادَ ٱلۡأَخِرَةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا
سَعۡيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤۡمِنٌ۬ فَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ ڪَانَ سَعۡيُهُم مَّشۡكُورً۬ا (١٩) سُوۡرَةُ بنیٓ اسرآئیل / الإسرَاء
Verily, this Qur’an shows the way to all that is most
upright,… (sūrah al-Isrā’, 17:9)
قُل لَّٮِٕنِ ٱجۡتَمَعَتِ ٱلۡإِنسُ وَٱلۡجِنُّ
عَلَىٰٓ أَن يَأۡتُواْ بِمِثۡلِ هَـٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانِ لَا يَأۡتُونَ بِمِثۡلِهِۦ
وَلَوۡ كَانَ بَعۡضُہُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ۬ ظَهِيرً۬ا (٨٨) سُوۡرَةُ بنیٓ اسرآئیل / الإسرَاء
Say: “If all mankind and all invisible beings would come
together with a view to producing the like of this Qur’an, they could not
produce its like even though they were to exert all their strength in aiding one
another!” (sūrah al-Isrā’, 17:88)
الٓرۚ ڪِتَـٰبٌ أَنزَلۡنَـٰهُ إِلَيۡكَ
لِتُخۡرِجَ ٱلنَّاسَ مِنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ بِإِذۡنِ رَبِّهِمۡ إِلَىٰ
صِرَٲطِ ٱلۡعَزِيزِ ٱلۡحَمِيدِ (١) سُوۡرَةُ إبراهیم
…A divine writ [is this – a revelation] which
We have bestowed upon thee from on high in order that thou might bring forth
all mankind, by their Sustainer’s leave, out of the depths of darkness into the
light: onto the way that leads to the Almighty, the One to whom all praise is
due. (sūrah Ibrahīm, 14:1)
وَلَقَدۡ جِئۡنَـٰهُم بِكِتَـٰبٍ۬ فَصَّلۡنَـٰهُ
عَلَىٰ عِلۡمٍ هُدً۬ى وَرَحۡمَةً۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يُؤۡمِنُونَ (٥٢) سُوۡرَةُ الاٴعرَاف
For, indeed, We did convey unto them a divine writ
which We clearly, and wisely, spelled out – a guidance and a grace unto people
who will believe. (sūrah al-Aᶜrāf, 7:52)
The
Hadith
ᶜAlī ibn Abī
Tālib (RAA)1 related that the Messenger of God (SAAS)2
had said, “There will be temptations.” “What will be the way out of
them, O Messenger of God?” Ali asked. “The Book of God,” he replied. “In it
there are reports of events in the times that preceded you, as well as of events
that will take place after you. It contains precepts on the basis of which to judge
amongst yourselves, and which are to be taken with the utmost seriousness.… It
is the rope of God that will not break, it is a tiding full of wisdom, it is
the straight path. It is the source of guidance by virtue of which one’s
passions will not go astray and one’s tongue will speak the truth without
ambiguity. Scholars never get their fill of it, nor does it wear out from overuse.
Its wonders never cease, and it contains the words which, when the jinn heard
them they exclaimed, ‘…Verily, we have heard a wondrous discourse, guiding towards
consciousness of what is right; and so We have come to believe in it…’ (Sūrah
al-Jinn, 72:1-2). Those who utter its words speak truth, those who act on
it are rewarded, those who base their judgments on it carry out justice, and
those who call others to it guide them to the straight path.”3
1 RAA:
Radiyā Allāhu ᶜanhu (May God be pleased with him).
2 SAAS:
Sallā Allāhu ᶜalayhi wa sallam (May God’s blessings and peace be upon
him).
3
Narrated by al-Tirmidhī.
(pg.ix)
(pg.x)
FOREWORD
THE
International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) has great pleasure in
presenting Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman’s study, The Qur’anic Worldview: A
Springboard for Cultural Reform which forms the English translation of the
author’s Arabic original, al-Ru’yah al-Kawniyyah al-Hadariyyah.
This
is a carefully reasoned, reflective work, the chief aim of which is to explore
the reasons for the deteriorating state of the Muslim world and to address one
of the central questions facing Muslims today – how to reverse the decline into
which they have fallen and recover the brilliance of Islam’s once great civilization.
Looking back at the various stages of Islamic historical development, the
author puts forward a solution that focuses on the recovery of what is termed,
the Qur’anic worldview. It was the strict internalization of this perspective
and close adherence to the principles of the Qur’an which, he contends, played
a key factor in galvanizing the early fledgling Muslim community to achieve the
successes that they once did, the profound impact of which is felt to this day.
The rebirth of Islamic identity through this Qur’anic worldview, insists the
author, is the key requirement of our times and a prerequisite for any future
healthy and viable development of the Ummah.
Where dates are cited according to the Islamic
calendar (hijrah) they are labelled AH. Otherwise they follow the Gregorian
calendar and labelled CE where necessary. Arabic words are italicized except
for those which have entered common usage. Diacritical marks have been added
only to those Arabic names not considered modern.
The IIIT, established in 1981, has served as a major
center to facilitate sincere and serious scholarly efforts based on Islamic vision,
values and principles. Its programs of research, seminars and conferences
during the last thirty years have resulted in the publication of more than
(pg.xi)
four
hundred titles in English and Arabic, many of which have been translated into
several other languages.
We would like to express our thanks to Thomas Goldberg
for the quality of his editorial work as well as the editorial and production
team at the IIIT London Office and all those who were directly or indirectly involved
in the completion of this work.
IIIT
London Office
June
2011
(pg.xii)
PREFACE
THE
question of what worldview one embraces is, whether consciously or
unconsciously, a pivotal issue for every individual and every community, since
it goes to the heart of who we are, the meaning and purpose of our existence,
and what moves us to action in the world. The sounder and more positive one’s
worldview and the greater one’s conscious awareness of it, the clearer will be
one’s sense of identity, and the more dynamism, positive energy, and creativity
will be at one’s disposal for the building of a healthy human civilization, in
which life’s true meaning and its sublime, God-given purpose are lived out.
Never in history has a nation lived creatively,
purposefully, and constructively unless by virtue of the dynamism of its vision
of itself and the world around it. Conversely, never in history has a nation
grown backward and ossified, eventually disintegrating and falling into
oblivion, but that it has done so as a result of the passivity and distorted
nature of its worldview.
Through a penetrating, comprehensive review of the
Muslim community’s worldview and the stages through which it has passed over
time, this book identifies one of the most fundamental reasons for the
advancement of Muslim civilization in its early years. At the same time, it
reveals important aspects of the distortion that has effected the Muslim
community’s perceptions and the resultant dangers it now faces. I set out to
describe how this worldview can be recovered in such a way that the Muslim
community and its individual members can recapture the positive dynamism of
their past, thereby rescuing Muslim civilization and, along with it, human
civilization in its entirety.
(pg.xiii)
INTRODUCTION TO THE ARABIC EDITION
GIVEN
all the works I have published to date, one might wonder what would have
motivated me to write this extended reflection on the Islamic worldview at this
particular point in time. In 1960, at which time I was doing my master’s degree
in political science at the University of Cairo, I wrote a book entitled Nazariyyat
al-Islam al-Iqtisadiyyah: al-Falsafah wa al-Wasa’il al-Mu’asirah (The
Islamic Theory of Economics: Philosophy and Contemporary Means). This was followed
in 1987 by the publication of my Towards an Islamic Theory of International
Relations: New Directions for Methodology and Thought,1
in which I apply the same methodology that gave rise to my book, Nazariyyat
al-Islam al-Iqtisadiyyah. The theory expounded in this book led me to an
understanding of texts and the Islamic heritage in a way that has yielded
perspectives that could not have emerged through the methods applied in
traditional Islamic studies. The method I have employed in my treatment of the
theory of international relations – in the context of which I seek to adhere to
an approach that is as objective, unbiased, inductive, and disciplined – is
based on the texts and higher intents of the Islamic revelation, the wisdom
embodied in the application of this revelation during the days of the Prophet
Muhammad and the era of the rightly guided caliphs, as well as contemporary
studies of human nature, both individual and collective, and the laws of the
universe.
Even as a youth being schooled in the holy city of
Makkah, the crisis resulting from the Muslim community’s ongoing decadence and
backwardness was a major concern for me. These phenomena were on the order of a
riddle that captured my attention and fired my imagination. There being in a
house as large and quiet as ours no enjoyment greater or diversion more
inviting than that of reading. I would spend long hours in our vast library,
which was well-stocked with books on
(pg.xv)
Islamic
history and tradition as well as works by leading contemporary thinkers.
These experiences led me eventually to the study of
political science. In 1986, I published Azmat al-‘Aql al-Muslim (Crisis
in the Muslim Mind), which brought together the fruits of my thought and experience
over the years. In this book, I reexamine many of the issues treated earlier in
the book Islamiyyat al-Ma’rifah: Al-Khittah wa al-Injazat (The
Islamization of Knowledge: Plan and Achievements),2 which sets
forth the points of departure for the International Institute of Islamic
Thought’s (IIIT’s) message and mission and the results of the Institute’s
international conference in Islamabad on the Islamization of knowledge, the
Muslim mindset, and scientific research. Some of the issues I reexamine in Crisis
in the Muslim Mind touch on the areas of childrearing and education, both
of which were focuses of Dr. Farouqi’s interest and concern.
During my years at King Saud University, the
International Symposium, and the IIIT, I taught in the university, participated
in Muslim youth activities, and explored issues relating to Islamic thought. I
also spent ten years at the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM),
where I worked toward fulfilling IIIT’s vision of reform in the realms of
thought and emotion. I attempted to confront the crisis in Islamic thought
through the unification of Islamic knowledge on the level of texts, vision,
values, concepts, society, and day-to-day life. In so doing, I sought to help
Muslims live in accordance with their God-given pristine human nature and the
laws of the universe since, as I see it, only in this way will we be able to
resolve the crisis in the Muslim will and heart, a crisis that begins in a
child’s emotional and spiritual upbringing, and which needs to be addressed
through a focus on parental nurture and related programs and literature.
It was with such aims in mind that the IIUM adopted a
double major track comprised of dual specializations in Islamic studies and
social studies. It developed three new courses entitled, ‘The Family and
Parenting,’ ‘Creative Thinking and Problem-Solving,’ and ‘The Rise and Fall of
Civilizations.’ In addition, it developed two new diploma programs in the
Education Department to prepare instructors who would be qualified to offer
these courses in the Department of
(pg.xvi)
Psychology,
the Faculty of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences. These measures
were taken with a view to making the aforementioned courses into requirements
for all students regardless of their particular majors. In this way, students
would be prepared to become model parents capable of raising a generation free
of distorted educational, behavioral, intellectual, and doctrinal concepts and
practices.
Another step taken by the IIUM was to establish a
school that would encompass preschool-through-secondary education. This school
that would offer instruction to both boys and girls, would operate under IIUM’s
supervision and management, and would serve, through the direction and content
of its curriculum and activities, as a testing ground for IIUM’s proposed
educational philosophy.
In addition to the school’s uniquely developed study
materials and its Islamic-based architectural layout, which is designed to meet
students’ needs in the most ideal manner throughout the stages of their
educational journeys – contact between the sexes is regulated in such a way as
to achieve Islamic social, ethical, and educational aims. The school seeks to
provide children with a balanced environment and sound social and psychological
growth at the various stages of their development. From preschool through third
grade, boys and girls study together, after which they are segregated in the
classroom but continue to mix during free periods and in a variety of
out-of-class activities. In this way, boys and girls experience a combination
of segregation and integration. In cases in which the number of students is
small, classes might continue to be mixed even past third grade; however, boys
and girls are separated spatially in the classroom in order to prevent
distraction, since it is at this stage of their development that children begin
to become aware of the distinction between them and the opposite sex.
Similarly, at this stage, children tend to gravitate toward members of their
own gender in relating to the opposite sex.
During the middle school phase (seventh to ninth
grades), girls and boys are segregated so as to avoid distraction in the
classroom, and in order not to provide conditions that would be conducive to
the occurrence of sexual contact. Such measures are deemed necessary in view of
children’s natural, but uninformed, curiosity and the likelihood of their
making attempts to discover more about the other gender and
(pg.xvii)
satisfy
sexual urges with one another before having arrived at a genuine awareness of
the responsibilities attendant upon sexual relations and the dangers it can
pose when engaged in irresponsibly. Such dangers have been observed
particularly in liberal societies, especially at this stage of young people’s
development – which, if not understood correctly, can lead to highly
undesirable consequences, including teen pregnancy and all this entails by way
of negative effects on those involved.
The sexes continue to be separated throughout
secondary school, which is the most critical phase of all, marked as it is by a
kind of rashness and readiness to take risks resulting from teenagers’ growing
sense of autonomy and tendencies to rebel, not to mention the physiological
changes they are experiencing and the sexual and psychological tensions these
produce.
At the university level, classes become integrated
once again, though male and female students are required to sit on separate
sides of the lecture hall. Male and female students have the opportunity to
meet during breaks and in eating areas. At the same time, there are girls-only
halls reserved for female students, who wish to keep to themselves at any time.
The IIUM encourages its male students to marry female classmates; in fact, it
offers financial assistance to those who wish to do so, and it encourages
students’ parents to support their children in such situations. Consequently,
there are growing numbers of marriages taking place between the IIUM’s male and
female students. This manner of arranging contact between the sexes, side by
side with education and consciousness-raising through courses such as ‘The
Family and Parenting,’ social and cultural activities that include both male
and female students, as well as segregated activities such as sports, has led
to a very low incidence of ‘problems’ in the sexual area, and those situations
in which such mistakes have occurred have generally ended in marriage for the
parties involved.
After completing my assigned task at the IIUM in 1999,
I went back to full-time volunteer work, along with colleagues with whom I had
founded the Muslim Students’ Association and the IIIT. It was during this
period that I devoted myself to the writing of Azmat al-Iradah wa al-Wijdan
al-Muslim (Crisis in the Muslim Will and Emotions),
(pg.xviii)
whose
central focus is the issue of emotional and spiritual education. My reflections
and experiences over the years had led me to the conviction that knowledge of
the right thing to do is no guarantee that we will do it – just as knowledge of
what is wrong is no guarantee that we will avoid it unless the individual’s emotional
and spiritual orientation is according to reason and appropriate values in the
direction of what reason affirms.
The Qur’anic account concerning the people of Israel
provides support for this conviction. We find, for example, that God Almighty
sent the Prophet Moses to deliver the people of Israel, who had been oppressed
and enslaved by the pharaohs. In keeping with God’s will to rescue them and
bestow His blessings upon them, Moses led them out into Sinai, where God
revealed on the tablets of the Sacred Law “…all manner of admonition…” (surah
al-A’raf, 7:145). However, their thinking became corrupted and distorted
over time. Consequently, God destined them to wander in the wilderness of Sinai
for forty years in order to correct their way of thinking, which had been
warped through their years of slavery, and in order to raise up a generation of
capable, free, strong men and women. It was only then that David could slay
Goliath (surah al-Baqarah, 2:251), and that “…a small host [became able
to] overcome a great host by God’s leave!…” (surah al-Baqarah, 2:249).
During my own journey of the spirit and mind, I have found
that whenever I am confronted with an issue or question that causes me
confusion, anxiety, or uncertainty, the most helpful thing to do is to examine
it carefully from an academic, sociological perspective. This involves dealing
with the divinely revealed texts in a comprehensive manner, which includes a
consideration of their overall context and message. In every case I encounter,
I find that the application of these texts’ higher intents, concepts, values,
and principles in a concrete, realistic, scientific manner yields perspectives,
insights, guidance, and wisdom that accord perfectly with human beings’ current
level of knowledge, as well as our era’s particular possibilities, needs, and
challenges.
The fruit of these systematic applications was the
writing and publication of a number of academic works, including al-Unf wa
Idarat
(pg.xix)
al-Sira al-Siyasi fi al-Fikr al-Islami: Bayn al-Mabda’ wa al-Khayar (Violence and
the Management of Political Conflict in Islamic Thought: Between Principle and
Choice), al-Insan bayna Shari’atayn (Man Between Two Laws); an
Occasional Paper entitled, Marital Discord: Recapturing Human Dignity
Through the Higher Objectives of Islamic Law; a lengthy article entitled, ‘Legally
Prescribed Punishments in Islam: Constants and Variables,’ and another
article entitled, ‘Ishkaliyyat al-Istibtad wa al-Fasad fi al-Fikr wa al-Tarikh
al-Siyasi al-Islami.’ In the last-named work, in which I seek to present a
new approach to political reform and Islamic governance, I attempt to explain
why, if Islam is based on justice, we still encounter so much corruption and
deviance in Arab-Muslim regimes and elsewhere in the life of Muslim societies.
My purpose in recounting the foregoing is to clarify
the various dimensions of my personal experience and to convey the intensity
with which I have grappled with these issues from the time I was young.
Eventually, however, this experience crystallized in the form of my first book,
Nazariyyat al-Islam al-Iqtisdiyyah,3 which was followed
by a writing career that extended half a century.
And now, as my time on earth nears its end and my
productive capacity wanes, I continue to face difficult questions and issues.
However, I find that the ‘crisis of thought and method’ points toward an
approach that will lead to sound thinking. Similarly, I find that the ‘crisis
in the Muslim will and emotions’ may help us to identify the difficulties
created by current educational approaches and practices in the Muslim community
and its members’ psychological and emotional makeup. At the same time, it
points to the way we may be able to bring an end to misguided practices and
approaches to human nurture and correct the manner in which we nurture young
Muslims’ minds and emotions.
However, merely grasping a sound way of thinking or
method of childrearing or education will not suffice to overcome the
backward-ness to which the Muslim community has succumbed. Rather, we need to
bring it out of the slough of marginalization and passivity into the realm of
dynamism, movement, pioneering action, and initiative – thereby helping it
realize the reform and progress which are its mission,
(pg.xx)
and
of which it is both capable and worthy. It is not enough for people to have a
tool in their hand if they are unaware of the purpose for which they have it.
For if the mere possession of the tool were sufficient to move Muslims to
action, they would have acted by now – possessed as they are of abundant
resources, and all the means necessary to enter the race, to exhibit their creative
capacities, and to excel.
The Islamic world preceded many countries – including
Japan, China, Russia, and others – in realizing the challenges posed by the
progress of Europe at large, and how to address them. Nevertheless, many
nations have managed not only to catch up with the West but even to surpass
many Western countries in the realm of creativity, innovation, and material
achievements. As for the Islamic peoples, one finds that despite all their
breathless admiration for the West and conformity to the West in all aspects of
life – be they civil or military, economic, or political – they have achieved
nothing but a superficial simulation while, at the same time, falling ever more
steadily into backwardness and neglect.
After centuries of failed attempts at imitation and
simulation, it has become clear that no matter how available the means may be
or how intense the suffering, nothing will change unless Muslims develop a
worldview that can give them a genuine sense of the meaning and purpose of their
existence and, in this way, serve as a motive force for positive, constructive
action and reform. In other words, without a positive worldview, which provides
a sense of purposefulness and motivation, the Muslim community will remain
static. Machines and tools, threats and exhortations, no matter how abundant or
well-stated, will be of no use to the community’s well-being. One might liken
the Muslim community to a machine that has been disassembled into its component
parts. Even if every one of these parts happens to be of great value and in
perfect condition, none of them will be able to perform its function or
contribute to any sort of productivity as long as it is viewed in isolation
from the entire entity of which it is a part.
In this connection, one notes the situation of the
tens of thousands of Muslims who have earned higher degrees in academic
research and various branches of education, but whose knowledge, tools, and
technical skills have done nothing to move the Muslim community
(pg.xxi)
forward
to more positive, constructive action. This is because movement and action are
products of vision, purpose, and motivation. He who has no vision, purpose, or
aim will never get anywhere no matter how abundant his store of information,
tools, or mechanisms.
The question now is: have my discussions of the crises
relating to Muslim educational methods and ways of thinking been a waste of
time? Would it have been better had I begun with the study of the Qur’anic
worldview and its various expressions rather than beginning, as I have, with
issues of thought and method, will and emotions, and their manifestations? In
answer to this question, I can only say that had I not already been steeped,
albeit unconsciously and incompletely, in the Qur’anic worldview with all the
benefits it has to offer us in our daily lives and in our pursuit of a
wholesome civilization – it would not have been possible for me to address the
issues of thought, method, will, and emotion to begin with. Nor would I have
been able – without having first studied, analyzed, and traced the development
of the issues of thought, method, and education – to perceive the hidden
aspects of the Islamic worldview and observe the ways in which it has been
distorted, nor to see how this distortion has influenced the course of Muslim
thinking and feeling. Hence, what we have is a cycle of influences and
counterinfluences, all of which need to be recognized in order for us to arrive
at clarity, understanding, and sound applications.
Be that as it may, after having grappled with the
issue of the Qur’anic worldview and its implications for human culture and
civilization, I was gratified to discover that I could now offer convincing
answers to a number of fundamental questions that had preoccupied and troubled
me for so long. Such questions have to do with my understanding of myself, the
meaning of my existence, my relationship with God, with others – and with the
principles, concepts, and values that function as the tools and mechanisms by
means of which the Islamic worldview can be translated into a concrete reality
in our lives. Moreover, it is through the concretization of this worldview that
we, as human beings, are able to achieve happiness, contentment, and peace of
mind. As God Almighty says to those who have sought His favor, “O thou human
being that hast attained to inner peace! Return thou unto thy Sustainer,
well-pleased [and] pleasing [Him]: enter,
(pg.xxii)
then,
together with My [other true] servants – yea, enter thou My paradise!” (surah
al-Fajr, 89:27–30). This, undoubtedly, is the outcome that can be hoped for
in both this world and the next by those who embrace and seek to live by the
effective, rightly guided vision, which the Qur’an presents us.
Lastly, it is my hope that reform-minded thinkers and
leaders will interact fruitfully with the subject of the Qur’anic worldview by
studying it with the thoroughness it merits, and by instilling it – through
childrearing, education, and professional training – in the hearts and minds of
the Muslim community’s sons and daughters. Only in this way, I believe, will we
be able to produce both wholesome individuals and wholesome institutions
through whose initiatives the Muslim community will rise and bear its message
to the world – succeeding, prospering, and producing a civilization imbued with
justice, brotherhood, solidarity, compassion, security, and peace.
فِى بِضۡعِ سِنِينَۗ لِلَّهِ ٱلۡأَمۡرُ مِن
قَبۡلُ وَمِنۢ بَعۡدُۚ وَيَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ۬ يَفۡرَحُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ (٤) بِنَصۡرِ
ٱللَّهِۚ يَنصُرُ مَن يَشَآءُۖ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ (٥) سُوۡرَةُ الرُّوم
“…On that day will the believers [too, have cause to] rejoice in
God’s succour: [for] He gives succour to whomever He wills, since He alone is
Almighty, a Dispenser of grace” (surah al-Rum, 30:4–5).
Through God comes all true success. On Him do we rely,
and it is He who hears and answers our supplications.
Praise be to God, The Lord and
Cherisher of the worlds.
AbdulHamid
AbuSulayman
Riyadh,
8/8/1429, 10/8/2008
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