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Fatwa: Its Meaning and Characteristics

books of fiqh

Fatwa must be formulated in the light of the context of life, the environment, and the specific situation that justifies its being made.

To understand what a fatwa is, we should keep in mind that a fatwa is a part, an element, and, more precisely, a legal instrument, which must be understood in the light of the corpus of Islamic law and jurisprudence.

Fatwa (plural fatawa) means, literally, “legal decision,” “verdict,” or, following the definition of Ash-Shatibi, “A reply to a legal question given by an expert (mufti) in the form of words, action, or approval.”

Authenticity of Fatwa

A fatwa has two essential aspects: it must, first and above all, be founded on the sources and on the juridical inferences and extractions arrived at by the mujtahidin who practice ijtihad (personal reasoning) when the sources are not clear or explicit (that is, when they are zanni, the one who committed illegitimate sexual intercourse) or when there is no relevant text. It must also be formulated in the light of the context of life, the environment, and the specific situation that justifies its being made – and which is in fact its cause.

The place of the mujtahid and the mufti is of prime importance. As Ash-Shatibi said: “The mufti, within the community, plays the part of the prophet. Numerous evidences support his assertion. First there is the proof of hadith: ”Truly the scholars are the heirs of the prophets, and what one inherits from prophets is not money, but knowledge (`ilm).’ Second, he (the mufti) is the source of transmitting rulings (ahkam) in conformity with the words of the Prophet: ”Let the one among you who is witness transmit (that to which he is witness) to those who are absent” and ”Transmit from me, even if it is only one verse.“ If this is the case, it means that he (the mufti) stands in for the Prophet.

In fact, the mufti is a kind of legislator, for the Shari`ah that he conveys is either taken [insofar as it has already been stipulated] from the Lawgiver (by way of the Revelation and the Sunnah) or inferred or extracted from the sources. In the first case, he is simply a transmitter, while in the second he stands in for the Prophet in that he stipulates rulings.

To formulate judgments is the function of the legislator. So, if the function of the mujtahid is to formulate judgments on the basis of his opinion and efforts, it is possible to say that he is therefore a legislator who should be respected and followed: we should act according to the rulings he formulates and this is vicegerency (Khilafah) in its genuine implementation.”

Ash-Shatibi underlines the importance of the mujtahid who stands in for the Prophet in the Muslim community after the death of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Sources of Fatwa

In this way, the mujtahid or the mufti represents the continuity of knowledge (`ilm) guided by the two sources, so that it may be rightly applied throughout history. Ash-Shatibi made a distinction between clear and explicit evidence (that stipulated in the sources) and that which requires the exercise of deduction and inference and puts the mujtahid in the position of legislator (even though he must seek the guidance of God, the Supreme Legislator, and follow the example of the Prophet).

The distinction drawn by Ash-Shatibi has the great advantage of setting out the two different levels of fatwa: when questioned on legal issues, the mujtahid will sometimes find a clear answer in the Qur’an and the Sunnah because there is an explicit text. Then the fatwa consists of a quotation and a restatement of the authoritative proof.

If there is a text that is open to interpretation, or if there is no relevant text, the mufti must give a specific response in the light of both the objectives of the Shari`ah and the situation of the questioner. Ash-Shatibi underlines that the mufti really does play the role of vicegerent who must come up with a legal judgment for the one who calls on him.

The more the issue is related to an individual or a particular case, the more precise, clear, and specific it must be. Consequently, a fatwa is rarely transferable, because it is a legal judgment pronounced (in the light of the sources, of the maslaha (good/interest), and of the context) in response to a clear question arising from a precise context. In the field of law, this is in fact the exact meaning of “jurisprudence.”

Many questions have been raised in the course of history about the diversity of fatawa. If Islam is one, how could there be differing legal judgments on the same legal question? The ulama have unanimously affirmed that if geographical or historical contexts differ, it is no longer the same question, for it must be considered in the light of a new environment.

Thus, properly considered responses should naturally differ, as is shown by the example of Ash-Shafi`i, who modified some of his legal judgments after traveling from Baghdad to Cairo. So, even though Islam is one, the fatawa, with all their diversity, and sometimes contradiction, still remain Islamic and authoritative.

This kind of diversity was understood, accepted, and respected, while the problem of disagreement between scholars faced with an identical legal question has given rise to endless debates. Is this possible in the area of religious affairs, and if so, how can Islam be a unifying force for Muslims?

To be continued…

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 The article is an excerpt from Dr. Tariq Ramadan’s book “Western Muslims and

the Future of Islam” Oxford University Press (2004).

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New Muslims Society

Fatwa… Different Opinions and Authentic Sources (2/2)

Part 1

fiqh books

Guided by the Qur’an and the Sunnah, the Muslim scholars should do their best to discover the truth when the texts are not clear or simply do not exist.

Concerning the issue of authenticity of fatwa there are two essential points have been emphasized by the vast majority of scholars:

1- There is no divergence of opinion on the principles, the fundamentals (usul) of Islamic law. There is a consensus among the jurists on the fact that these principles constitute the essence, the frame of reference, and the benchmark of the juridical corpus of Islamic Law and fiqh (jurisprudence).

However, it is impossible to avoid differences of opinion on points related to secondary issues (furu`), for a legal judgment on these points is dependent on and influenced by many factors, such as the knowledge and understanding of the scholars and their ability to deduce and extrapolate judgments.

The natural diversity in their levels of competence inevitably gives rise to divergent interpretations and opinions. This even happened among the Companions at the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and, according to the scholars, such divergences should be recognized and respected, within their limits, as based upon the fundamentals of Islam.

Fatwa Validity

2- A question naturally arises from this consensus: even if there are various “acceptable” legal opinions on one and the same problem (even a secondary problem), does this mean that all the fatawa have the same value; in other words, are they all correct?

If that were the case, it would lead to the conclusion that two divergent opinions could both be true at the same time, in the same place, and in respect of the same person, which is rationally unacceptable.

The majority of scholars, including the four principal imams of the Sunni schools of law, are of the view that only one of the divergent opinions pronounced on a precise question can be considered correct. This is indicated in the passage in the Qur’an that relates the story of Prophets David and Solomon, where it is clear that, although they had made judgments on the same case and although both of them had received the gift of judgment and knowledge, only Solomon’s opinion was correct:

We made it understood to Solomon. (Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:79)

This position is also confirmed by the hadith about the mujtahid’s (the one who formulates judgments on the basis of his opinion and efforts) reward – ”Truly the scholars are the heirs of the prophets, and what one inherits from prophets is not money, but knowledge (`ilm).’ – he will receive two rewards if he is right but only one if he is wrong, because his effort and sincere research will be taken into account by God.

One Truth

So, to accept that there may be a diversity of legal opinions on precise questions (formulated in the same context, at the same time, and for the same community or individual) does not in the least lead to the assumption that there are several “truths” and that all these opinions have the same value and correctness.

There is only ’one truth,’ which all the scholars should try to discover, and they will be rewarded for the effort they make toward this. As long as there is no indisputable proof applicable to the problem in question, each Muslim should, after consideration and analysis, follow the opinion whose evidence and worth seem to him the clearest and most convincing.

Two Sources

Guided by the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet, which are for Muslims the sources of truth, the Muslim scholars should do their best to discover the truth when the texts are not clear or simply do not exist.

In fact, the meaning and content of the delegation granted by God to humankind reaches its peak and is fulfilled when the scholars struggle constantly and tirelessly to arrive at the most correct judgment, or that which is closest to what is correct and true.

So these scholars, both mujtahids and muftis, must be determined, demanding, and confident in their own judgments, while remaining humble and calm to face and accept the fact that there will necessarily and inevitably be a plurality of opinions.

Imam Ash-Shafi`i aptly said, concerning the state of mind that should characterize the attitude of the scholars: “(As we see it) our opinion is right though it may turn out to be wrong, while we consider the opinion of our opponents to be wrong though it may turn out to be right.”

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 The article is an excerpt from the author’s “Western Muslims and the Future of Islam” Oxford University Press (2004).

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New Muslims Society

Muslim and True Sense of Belonging

 

Minarets in America

To believe, along with the recollection of the presence of the Creator, is a way of understanding one’s life within creation and among people.

Muslims today experience, sometimes with a great deal of tension, conflicts of belonging, and if they themselves do not feel it as such, their fellow-citizens sometimes manage to connect them with another belonging – to “their community,” “their brothers” from some other place, as if this attribution were one more sign that they do not really belong to the Western nations.

For decades the same intentional process has been directed in Europe against Jews, whose genuine loyalty has always been suspect. Muslims face the same judgment, and international events push them even more onto the defensive.

So this issue must be dealt with particularly explicitly. Let us ask the questions clearly and simply: should Muslims be defined in the light of the notion of community (ummah), or are they simply Muslim citizens of one or another Western country? To which group or collectivity do they belong first, to the Ummah or to the country in which they live as residents or citizens?

These are sensitive questions, for behind their outward meaning we find the fundamental question: Is it possible for a Muslim to be an authentic European or American, a real citizen, a loyal citizen?

Belonging to the Islamic Ummah

The essence of the Muslim personality is the affirmation of the Shahadah (Declaration of Faith). If we had to look for the minimal element on which Muslims agree for the definition of their common identity, we would certainly find that it was this fundamental profession of faith, which, when declared sincerely, makes the individual a Muslim.

This Shahadah is not a simple statement, for it contains a profound perception of the Creation that itself gives rise to a specific way of life for the individual, as for the society. The permanent link with God, the recollection that we belong to Him and will return to Him sheds an intense light on our person because we understand that life has meaning and that all people will have to account for their actions. This ’intimate thought of every action‘ is one of the major dimensions of Islamic spirituality that, without any form of institutionalized influence, prompts every believer to decide on the markers for his social life.

To believe, along with the recollection of the presence of the Creator, is a way of understanding one’s life within creation and among people, for, from the Islamic point of view, to be with God is to be with human beings. This is the meaning of tawheed (Oneness of God) in Islam.

In Islam, there are four circles or areas that, at various levels and with specific prerogatives, should be highlighted in order to explain the social significance of the teaching of Islam, from the family to the Ummah and finally to the whole of humankind.

Immediately after the recognition of the presence of a Creator, which is the fundamental vertical dimension, a first horizontal area is opened up in matters to do with human relations. The strong affirmation of the Oneness of God and the worship of Him is linked as an essential condition with respect for parents and good behavior toward them.

The first area in social relations, which is based on family ties, is basic for Muslims. The Qur’an connects the reality of tawheed with respect for parents in numerous verses:

Do not set up any other deity side by side with God, lest you find yourself disgraced and forsaken: For your Lord has ordained that you shall worship none but Him. And do good unto your parents. Should one of them, or both, attain old age, in your care, never say ‘Ugh’ to them or scold them, but (always) speak unto them with reverent speech, and spread over them humbly the wings of your tenderness, and say: ‘O my Sustainer! Bestow Your grace upon them, as they cherished and reared me when I was a child.’ (Al-Israa’ 17:22-24)

To serve one’s parents and be good to them is the best way of being good before God. It is one of the most important teachings of Islam, and the Prophet constantly emphasized it with supporting injunctions, such as the famous hadith: “Paradise lies at the feet of mothers.” (Muslim)

Nevertheless, there may be a situation when parents ask something that is against the faith and God’s commands, in which case a son or a daughter should not obey, although they should remain respectful and polite. The most important of these commands is, of course, not to associate any other god with God, and if parents order their children to do this, they should refuse:

But if both try to force you to associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them; keep company with them in this world in an appropriate way, but follow the way of those who turn to Me. (Luqman 31:15)

This refusal to obey certain pressures exercised by one’s parents clearly shows where the priorities lie with regard to authority from the Islamic point of view: one should please both God and one’s parents, but one should not disobey God in order to please one’s parents. This was confirmed in general terms by the Prophet: “There should be no obedience to a creature in disobedience to the Creator.” (Muslim)

This means that despite the importance of parental ties, which are where identity and fundamental belonging lie for a Muslim, they are not the first or the most important criterion in determining and guiding human relations.

If a Muslim has to choose between fairness, which God has commanded should be practiced and respected, and himself, his parents, or his loved ones, he should prefer justice, for such an act bears true witness to his faith:

O You who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God, even though it be against your own interests or those of your parents and kinsfolk. Whether the person concerned be rich or poor, God’s claim takes precedence over (the claims of) either. Do not, then, follow your own desires, lest you swerve from justice: for if you distort (the truth), behold, God is indeed aware of all that you do! (An-Nisaa’ 4:135)

A Muslim belongs above all to God, and this belonging influences and illumines with a particular light each social sphere in which he or she is involved. To believe in God and to bear witness to His message before the whole of humankind means that the fundamental values He has revealed, such as honesty, faithfulness, fairness, and justice, all have priority over parental ties.

Consequently, Muslims must respect family ties (and by extension ties with community, people, and nation), as long as no one forces or compels them to act against their faith or conscience.

Thus, the first area of social relations in Islam associates father and mother very closely with the concept of the family, which refers, in the broad Islamic sense, to close relations and to everyone with whom one has a family relationship.

The individual affirmation of Islamic faith by means of the Shahadah and the recognition of the family as the first area of social life are the prerequisites for entering into the second circle of social relations in Islam. Each of the four practical pillars of Islamic religious practice has a double dimension, individual and collective.

By trying to excel in the practice of their religion, Muslims are immediately called to face the communal dimension of the Islamic way of life. Most Qur’anic injunctions are addressed to the believers in the plural: “O bearers of the faith. . . .” and when Muslims recite Al-Fatihah (‘the opening chapter’ of the Qur’an) in each prayer cycle, they present themselves as members of a community by saying: “You alone we worship, to You alone we turn for help. Guide us in the right way.”  (Al-Fatihah 1:5, 6)

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The article is an excerpt from the author’s Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Oxford University Press (2004).

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New Muslims Society

The Four Pillars and the Social Message of Islam

By: Tariq Ramadan

What do the pillars of Islam have to do with the social relations? What message do they have for the benefit and well-being of society? How do these pillars impact our relations with others?

Pillars & Social Relations

“Communal prayer is twenty-seven times better than the prayer of a man alone in his house.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Prayer is the most important pillar of Islam. It is its very essence and explains the link with God but also the fundamental equality that exists between believers, brother beside brother, sister beside sister, all asking for divine guidance based on faith and brotherhood, as they have been taught.

This sense of community is confirmed and reinforced by all the other religious practices, particularly zakat, which is essentially a tax raised for the poor and needy. The stronger our relationship with God, the stronger our desire to serve others will become, too.

A right understanding of zakah takes us to the heart of the social message of Islam: to pray to God is to give to one’s brother or sister. These are the very foundations of Islam as Abu Bakr understood it, when he warned after the death of the Prophet that he would fight anyone who wanted to make a distinction between prayer and paying zakat (what is effectively what happened later with the southern tribes).

The same call is found in the requirement to fast during the month of Ramadan. An act of worship in itself, fasting also leads Muslims to perceive, and to feel inwardly, the need to eat and drink and, by extension, to ensure that every human being has the means to subsist.

Thus, the month of Ramadan should be a time during which believers strengthen their faith and spirituality while developing their sense of social justice.

Pilgrimage clearly has this same double significance: the gathering at Mecca is the great witness to this community of faith that exists among Muslims. Men and women together, at the center, praying to one God, members of a community that share the same hope—of pleasing the Creator and of being forgiven and rewarded in the next life.

In Daily Life

For Muslims, the daily practice of their religion gives birth naturally to a deep sense of being members of one community. This is a dimension that is inherent in the Islamic faith and way of life, which in turn are strengthened, guided, and shaped by this communal feeling: “Certainly the believers are brothers,” (Al-Hujurat 49:10), the Qur’an tells us.

Wherever Muslims live, we are present at the birth of a community that is created and confirmed by prayer and the prescribed religious practices and that then develops progressively as the Muslims begin to use their imaginations and to put in place social activities centered around the mosque (or to create an Islamic association).

This process is evident everywhere in the world, in Muslim countries as well as in the West. To pronounce the Shahadah, which is, as we have said, the essence of Muslim identity, is to share in this community spirit with its immediate implication, which is the promotion of social activities.

In philosophical terms, one might say that this feeling has a part in Muslim identity at the heart of the practice and that it constitutes one of the distinctive characteristics of such an identity. As the Prophet said: “Gather together, for the wolf picks off only the sheep that stand alone.” (Ahmad and Abu Dawud)

In Practice

A rereading of this analysis concerning the communitarian aspect of the four practical pillars of Islam shows a development in the sense of belonging and how these pillars reflect our social life in Islam.

Prayer establishes connections with our Muslim neighbor in a specific place, while zakat enlarges the circle of our social relations, for the whole of the sum must be spent on the needy people in the area where it is raised. It even may be spent abroad if all the local needs are met or if there is an exceptional and vital need.

Fasting develops an even broader feeling, for by fasting and by thinking about it, we are in spiritual communion with the poor of the whole world. And this communion finds a final, tangible, and physical realization in the pilgrimage to Mecca, the sacred place of gathering for millions of Muslims, symbolic of the Ummah.

This is in fact the third circle that delineates the belonging of a Muslim: the Ummah is a community of faith, feeling, brotherhood, and destiny.

All Muslims who say the Shahadah should know and understand that their individual actions are part, an essential part, of the Shahada borne by the whole community of believers: all Muslims are individually invested with the common responsibility of bearing witness to the message before the whole of humankind.

This is the exact meaning of the verse already quoted that links the notion of Ummah (the body, in the singular) with the duty of the believers (the members, in the plural):

So we have made you one community justly balanced, so that you might be witnesses before humankind. (Al-Baqarah 2:143)

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The article is an excerpt from the author’s Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Oxford University Press (2004).

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Divine Unity New Muslims

He Is One and We Are All Human

perfect nature

A relationship of obligation, trust is fully achieved with God when we cross the threshold of the realm of inner peace.

The notion of tawheed (the Oneness of God, tawheed al-rububiyya), of His names and His attributes (tawheed al-asma’ was-sifat), determines that the conception of human nature will be “a mirror image” and “a contrario,” one may say.

If God is one, everything in creation is in pairs, double, seeking union. Oneness, for the Transcendent, is an expression of the essence of being; union, for created beings, is achieved through marriage, fusion, movement.

The Body & the Soul

Created by the One, humans must go in search of the unity of their own being; their heart, their soul, their mind, and their body.

Put thus, it may give the impression that there is nothing to differentiate this from the Greek, Jewish, or Christian traditions. We well know the approach whose most familiar expression is the opposition between the soul and the body.

But a careful reading of the scriptural sources reveals that there is nothing in the Islamic tradition that can serve as a basis for the dualistic approach that opposes two constituent elements of humankind, each characterized by a positive or negative ethical quality: the soul would be the expression (explicitly or implicitly) of good, the body the expression (explicitly or implicitly) of evil.

Never does the Qur’anic revelation or the Prophetic tradition suggest anything of the sort. The ethical crux is not in the opposition of two elements that are separate and ethically fixed (which would represent the two poles of morality) but rather in controlling and guiding them toward their necessary merger, their inevitable union.

From the beginning, the Islamic tradition rejects this kind of antithetical dualism and bases the measurement of moral categories on the ability of human consciousness to take responsibility for finding balance, establishing harmony, making peace.

Human Responsibility

The human being is, essentially, responsible; awareness of tawheed invites humanity to set out on the quest, along the divine path (sabil Allah), to control, in the midst of the fluctuations of life, the contradictions within its being, its weaknesses, and its deficiencies.

This exercise of responsible control is an education that makes the human being truly human at the heart of a search which is like a virtuous and ascending circle; union, which is at the center of being, brings us toward the oneness of the being.

The opposite here would be an absence of boundaries and morality, a lack of constraint, that would drag the conscience into sleep, into the vicious circle of excess, which may even extend to bestiality.

An interesting passage in the Qur’an speaks of beings who lose awareness completely as being more lost than animals.

They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle- nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning). (Al-A`raf 7:179)

Thus, consciousness, when it atrophies to the point of prompting the human being only by means of the same instinct as the animals possess, is dehumanized. It is consciousness and control that define the humanity of humankind.

Thus, there is no moral quality good “in itself” attached to an-nafs (the soul in the body), the heart, or the spirit, and there is no moral quality bad “in itself” attached to the body, the senses, or the emotions.

& Ability

It is the human ability to control, to combine, and to guide that determines the ethical quality of individuals, their nafs, their hearts, their bodies, feelings, each of their emotions, as well as each of their actions.

This perception is the basis of the relationship that Muslims are invited to have with the world, which is not evil in itself (as opposed to the next world, which is presumed to be absolute good). Conversely, motherhood and fatherhood are not good in themselves (as opposed to the solitary life, which is presumed to be evil).

Knowledge is not always positive in itself (in contrast to ignorance, which is by nature negative). Nothing like this is to be found in the Islamic universe of reference. Sexuality may be a prayer and motherhood may be hell, depending on the moral intention that motivates the person.

In other words, the ethical quality of the elements of which we are constituted (nafs, heart, body, and so on), the faculties by which we are characterized (such as perception, intelligence, and imagination) and, of course, the actions we produce are determined only by the guidance our conscience gives them.

Get in Motion

This teaching reveals a perception of the human that is at once very demanding and very optimistic—demanding because the human conscience must acquire alone – “No one can bear another’s burden” (Al-Israa’ 17:15) – responsible control in a world where evil is neither an indelible mark on the being-in-the-world (like original sin) nor in itself a constituent part of the being- like the body or the imagination.

It is above all optimistic, for it requires us not to reject any part of our being, encouraging in us the confidence that the Only One will give us in every situation the means to meet this ethical challenge. “God only imposes on each soul [human being] what it is able to bear,” (Al-Baqarah 2:186) and along the way He provides numerous signs, invitations, and supports.

Thus, a relationship of obligation and trust is established with the divine that is fully achieved only when we cross the threshold of the realm of inner peace.

It remains to discover how to discern the guidance we have spoken of.

The Islamic tradition also offers an original conception of humankind that the sufis (Muslim mystics) have very much emphasized. It contains the idea of movement and dynamism that, as we have seen, characterizes Islamic thought.

Awareness of the divine, far from the dualist thinking which opposes “faith” to “reason,” sets in motion, as we shall see, a quest for the original breath that cannot dispense with reason in order successfully to bring to birth a faith that is both confirmation and reconciliation.

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The article is an excerpt from the author’s book Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Oxford University Press (2004).

 

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New Muslims Worldview

Islam: Beyond Diversity & Cultures

nature_fence

There is one Islam, and the fundamental principles that define it are those to which all Muslims adhere.

 

Whether they are Western or Eastern, the Muslims of the world refer to a universe of meaning elaborated and constructed around a certain number of fundamental principles.

Above and beyond the diversity of their national cultures, the essence of their faith, their identity, their being in the world, is the same; they define themselves on the basis of points of reference that explain their sense of belonging to the same community of faith and at the same time, more profoundly, root them in the universe of Islam.

The often complex connection between the common principles and the diverse ways of life that one quickly notices if one visits the Muslim countries of Black Africa, North Africa, or Asia has led some orientalists and sociologists to speak of various “Islams” to take account of this plurality of cultures.

Only an in-depth study of the sources and the Islamic sciences can enable us to understand how, across various geographical areas, the oneness of the points of reference and the diversity of their lived manifestations become concrete and overlap.

One Islam

There is one Islam, and the fundamental principles that define it are those to which all Muslims adhere, even though there may be, clothed in Islamic principles, an important margin allowed for evolution, transformation, and adaptation to various social and cultural environments.

Western Muslims, because they are undergoing the experience of becoming established in new societies, have no choice but to go back to the beginning and study their points of reference in order to delineate and distinguish what, in their religion, is thabit (unchangeable) from what is mutaghayyir (subject to change), and to measure, from the inside, what they have achieved and what they have lost by being in the West.

It is a long, difficult, and sometimes dangerous journey, demanding deep immersion in the heart of the sources and the Islamic sciences and at the same time having a knowledge of the West, its history, and the social, cultural, political, and economic dynamics that constitute what one may call its specificity.

But it is a journey nonetheless imperative for those spirits who, while wanting to remain loyal to the principles of their faith and ethic, are no less conscious that they must confront the challenges of their time and their society.

This first part is an essentially theoretical study of the fundamental principles of “universal Islam” and the tools that Muslims have available to confront diversity and change, whether historical, geographical, or cultural. This research, by establishing a corpus of reference, will enable us to suggest in the second part a number of concrete responses to questions asked by Western Muslims in the various areas of their daily lives.

The word “Islam” has often been translated as “submission” to God, or “entering into the peace” of God, for these are indeed the two senses provided by the declension of the root “s-l-m.”

One Universe… One Creator

But what is missing from this approach, which relies on simple translation, is the understanding of the fundamental conceptions of Creator, human being, and universe that underpin this conceptualization.

It is assumed that the meaning is obvious, understood, and immediately accessible, whereas one cannot truly apprehend the meaning of “submission” or of “peace” in the Islamic universe of reference if one does not study, even if only a little, what is meant at the heart of the Muslim tradition by the realities of “God,” the “human being,” and “Revelation.”

If the “act of faith” is in itself simple, and considered, in Islam, as natural, it is because it is born in the depths of time and mind and is considered an essential dimension of the human being, or, more precisely, the being that is becoming human.

It is very precisely at this point that the most perfect expression of the universal, and the possibility of an encounter with it that is spiritual as well as intellectual, is expressed in the Islamic consciousness.

Flowing from it is the development of a conception of existence, of the human, of society, and of death that accompanies the Muslim wherever he may be: so the central question is to know whether this conception is exclusive and closed or, on the contrary, open and respectful of ‘otherness’ and difference.

To be continued…

_________________________

The article is an excerpt from Dr. Tariq Ramadan’s book “Western Muslims and

the Future of Islam” Oxford University Press (2004).

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New Muslims Worldview

That Is Why We Are Different

Necessary Diversity

diversity in nature

Diversity is a test because it requires that we learn to manage difference, which is in itself essential.

Individuals, innocent and free, have to make their choices (either to accept or to reject the revelation); there will necessarily be diversity among people, and so these three seemingly similar verses contain teachings that augment and complete each other:

Had God so willed, He would have united them (human beings) in guidance, so do not be among the ignorant. (Al-An`am 6:35)

If your Lord had so willed, everyone on earth would have believed. Is it for you to compel people to be believers? (Yunus 10:99)

If God had willed, He would have made you one community but things are as they are to test you in what He has given you. So compete with each other in doing good. (Al-Ma’idah 5:48)

The first verse instructs us that diversity is willed by the Transcendent, the second makes clear that, in the name of that will, compulsion in matters of religion is forbidden, as the Qur’an confirms this in a clear general rule: “There is no compulsion in religion” (Al-Baqarah 2:256)

In Doing Good

And the revelation also teaches that the purpose of these differences is to test us in order to discover what we are going to do with what has been revealed to us: the last commandment is to use these differences to “compete in doing good” (Al-Baqarah 2:148).

Diversity of religions, nations, and peoples is a test because it requires that we learn to manage difference, which is in itself essential:

If God did not enable some men to keep back others, the world would be corrupt. But God is the One who gives grace to the worlds. (Al-Baqarah 2:251)

If God did not enable some men to keep back others, hermitages, synagogues, chapels and mosques where the name of God is often called upon, would have been demolished. (Al-Hajj 22:40)

These two verses give complementary information that is of prime importance: if there were no differences between people, if power were in the hands of one group alone (one nation, one race, or one religion), the earth would be corrupt because human beings need others to limit their impulsive desire for expansion and domination.

The last verse is more precise with regard to our present discussion; it refers to places of worship to indicate that if there is to be a diversity of religions, the purpose is to safeguard them all: the fact that the list of places begins with hermitages, synagogues, and chapels before referring to mosques shows recognition of all these places of worship and their inviolability and, of course, respect for those who pray there.

So, just as diversity is the source of our test, the balance of power is a requirement for our destiny.

Human Responsibility

Difference might naturally lead to conflict; therefore, the responsibility of humankind is to make use of difference by establishing a relationship based on excelling one another in doing good. It is vital that the balance of power is based not on a tension born of rejection or mutual ignorance but fundamentally on knowledge:

O people, we have created you from a male and a female, we have divided you into nations and tribes so that you might know one another. (Al-Hujurat 49:13)

Knowing the other is a process that is unavoidable if fear of difference is to be overcome and mutual respect is to be attained.

So human beings live a test that is necessary for their nature but that they can – and must -master by making the effort to know and recognize those who are not of their tribe, their country, their race, or their religion.

Read and understood globally, these Qur’anic references bring together all the dimensions of “difference” among human beings: tribe, nation, race, and religion.

Thus, dialogue, particularly interreligious dialogue, is indispensable.

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The article is an excerpt from the author’s Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Oxford University Press (2004).

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Categories
New Muslims Worldview

Whether in the West or in the East…How to Manage Your Life as Muslim

By Tariq Ramadan

As human being, there are two fundamental teachings that clearly have consequences for the lives of Muslims wherever they are, for they are the basic factors that constitute how to be in the world, which is what Muslims have to manage, whether in the West or in the East.

Quest for Meaning

The first teaching tells us that humans are not made up of morally antithetical elements: the spirit, the breath (ar-ruh) breathed into the body, which becomes nafs, the heart, the reason, the body where the emotions live, are, so to speak, “neutral elements” that invite individuals to the awareness of their responsibilities.

One enters into this intimate awareness only by turning back to oneself, looking for the original spark, which is the most immediate expression of the search for meaning. The universe, like the revealed books, calls on reason to find a way to meaning and to try to bring about, through awareness of responsibility and the exercise of control, ethical concords and moral harmonies of being.

When all is said and done, it is wending one’s way toward one’s self, a “going” to make a better returning, as all the mystical traditions teach us simply: we are on our way to the beginning.

(The Islamic tradition has strongly emphasized this dynamic, this movement toward the beginning. The very word Sharia means “the way to the spring.” However, it is in the experience of looking inward and of the “mystical way” that one naturally finds the strongest expression of this journey, which is a return.)

We come upon the knowledge of God close to our heart “and know that (the knowledge (of) God dwells between the human being and his heart.”

O you who believe! Obey Allah, and the messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you, and know that Allah comes in between the man and his own heart, and that He it is unto Whom you will be gathered. (Al-Anfal 8:24)

Recognizing Him

The second teaching concerns the different states of human life. In the beginning, one’s innocence is absolute: one is, indwelt by the breath, and is soon inevitably searching. Becoming aware of this state immediately makes one a responsible and in fact free being.

Before God, and before their own consciousness, all people must take charge of themselves, knowing that the Only One is expecting them to know Him, to liberate themselves from all objects of adoration and idols (tawheed al-uluhiyya) that would not be He, and to recognize Him, intimately.

To accomplish this, He has implanted, with the first spark, “the need of Him” and for “signs” of His presence. It is for humankind to learn to read these signs and to try to satisfy this need: such is the first dimension of human responsibility.

In this perspective, the most serious deficiency in a free and responsible being is not moral error as such, but pride—to suffocate the “need of Him” and to think that one’s intellect alone can know and read the universe.

By marrying the two states of innocence and responsibility, humility is the state that allows the human being to enter into its humanity. Humility is the source of ethics.

These two teachings are fundamental and have extraordinarily important consequences for the daily life of Muslims. With the awareness of the divine, facing the universe, individuals think of themselves above all as beings with responsibility.

Our Responsibilities as Humans

The faith and humility that surround this last idea carry persons to an understanding of the meaning of their obligations before any affirmation of their rights. This is the first meaning of the vicegerency in Islam.

It is He who has made you His vicegerents (khalifah) on earth. (Al-An`am 6:165)

It is the role of humankind to manage the world on the basis of an ethic of respect for creation not only because people do not own it but, more deeply and spiritually, because it is in itself an eternal and continual praise addressed to the Most High.

We are speaking here of a true spiritual ecology- an ecology that existed before ecology that is born of the awareness of possible disasters caused by our insane consumption of the universe, which imposes on persons the awareness of limitations so that they may have dignified access to the meaning of their freedom and their rights.

We could pursue reflection on the conception of human rights. Although a statement of the universality of human rights may pose no basic problem, it is rather the way they are formulated and the structure of the statement that is open to discussion.

The Muslim consciousness would, of course, add, before the proclamation of universal rights, a series of relevant and constraining articles on the responsibilities and obligations of human beings.

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The article is an excerpt from the author’s book Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Oxford University Press (2004).

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Categories
Divine Unity New Muslims

Man’s Quest for God: Between Reason and Heart

In the quest for God, is there a contradiction between the realm of faith and the realm of reason? Could this quest for God and the truth be undertaken with only one of them?

The story of creation, as it is told in the Qur’an, is remarkable. It all began, one may say, with a testimony and a covenant. Indeed, Revelation tells us that in the first stage of creation the Only One brought together the whole of mankind and made them bear witness:

And when your Sustainer took the offspring of Adam from his loins to bear witness about themselves: ‘Am I not your Lord?,’ they replied, ‘Assuredly, yes. We bear witness to it.’ This is a reminder lest on the day of judgment you say: ‘We did not know!’  (Al-A`raf 7:172)

This original testimony is of fundamental importance for the formation of the Islamic conception of humanity. It teaches us that in the heart and consciousness of each individual there exists an essential and profound intuitive awareness and recognition of the presence of the Transcendent.

Fitrah

Just as the sun, the clouds, the winds, the birds, and all the animals express their natural submission, as we have seen, the human being has within it an almost instinctive longing for a dimension that is “beyond.”

This is the idea of the fitrah, which has given rise to numerous exegetical, mystical, and philosophical commentaries, so central is it to the Islamic conception of the human being, faith, and the sacred. We find it mentioned in the following verse: “Surrender your whole being as a true believer and in accordance with the nature (natural desire) which God gave to human beings when He created them. There is no change in God’s creation. This is the unchangeable religion, but most people do not know” (Ar-Rum 30:30), and confirmed by a Prophetic tradition: “Every newborn child is born in fitrah: it is his parents who make of him a Jew, a Christian, or a Zoroastrian.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

So this “original testimony” has impressed each person’s heart with a mark, which is a memory, a spark, a quest for God (transcendence) in a sense very close to Mircea Eliade’s insight when he affirms that religions “play a part in the structure of human consciousness.”

Original Covenant

This statement from the first age, in which human beings declared their recognition of the Creator, fashions their relationship with God: they are bound by a sort of original covenant to which their consciousness presses them to stay faithful.

There is no original sin in Islam: every being is born innocent and then becomes responsible for his or her faithfulness to the covenant. Those who do not believe, the un-faithful (kafir), are those who are not faithful to the original covenant, whose memory is faint and whose sight is veiled.

In the notion of kufr in Arabic there is the idea of a veiling that leads to the denial of the Truth. Only God decides whether human beings will be enlightened or veiled. Their responsibility consists in their constant action and personal effort to keep the memory alive.

Little by little, we feel that the outlines of an Islamic conception of human nature are emerging. If none of the elements that make up the human being has, in itself, a positive or negative moral quality, if, on the contrary, it is the awakened, responsible conscience that exerts, through the exercise of control, ethical guidance on one’s way of being in the world, one is naturally entitled to wonder how to comply with the way this guidance is leading, how, in short, to be with God.

The answer to this is: all of us are required to return to ourselves and to rediscover the original breath, to revive it and confirm it. In order for this to be achieved, the Creator has made available to human beings two kinds of Revelation. One is spread out before us in space—the whole universe. The other stands out in history at points in time.

Quest for God…Truth

These two kinds of Revelation “remind” and send the conscious back to itself:

We will show them our signs on the horizons and in themselves so that it will be clear to them that (this message) is the truth. (Fussilat 41:53)

This quest for God (the Transcendent) cannot be undertaken without the mind. There is absolutely no contradiction here between the realm of faith and the realm of reason.

On the contrary, the spark of faith, born in the original testimony, needs intellect to confirm that testimony and to be capable of being faithful to the original covenant.

The realm of faith necessarily calls on intellect, which, by accepting the two types of Revelation, allows faith to be confirmed, deepened, and rooted and to grow to fullness in the heart and in human consciousness.

Here again the two must be wedded, and each has a part to play: a living faith makes it possible for the intellect to accept signs beyond simple elements of nature, and active reason makes it possible for faith to understand and also to acquire more self-understanding, and in that way to draw closer to the divine:

Of all the servants, those who know are those who are (fully) open to the intimate awareness of God. (Fatir 35:28)

Blaise Pascal had an apt expression: “The heart has reasons that reason does not know,” thus differentiating the two realms of faith and reason (even though this formula has often been (wrongly) reduced to an opposition between the emotional and the rational).

From an Islamic point of view, the relationship of the heart (where the first longing, the first breath toward faith takes place) and the intellect (which responds to the call of this breath and takes up the quest for God) might rather be expressed this way: the heart has reasons that reason will recognize.

Apart from the expression, the difference is profound.

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The article is an excerpt from the author’s book Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Oxford University Press (2004).

 

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