Islamic Civilisation and Islamic Law

Islam was and is primarily an intellectual and not an emotional movement. This assertion is, of course, not to be taken in too narrow a sense, for however intellectual in its genesis, there has never been any movement in the life of mankind which could divorced from emotional element. It is, on the contrary, a curious fact of history that precisely those movements which begin with a purely intellectual act - the enunciation of a definite clearly outlined idea - very soon develop, and retain, a powerful emotional momentum. But whatever connection between men's rational acceptance of an ideology and there subsequent emotion-charged attempts at its realisation, such movements forever retain the stamp of the intellectual origin. So it was with Islam - and so, more recent times, with the Marxist movement (although the latter's one-sided materialism and its implicit denial of the value of human individuality set it entirely apart from the spiritual -cum- social scheme envisaged by Islam).

In this sense, Islamic civilisation can correctly be described as "ideological". It began with enunciation of an idea by the Apostle of God and its acceptance by individual men and women; and the surging emotion which at once engulfed all those who fell under the idea's spell, though very important in itself, was only secondary to their original, intellectual perception of the Quranic call:

"Say [O Prophet]: 'This is my way: Resting upon conscious insight accessible to reason ('ala basirah), I am calling you all unto God - I and they who follow me'" (Surah 12:108).

Hence, if it be true that Islamic civilisation does not draw its nourishment from any racial or national sentiments in the people it embraces, but only from their conscious acceptance of the programme of Islam - then it is equally true that their knowledge of the programme must precede their emotional readiness, or ability, to make it work. Thus, Islamic life must remain an illusion until the Muslim community, or at least an overwhelming majority within it, are fully aware of what the programme of Islam really implies and are resolved to cooperate towards its fulfillment. Awareness, as we have seen, is in this context of crucial importance. A mere emotional adherence to Islam, an adherence, that is, without a clear comprehension of its ideology - the shariah - can produce neither the ability nor the resolve to make it work and practice. Nor can it create the "moral habit" so indispensable to a truly Islamic life - namely, the ability to decide instinctively, whenever an occasion arises, which of our impulses are right and which are wrong from the viewpoint of Islamic ethics. As long as the Muslims, or the majority among them, are aware of the spiritual and social aims implied in the law of Islam and are convinced that an observance of this law will lead them to a fuller, more satisfying life, the "moral habit" engendered by the shariah is a powerful factor making not only for individual righteousness but also for effective social cooperation and cultural progress.

It may, however happen - as indeed it did happen - that at a certain stage of its development the community loses its direct, popular touch with the premisses of the Law (the "programme"), simply because generations upon generations of scholars have added their personal deductions to the original, clearly-stipulated ordinances of the Law, thus making it more and more complicated and remote from the consciousness of the common man. The previous, community wide awareness of the Law gradually recedes. Instead of knowing it, as his predecessors did, through personal insight, the common man is forced to rely increasingly on second-hand expositions of the Law offered by people who have specialised in its study. The opinions of these mediators naturally differ in many points, and the scrutiny of these different opinions requires a great amount of learned labour, resulting in further additions to the original ordinances of the Law and thus in an enlargement of its original scope. In the course of time the structure of legal thought grows so alarmingly huge and complicated that even the "specialists" are compelled to call a halt to further development. This they achieve by the deciding quite arbitrarily, that the early expositions and interpretations of the Law (say, up to the third century of Islamic history) are henceforth to be regarded as "final". But, unfortunately, even those early expositions and interpretations are so numerous and in many points so conflicting that it is in practice impossible to present them directly to the common man: again, only a "specialist" can re-interpret and harmonise them - which is, of course, impossible without further additions to, and super-impositions on, the original Law....

And so, for the common man, the shariah becomes a remote affair. The element of consciousness - the direct awareness, by every Muslim, of what the Law of Islam implies - is supplanted bu the rule of formulas. Social cooperation is deadened into mere convention. The erstwhile "moral habit" loses all its vitality and is transformed into an automatism of customs and customary notions. As a result, all creative impulses within the society slow down and cool down. The socioeconomic scheme becomes less and less obvious and, therefore, real progress on its basis becomes increasingly difficult and, in the end, stops entirely. Political power, originally built on the Muslims' conscious adherence to the ideology of Islam, gradually crumbles and gives way to all manner of tribal, dynastic and sectarian squabbles. Economic decay sets in, followed by cultural stagnation. Thought itself dies down and only vague emotion remains in the place of one-time intellectual splendour. The society ceases to be cohesive in its structure; with the loss of its ideological basis it loses, step by step, it shape as well and becomes an easy pray to every kind of disruptive influence coming from other civilisations. And when all this happens, Muslim society as such is ready for dissolution.

It is not difficult to recognise that this is precisely what has happened in the world of Islam - not only today and not only yesterday, but for several centuries. The decay of Islamic civilistaion, the progressive weakening of faith in Islam, the ineffectiveness of the Islamic teaching on our actual lives - all this is almost entirely due to the fact that for centuries the Muslims have been out of touch with the true premises of Islamic law. The spirit of Islam is not being translated into practice because for nearly a thousand years the common man has been prevented from knowing through personal insight what the Law of Islam really is.

Is Islam outdated? A passage from the book "This Law of Ours" by Muhammad Asad

"But why has Islam become so ineffective? 

Why does it not (and did not for a great length of time) function properly? Is it possible, after all, that the ideas and ideals of Islam are in some respects defective and therefore, not attractive enough for all times? Has it yet a mission to fulfil or is it a spent force? Has it really something unique to offer – something for which there is perhaps no equivalent in any other ideology – or is this only and illusion produced by our love of traditional forms? In short,is it a mere reactionary sentiment? Is the original message of the Quran still vital and relevant enough, to satisfy our spiritual longings and to shape our outlook on life – or is it out of tune with what science and experience have since taught us? Does Islam offer solutions for all the pressing social and economic problems of our time – or was its programme time-bound, that is, adaptable only to the social and economic conditions at the time of its birth and not really relevant to the needs and problems of present-day life? To put it bluntly: Is Islam really a practical proposition for our present – or mere traditional ballast? These are most pertinent questions. They roll like thunder under the surface of modern Muslim life and perturb the minds of many people who have minds worth speaking of. They are often being raised by non-Muslim critics of Islam and by not a few Muslims who are sickened by the spectacle of cultural and social decline, so evident in the Muslim world of today. No creative strength; a confusing chaos of views as to what is and what is not “Islamic”; the absence of all genuine – that is, practically asserted – pride in our own culture; the mounting, mostly unconscious imitation of Western social aims and forms by Muslims; the sterile conventionalism of out ‘ulama’, who have nothing to offer but formulas and pious admonitions. In the face of all this, one might well ask, “On what grounds, then, do you claim that Islam is a ‘practical proposition’?” One might argue that the decay of this civilisation of ours – a civilisation admittedly based on Islam – shows that this basis was, in reality, not practical enough to ensure our society’s positive, continuous development forever….

Indeed, our critics do argue on precisely these lines. They tell us, condescendingly enough, that the principles of Islam “might” have been all right a thousand or fourteen hundred years ago, when human society was less complicated and human needs simpler, but that “our time demands a more up-to-date ideology”. Whatever stimulus, they say, the teachings of the Arabian Prophet may have given to culture in past centuries has now resolved itself into a play with old formulas; not accidentally so – but because, in the opinion of those critics, Islam was the manmade product of a particular time and a particular environment. In the meantime, so the argument goes, humankind has acquired new experiences and new needs. And as the old teaching were relevant only to social and intellectual conditions which have now become obsolete, it is only natural that modern Muslims are gradually abandoning them and are beginning to turn for cultural inspiration to the more vital, more up-to-date civilisation of the West. In other words, our critics assert that Muslim civilisation has decayed because Islam itself has proved inadequate for the requirements of the present age.

Seeing that Muslim civilisation has indeed decayed, and that Muslim society is indeed rapidly losing all vestiges of its one-time Islamic colour, the above argument contains a most serious challenge to everybody who believes that, in spite of the present Muslim degeneration, Islam is much more than a mere passing phase in the history of mankind. It will do us no good to evade this challenge by simply saying that: “Muslim society has decayed because Muslims have ceased to live in accordance to the spirit of Islam”. True as this statement may be, it does not fully explain our problem; it does not even touch upon its core. For, if the teachings of Islam are all that we claim to be, there must be some valid reason why the Muslims have ceased to live in accordance with the spirit of Islam. “Well, what is the reason?” asks the unfriendly critic. And here our conventional Muslim, having no convincing explanation to give, remains entirely mute – while his opponent merely shrugs his shoulders and says, “Apparently because the spirit of Islam was inadequate to the demands of progress....”

Now what do you say? Shall we, you and I, follow the example of our mute friend and remain equally speechless in the face of what amounts to a thorough condemnation of Islam, and thereby, indirectly, give the right to the critics who maintain that Islam was nothing but the product of a particular time and environment and is, therefore, “out of date”?

We cannot do that. We believe – we know – that the message of Islam is God’s Own Message to humankind valid not only for a particular time, but for all times – otherwise I would not have written these pages and you would have no reason to read them. This being so, neither you nor I are prepared to admit for a moment that the spirit of Islam could be inadequate to the real needs of this or any time. We are – on the contrary – convinced that the Islamic teachings offer everything that man needs spiritually and socially, whatever stage of development. But, on the other hand, we are faced with the iron fact that the spirit of Islam is not being – and has not been for a good centuries – translated into practice by the many millions of people professing the Islamic faith. It is not reasonable to suppose that all those millions could have voluntarily forgone all the manifold advantages, which, according to our claim, Islam places before man. Why, then, did they forgo these advantages?

If we wish to see Islam in practice once again, we must supply an answer – a really satisfactory answer – to this riddle.

Muhammad Asad