Chapter VIII
ISLAM AND MODERNISM - III

SAYYED QUTUB [1906-1966]

Sayyed Qutub, an eminent Egyptian scholar,  believed that the Quran is the constitution revealed by God to regulate  all human actions in every conceivable situation. The Quran also repeatedly proclaims that accepting Islam means submission to the Shariah and the denial of all other laws. There is a wide gap between the "rule of Allah" and that of and  jahiliyya  (ignoring the divine ordained laws). If humans refuse to comply with the Shariah they would have to face some serious consequences for their act.

For Qutub a means for renewal of Islam and a crucial element in the re-establishing of political power is the understanding of the distinction between the Shariah and Fiqh. The Sharia, or divine law of Islam, as created by God and with the Quran as its primary source, is compete, perfect, and changeless. "Islamic society did not make the shariah," says Qutub, 'but rather the shariah made Islamic society.' The shariah delines the perimeter within which Islam operates.  Fiqh or the science of jurisprudence, on the other hand, is open to change precisely because it deals with local applications in a changing world. In this understanding Qutub sharply criticizes those who hand on to the literal interpretation of fiqh and seem therefore to render it as eternal and changeless as the shariah.45

e attacked the Western civilization and said that it had already expended its effectiveness with nothing more to offer humanity, and was standing on a shaky foundation. He appealed to Muslims that they should not be blind with the grandeur of this materialistic culture and its technological achievements because it was on the path of destruction. Qutub proclaimed that it was unbecoming that Islam should become a slave of the West, submit to it and take instructions from it.

Sayyed Qutub called the revolt again st God's authority in the world as jahiliyya. He explained that after examination of the roots of contemporaneous living styles it became obvious that the entire world was drained in jahiliyya, and all the fantastic material opulence and sophisticated gadgets do not reduce this ignorance. He declared that the degeneration of humanity in the collectivist governments, the inequity endured by the people ruled by capitalism and colonialism was the effect of this resistance to the command of God, the denial of the distinction that God bestowed upon humanity.

Qutub argued that the present ignorance was not found in the elementary and crude form of the early jahiliyya but took the fashion of declaring that the liberty to establish values, to prescribe precepts of collective conduct, and to embrace any lifestyle rests with the people themselves without any consideration of God's decrees.

The solution suggested by Qutub for jahiliyya problem was the establishment of a new elite, a saleh jamaat (righteo us group), among the Muslims that would struggle against the new jahiliyya as the Prophet had once did against the old jahiliyya. For him, Islam was not just theoretical discipline but was both aqida (belief) and a minhaj (program of action). The faith must be transformed into action. The vanguard must aim at the destruction of the jahiliyya with all its values, rules, leaders and legacy. This group should not yield because the option was between faith and disbelief and between Islam and jahiliyya.

For Qutub nationalism, socialism, secularism, capitalism, democracy and communism make up one thing that has originated in the West in direct antagonism with Islam. Islamic societies have given up their religion and degenerated into a state of jahiliyya something similar to what thrived before Prophet in Arabia. Qutub used the term as a characterization of the modern civilization of Europe that he interpreted as having again triumphed worldwide ever since Islam lost its position of supremacy.

He cast igated "defeatist-type people" who wanted to restrict jihad to defensive war and declared that true religion was the fight against infidel oppression. For Qutub, jihad was the continuation of God's politics by other means. Qutub considered jihad as a responsibility that becomes binding on Muslims whenever the principles and legitimate regulations of Islam were breached or ignored. He argued that in this connotation jihad was a type of political effort that attempted to disable the adversary non-Muslim power so that Muslims were permitted to apply the Shariah.

Qutub shared many of the ideas of Sayyed Maududi with regard  to the world-view of Islam. He singly believed in the universality of Islam's message. He wrote: "Islam came to elevate man and save him from the bonds of earth and soil, the bonds of flesh and blood ... There is no country for the Muslim except that where the Shariah of God is established, where human relations are bonded by their relationship to God. There is no n ationality for a Muslim except his creed which makes him a member of the Islamic ummah in the abode of Islam."46

He emphasized that Islam was markedly different from both liberalism and communism and was, in fact, a distinctive world-view which should be understood in its own terms. He criticized liberalism for its unlimited individual freedom, unjust economic system and disregard for the community's rights. He also criticized communism for its lack of concern for the individual's rights, and for imposing the dictatorship of one class over the others. Islam, in his view, provides a balance between the two systems. It is superior to both capitalism and communism in the sense that while the other two ideologies are solely materialistic, Islam takes care of both the material and spiritual needs.

Qutub considered the concept of social justice central to the Islamic polity: "Justice in Islam, in his view, denotes human equality as well as mutual social responsibility. He notes:[Islamic soc ial justice] is a comprehensive human justice, and not merely an economic justice, that is to say, it embraces all sides of life and all aspects of freedom. It is concerned alike    with the mind and the body, with the heart and the conscience. The values with which this justice deals are not only economic values, nor are they merely material values in general; rather they are a mixture of moral and spiritual values together."47 

GHULAM AHMAD PARWEZ [1903-1984]
Ghulam Ahmad Parwez, an eminent Pakistani scholar, believes that Islam is not a religion in the limited sense of the word, as a form of worship, but a way of life. "Islam is neither a relationship between man and God, nor is it characterised by the experience of an individual of a subjective nature, but is essential a code of life, regulating the conduct of affairs concerning the individual as well as the collective life of human beings."48 

He believes in the supremacy of law in the universe and says that the Quranic conception of God is that of a God Who administers the universe according to law. "Along with  faith in God, the distinguishing feature of the Islamic concept lies in the belief that God did not merely create the universe, but has also laid down definite laws to regulate the scope and functions of the various objects comprising it. The Law of Cause and Effect, and the Law of the Uniformity in Nature, among others, being of basic importance; and they deal with the external nature of the universe. He has, besides, prescribed definite laws regulating human life and its activities."49  Thus all arbitrariness is excluded from the life of man and the phenomena of nature. Everything happens according to the law of causation. But, Parwez says that if we go back tracing the causes and effects of things, we shall reach a stage where   we shall have to admit that the first link of this chain comes into existence without any cause.

However, the knowledge of the Divine Laws relating to the external universe is derived from a close observation of nature, scientific experiments and discoveries, but not so in the case of laws relating to human life and the regulation of its conduct which are communicated only through Revelation to the prophet."  He argues that it is this wherein Islam as a Din also distinguishes itself from the material concept of life which takes no cognizance of Divine Guidance by means of revelation.50

Parwez recognizes the Quran as an authoritative binding source containing the divine message. All other sources, such as the Sunnah and the rulings of Muslim scholars are not binding. True Islam is to be recovered from the Quran. He condemns scholastic tradition of the ulema, which has reduced Islam to a heap of rites and rituals.

"It should not, however, be misunderstood that the laws thus framed are rigid and hidebound with hardly any scope for progress or wanting in meeting out the exigencies of the ever-changing conditions of life in the progressive world. In fact, the Islamic State is fully authorized, after mutual consultations to legislate, within the framework of the Permanent Values, to provide for the needs of the time, and the body of laws thus promulgated could be altered and amended when necessary to suit the circumstance prevailing at a given time, with this essential provision that in no circumstance shall the framework of the Permanent Values be disturbed or interfered with.51  The permanent values, according to Parwez include: respect of human beings, unity of all humanity, freedom of conscience, tolerance, and justice.

For reviving Islam as a way of life the creation of an Islamic state is indispensable. Such an Islamic state would be based on the Permanent Values. "The order of life according to these Permanent Values is termed as the Quranic Social Order, or, in ot her words, the Islamic State."52 He argues that the ulema have reduced Islam to a madhab (ritualized form of worship meant to attain salvation) making it a religion in the same way like other religions. In reality Islam is a Din (way of life). The emergence of elaborate rituals and esoteric mysticism, the distortions introduced by the ulema and sufis have confined Islam to the domain of the spirit, leaving the matters of the world in the hands of secular forces. He lamented that the ulema, who wish to revive Islam as a Din, understand by that the revival of formalized Fiqh, which makes it a religion in the narrow Western sense.

Genuine Muslim scholars should be those who earnestly study the universe in the light of Quranic exhortations to reflect, probe and unravel the mysteries of nature. There can be no question of Quranic knowledge coming in conflict with the discoveries of science. On the contrary, science can find direction and guidance in the Quran for further deeper study of the natural phe nomena.53   He was of the view that no scientific discovery can contradict the stories in the Quran. This of course means that the Quran is to be interpreted freely.

Ghulam Ahmad Parwez is far, more keenly aware of the importance of reason, though he is equally insistent on the limitations of human reason. The knowledge that reason does achieve is useful and valuable. However, "it is equally wrong to exaggerate the power of reason and claim that the whole of reality is within its ken. Only a few aspects of reality are accessible to reason and about them it does supply true and useful knowledge. We cannot understand  revelation, he declares, only by faith, nor through reason alone. What is needed for this purpose is a happy blend of the two. He is convinced that the Nabi (prophet) is enjoined not to demand blind obedience from men but to exhort them to think and ponder."54 Ibid.