Page 9 - Pakistan Link - June 25, 2021

OPINION JUNE 25, 2021 – PAKISTAN LINK – P9

Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam

186. Why Did the Scientific Revolution Not Take Place in the Islamic World? - 4

n By Prof Nazeer Ahmed son persisted.
Concord, CA Al Gazzali injected himself
headlong into the Fatimid-Sunni
he intellectual storms cre- and philosophy-theology debates.
ated by the Mu’tazalite and His dialectic reflects the political
Tanti-Mu’tazalite movements and intellectual turmoil of the age.
continued to rage long after the He argued eloquently against the
eighth century. The esoteric doctrines of the Fatimids
Islamic world had as well as the deductive approach
come face to face of the philosophers. In his treatise
with Greek rational- Tahaffuz al Falasafa (Repudiation
ism and was trying of the Philosophers), he contended
to reconcile its belief that the metaphysical arguments of
system with reason. the philosophers did not meet the
Was there an interface between test of reason. Basing his powerful
reason and faith? If there was one, dialectic on the earlier works of al
where was it? The major intellec- Ash’ari, Al Gazzali argued that there
tual figures of the Islamic Golden was no cause and effect in nature,
Age grappled with this question and that all natural events happened
and advanced their own views and by the Will of God.
their own theories. “The connection between what
Among the most influential of is habitually believed to be a cause
the usuli ulema who tried a recon- and what is habitually believed to be
ciliation of reason with faith was the the Scientists ing in Qur’an, fiqh and tasawwuf in him the conviction that true faith an effect is not necessary… For any
Shafi’ scholar Abul Hasan al Ash’ari Ibn Sina was one of the most the local religious schools and then resided in the heart and it was only two things, it is not necessary that
(d 936). To maintain the transcen- celebrated scientists of the Islamic studied under a well-known scholar, through a cleansing of the heart and the existence or the nonexistence
dence of God and preserve His Golden Age. His approach to the al-Juwayni of Nishapur. The erudi- constant remembrance of God that of the one follows necessarily from
power over all decisions, Al Ash’ari question of cause and effect in na- tion, brilliance and intellectual acu- man ascends to Divine presence. Al the existence or the nonexistence of
advanced the thesis that time was ture was fundamentally different ity of the young Al-Gazzali attracted Gazzali returned to Nishapur (1098) the other. Their connection is due to
discrete and was built up of small from that al Ash’ari. To preserve the attention of Nizam ul Mulk, the where he founded and taught at a the taqdir of God, who creates them
increments (atoms). At each incre- the overarching authority of Divine grand vizier of the reigning Seljuks, Zawiya, a college structured on Sufi side by side, not to its being neces-
ment of time, the Will of God inter- Will in nature, Al Ash’ari conceived who conferred upon him the title of teachings. In 1106 he returned to sary by itself.”
venes and determines the outcome of time as moving in discrete, small “hujjaatul Islam” (evidence of Islam) the Nizamiya College and continued Al Gazzali supported his argu-
of an event. Thus, in the Asharite increments (atoms). Ibn Sina, on and appointed him a professor at to teach there until his death. ment by offering the combustion of
cosmology, a natural law which ap- the other hand, tackled the more the Nizamiya College in Baghdad. Al Gazzali lived in a period cotton as an example:
pears to follow the logic of cause and fundamental issues of great politi- “We say that the efficient cause
effect gets broken up into an infinite of “change” and the cal turmoil. The of the combustion through the cre-
series of occasions for the interven- “agent of change”. Among the most influential of the usuli Islamic world ation of blackness in the cotton and
tion of the Will of God. Those who He constructed a was divided be- through causing the separation of
accepted the philosophy of al Ash’ari hierarchy of caus- ulema who tried a reconciliation of reason tween the Fatim- its parts and turning it into coal or
were called Asharites. The Asharite ers of change and with faith was the Shafi’ scholar Abul ids in Cairo and ashes is God—either through the
ideas found wide acceptance in the distinguished be- the Abbasids in mediation of the angels or without
Islamic world and influenced some tween the “nec- Hasan al Ash’ari (d 936). To maintain Baghdad. The mediation”.
of the major thinkers of Islamic his- essary” and the Sunni Seljuqs In modern language, Al Gaz-
tory including Al Gazzali and Al- “contingent”. God the transcendence of God and preserve backed the Abba- zali’s position can be stated as fol-
lama Iqbal. is “necessary”, he sids and were en- lows: The laws of nature are not
Al Ash’ari’s thesis was a major maintained, where- His power over all decisions, Al Ash’ari gaged in a mili- deterministic. Cause and effect are
step towards a reconciliation of faith as the created world tary struggle with not necessary consequences of each
and reason. Al Ash’ari rejected the is “contingent”. In advanced the thesis that time was discrete the Shia Buyids other; they exist “side by side”. The
Mu’tazalite position that the Qur’an the cosmology of and was built up of small increments of Iraq for control outcome of a natural phenomenon
was “created”. He explained that the Ibn Sina, the meta- of Baghdad. The is a moment of God’s grace.
divine attributes of seeing, hearing physical structures (atoms). At each increment of time, the Crusaders, taking (The author is Director, World
and action are different from those of necessity and advantage of the Organization for Resource Develop-
of human beings and must not be contingency were Will of God intervenes and determines the Fatimid-Abbasid ment and Education, Washington,
understood in anthropological different. The rivalries, were DC; Director, American Institute
terms. necessary is “the outcome of an event. Thus, in the Asharite successful in cap- of Islamic History and Culture, CA;
However, in advancing his source of its own cosmology, a natural law which appears turing Jerusalem Member, State Knowledge Commis-
own “atomistic” theory of time, Al being without bor- in 1099. The as- sion, Bangalore; and Chairman, De-
Ash’ari left himself open to a cri- rowed existence. It to follow the logic of cause and effect sassins, a band of lixus Group)
tique from the philosophers and is what always ex- disgruntled Fati-
scientists. What is time? Is it linear? ists”. By contrast, gets broken up into an infinite series of mids, were active FATF FROM P1
Is it discrete? Is it warped? Is it even “the contingent throughout the Aslam sniffed a global conspiracy
“real”? The limits of reason are the being is ‘false in it- occasions for the intervention of the Will Islamic world, behind the FATF decision and asked the
limits of human understanding of self’ and ‘true due of God. Those who accepted the philosophy causing havoc Pakistan government to not surrender
time. The Qur’an offers profound to something else with their tar- its freedom.
insights into the nature of time to other than itself… of al Ash’ari were called Asharites. The geted killings of Analyst Jan Achakzai also con-
guide humankind in its quest for the It is actualized by Sunni leadership. demned the decision of the FATF, call-
Truth. The passage of time, absolute an external cause Asharite ideas found wide acceptance in the Nizamul ul Mulk ing the body a “tool weaponized against
time, perceived time, time as a mo- other than itself.” himself fell to an Pakistan”.
ment, time as a day and as a mirage Thus the theories of Islamic world and influenced some of the assassin’s dagger Senior journalist Zarrar Khuhro
are all clarified in different contexts Ibn Sina stay close in 1092. cast doubt on the FATF’s integrity, say-
in the Qur’an. The definition of a to the guidance major thinkers of Islamic history including On the in- ing it was “a tool of geopolitical pressure”.
natural phenomenon must there- provided by the Al Gazzali and Allama Iqbal tellectual plane, The official Twitter account of
fore state, a priori, its assumptions of Qur’an. However, the turbulence former president Gen (retd) Pervez
time within which the phenomenon his esoteric argu- generated by Musharraf said FATF was being used to
are defined. Otherwise, observa- ments of the “nec- the injection of “blackmail” Pakistan.
tions, theories and deductions that essary” and the “contingent” were His lectures on jurisprudence and Greek philosophy continued to roil Even singer Ali Zafar expressed
are derived in one timeframe be- too complex for the layman and his tasawwuf attracted a wide following theological debates. It had been four surprise on the FATF decision and asked
come speculative when applied to a works remained unknown except and his fame spread far and wide. hundred years since the Mu’tazalite whether it’s “for real”.
different timeframe. Al Ash’ari won among the scholars and the elite. After teaching at the College for movement had first enjoyed and Another user had underlined that
the debate against the Mu’tazalites four years, Al Gazzali went through then lost the patronage of the Ab- the FATF’s credibility could be ques-
of the day. However, his assump- Al Gazzali’s Tahafut al Falasafa a profound internal crisis. Outward basid courts in Baghdad. Through tioned if it ignored Pakistan’s commit-
tions are insufficient to accommo- (Repudiation of the Philosophers) ritualistic observances of religion these centuries, the intellectual ment and compliance to meet the task
date modern theories of quantum Abu Hamid al-Gazzali (d and esoteric philosophical discours- genius of Muslim scholars had force targets.
physics. The search for a satisfactory 1111) was one of the most influen- es brought him no inner peace. He struggled to accommodate the chal- Pakistan has been on the FATF’s
definition of the interface between tial theologians, jurists and skep- quit his prestigious professorship lenge of Greek ideas. The work of Al grey list for deficiencies in its counter-
reason and faith is perpetual and tical philosophers in Islamic his- and embarked on a journey to Da- Ash’ari (d 936) had brought a degree terror financing and anti-money laun-
must continue. tory. Born into a Persian-Arab mascus, Jerusalem and onto Mecca of calm to this intellectual landscape dering regimes since June 2018.
family in Tus in Northeastern Iran, and Madina for hajj. His introspec- but the undercurrents of a perceived Until the last assessment, Paki-
The Approach of Ibn Sina and Al-Gazzali received his early train- tions during this period brought disharmony between faith and rea- FATF, P11
www.PakistanLink.com