Islamic Perception & Philosophies

Islamic Perception & Philosophies Muhammad Al-Amrani

Islamic Perception and Philosophies

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Islam advises its followers not to venture and delve into two subjects: nature of Allah (SW), and nature of predestination inasmuch as those are beyond the reach of human perception: “And do not pursue anything of which you have no knowledge, verily, hearing and sight and heart - all of them - will be called to account for it,” [17: 36] and venturing into them will often lead to mere guesswork and anthropomorphic metaphysical extrapolation and empty speculations. Metaphysical philosophy has failed to find the True ‘One’, ‘First Cause,’ ‘Unmoved Mover,’ or Allah (SW) and the philosophy of epistemology ended in a maze of controversies and conflicts. Some of the issues discussed by philosophy are the relation of faith to reason, the existence and unity of Allah (SW), the object of theology and metaphysics, the problems of knowledge, of universals, and of individuation. For more, see if you wish Abbas al-Aqad "Allah" and Sayyid Qutb's "Pillars of Islamic Perception."

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Philosophy has gone to the ashcan of history but some, like atheist Julian Huxley who advised mankind to contemplate science to satiate their zeal for Allah (SW), William Durant suggested the ‘pleasures’ of philosophy in place of religion. In his “Religion Without Revelation,” Julian Huxley, suggested that humans could find an outlet for their religious zeal in contemplation of their own destiny, rather than in theistic creeds. Note how he was made General Director of UNESCO despite his blemeshous and heretical remarks. But it is the age of dwarfs, and the UN with its various organizations are mere tools in the hands of a gang of capitalists and atheists to woo the masses away from their Maker. Durant is a staunch atheist and an open antagonist of religion especially if that religion is Islam! Muslim so-called thinkers, continues to copy-cat western philosophies as they are prone to imitate anything western even if it has to do with their faith but it is that terrible feeling of spiritual and intellectual defeat! As the Apostle of Allah (SW) said: “You shall follow the ways of those before you step by step.” [Buckahri].

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Nihilism is defined as a belief in the nonexistence of truth. The philosophy of nihilism has found its place in modern western literature, and art movements such as surrealism, cubism and Dadaism embrace it openly. In music it has taken the form of ‘punk rock’ whose chaotic song patterns and morbid or obscene lyrics depict life’s meaninglessness and amorality. Because the 'cursed' west no longer believe in anything, they propaganda machine has spread the false notion that nihilism is compatible with scientific objectivism and an alternative to the so-called mythos of religion and supernaturalism, and led many to believe that philosophical nihilism represents an intellectual advancement. Notice how Arabic music for instance is slowly becoming nihilistic!

often in a mere-show to appear versed, cultured, and sophisticated in this age of dwarfs and the subject is taught in universities and colleges across the Muslim world. Scanning the history and writings of philosophy, and comparing its thoughts, views and perceptions to those of the Qur’an, one cannot but be amazed: how could such nonsense, incondonite jumble come from a philosopher!? But when one recalls that all they had and have in their disposal is but that ‘little’ brain which is bound by time and space and that they thrusted themselves in spheres beyond the realm of human perception and imaginary, such amazement fades away.1 Of the four branches of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics, we will concern ourselves with its metaphysics and epistemology as it is the subject pertinent to scope of this book and will start with a brief discussion of the history of western metaphysics and its influence on Islamic philosophy and will show the Islamic perception then move on to epistemology. Plato said Allah (SW) is transcendent, the highest and most perfect being and one who uses eternal forms, or archetypes, to fashion a universe that is eternal and uncreated. The order and purpose he gives the universe is limited by the imperfections inherent in material. Flaws are therefore real and exist in the universe; they are not merely higher divine purposes misunderstood by humans. Allah (SW) is not the author of everything because some things are evil. We can infer that Allah (SW) is the author of the punishments of the wicked because those punishments benefit the wicked. Allah (SW), being good, is also unchangeable since any change would be for the worse. For Plato, this does not mean that Allah (SW) is the ground of moral goodness; rather, whatever is good is good in an itself. Allah (SW) must be a first cause and a self-moved mover otherwise there will be an infinite regress to causes of causes. Plato is not committed to monotheism, but suggests for example that since planetary motion is uniform and circular, and since such motion is the motion of reason, then a planet must be driven by a rational soul. These souls that drive the planets could be called gods.(1) Where does Plato get this concept of Allah (SW)? Nothing but mere speculations. The Qur'an says that Allah (SW) created the universe out of nothing, ex nihilo not as Plato claimed it was uncreated. Aristotle held that Allah (SW) was the Unmoved Mover. He said that Allah (SW), being perfect, didn’t move, but attracted other things to Himself. For Aristotle the cosmos was itself eternal, because otherwise the Unmoved Mover would have had to create something and to create something would have been to acknowledge that something was lacking, but perfection would not lack anything. And Aristotle said, the Unmoved Mover could only think about itself. Why? Because for perfection to think about anything other than perfection would be an imperfection. Allah (SW), for Aristotle, was Pure Thought Thinking About Pure Thought. Islam flatly rejects such notion and the Qur'an is clear that Allah (SW) created the universe with His own will, His creation never ceases and is running the entire world including man's life and not as Aristotle claimed He is not concerned about it. For Neo-Platonics, championed by Plotinus, Allah (SW) is the source of the universe, which is the inevitable overflow of divinity. In that overflow, the universe comes out of Allah (SW) (ex deo) in a timeless process. It does not come by creation because that would entail 1

Bertrand Russell said in “The Philosophy of Logical Atomism,” “The Point of philosophy is to start with something as to seem not worth stating and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.” Nietzsche said “philosophers are not honest enough in their work, although they make a lot of virtuous noise when the problem of truthfulness is touched even remotely. They all pose as if they had discovered and reached their real opinions through the self-development of a cold, pure, divinely unconcerned dialectic, while at bottom it is an assumption, a hunch, indeed a kind of ‘inspiration’ – most often a desire of the heart that has been filtered and made abstract – that they defend with reasons they have sought after the fact,” and Francis Bacon said “philosophy contributes nothing, but is merely an echo of nature.” Imam al-Ghazali dismissed philosophy as ‘nonsense’ in his book “Tahafett al-Philasaphah,” or "The Incoherence of Philosophers," saying “because the mind and senses are subject to error, truth must come by divine grace." Tertullia said "Jerusalem could have nothing to do with Athens."

consciousness and will, which Plotinus claimed would limit Allah (SW). The first emanation out of Allah (SW) (nous) is the highest, successive emanations being less and less real. Finally, evil is matter with no form at all, and as such has no positive existence. Allah (SW) is an impersonal It who can be described only in terms of what he is not. This negative way of describing Allah (SW) (the via negativa) survived well into the middle ages. Though Allah (SW) is beyond description, Plotinus asserted a number of things, such as that virtue and truth inhere in Allah (SW). Because for Plotinus Allah (SW) cannot be reached intellectually, union with the divine is ecstatic and mystical. Where did Plotinus come up with the notion that creation would entail conscious and will which in turn would limit Allah (SW)? From no where but mind speculations. The Qur'an is clear that Allah (SW) creates what He wants when He wants how wants and His Will is not limited nor bound by anything. Influenced by this speculation and not by the Islamic perception, al-Farabi held that universals are in things and have no existence apart from particulars. Objects are contingent in that they may or may not exist; they do not have to exist. Therefore there must be something that has to exist-that exists necessarily to ground the existence of all other contingent things. This being is Allah (SW). The world evolves by emanation, and matter is a phase of that process. The potential in matter is made actual, and over time Allah (SW) brings out its form. Thought is one emanation from Allah (SW), and through it knowledge arises in humans. The actualized human intellect becomes an immortal substance. Ibn Sina, or Avicenna as he is known in the west was influenced by Platonic thoughts and distinguished between Allah (SW) as the one necessary being and all other things, which are contingent. The world is an emanation from Allah (SW) as the outworking of his self-knowledge. As such it is eternal and necessary. Allah (SW) must be eternal and simple, existing without multiplicity. In their essence, things do not contain anything that accounts for their existence. They are hierarchically arranged such that the existence of each thing is accounted for by something ontologically higher. At the top is the one being whose existence is necessary. From contingent things we come to know universals, whereas Allah (SW) knows universals prior to their existence in things. As apparent, Ibn Sina was not influenced by the Islamic perception and his views are vehemently rejected by Islam. The world exists by the will of Allah (SW) alone and not as he and Plautinus claimed and it is not autonomous but in utter submission to its Creator. Ibn Rushd1 or Averroes as he is 1

The history of Islamic philosophy is complex but in general, it started with the translations, though incomplete, of the work of Plato and Aristotle. Below is a brief history of so-called Islamic philosophy which is alien to the Islamic concepts and perceptions. Al-Kindi was the first Muslim to translate the work of Greek philosophies but it has been shown through his writings of Plato and Aristotle, that he was technically weak and was not fully familiar with their writings. This might be due to the fact that what arrived at his hand of Hellenistic authors were fragments and the complete work. He improved the Arabic translation of the “Theology of Aristotle” but made only a selective and circumspect use of it. He was particularly concerned with the relation between corporeal things, which are changeable, in constant flux, infinite, and as such unknowable, on the one hand, and the permanent world of forms (spiritual or secondary substances), which are not subject to flux yet to which man has no access except through things of the senses. He insisted that a purely human knowledge of all things is possible, through the use of various scientific devices, learning such things as mathematics and logic, and assimilating the contributions of earlier thinkers. The existence of a “supernatural” way to this knowledge in which all these requirements can be dispensed with was acknowledged by al-Kind: Allah (SW) may choose to impart it to his prophets by cleansing and illuminating their souls and by giving them his aid, right guidance, and inspiration; and they, in turn, communicate it to ordinary men in an admirably clear, concise, and comprehensible style. This is the prophets’ “divine” knowledge, characterized by a special mode of access and style of exposition. In principle, however, this very same knowledge is accessible to man without divine aid, even though “human” knowledge may lack the completeness and consummate logic of the prophets’ divine message. Reflection on the two kinds of knowledge —the human knowledge bequeathed by the ancients and the revealed knowledge expressed in the Qur'an — led al-Kind to pose a number of themes that became central to Islamic philosophy: the rational–metaphorical exegesis of the Qur'an and the hadith; the identification of Allah (SW) with the first being and the first cause; creation as the giving of being and as a kind of causation