Islamic Culture and The Modern World “In the eyes of history, religious toleration is the highest evidence of culture in a people. It was not until the Western nations broke away from their religious law that they became more tolerant, and it was only when the Muslims fell away from their religious law that they declined in tolerance and other evidences of the highest culture. [Pickethall]

By Brig Aftab Khan (R) http://AftabKhan-net.page.tl https://twitter.com/AftabKhanNet Polished in The Defence Journal Karachi Pakistan October & November 2016 1

Introduction: Presently it is very common expression that; Muslims as a community are not adjustable to the global environments with divergent cultures. The Muslims in Europe have failed to adapt to the European culture, which has become a bone of contention and Islamophobia. The Muslims settled in Europe and America come from different continents and countries speaking different languages, belong to different races, colour but they are all grouped as one cultural class due to their common values embedded by their faith in Islam. It is important that the Islamic Culture is understood in perspective for accommodating the Muslims in divergent cultures for peaceful coexistence. Culture is a complex term, which may be defined in different ways. Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is "the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time." It may refer to all the ways in which human beings overcome their original barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human’. Terror Management Theory posits that culture is a series of activities and worldviews that provide humans with the basis for perceiving themselves as "persons of worth within the world of meaning"— raising themselves above the merely physical aspects of existence, in order to deny the animal insignificance and death that Homo Sapiens became aware of when they acquired a larger brain. In the words of anthropologist E.B. Tylor it is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." A contemporary variant, "Culture is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses, and material expressions, which, over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common." 2

Culture may also be defined as a set of patterns of human activity within a society or social group and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Customs, laws, dress, architectural style, social standards, religious beliefs, and traditions are all examples of cultural elements. The word culture refers to the material products and spiritual values of a population. Then, in this situation, the values which were produced by societies with small population and even small groups could be classified as culture. When we accept the broad spectrum of the words culture and civilization, we could say that it is possible for Islamic civilization to house more than one culture under its roof. Therefore, different societies and groups that have different languages, cuisine culture, birth and death customs, and etc, could live in unity under the Islamic civilization. However, in today’s globalized world, it is clear that cultures affect each other more and more and Islamic societies have started to show more similarity and adoption to Western cultures. In this situation, we have to discuss the possibility of Islamic culture transferring some characteristics from other cultures. Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies, which may also produce—or inhibit—social shifts and changes in cultural practices. War or competition over resources may impact technological development or social dynamics. Additionally, cultural ideas may transfer from one society to another, through diffusion or acculturation. In diffusion, the form of something (though not necessarily its meaning) moves from one culture to another. For example, hamburgers, fast food in the United States, seemed exotic when introduced into China. "Stimulus diffusion" (the sharing of ideas) refers to an element of one culture leading to an invention or propagation in another. "Direct Borrowing" on the other hand tends to refer to technological or 3

tangible diffusion from one culture to another. Diffusion of innovations theory presents a research-based model of why and when individuals and cultures adopt new ideas, practices, and products. Acculturation has different meanings, but in this context it refers to replacement of the traits of one culture with those of another, such as what happened to certain Native American tribes and to many indigenous peoples across the globe during the process of colonization. Related processes on an individual level include assimilation (adoption of a different culture by an individual) and transculturation. The transnational flow of culture has played a major role in merging different culture and sharing thoughts, ideas and belief. Culture in the sociological field can be defined as the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together shape a people's way of life. Culture can be any of two types, non-material culture or material culture. Non-material culture refers to the non physical ideas that individuals have about their culture, including values, belief system, rules, norms, morals, language, organizations, and institutions. While Material culture is the physical evidence of a culture in the objects and architecture they make, or have made. The term tends to be relevant only in archeological and anthropological studies, but it specifically means all material evidence which can be attributed to culture past or present. Islamic culture is a contentious term. Muslims live in many different countries and communities, and it can be difficult to isolate points of cultural unity among Muslims, besides their adherence to the religion of Islam. Anthropologists and historians nevertheless study Islam as an aspect of, and influence on, culture in the regions where the religion is predominant. Islamic 4

culture is a term primarily used in academia to describe the cultural practices common to historically Islamic peoples. Because Islam originated and has developed in an Arab culture, other cultures which have adopted Islam have tended to be influenced by Arab customs. Thus Arab Muslim societies and other Muslims have cultural affinities, though every society has preserved its distinguishing characteristics. Islamic culture inherited an Arab culture born in the desert, simple but by no means simplistic. It has an oral tradition based on the transmission of culture through poetry and narrative. However, it has been the written record that has had the greatest impact on civilization. Islam civilization is based on the value of education, which both the Qur'an and the Prophet (pbuh) stressed. With the rapid expansion of the Islamic empires, Muslim culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Persian, Turkic, Pakistani, Mongol, Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi, Malay, Somali, Berber, Egyptian, Indonesian, Filipino, Greek-Roman Byzantine, Spanish, Sicilian, Balkanic and Western cultures. Hence some of the cultural practices adopted by local Muslims like circumcision of females in some Arab & African countries, honour killing for marriage by choice, denying inheritance to women etc cannot be termed as Islamic culture but they are local in nature. Any cultural practice with the broad parameters of Islam are acceptable as part of Islamic culture while others rejected being un-Islamic. The Spirit of Muslim Culture- According to Dr.Muhammad Iqbal Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal describes ‘The Spirit of Muslim Culture’, it can be summarized as: 

The unity of human origin, as a social movement the aim of Islam was to make the idea a living factor in the 5

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Muslim's daily life, and thus silently and imperceptibly to carry it towards fuller fruition. It is one of the most essential teachings of the Quran that nations are collectively judged, and suffer for their misdeeds here and now. Devine life is in touch with the whole universe on the analogy of the soul's contact with the body. The soul is neither inside nor outside the body... Yet its contact with every atom of the body is real. The finality of the institution of prophethood... The abolition of priesthood and hereditary kingship in Islam, the constant appeal to reason and experience in the Quran, and the emphasis that it lays on Nature and History as sources of human knowledge, are all different aspects of the same idea of finality The idea (finality), however, does not mean that mystic experience, which qualitatively does not differ from the experience of the prophet, has now ceased to exist as a vital fact. Indeed the Quran regards both "Anfus" (self) and "Afaq" (world) as sources of knowledge. God reveals His signs in inner as well as outer experience, and it is the duty of man to judge the knowledge-yielding capacity of all aspects of experience The inner experience is only one source of human knowledge. According to the Quran there are two other sources of knowledge - Nature and History It is a mistake to suppose that the experimental method is a European discovery... Europe has been rather slow to recognize the Islamic origin of her scientific method. But 6

full recognition of the fact has at last come. Let me quote one or two passages from Briffault's Making of Humanity: a. "... It was under their successors at the Oxford School that Roger Bacon learned Arabic and Arabic Science. Neither Roger Bacon nor his later namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the experimental method. Roger Bacon was no more than one of the apostles of Muslim science and method to Christian Europe; and he never wearied of declaring that a knowledge of Arabic and Arabic Science was for his contemporaries the only way to true knowledge... The experimental method of the Arabs was by Bacon's time widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe" b. In the history of Muslim culture... we find that both in the realms of pure intellect, and religious psychology, by which term I mean higher Sufism, the ideal revealed is the possession and enjoyment of the Infinite [“Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam” Lecture-5, by Dr.Muhammad Iqbal, ‘The Spirit of Muslim Culture’] Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall [1875–1936]: He was a Western Islamic scholar, noted as an English translator of the Qur'an into English authorized by the Al-Azhar University and referred to by the Times Literary Supplement as "a great literary achievement." A convert from Christianity, Pickthall was a novelist, esteemed by D.H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and E. M. Forster, as well as a journalist, headmaster, and political and 7

religious leader. He declared his Islam in dramatic fashion after delivering a talk on ‘Islam and Progress' on November 29, 1917, to the Muslim Literary Society in Notting Hill, West London. In 1927 Pickthall delivered a lecture on ‘Islamic Culture’ in Madras, even after almost a century, it remains fresh. It is being reproduced here due to its relevance and need this day. Islamic Culture: Culture means 'cultivation' and, generally nowadays, when this word is used alone, it means 'the cultivation of the human mind.' Islamic culture differs from other cultures in that it can never be the aim and object of the cultivated individual, since its aim is not the cultivation of the individual or group of individuals, but of the entire human race. No amount of works of art or literature, in any land can be regarded as the justification of Islam so long as wrong, injustice and intolerance remain. No victories of war or peace, however brilliant, can be quoted as the harvest of Islam. Islam has wider objects, grander views. It aims at nothing less than universal human brotherhood Still, as a religion, it does encourage human effort after self, and race, improvement more than any other religion and since it became the power in the world, it has produced cultural results which will bear comparison with the results achieved by all the other religions, civilizations and philosophies put together. A Muslim can only be astonished at the importance, almost amounting to worship, ascribed to works of art and literature (which one may call the incidental phenomena of culture) in the West; as if they were the justification, and their production the highest aim, of human life. Not that Muslims despise or ever should despise, literary, artistic and scientific achievements, but that they regard them in the light of blessings by the way, either as aids to the end or refreshment for the wayfarer. They do not idolize the aid and the refreshment.

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The whole of Islam's great work in science, art and literature is included under these two heads: aid and refreshment. Some of it, such as the finest poetry and architecture, falls under both. All of it recognizes one leader, follows one guidance, looks towards one Goal. The leader is the Prophet (pbuh), the guidance is the Holy Qur'an, and the Goal is Allah. By Islamic culture, I do not mean the culture derived from whatever source and attained at any given moment by people who profess the religion of Islam, but the kind of culture prescribed by a religion of which human progress is the definite and avowed aim. No one who has ever studied the Qur'an will deny that it promises success in this world and the hereafter to men who act upon its guidance and obey its laws, that it aims at nothing less than the success of mankind as a whole; and that this success is to be attained by cultivation of man's gifts and faculties. If any development in Muslim society is not sanctioned by the Qur'an or some express injunction of the Prophet, it is un-Islamic and its origin must be sought outside the Islamic polity. The Muslims cannot expect success from their adoption of it, though it need not necessarily militate against success. If any development is contrary to an express injunction of the Qur'an, and against the teaching and example of the Prophet, then it is anti-Islamic. It must militate against success, and Muslims simply court disaster by adopting it. Certain art forms were discouraged by Islam at the beginning, because of their association with the idolatrous worship of the pagan Arabs and its vicious orgies, the utter extirpation of which was necessary for the progress of the race. But the discouragement of certain art expressions and encouragement of others were both, like the works of art produced, regarded as 9

subsidiary. The culture of Islam aimed not at beautifying and refining the accessories of human life, it aimed at beautifying and exalting human life itself. There is today a large and undoubtedly intellectual school of thought in the West which seems to hold that the production of fine works of art by a small minority of a community as sufficient reason for acclaiming the civilisation and culture of the community, even though the huge majority of its members may be forced by the social order under which they live to lead ugly and degraded lives. Nay, there is an intellectual school of thought which seems to hold that the production of fine works of art by a minority of many nations as sufficient justification for condemning the majority to conditions of perpetual ugliness, servitude and degradation. Some of you will no doubt remember a discussion in the English press some years ago. The question was this: Suppose a famous and very beautiful Greek statue, unique of its kind and therefore irreplaceable, is in the same room with a living baby, and the room catches fire; it is only possible to save one or the other. Which should be saved? Very many correspondents, men of intellect and good position, I remember, held that the statue should be saved and the child left to perish. Their argument was that millions of babies are born every day, whereas masterpieces of old Greek art could never be replaced. That is a view no Muslim could have taken, the very latest, cultivated form of idol worship. Islam foresees, and works for, a radiant future for the human race. And although every Muslim holds his own life cheap in the service of Allah, which is the service of humanity, he would never dream of sacrificing a human life, however seemingly insignificant, to the work of human hands. The adoration (it amounts to that) of works of art is due to disbelief in Allah's guidance and His purpose of mankind. These things are the best that man has produced in the centuries. Beauty is decreasing, 10

human beings are deteriorating, (so runs the argument) therefore, we must cling to those beautiful productions of the past as the one ideal left to us. That is pessimism, and Islam is optimistic - optimistic not with the "optimism" satirized by Voltaire in the character of Dr. Pangloss, the absurd philosopher, who kept exclaiming "Tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes possibles." (All is for the best in this best of possible worlds). That is the kind of remark which passes with the unthinking for optimism, but it is really fatalism, which is a form of pessimism, and Islam is not fatalistic. Yes, I repeat that statement. In spite of all that has been said and written of the fatalism of the Muslim Islam is not fatalistic in the generally accepted meaning of the world. It does not bid man accept the existing conditions as a necessary evil, but commands him never to cease striving for improvement. Islam is a religion, which specifically aims at human progress, and shows the proper way of it in a number of commands and prohibitions covering every avocation of man's daily life, his social life and politics as well as every prompting of his mind and spirit. These commands and prohibitions have been codified into a complete social and political system. It is a practicable system, for it has been practised with success, which is the great astonishment of history. Many writers have tried to explain away the amazing success of Islam by ascribing it to outside causes weakness of the surrounding nations, free use of the sword, the credulity of the times, and so forth. But how would they explain away the fact that so long as the Muslim implicitly obeyed a particular injunction of the Sacred Law they succeeded in the sphere of that injunction, and whenever they neglected to obey . . . it failed. And who would they explain the fact that many nonMuslims, doing what the Muslims are enjoined to do, have always succeeded in that special direction, except by the 11

supposition that the injunctions of the Qur'an and the Holy Prophet are laws for all mankind - natural law which men transgress at their peril, or rather at the peril of the race? It was because those laws could not be found out by individual experiment, and could only partly be detected in the long run of history by a student and a thinker here and there, that thy required to be revealed by a Prophet. Otherwise they are as natural as the physical laws which govern our existence evidently and which none would dream of disputing. Other religions promise success in another life to those who qualify themselves for it by privation and austerity on earth. Islam promises success and fruition in this life, just as much as in the other, to all men, if they will but obey certain laws and plain rules of conduct. The division between this world and the other vanishes for the true Muslim, since Allah is the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, the Sovereign of this world just as much as of the others. The other life has its beginning now, and not at death for all who perform the act of Al-Islam, that Self-Surrender to the Will of God which the Holy Prophet meant when he advised us: "Die before you die." The success in this world promised by Islam is not the success of one human being at the expense of others' nor of one nation to the detriment and despair of others, but the success of mankind as a whole. Five times a day, from every mosque in the world, the call goes forth: "Come to falah! Come to falah!" The Arabic word "falah" means success through cultivation. And there is another Arabic word, in common use among Muslims, of which the original meaning is often forgotten in its technical application: 'Zakat' meaning, "cultivation by pruning," or "causing to grow straight" It is the name given to the Islamic poor rate, so frequently enjoined in the Qur'an as a duty equal to worship, which truly was a cause of cultivated growth to the community. 12

"A tax shall be taken from the rich and given to the poor," said the Prophet (may God bless and keep him). When that tax was regularly collected, the condition of Muslim society became such that though the dispensers of "Zakat" sought far and wide, no proper objects of "Zakat" that is, destitute and ignorant Muslims, could be found and the money was expended upon works of public benefit. In the Holy Qur'an we read: "He is indeed successful who causeth it (the human soul) to grow aright, And he indeed a failure who stunteth and starveth it." And again "He is successful who groweth And remembereth the name of his Lord, so prayeth." Some may think that these are mere religious aspirations and expressions apart from life. Islam is nothing if not practical, and the expressions have been no dead letter in Islam, since they were translated practically into a system of organized relief and charity upon the grandest scale ever attempted, and solved all social problems in the Muslim world for centuries. The Qur'an informs us that true religion is practical, not theoretical or formal. "It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West, but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Scripture and the Prophets, and giveth his wealth for love of Him to kindred and to orphans and to the needy and the homeless and to beggars and to set slaves free, and those who keep their promise when they make one, and the preserving in the adversity and tribulation. These are they who are sincere. These are they who keep from evil" "Those who believe and do good." 13

How often does that phrase occur in the Holy Qur'an? "Those who believe and do nothing" cannot exist in Islam. "Those who believe and do wrong is inconceivable, for Islam means surrender to God's will, and so obedience to His Law, which is a law of effort not of idleness. There was no distinction between secular education and religious education in the great days of Islam. All education was brought into the religious sphere. To quote a recent European writer: "It was the glory of Islam that it gave to other sciences the same footing which it gave to the study of the Qur'an and the Hadith and Fiqh (that is, Muslim jurisprudence), a place in the Mosque." Lectures on chemistry and physics, botany, medicine and astronomy were given in the mosque equally with lectures on the above named subjects. For the mosque was the university of Islam in the great days, and it deserved the name of 'university,' since it welcomed to its precincts all the knowledge of the age from every quarter. It was this unity and exaltation for all learning, which gave to the old Muslim writers that peculiar quality which every reader of them must have noticed, the calm serenity of orbed [dauntless] minds. In Islam, there are no such term as 'secular and religious,' for true religion includes the whole sphere of man's activities. The distinction drawn in the Holy Qur'an is between good (that which is helpful to man's growth) and evil (that which is detrimental and noxious to it). Islam is a rational religion. It has no place for the man who can say, with St. Augustine: "Credo quia absurdum est" . . .I believe because it is incredible. Again and again the Qur'an denounces irrational religion as a religion that is evidently false. Again and again it appeals to man to use his reason and especially his common sense in religious matters. All historical experience goes to prove that a large measure of free thought is absolutely necessary to human progress, and at the same time 14

that nations which lose faith in God, deteriorate. Are the two things, the living faith in God and the large measure of free thought, incompatible? A considerable school of thought in the West seems to think that they are incompatible, yet Islam has proved that they are perfectly compatible. In the early and successful centuries of Islam, an intense faith in God was combined with free thought upon every earthly subject, for Islam held nothing upon earth so sacred as to be immune from criticism. There was only One Supernatural, only One Incomprehensible, Whose Unity, having been once accepted, admitted of no further discussion. He was One for all Beneficent and Merciful towards all alike, and He had bestowed on man the gift of reason, which is extolled by Muslim writers as the highest gift, to be used quite freely the name of Allah, that is to say, with the purpose of pursuing what is good and eschewing what is evil, for which the Sacred Law affords guidance and safeguards. There is no priesthood in Islam. All the prerogatives and responsibilities which in other religions have been abrogated to a priesthood, in the system of Islam are vested in the individual human mind. So the most wise and learned men became the natural leaders. An unenlightened mind would be a sorry lamp to light the steps of any man or woman, and so this exaltation of reason carried with it the command for universal education. The Prophet himself said: "To seek knowledge is a duty for every Muslim (male) and every Muslimah (female)." Universal education both for men and women thus became the Sacred Law of Islam thirteen centuries before it was adopted by 15

the civilisation of the West. He also is reported to have said (though the saying is not well authenticated: "Seek knowledge though it to be in China." And the following well authenticated saying shows the importance not only of acquiring knowledge but of spreading knowledge among the people: "Verily Allah doth not keep knowledge as a thing apart that He withholdeth from His servants, but He doth keep it in the grasp of men of knowledge, so that if He shall cause not a man knowledge to remain, mankind will make foolish heads, and they will be questioned and give fatwas, and they will err and lead others into error." The picture is too clearly of the present condition of Islam, when we have plenty of narrow theologians, for us to doubt, but that the meaning of the word 'knowledge' as here used in something wider and more human than the knowledge they possess. He [the holy Prophet Muhammad, p.b.u.h.] said:      

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"The ink of scholar is more holy than the blood of martyr." "An hour's contemplation and study of God's creation is better than a year of adoration." "He dieth not who seeketh knowledge." Whosoever revereth the learned, revereth me." "The first thing created was reason." "Allah hath not created anything better than reason. The benefits which Allah giveth are on account of it, and understanding is by it; and Allah's displeasure is caused by it, and by it are rewards and punishments." "To listen to the words of the learned and to instil into others the lessons of science is better than religious exercises." 16

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"He who leaveth his home in search of knowledge walketh in the path of Allah." "Acquire knowledge. In enableth the possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lighteth up the path to Heaven. It is our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless. It guideth to happiness, it sustaineth in adversity. It is an ornament among friends, and an armour against enemies". "Lo! the angels offer their wings to the seeker of knowledge." "Are those who have knowledge on an equality with those who have no knowledge?" "The preferment of the learned man above the devotee is as my preferment above the lowest of you."

A man may have performed prayers, fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimage and all other religious duties, but he will be rewarded only in proportion to the common sense, which he employed. And he said that "he who has learning but knows not how to apply it to the conduct of life is "like a donkey carrying books." Neither the Holy Qur'an nor the Holy Prophet ever contemplated the existence of an ignorant Muslim. Indeed, "ignorant Muslim" is a contradiction in terms. In the great days of Islam, an ignorant Muslim, like an indigent Muslim, could hardly have been found. Islam brought back religion into its proper sphere of action, which is daily life. The light of Allah, spoken of in the Qur'an, is known to everyone who follows Allah's guidance, for it is the light of every day transfigured and glorified by the knowledge of His immanence. The aim of religion is not a far distant object situated in a future life; it is present here and now, in service of our fellow men. The idolaters of Arabia kept asking the Holy Prophet for some miracle that might enforce the truth of what he said: 17

"And they say: what manner of a messenger of God is this who eats food and walks in the bazaars? Why is not an angel set down to be a warner with him?" "Or (why is not) a treasure bestowed on him? (Or why) hath he not a paradise from which he eat? The evil doers say: Ye are but following a man bewitched." And Allah answered the evil-doers in words, which plainly show that miracles are not a proof of the divine messenger, who must appeal to men's reason, not their senses or their curiosity. "We sent not before thee any messengers but such as verily did eat food and walk in the bazaars." That is to say, all those Prophets of old of whom the people thought as supernatural beings had been men appealing to the minds of others in God's name. Miracles, according to the teaching of Islam, are not the proof of divinity, much less do they violate the laws of nature which are themselves divine, being ordained of God. These are evidences of a certain stage of human progress towards the Goal, at which laws hidden from multitude become apparent. Many miracles are related of Muhammad (God bless him!) but no Muslim would think of quoting them as a proof of his divine mission. The message and the work achieved - the Qur'an and the Holy Prophet's preaching, and their consequences - speak for themselves, and are above all miracles. It is, of course, a fact that the majority of professed Muslims are ignorant and superstitious today, accepting a vast mass of legends and absurd beliefs. But where man's mind is so exalted in the standing orders of the community, vain beliefs are always threatened with the sword of scepticism. Indeed a large proportion of this mass of legend and superstition merely represents the science of a bygone day. The spirit of Islam 18

aspects it to be superseded by the science of today; for the Muslim's mind is free in all affairs of the earth, provided that he complies with certain rules of conduct imposed with a view to his bodily, mental, and spiritual health; and it is his duty to explore the science of his day, and to accept what his mind approves of it. Aye, even though it dissipates beliefs or fancies long accepted among Muslims. It cannot touch his creed: "There is no god except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" A creed which that grand old sceptic, Gibbon, pronounced to be "composed of an eternal truth and a necessary fiction." Even he had to confess that the "fiction" had been justified in the historic sequel. There is a great and growing tendency in the Muslim brotherhood to distinguish once and for all between the living body of Islamic teachings and the folklore, which has been thrown about it like a garment of an antique fashion. How little the discrimination of the robe affects the faith will astonish only those critics, who misled by the practice of Christianity, have identified the latter with the former, which Muslims never did. In the Qur'an, men are bidden to observe the phenomena of nature, the alternation of day and night, the properties of earth and air and fire and water, the mysteries of birth and death, growth and decay - evidences of a law and order which man never made and which man can never bend or alter by a hair's breath - as proof that man is not the sovereign of this world. His province of free-will, research and fruitful effort is but a delegated power within an absolute sovereignty, which absolute sovereignty belongs to Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, the Lord of all the Worlds. Man does not, as a rule, realise the marvels of his nature condition and of the providence surrounding him, because they never fail him. Surrounded by a wonder of creative energy which never fails; placed in universe subject to a code of laws which are never broken; manifestly 19

subject, being unable to inhale a breath, or lift a finger or speak a word or think a thought without obeying laws he never made; man in general thinks but little of such matters, absorbed in the interest of his own restricted sphere of energy, like any insect. Idolizing his own restricted sphere, he looks for a providence, which will back him in his special aims, oblivious of the needs of the whole creation and of the purpose of the Creator. Obviously, if we admit that there is a Creator and purpose, we must not expect special treatment, but must seek to conform to the divine will and purpose in creation, then only can we hope for success. "Nay, verily man is rebellious That he deemeth himself independent Verily unto thy Lord is the return." [Qur'an 96:6-8] Some years ago there appeared a book written by a Scottish divine - not a very interesting book, which made a little stir in the English-speaking world. It was called "The Natural Law in the Spiritual World." I only mention it on account of the title, because the revelation of Islam might be more aptly described as: "The Natural law in the Spiritual World and in the Social world and in the Political world." It is to the natural laws which govern man's physical existence that Islam appeals for proof of Allah's actual Kingship, and then goes on to show how laws precisely similar govern man's spiritual and collective life. All the miracles related to all the Prophets and saints are held so unimportant that belief in them is not obligatory. All that is obligatory is belief in Allah's universal sovereignty and in the mission of Muhammad (may God bless and keep him!) and all other Prophets as His human messengers. It was this natural and reasonable basis of Islam which made the greatest of German poets, Goethe, exclaim, after 20

reading a translation of the Qur'an: If this is Islam, then every thinking man among us is a Muslim. A section (the most vocal section) of the modern world would object to Islamic Culture on the grounds that it is unsuitable to modern thought and conditions. Being founded on principle, not democracy or aristocracy or plutocracy, or any other system which has been tried in modern times, but is founded on the principle of pure theocracy. It is not a remote ideal of theocracy to be contemplated only at hours of worship and forgotten at all other hours; but it is an actual, practical, complete theocracy acknowledged and obeyed at all times. A great European statesman is credited with having said: "The Almighty has no part in practical politics," and the chief defect in European politics is, evidently to those who study recent history, that it makes no allowance for the unforeseen event, the Act of God, upsetting careful plans. Allah's law of consequences still operates; the consequence of good is still good and the consequences of evil, evil in the long run, however much men close their eyes to the fact that the Russian Revolution and the failure of the Greek attempt in our own time upon the life of Turkey are two out of many instances of the unforeseen event (the act of God) frustrating ambitions and well laid plans of statesmen, which seemed to be certain of success humanly speaking. Indeed, to me it seems that, the position of the modern world is not at all different from that of the mediaeval world with regards to the Kingdom of Allah as preached and, to some extent, established by Islam. The objectors simply argue on a false analogy. Because the ideal of theocracy which prevailed in Europe in the Middle Ages happened to be associated with miraculous legends and church ceremonies and regarded as refuge from a wicked world. Those people postulated that all 21

theocracy must be impractical, a hermit's or fanatic's dream. Miracles have been discredited by modern science, and men have come to think of the exploitation of the riches of this world and of the improvement of their own position in it as a duty. The best think less of improving their own condition, than of improving the condition of their fellow men. Thus an ideal of theocracy based on the miraculous, and so remote from actual human needs (which was in its very nature pessimistic) regarding this world as the devil's province and bidding all who sought salvation flee from it, may truly be regarded as antiquated and unsuitable to modern circumstances. Not so an ideal of theocracy based upon the natural and the actual. Such an ideal is the crying need of modern life to check its suicidal selfishness - an ideal of which the foundations cannot be shaken by the discoveries of science or the thought of man, for they are in nature itself. The greater the wonders of the natural world as revealed by the progressive work of science, the more triumphantly is Allah's Majesty and Providence and Sovereignty made clear to the true Muslim. So long as natural laws stand firm, and certain consequences (good or evil) follow certain acts of men and nations. So long must stand the need for man to recognise a higher will in human life and a purpose of his own. So long must stand the need of man's surrender to that higher will and purpose - which is Islam, as the Qur'an teaches - if he would succeed. Islam offers a complete political and social system as an alternative to socialism, fascism, syndicalism, bolshevism and all the other 'isms' offered as alternatives, to a system which is manifestly threatened with extinction the system of Islam has great advantage over all those nostrums, that it has been practised with success - the greater the success the more complete the practice. Every Muslim believes that it must 22

eventually be adopted in its essentials by all nations, whether as Muslims or non-Muslims in the technical sense, because its laws are the natural (or divine) laws which govern human progress, and men without the revelation of them, must find their way to them in course of time and painfully, after trying every other way and meeting failure. The system of Islam promises peace and stability where we now see the strife of classes and of nations and nothing steadfast. It would surely be mere folly on the part of any one to refuse even to study the advantages or disadvantages of such a system merely because it is a system founded on the thought of God, and claiming to have been revealed by a Messenger of God. That would be sheer bigotry of atheism. But it is not only because it is theocratic that the Islamic system of human culture is despised. It is because of the position and conduct of the Muslims in the world today and yesterday and for many yesterdays Christendom in the Middle ages could not consider it because Christendom was then in bondage to the priests who then, as to day, called Muhammad (may God bless him!) "the false Prophet," and would not allow anyone even to think that his religion might hold anything good and useful to mankind. And the tradition of war between the followers of the two religions has been a mighty barrier until the present time, perpetuating intolerance. Today, when the barrier is practically down, the position of the Muslims in the world its not such as to lead outsiders to suppose that such men know the secret of the way of human progress. The conduct and condition of Muslims now is very bad advertisement for the teaching of Islam. It is not astonishing if people, seeing it, should turn away and think Islam to blame far their abasement. The point is, that Islam is not to blame for this, any more than ecclesiastical Christianity is to be praised for the present material progress of Christendom. 23

Christianity had a priesthood and no freedom of thought. The centuries in which the Christian Church was supreme are now referred to as Dark Ages. Islam had no priesthood, it had freedom of thought, and the ages when Islam prevailed in all its purity were the ages of a singularly clear and brilliant light. It is their falling away from pure Islam which has brought ruin to the Muslims, their acceptance to something indistinguishable from a priesthood. Or in the words of Qur'an, their "taking others for their idols besides Allah", their pleasure in the scholastic quibbles, their neglect of advice to seek knowledge every where as a religious duty, their denial of free thought and their distrust of reason. At a certain period of their history, they began to turn their backs upon a part of what had been enjoined to them, they discarded half the Shar'iah - the part which ordered them to seek knowledge and education, and to study God's creation. And the Christians of the West about the same time, began to set according to that portion of the Shar'iah which the Muslims were discarding, and so advanced in spite of all the anathemas of their priesthood. The reason why it was ordained that there should be no priesthood in Islam is because ecclesiasticism is an enemy to human progress, and, therefore, opposed to true religion, of which the aim is shown in the Qur'an to be the progress and the liberation of humanity, not its stagnation and enslavement. Muslims all over the world are now awake to this; they knew that their humiliation is their own handiwork, and they see that they can only regain a noble status in the world by a return to Islam. You may think that in this lecture I have wandered off from my appointed subject, which is culture, into the religious field. Islamic culture is so intricately bound up with religion, so imbued with the idea of Allah's universal sovereignty that I could not treat the subject properly without first giving you the indications I have given in this first address. In its grandeur and in its decadence, Islamic culture (whether we survey it in the field of science, or of 24

art, or of literature, or of social welfare) has everywhere and always this religious inference, this all-pervading ideal of universal and complete theocracy. In all its various productions (some of them far from being what is visually called religious) this is evident. It is this, which makes Islamic nationalism one with internationalism. For, acceptance of the fact of Allah's universal sovereignty entails acceptance of the complementary fact of universal human brotherhood. [Extract from an abridged version of the 1927 Lecture of Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall,] The Turkish Cultural Transformation Experience: Turkey, a Muslim country for centuries, located at the gate of Europe has gone through a unique experience of transforming from Christian East European Byzantine empire to Ottoman Muslim Empire, spread over three continents (Europe, Asia and Africa) having Muslim, Christian, Jewish and people from other religions, different races speaking different languages as citizens. After collapse of Ottoman Caliphate, secular Turkey emerged, which tried to divorce the past, changed alphabets from Arabic to Latin with intentions to integrate with Europe. But it failed to convince the Europe, now reconsidering its Islamic heritage and culture in secular environments. Dr. Sinan Ylmaz is Assist. Professor and Head of Department of Sociology at Karabuk University- Turkey. He delivered a talk on “The Uniqueness of Islamic Culture”, excerpts: The Uniqueness of Islamic Culture: Culture and civilization are two words that sometimes are mistaken for each other even though they are two completely different terms. Sociologists and historians still have not reached a settlement on the scopes of these words. The famous Muslim historian and sociologist Ibn Khaldun had used the Arabic word “Umran” means both civilization and culture. On the other 25

hand, Turkish scholar Ziya Gokalp inserted that the word “Harth” meant culture, making a differentiation between the words; culture and civilization and supported that a culture in the circle of Islamic culture can join the circle of Western culture. Gokalp has taken the word “harth”, which he had used to define culture, from Qur’an: “And when he is in authority, he runs about in the land to create disorder in it and destroy the crops and the progeny of men; and Allah loves not disorder.” (Al-Baqarah, 206) In this verse, the word “harth” stands for “crop”. The crop of a population is its culture and if the culture of a country were to decline a disorder or chaos takes place. It seems a better approach to say that civilization has a wider usage range than culture does considering that a civilization brings different people from different cultures together. The word culture refers to the material products and spiritual values of a population. Then, in this situation, the values which were produced by societies with small population and even small groups could be classified as culture. On the contrary, the world “civilization” has a broad usage area and could include all the cultures that show common characteristics in a civilization. When we accept the broad spectrum of the words culture and civilization, we could say that it is possible for Islamic civilization to house more than one culture under its roof. Therefore, different societies and groups that have different languages, cuisine culture, birth and death customs, and etc… could live in unity under the Islamic civilization. However, in today’s globalized world, it is clear that cultures affect each other more and more and Islamic societies have started to show more similarity and adoption to Western cultures. In this situation, we have to discuss the possibility of Islamic 26

culture transferring some characteristics from other cultures. Here focus is on the unique values of Islamic culture and the relationship between Islamic culture and Western culture. Islamic Culture and its Qualities: The Islamic culture is different from other cultures, and it is a unique culture. The reason of this is its challenging to the all of the cultures with the claim of being the representative of the justice and truth. There are some verses indicating the uniqueness of the Islamic culture in the Qur’an. We can exemplify the following verses: “Do they seek a religion other than Allah’s …..” (Âl-Imrân, 84) “And who seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the life to come he shall be among the losers.” (Âl-e Imrân, 86) “He it is Who has sent his Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it prevail over all other religions.” (Al-Fath, 29). When we analyze these verses, we cannot see a word bringing culture or civilization to mind in them. The common point of these verses is their emphasis on the truth and uniqueness of Islam. Even if the word “religion” does not have a meaning bringing the meanings of culture and civilization to mind, this word has an important relation with culture and civilization. When we look at the culture and civilization classification of sociologists and historians, we can see that there is no agreement between them. However, when we look at the valuation criteria of those categorizing culture and civilization, in addition to the main factors as geography, language, ethnicity, and common history, religion is definitely involved in these criteria. Moreover, it can be said that religion is the most important one among these factors. It is expected that people sharing the same geography resemble 27

each other. However, a person’s living in any place does not mean that he/she adopts the dominant culture of that region. Today, the regions especially allowing immigrants can be exemplified for this. Similar things can be stated for common language and common ethnicity origin. However, even if their residence, language and ethnicity are different, it is expected that people having the same religion share many things common with each other. This set forth the uniqueness of the Islamic culture. As the verses mentioned above indicate that Islam is the only valid religion, the Islamic culture should also be the only valid culture among the other cultures. It is also possible that we can evaluate this claim according to rules of logic. According to rules of logic, an inference has more than one truth values. The inference’s having only one truth value in all of the truth values means that it is true. However, in order for this inference is considered valid, all of the truth values should be true. Similarly, in order to consider any cultural factor as Islamic, it should not conflict with the rules and values established by Islam. On the other hand, it is certain that the other cultures conflict with the Islamic culture in some aspects. This is what causes the Islamic culture being unique among the other cultures. The claims stated here bring the question to mind that in case the Muslims behave improperly according to Islamic faith (due to non adherence to the core values and practices of Islam) how this case can be explained by means of the Islamic culture. In order to overcome this problem, we need to distinguish the Islamic culture and the cultures of the Muslims.

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The Cultures of Muslims and Islamic Culture: Even if the statement of “the cultures of Muslims” seems like the statement of “the Islamic culture” at first glance, in fact; it is not correct. Just as the other people who do not believe in God, the Muslims are human beings too and they sometimes may make individual mistakes. However, the mistakes that the people had made individually concern themselves and other members of their groups or the religion that they believe in cannot be held responsible for those mistakes; because Allah would not order people to do wrong. There are many verses of Quran expressing such cases: “Verily, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others, and giving like kindred; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil and wrongful transgression.” (Al-Nahl, 91) And so, although culture is stated as set of material and moral values that a society produces, cultural values that Muslims have produced non-compliantly to the spirit of faith and the rules of Islam cannot be described as Islamic. Therefore, some Western journalists’ effort of harmonization of Islam and terrorism is an injudicious one. This effort is a rhetoric form of dispraising Islam by combining the word of Islam and with a negative meaning word, terrorism. However, it is proved to be nothing more than fallacy when analyzed. To be able to keep away from this fallacy, it is required to differentiate the concept of Islamic culture and the culture of Muslims. The cultural values of the Muslim societies produced, only those values which are in harmony and not in conflict with the spirit of Islam and compatible with the rules of Islam are considered as part of Islamic culture. The cultural elements that are seen in Muslim societies, but are against the rules and spirit of Islam can be called the culture that belongs to some Muslims not Islam. Therefore, in the overall 29

assessment of the culture of Muslim societies, it should be preferred to use the concept of ‘Muslim Culture’ or the ‘Cultures of Muslims’ instead of the concept of the Islamic culture. The concept’s being used in this way also paves the way for cultures’ being different and varied in the face of oneness and universality of Islam. When we take the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) statement: “The diversity of the Ummah is God’s compassion”; into consideration, it highlights that being diverse is not an obstacle for being Islamic, and cultural factors belonging to the Muslims having different thoughts can be assembled under the same roof. The best method to explain this situation is the usage of the words; culture and civilization together. Here, civilization corresponds to religion and Islam. For this reason, just like the religion, which is indivisible, the civilization is also the same and unique. In that case, it is possible to mention that there are Arabic Culture, Turkish Culture, Persian Culture, Indonesian Culture and Indian Muslim Culture under the umbrella of Islamic civilization. Relationship between Culture and Civilization- Turkish Experience: We can evaluate the relationship between culture and civilization taking Turkish example, which has passed through transformation. Considering the thoughts of the founder of sociology in Turkey, Ziya Gokalp, known in Turkey as the founder of sociology. The time in which he lived was the time period in which Islamic societies had shown the worst decline against the Western societies around the World War-1. Not only Gokalp but also other intellectuals of the Ottoman Empire were looking for a solution to this decline. Arguments they had were focused on modernization, Westernization and Islamization. While some of the thinkers suggested that the society should hold on tightly to 30

their Islamic values to end the decline while some suggested that the society should take Western countries as examples. The main focus of the arguments they had in those times was how Western culture and Islamic culture or Western civilization and Islamic civilization could blend together. Those who were in favor of Islamic values clearly knew that this blend could never happen. In addition, they did not think this was necessary. However, those who were in favor of Westernization thought that being Muslim could in no way act like a barrier to Westernize. One of the greatest representatives of this argument was Gokalp, who expressed his opinions by saying” I am from the nationality of Turks, the Ummah of Islam, the civilization of West. Gokalp tried to explain the Westernization process of his time with the division of culture and civilization. According to him, a culture belongs to a nation, but a civilization belongs to the nations or societies. With the establishment of the republic in Turkey (1923), governors in Turkey started to put this idea into action. However, as this idea was being put into action, it was clear that what Gokalp had suggested was not possible, because, according to Gokalp’s hypothesis, it was possible to be from the Ummah of Islam and be attached to the Western civilization. However, as the time passed, the traits of Islamic culture started to fade away. Abolition of caliphate, change of alphabet and adoption of secularism were all signs of Islamic culture fading away. Furthermore, with the establishment of the republic in Turkey, as it started to become modernized, it also became Westernized. Modernization actually has the same meaning as Westernization (in Turkish context). The main reason why Western civilizations have succeeded over the past two centuries is that they had exported their culture into other nations. This cultural export has 31

happened, because people adapted to Western cultural values, whether forcefully or willingly, as they started to adopt the Western culture as a role model. Thus, nations which do not belong to the Western civilization have Westernized as they having modernized. The question arises as to how a culture could be affected by another one and is this possible or not. In order to find an answer, we first have to talk about the theories of disappearance of cultures and civilizations over time, because, some sociologists think that this is possible but the other not. Turkdogan, after asserting that nations having weak cultures will join the circle of nations with strong cultures, says that Turks have changed their circle of civilization twice in the history. Turks, firstly, belonged to the Far-East (European) civilization after which they had jointed the circle of Eastern civilization (civilization of Islam). Lastly, they have (again) tried to join the circle of Western civilization. [Even in Christian Byzantine (East) their East Orthodox Church remained different to Roman Catholics. The traditional variant of Orthodox Christianity present in Turkey is the Eastern Orthodox branch, focused mainly in the Greek Orthodox Church.] Even though, saying that Turks have tried to join the circle of Western civilization would be inappropriate for Turkish society, we cannot deny that first governors of Turkish Republic carried this aim. However, after nearly a century had passed, today we can see that it has not happened. Turkish nation had left the circle of Far Easter European civilization because they converted to Islam. However, they could not join the circle of Western civilization, because they did not convert to Christianity. This problem of cultural incompatibility is one of the main reasons why Turkey is not being accepted into European Union, considering its high potential labor force 32

and strong economy. Scientists like Toynbee, Danilevsky and Spengler analyze cultural change on the basis of civilization. However, their approach is being criticized by Sorokin. Sorokin claims that these three sociologists have mixed up civilization or culture with various social groups. Social groups have a finite lifespan. Their life spans, according to their characteristics, can last as short as only a few centuries, or, in some rare cases, a few millennium. However, a social group disintegrating does not mean that its members are dead or that the civilization it was a part of has collapsed. Culture or a part of civilization can be passed down to other social groups (Sorokin-Toynbee, 1964). Sorokin asserts that even though ancient Egypt, Sumeria, Babylonia and Roman Empire had collapsed, the civilization and culture these countries had developed is still visible in the socio-cultural world in an original or modified way. We shall examine the arguments about culture and civilization with the current situation of Islamic culture and civilization. “We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had God willed, He would have made you a single community, but He wanted to test you regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in doing good. Every one of you will return to God and He will inform you regarding the things about which you differed.” (Quran;5: 48) Modernization and the Challenge of Islamic Culture: Modernization is a general term which points out to the social process like industrialization, individualization and secularization which Western societies experienced before all other nations of the world. Modernization began with the Western societies; then other societies, including Muslim societies, experienced the same process more or less. When Muslim societies began to 33

modernize then they imitated western societies. But the religion of Islam would not accept the similarity to Christian societies. This verse is very deducible: “O ye who believe! The one who among you turns back from his religion, then let it be known that in his stead Allah will soon bring a people whom He will love and who will love him….” (Maidah, 5:54) And Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) says: “Whoever resembles to a society then he is from them”. Islam is the religion of truth and would not accept elements contrary to its main principles. Consequently, during the last two centuries when the Western culture was the dominant culture, Islamic culture has strongly resisted to the Western culture. The most important part of it was about secularism. At the end of this challenge, many cultural and social changes took place. Some of these new elements accepted by the Islamic culture because of their adaptability to the Islamic culture and some of them rejected. These changes do not mean that Islam is changing. But these changes show that Muslim societies and groups are changing. If we have a look to the Qur’an, then we can find out that there were some verses pointing out to some groups which abandoned their true beliefs and customs. Here is one of them: “Then there came after them descendants who neglected prayer, and followed evil desires. So they will meet with destruction.” (Quran;19:59) But we can find some other verses showing that this is a temporary process and Almighty Allah will make His religion prevail over all other religions. “…And Allah is Self-Sufficient, and it is you that are needy. And if you turn your backs, He will bring in your stead a people other than you, then they will not be like 34

you.” (Quran;47:38) We can deduce from this verse that Muslims ultimately will turn to their own characters. Consequently, the civilization of Islam and different Muslim cultures which taking part under this civilization, even if they were affected by the Western culture and civilization, have not lost their own characters. Yet, in the last few decades the speed of this process gradually decreasing and even in some Muslim societies has ended. Today Muslim societies have begun to seek their bases and hold on their own customs (and cultue). The most important example is the case of Turkey. After reading the Turkish experience of reversal to its cultural roots and Islamic heritage, in the world so Turkish scholar, one finds that the Western attitude remains persistently negative and intolerant towards Muslims and Islam. Is West against Islam? A recent poll published by the BBC suggested the majority of Brits don’t think Islam is compatible with Western values. This is a thoroughly concerning finding considering how there are nearly 3 million people living in the UK who describe themselves as Muslim. But how incompatible are their views with Western values in reality? The core Western values of democracy, freedom and justice can be seen as the bedrock of its civilization – and for practicing, informed Muslims, freedom and democratic values are anything but new to them. Islam from its very outset advocated for complete freedom, justice and democratic values. Many are quick to point out that today, many Islamic nations seem to have fallen back into the Dark Ages. But it was Islamic injunctions which first spurned the great advancements made during the Islamic Golden Age from the 8th to the 13th century. The reason many so-called Islamic countries have gone backwards socially or politically is a direct consequence of failing to faithfully follow Islamic injunctions. This is because 35

they have been pushed by their despotic autocratic, corrupt rulers to become easy prey to the hardliner clerics, who propagate the extremist ideology of hate rather than truly Islamic teachings. From the outset, Islam has advocated for a democratic form of governance based upon Shura (consultation). So any Muslim demanding that sharia law should be imposed in Britain (while in their homeland there is hardly any law) is not only entirely ignorant of Islam but insolent towards the freedom and opportunities Western countries offer. Ironically, of course, they are able to express their views because of those very freedoms. US Muslim leader addresses ISIS after Orlando shooting - 'You do not represent us. You are an aberration” If we take justice to be one of the Western values to be proud of, those unaware of Islamic teachings would be surprised to hear how the Qur’an strongly exhorts to absolute justice on more than one occasion (5:9, 6:153, 7:30), saying, “Allah loves the just” (49:10). The Qu’ran is so clear on the importance of fairmindedness that Harvard University declared this verse as one of the greatest expressions of justice in literature. Middle East or radical Muslim preachers oppose the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) in their words and actions and then they’re solely to blame. It doesn’t mean Islam is incompatible with freedom or human rights. It means that these hate preachers and unjust rulers who claim to be Muslims are at odds with not only Western values, but the true requirements of their faith. Ten Major Attributes of Islamic Society: The Islamic society can clearly be distinguished from any other society in the world. It has certain characteristic attributes that differentiate it from the rest of the societies of the world and the identity of a Muslim society is universal and Muslims from different parts of the world can easily form and adjust in an Islamic society, regardless of their cultural differences. Here are 36

some verses of Quran that describe the ten major attributes of an Islamic society. Less than 0.001% extremist terrorists distort some verses (revealed for defensive wars between early Muslims and polytheist opponents) to justify their heinous activities and crimes against humanity, maligning 1.6 Billion Muslims: 1. Belief in One God: “O you who believe! Fear God as He should be feared and die not except in a state of Islam.” (3:102) 2. Justice, Peace and Balance: "Thus have we made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that you might be witnesses over the nations, and the Apostle a witness over yourselves…..” (2:143), "Among the people, one may impress you with his utterances concerning this life, and may even call upon GOD to witness his innermost thoughts, while he is a most ardent opponent. If such people attain political power they create corruption in the earth. Their rule results in destruction of the produce of land and labor and the damage done by them affects generations. Allah loves not corruption and mischief."(2:204,205) 3. Brotherhood: “Verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and I am your lord and cherisher. Therefore, fear me (and no other).”(23:52) 4. Consultation/Democracy:“And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is (determined by) consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they spend.” (42:38) 5. Freedom of Faith: “…there is no compulsion in the matter of religion.” (2:256). 6. Justice and Good Treatment of Minorities: “.. Nearest in affection to the believers (Muslims) are those who say: "We are Christians…”(Qur’an;5:82), "As for such (of the unbelievers) as do not fight against you on account of your 37

faith, and neither drive you forth from your homelands, Allah does not forbid you to show them kindness and to behave towards them with full equity. Indeed, Allah loves those who act equitably"(Qur’an;60:8) 7. Commending Good, Forbidding Evil: “You are the best Ummah raised up for people: you enjoin good and forbid evil and you believe in Allah.” (3:110) 8. Not Disputing: “….And dispute not one with another, lest you get weak-hearted and your power depart, and be steadfast. Surely Allah is with the steadfast.” (8:46) 9. Self Defence: “Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors.” (2:190) 10. Gender Equality: “Whoso does good whether male or female, and is a believer, shall enter Paradise and they shall not be wronged a whit.” (4:124) In short, an Islamic society is an ideal society or the next thing to utopia that a particular group of people can create in this world. The need of the time is that the world in general and Muslims in particular understand the true concept of an Islamic society and create a community where people cooperate with each other and there is justice and peace among its members. The past history is reflection of success of Muslim society and culture and its contributions towards development of humanity: The Sources of Islam: Quran and Hadith: Quran, the revealed word of God, is the primary source. According to Allama Dr.Muhammad Iqbal; The second great source of Muhammadan Law (Shari’ah) is the traditions of the Holy Prophet‫ﷺ‬. These have been the subject of great discussion both in ancient and modern times. The central issue with Hadith is its authenticity. From the legal theoretician's point of view, Hadith can be divided into Mutawatir (transmitted via numerous chains of narrators) and ahad (anything that is not Mutawatir). 38

The medieval scholar Al-Nawawi argued that any non-Mutawatir Hadith is only probable and cannot reach the level of certainty that a Mutawatir Hadith can. Mutawatir (Successive, Continuous chain) Hadith: A Mutawatir (continuous, successive) Hadith is a report of such a large number of narrators (at different times) that their agreement upon an untruth is inconceivable thus being accepted as unquestionable in its veracity. A Hadith is said to be Mutawatir if it was reported by a significant, though unspecified, number of narrators at each level in the chain of narration, thus reaching the succeeding generation through multiple chains of narration leading back to its source. This provides confirmation that the Hadith is authentically attributed to its source at a level above reasonable doubt. This is due to its being beyond historical possibility that narrators could have conspired to forge a narration. In contrast, an Ahaad Hadith is a narration the chain of which has not reached a number sufficient to qualify as Mutawatir. There are only two types of texts in Islamic sharīʿah which are immutable (Qaati’) a) verses of Qura’n and b) Mutawatir Hadith. If someone denies a Mutawatir Hadith he does Kufr. There are only 100 to 310 Mutawatir Hadiths according to .different collections Quranism Movements: Quranists believe, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself was a Quranist and the founder of Quranism, and that his followers distorted the faith and split into schisms and factions such as Sunni, Shiah, and Khawarij. Quranists reject the Hadith and follow the Quran only. The extent to which Quranists reject the authenticity of the Sunnah varies, but the more established groups have thoroughly criticized the authenticity of the Hadith and refused it for many reasons, the most prevalent being the 39

Quranist claim that Hadith is not mentioned in the Quran as a source of Islamic theology and practice, was not recorded in written form until more than two centuries after the death of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and contain perceived internal errors and contradictions. [Refuted by traditionalists, since recording of Hadith had started from the days of Prophet (pbuh), encouraged by Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz (ruled 717-720 C.E, 99-101Hijrah)]. Daniel Brown notes that a group referred to as Ahl al-Kalam, who lived during the time of Imam Al-Shafii also questioned the authenticity of the Hadith. The Prophetic example, they argued, "has to be found elsewhere – first and foremost in following the Qur'an." The Mu'tazilites, who are the later Ahl al-Kalam, also viewed the transmission of the Prophetic Sunnah as not sufficiently reliable. The Hadith, according to them, was mere guesswork and conjecture, while the Quran was complete and perfect, and did not require the Hadith or any other book to supplement or complement it." Their basic argument was: “The Book We have revealed to you explains everything; a Guide and Grace and the glad tiding for all those who have submitted.”(Quran;16:89). They contended that obedience to the Prophet was contained in obeying only the Qur'an that God has sent down to him, and that when the Qur'an mentioned the Book together with Wisdom, the Wisdom was the specific rulings of the Book." Daniel Brown notes that one of the arguments of Ahl al-Kalam was that "the corpus of Hadith is filled with contradictory, blasphemous, and absurd traditions." Later in nineteenth century Syed Ahmed Khan "questioned the historicity and authenticity of many, if not most, traditions, much as the noted scholars Ignaz Goldziher and Joseph Schacht would later do." His student, Chiragh Ali, went further, suggesting nearly all the Hadith were fabrications. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez also noted, "No steps were taken by the 40

Prophet or by his immediate followers to preserve the integrity of Hadith. At the turn of the twentieth century, Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi (d. 1920) of Egypt wrote an article titled 'al-Islam huwa ul-Qur'an Wahdahu' ('Islam is the Qur'an Alone) that appeared in the Egyptian journal al-Manar, which argues that the Quran is sufficient as guidance: "what is obligatory for man does not go beyond God's Book. ... If anything other than the Qur'an had been necessary for religion," Sidqi notes, "the Prophet would have commanded its registration in writing, and God would have guaranteed its preservation." "Sidqi held that nothing of the Hadith was recorded until after enough time had elapsed to allow the infiltration of numerous absurd or corrupt traditions."(Traditionalists refute it). Although Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal never rejected the Hadith wholesale, he proposed limitations on its usage by arguing that it should be taken contextually and circumstantially. Umer bin Khattab Prohibited Hadith Writing, other Rightly Guided Caliphs Maintained it : The restrictions imposed on Hadith writing by second Caliph Umar bin Khattab which continued till next century also cited by Quranists to support their point, who said: Book of Allah (Quran) enough for us (Saheeh Bukhari#5721). “Umar ibn al-Khattab once tried to deal with the problem of committing the Hadith to writing. The companions of the Prophet whom he consulted, encouraged him, but he was not quite sure whether he should proceed. One day, moved by God's inspiration, he made up his mind and announced: "I wanted to have the traditions of the Prophet written down, but I fear that the Book of God might be encroached upon. Hence I shall not permit this to happen." He, therefore, changed his mind and instructed the Muslims throughout the provinces: "Whoever has a document 41

bearing a prophetic tradition, shall destroy it." The Hadith, therefore, continued to be transmitted orally and was not collected and written down until the period of al-Mamun. (Muhammad Husayn Haykal). “Abu-Dhahabi reports: The Caliph Abu-Bakr (R.A) compiled a work, in which there were 500 traditions of the Prophet, and handed it over to his daughter 'Aishah (R.A). The next morning, he took it back from her and destroyed it, saying: "I wrote what I understood; it is possible however that there should be certain things in it which did not correspond textually with what the Prophet had uttered." … As to Umar, we learn on the authority of Ma'mar ibn Rashid, that during his caliphate, Umar once consulted the companions of the Prophet on the subject of codifying the Hadith. Everybody seconded the idea. Yet Umar continued to hesitate and pray to God for a whole month for guidance and enlightenment. Ultimately, he decided not to undertake the task, and said: "Former peoples neglected the Divine Books and concentrated only on the conduct of the prophets; I do not want to set up the possibility of confusion between the Divine Qur’an and the Prophet's Hadith." (Dr. Mohammad Hamidullah). Special Status of Abubakr Siddiq and Umer bin Khattab (Razi Allah): Among the companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) two persons enjoy very special status: 1. It may be kept in view that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had only mentioned two persons by name to be followed after him, Abubakr Siddique and Umer bin Khattab (Ibn Majah Saheeh 97) 2. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Certainly, the one who will live among you will see lots of differences. So 42

3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

stick to my sunnah and the sunnah of the right-principled and rightly-guided successors. Bite onto that with your molar teeth." (Sunnah Abi Dawood) Allah does not like Abubakr to commit errore (Tibrani 1/42) After Prophet (pbuh) (Bukhari#3671) If there was to be a Prophet after Muhammad (pbuh), it would have been Umer (R.A) (Masnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Hakim, different words in Bukhari) Hazrat Umer (R.A) is known to be great Mujtahid, who boldly introduced many reforms to meet new challenges. Some Quranic verses are considered to be revealed fulfilling desire of Hazrat Umar (R.A).

Hence if Hazrat Umar (R.A) after consultations and deliberations decided not to permit writing of Hadith, the policy followed by his followers for next 90 years, it cannot be ignored or brushed aside by mere saying that he wanted Hadith not to be mixed up with Quran. Even when Quran had been recorded and official version distributed during third Caliph, his policy was respected and continue to be practiced. There is great logic with far reaching implications which scholars of Islam have to ponder to find logical answers. A Hypothesis: Lets assume for a while that the policy of Hazart Umar (R.A) was strictly adhered to throughout history, some expected results which a layman can imagine: 1. Total concentration on Quran as primary source of Islam. (as per vision of Umar. R.A). 2. Most of thousands of Hadiths would have been elapsed in historic process or given less importance, except the most essential Sunnah of Prophet (pbuh) which is practiced continuously (twatir), like fundamentals of faith (Ayman), Ibadah (worship) offering prayer, Zakah, Hajj, Fasting and 43

3.

4.

5.

6.

others related with common social, moral and legal matters. The estimates mass-transmission in meaning and wording, ranges between 100 (Suyuti) to over 310 (alNazm al-Mutanathir). However scholars like Ibn al-Salah (d. 1245 CE), al-Ansari (d. 1707 CE), and Ibn ‘Abd alShakur (d. 1810 CE) found "no more than eight or nine" hadiths that fell into the Mutawatir category. A very small figure against thousands in Sahah Sitta (The famous Six Saheeh Ahadith books) More unity, sects formation eliminated, less disputes and differences in multiple interpretations of Quran minimized. Goldziher writes, in his Mohammedan Studies: "it is not surprising that, among the hotly debated controversial issues of Islam, whether political or doctrinal, there is not one in which the champions of the various views are unable to cite a number of traditions, all equipped with imposing isnads". More Ijtehad , analogical reasoning (Qyas) and Ijmah to meet challenges in each age. A progressive, flexible ever modern Islam based upon Quran and Sunnah (Matwatir). Now if some scholars raise the issue why should Quranists be condemned? They are drawing the strength form the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the other Muslim rulers (except one, 90 years later). The Hadith books compiled from beginning till mid third century Hijrah were the individual efforts of highly respected Muhadeseen (Hadith scholars) (may Allah bless them).

Among their modern critics Professor Goldziher has subjected Hadith literature to a searching examination in the light of modern canons of historical criticism, and arrives at the conclusion that they are, on the whole, untrustworthy! Another European writer, after examining the Muslim methods of determining the 44

genuineness of a tradition, and pointing out the theoretical possibilities of error, arrives at the following conclusion: “It must be said in conclusion that the preceding considerations represent only theoretical possibilities and that the question whether and how far these possibilities have become actualities is largely a matter of how far the actual circumstances offered inducements for making use of the possibilities. Doubtless, the latter, relatively speaking, were few and affected only a small proportion of the entire Sunnah. It may therefore be said that . . . for the most part the collections of Sunnah considered by the Moslems as canonical are genuine records of the rise and early growth of Islam”(Mohammedan Theories of Finance). Distinction: The First Recipients and Universal Application of Islam: For our present purposes, however, we must distinguish traditions of a purely legal import from those which are of a nonlegal character. With regard to the former, there arises a very important question as to how far they embody the pre-Islamic usages of Arabia which were in some cases left intact, and in others modified by the Prophet (pbuh). It is difficult to make this discovery, for our early writers do not always refer to pre-Islamic usages. Nor is it possible to discover that usages, left intact by express or tacit approval of the Prophet‫ ﷺ‬were intended to be universal in their application. Shāh Wall Allāh has a very illuminating discussion on the point, reproduce here the substance of his view. The prophetic method of teaching, according to Shāh Wall Allāh, is that, generally speaking, the law revealed by a prophet‫ ﷺ‬takes especial notice of the habits, ways, and peculiarities of the 45

people to whom he is specifically sent. The prophet‫ ﷺ‬who aims at all-embracing principles, however, can neither reveal different principles for different peoples, nor leaves them to work out their own rules of conduct. His‫ ﷺ‬method is to train one particular people, and to use them as a nucleus for the building up of a universal Shari’ah. In doing so he accentuates the principles underlying the social life of all mankind, and applies them to concrete cases in the light of the specific habits of the people immediately before him. The Shari’ah values (Ahkām) resulting from this application (e.g. rules relating to penalties for crimes) are in a sense specific to that people; and since their observance is not an end in itself they cannot be strictly enforced in the case of future generations. It was perhaps in view of this that Abū Hanīfah, who had a keen insight into the universal character of Islam, made practically no use of these traditions. The fact that he introduced the principle of Istihsān, i.e. juristic preference, which necessitates a careful study of actual conditions in legal thinking, throws further light on the motives which determined his attitude towards this source of Muhammadan Law. It is said that Abū Hanīfah made no use of traditions because there were no regular collections in his day. In the first place, it is not true to say that there were no collections in his day, as the collections of ‘Abd al-Mālik and Zuhrī were made not less than thirty years before the death of Abū Hanīfah. But even if we suppose that these collections never reached him, or that they did not contain traditions of a legal import, Abū Hanīfah, like Mālik and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal after him, could have easily made his own collection if he had deemed such a thing necessary. On the whole, then, the attitude of Abū Hanīfah towards the traditions of a purely legal import is to my mind perfectly sound; and if modern Liberalism considers it safer not to make any indiscriminate use of them as a source of law, it will be only following one of the greatest exponents of Muhammadan Law in Sunnī Islam. It is, however, impossible to deny the fact that the traditionists, by insisting on 46

the value of the concrete case as against the tendency to abstract thinking in law, have done the greatest service to the Law of Islam. And a further intelligent study of the literature of traditions, if used as indicative of the spirit in which the Prophet‫ﷺ‬ himself interpreted his Revelation, may still be of great help in understanding the life-value of the legal principles enunciated in the Qur’an. A complete grasp of their life-value alone can equip us in our endeavour to reinterpret the foundational principles. [“Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam” Lecture-6, by Dr.Muhammad Iqbal, The Principle of Movement in the Structure of Islam] Islam in 21st Century: “The claim of the present generation of Muslim liberals to reinterpret the foundational legal principles, in the light of their own experience and the altered conditions of modern life is, in my opinion, perfectly justified.” – Allama Dr.Muhammad Iqbal Reform Muslims, like their more orthodox peers, believe in the basic tenets of Islam, such as the Six Elements of Belief and the Five Pillars and they consider their views to be fully compatible with Islam. The Egyptian scholar Muhammad Abduh, who traveled in Europe, famously said that in Paris he saw “Islam without Muslims,” and on his return to Egypt he saw “Muslims without Islam.” Islam is compatible with the spirit of modernity if interpreted properly. It is a tradition within Islam that subscribes to liberal and modern values, such as opposition to theocracy, support for democracy, guarantees of the rights of women and non-Muslims in Islamic societies, defense of freedom of thought, and belief in the potential for human progress. The orthodox treat any attempt to reform or liberalize Islam as heresy, on the pretext that that Islam was already revealed as the perfect and unchanging religion, the complete code of life for all times to come, hence there is no question of reformation. The ignore 47

Ijtehad (independent reasoning) which was started even in the life time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) when he sent Muadh ibn Jabal to Yemin. Omar bin Khatab (R.A), the second Caliph, introduced many reforms just 2 years after departure of Prophet (pbuh). He banned codification of Hadiths (traditions, sayings attributed to Prophet, pbuh), probably to maintain flexibility for the changing environments in future. The reformists notice that some of the troubling Hadith (sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad) might not be authentic, and could be representing only the misogyny and the bigotry of some medieval men. They, therefore, want to reassess them (one such project is underway in Turkey), re-read the Quran in the light of the modern age. Their main differences with more conservative Islamic opinion are twofold. The first lies in differences of interpretation of how to apply the core Islamic values to modern life, the second a more reactionary dialectic which criticizes traditional narratives or even rejects them, thus denying any obligation to follow them while also allowing greater freedom in interpreting Quran, according lower priority to the hadith, some even disregarding. Liberal movements within Islam involve professed Muslims who have produced a considerable body of liberal thought on the reinterpretation and reform of Islamic understanding and practice. Their work is sometimes characterized as "progressive Islam", some regard progressive Islam and liberal Islam as two distinct movements. The methodologies of liberal or progressive Islam rest on the interpretation and re-interpretation of traditional Islamic scripture (the Quran) and other texts (such as the Hadith), a process called ijtihad. However there are limits, there is no way to abandon the basic teachings of Islam, to become totally Westernized. 48

Liberal Muslim intellectuals who have focused on religious reform include Muhammad Ali, Sayyid al-Qimni, Irshad Manji, Nasr Abu Zayd, Khalil Abdel-Karim, Abdolkarim Soroush, Mohammed Arkoun, Mohammed Shahrour, Ahmed Subhy Mansour, Edip Yuksel, Gamal al-Banna, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri,Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, Ahmed AlGubbanchi, Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, and Faraj Foda. Taha was hanged in 1985 under the sharia regime of Jaafar al-Nimeiri and Foda was assassinated in 1992 by al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. Some liberal Muslims see themselves as returning to the principles of the early Ummah and to a claimed ethical and pluralistic intent of the Quran. They distance themselves from some traditional and less liberal interpretations of Islamic law which they regard as culturally based and without universal applicability. The reform movement uses monotheism (tawhid) "as an organizing principle for human society and the basis of religious knowledge, history, metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics, as well as social, economic and world order". There is emphasis on Ijtihad, Human rights, Feminism, Secularism (not Atheism), Tolerance and non-violence, Reliance on secular scholarship (science and technology). Why Liberal Movements Failed? The reasons for the lack of success of liberalizing movements in Islam may be attributed to a series of historical circumstances, rather than to some inherent flaw in Islam. Some reasons according to Aykol are: 

The temptations of power politics corrupted Muslims in much the same way that Christianity was corrupted after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine. 49









In the medieval war of ideas between reason and tradition, reason became associated with the merchant class and tradition with the landlord class. When the landlords won the political/economic conflict, the Islam of the merchants was suppressed. When Europe reached a similar point centuries later, the merchants won. Ottoman liberalization came too late, and the Empire fell before it could finish reforming itself. The post-Ottoman nationalist movements identified liberal Islam with the bad old days, and distinguished themselves either by turning to conservative Islam (as in Wahhabist Arabia) or to an Islam-suppressing secularism (as in Ataturk’s Turkey). Between the world wars, the British and French dominated the heart of the Muslim world. They propped up conservative extremist governments like the House of Saud, while lecturing Muslims about liberal values. As a result, any liberalizing Muslims seemed to be aping the hated West and denouncing their own culture. The vast oil wealth of Arabia was a historical accident that provided near-infinite resources for the spread of Wahhabism. In addition, the oil wealth of other Muslimmajority countries has influenced history in a different way: Economies in which wealth derives from resource extraction rather than enterprise are inherently conservative.

Several generally accepted tenets have emerged: There are many trends, which are not considered acceptable by the traditionalists, like; the autonomy of the individual in interpreting the Quran and Hadith. More liberal trends include rejecting Hadiths completely (like Quran Alone Muslims) or partially (including Hadiths considered authentic (Sahih) by traditionalists) like Gamal Al-Banna. 50

    

A more critical and diverse examination of religious texts, as well as traditional Islamic precedents. Gender equality in all aspects, including ritual prayer and observance. A more open view on modern culture in relation to customs, dress, and common practices. Certain rules on modesty amongst men and women are still self-enforced in response to the Quran's injunction against immodest dress. The individual use of ijtihad (interpretation) and fitrah (natural sense of right and wrong) is advocated. Secularism is claimed by reformists to be compatible with Islam, though bitterly opposed by traditionalists. The quest for secularism has inspired some Muslim scholars who argue that secular government is the best way to observe sharia; "enforcing [sharia] through coercive power of the state negates its religious nature, because Muslims would be observing the law of the state and not freely performing their religious obligation as Muslims" says Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, a professor of law at Emory University and author of Islam and the secular state : negotiating the future of Shariʻa. Moreover, some scholars argue that secular states have existed in the Muslim world since the Middle Ages.

Islamic Modernism: The Salafi movement or Salafist movement or Salafism is an ultra-conservative reform movement within Sunni Islam that developed in Arabia in the first half of the 18th century, against a background of European colonialism. It advocated a return to the traditions of the "devout ancestors" (the salaf). Some scholars define this movement as Modernist Salafism. The Salafist doctrine can be summed up as taking "a fundamentalist approach to Islam, emulating the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) and 51

his earliest followers – al-salaf al-salih, the 'pious forefathers'." "They reject religious innovation, or bid'ah, and support the implementation of sharia (Islamic law)." The movement is often divided into three categories: the largest group are the purists (or quietists), who avoid politics; the second largest group are the activists, who get involved in politics; and the smallest group are jihadists, who form a small minority. The Salafi movement is often described as being synonymous with Wahhabism, but Salafists consider the term "Wahhabi" to be derogatory. Salafism has become associated with literalist, strict and puritanical approaches to Islam. Particularly in the West it is associated with Salafi jihadists, who espouse jihad as a legitimate expression of Islam against those they deem to be enemies of Islam. Traditional Salafism concentrated in Saudi Arabia is opposed to the newer groups calling themselves people of Salafism, such as the Muslim Brotherhood concentrated in Egypt, whose leaders such as Sayyed Qutub call for revolutions and secularism in deep contrast with Saudi Arabia historically. In legal matters, Salafis are divided between those who, in the name of independent legal judgement (ijtihad), reject strict adherence (taqlid) to the four Sunni schools of law (madhahib), and others who remain faithful to these. Islamic Modernism, also sometimes referred to as Modernist Salafism, (not extremist Salafis) is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response" attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western values such as nationalism, democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality, and progress. It featured a "critical re-examination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence" and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis (Tafsir). The early Islamic Modernists (al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu) used the term "salafiyyah to refer to their attempt at 52

renovation of Islamic thought, and this "salafiyya movement" is often known in the West as "Islamic modernism," although it is very different from what is currently called the Salafi movement, which generally signifies "ideologies such as Wahhabism". Muhammad Abduh, was a Sheikh of Al-Azhar University for a brief period before his death in 1905, others were Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, and Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1935). Since its inception, Modernism has suffered from co-option of its original reformism by both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama" whose "task it is to legitimise" rulers' actions in religious terms. Modernism differs from secularism in that it insists on the importance of religious faith in public life, and from Salafism or Islamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social processes, and values. Quran and Hadith Distinction: Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish writer, never expresses any doubt that Allah is real or that the Qur’an is a revelation that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) received from Allah. Instead, he argues from within the Islamic tradition that there have all along been multiple interpretations of the Qur’an, and that the fundamentalist ones currently popular are their corruptions due to unfortunate historical circumstances of the post-Qur’anic era. In particular, he distinguishes between the Qur’an and the Hadiths — sayings and stories attributed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that are not part of the Qur’an, but were told and codified in the centuries immediately after the Prophet’s death. Conservative Muslims regard the Hadiths as authoritative, but Akyol does not, for two reasons. First, some Hadiths were probably fabricated by later caliphs who wanted to justify their own policies. And second, the message of the Qur’an is what speaks with divine authority. 53

When he was not reciting what had been told to him by the archangel, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a man of his time. Mustafa Akyol believes he was a good and wise man, or Allah would not have chosen him to be His messenger. But, unlike the common Christian view of Jesus, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was not himself divine. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) brought a message relevant for all ages, in other words, but he lived a life of his own age. … In fact, expecting from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) a perfect universal wisdom, totally unbound from his time and culture, would not be consistent with Qur’anic theology. At least one traditional story makes this distinction explicit: During a military campaign, a general question whether the spot the Prophet (pbuh) has chosen to camp comes from divine revelation or just war tactics. When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) answers “war tactics”, the general proposes a more favorable camp site, which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) accepts. In other words, in his lifetime Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) could be criticized and corrected. So saying “Muhammad did it this way” — even if we could be sure he did indeed do it that way, which is not always clear — does not by itself prove that a practice is best in all times and places. Why Liberal Movements Failed? The reasons for the lack of success of liberalizing movements in Islam may be attributed to a series of historical circumstances, rather than to some inherent flaw in Islam. Some reasons according to Aykol are: 

The temptations of power politics corrupted Muslims in much the same way that Christianity was corrupted after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine. 54









In the medieval war of ideas between reason and tradition, reason became associated with the merchant class and tradition with the landlord class. When the landlords won the political/economic conflict, the Islam of the merchants was suppressed. When Europe reached a similar point centuries later, the merchants won. Ottoman liberalization came too late, and the Empire fell before it could finish reforming itself. The post-Ottoman nationalist movements identified liberal Islam with the bad old days, and distinguished themselves either by turning to conservative Islam (as in Wahhabist Arabia) or to an Islam-suppressing secularism (as in Ataturk’s Turkey). Between the world wars, the British and French dominated the heart of the Muslim world. They propped up conservative extremist governments like the House of Saud, while lecturing Muslims about liberal values. As a result, any liberalizing Muslims seemed to be aping the hated West and denouncing their own culture. The vast oil wealth of Arabia was a historical accident that provided near-infinite resources for the spread of Wahhabism. In addition, the oil wealth of other Muslimmajority countries has influenced history in a different way: Economies in which wealth derives from resource extraction rather than enterprise are inherently conservative.

Muslim Contributions: The contributions in the advancement of knowledge for betterment of humanity are enormous, which have been summed up in Encyclopedia Britannica: “The Madrasahs generally offered instruction in both the religious sciences and other branches of knowledge. The contribution of these institutions to the advancement of 55

knowledge was vast. Muslim scholars calculated the angle of the ecliptic; measured the size of the Earth; calculated the precession of the equinoxes; explained, in the field of optics and physics, such phenomena as refraction of light, gravity, capillary attraction, and twilight; and developed observatories for the empirical study of heavenly bodies. They made advances in the uses of drugs, herbs, and foods for medication; established hospitals with a system of interns and externs; discovered causes of certain diseases and developed correct diagnoses of them; proposed new concepts of hygiene; made use of anesthetics in surgery with newly innovated surgical tools; and introduced the science of dissection in anatomy. Muslims furthered the scientific breeding of horses and cattle; found new ways of grafting to produce new types of flowers and fruits; introduced new concepts of irrigation, fertilization, and soil cultivation; and improved upon the science of navigation. In the area of chemistry, Muslim scholarship led to the discovery of such substances as potash, alcohol, nitrate of silver, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and mercury chloride. Muslims scientists also developed to a high degree of perfection the arts of textiles, ceramics, and metallurgy.” According to a US study published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in its Journal on 21 February 2007; ‘Designs on surface tiles in the Islamic world during the Middle Ages revealed their maker’s understanding of mathematical concepts not grasped in the West until 500 years later. Many Medieval Islamic buildings walls have ornate geometric star and polygon or ‘girih’, patterns, which are often overlaid with a swirling network of lines - This girih tile method was more efficient and precise than the previous approach, allowing 56

for an important breakthrough in Islamic mathematics and design.’ Philosophy: Islamic scholars translated philosophic texts from a variety of cultures. These include works from China, India, and Ancient Greece. Scholarly commentary written about these texts influenced a variety of cultures, including European civilizations. During the 12th-century Renaissance in Europe, Latin translations of Arabic texts were introduced. The Holy Quran was also translated. Math & Science Islamic scholars studied both Greek and Indian mathematics before making important contributions of their own. The most well known Islamic mathematician was al-Khwarizimi, who pioneered the study of algebra. His textbook on the subject became a standard in European universities for centuries. Islamic scholars were also skilled in astronomy. They studied eclipses, the rotation of the planets, and calculated the circumference of the earth to within a few thousand feet. Medicine Many advances were also made in the field of medicine. Physicians and pharmacists were required to pass exams before treating patients. They setup hospitals that had separate areas for trauma cases, this is the basis for today's emergency rooms. Physicians developed treatments for cataracts, used a variety of herbal remedies, and were adept at treating a variety of injuries. Islamic pharmacists were the first to mix sweet tasting syrups with medicine, ensuring that they would be taken. Ibn Sina, a famous Islamic physician, wrote a book called Canon on Medicine, which was an encyclopedia of Greek, Arabic, and his 57

own knowledge of medicine. This book became the standard medical text in Europe for over five hundred years. Economic Achievements Under the Abbassids, a vast trading network was created which helped to spread religion, culture, and technology. New business practices such as, partnerships, the use of credit, and banks to exchange currency, were developed to handle the increase in trade. The establishment of such vast trading networks made the Islamic Empire very wealthy, and helped to stimulate many of their cultural and intellectual achievements. Law Islam developed a system of law based on the Quran. This system was created to help people apply the Quran to everyday life and situations. The book of laws, called the Sharia, regulates all aspects of life including, moral behavior, family life, business dealings, and government. In South Asia, high percentages in all the countries surveyed support making sharia the official law, including nearly universal support among Muslims in Afghanistan (99%). More than eight-in-ten Muslims in Pakistan (84%) and Bangladesh (82%) also hold this view. The percentage of Muslims who say they favor making Islamic law the official law in their country is nearly as high across the Southeast Asian countries surveyed (86% in Malaysia, 77% in Thailand and 72% in Indonesia).According to PEW Research; "Although many Muslims around the world say sharia should be the law of the land in their country, the survey reveals divergent opinions about the precise application of Islamic law. Generally, supporters of sharia are most comfortable with its application in cases of family or property disputes. In most regions, fewer favor other specific aspects of sharia, such as cutting off the hands of thieves and executing people who convert from Islam to another faith." 58

Fine Arts: It is generally perceived that Islam is against ‘Fine Art’, which is concerned primarily with the creation of beauty and generally taken to include painting, printmaking, sculpture, and architecture, with literature, music, and dance sometimes being added. In its strict sense, fine art is to be distinguished from such decorative arts and crafts as wall painting, pottery, weaving, metalworking, and furniture making, all of which have utility as an end; the architect being differentiated from the builder in this respect. Islam is the religion of moderation in harmony with the nature; it does not impose unnecessary restrictions on the adornments which God has created for the enjoyment and development of human faculties. Asceticism often means the negation of art and beauty, it has no necessary sanctity attached to it. God has laid down the broad guidelines of lawful and prohibitions in Qur’an: “Say: Who hath forbidden the (zenah) adornment of God which He has brought forth for His devotees, and the good things of His providing? Say: "All these things are for the enjoyment of the believers in the life of this world though shared by others; but these shall be exclusively theirs on the Day of Resurrection. Thus do We make Our revelations clear for those who understand. Say: The things that my Lord hath indeed forbidden are: shameful deeds whether open or secret; sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to God for which he hath given no authority; and saying things about God of which you have no knowledge.”(Qur’an;7:32-33). The beautiful and good things of life are really meant for, and should be the privilege of those with faith in God. If they do not always have them in this life, and if there is sometimes the semblance of others having them who do not deserve them, it should be kept in view that this is a test from God. In the life to come they will be purely for the faithful. The forbidden things are 59

described in four categories: (1) What is shameful or unbecoming; the sort of things which have also legal and social sanctions, not of a local but of a universal kind; they may be called offences against society: (2) Sins against self and trespasses or excesses of every sort; these are against truth and reason; here would come in indiscipline, failure in doing intangible duties not clearly defined by law; selfishness or selfaggrandizement, which may be condoned by custom and not punished by law, etc.- (3) Erecting fetishes or false gods; this is treason against the true God; and (4) Corrupting religion by debasing superstitions, saying things about God which are not true. With in the parameters laid down by Qur’an; in broadspectrum the Muslims have created such an immense variety of literatures, performing arts, visual arts, and music that it virtually defies any comprehensive definition. In the narrowest sense, the arts of the Muslims might be said to include only those arising directly from the practice of Islam; more commonly, however, the term is extended to include all of the arts produced by Muslim peoples, whether connected with their religion or not. It is difficult to establish a common denominator for all of the artistic expressions of the Muslims. Such a common denominator would have to be meaningful for miniature painting and historiography, for a musical mode and the form of a poem. The relationship between the art of the Muslims and its religious basis is anything but direct. Islam is not against fine arts with in the limits laid down by God and His last Messenger (peace be upon him). Recreation, Amusements, Music and Singing: According to Fiqh us Sunnah Volume 2, Number; 153, “Recreation, amusements, and singing, if they stay within the moral bounds, are permissible on the days of Eid. ”Narrated Aysha: Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) came to my house 60

while two girls were singing beside me the songs of Buath (a story about the war between the two tribes of the Ansar, the Khazraj and the Aus, before Islam). The Prophet (peace be upon him) lay down and turned his face to the other side. Then Abu Bakr came and spoke to me harshly saying, "Musical instruments of Satan near the Prophet (peace be upon him)?" Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) turned his face towards him and said, "Leave them." When Abu Bakr became inattentive, I signaled to those girls to go out and they left. It was the day of 'Eid, and the Black people were playing with shields and spears; so either I requested the Prophet (peace be upon him) or he asked me whether I would like to see the display. I replied in the affirmative. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) made me stand behind him and my cheek was touching his cheek and he was saying, "Carry on! O Bani Arfida," till I got tired. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked me, "Are you satisfied (Is that sufficient for you)?" I replied in the affirmative and he told me to leave. (Sahih Al Bukhari Hadith number; 2:70). This Hadith is cited by scholars as evidence for the permissibility of singing, and some scholars cite it also in argument in favour of musical instruments, if with in Islamic values and principles. The traditional Ulema consider musical instruments totally forbidden (Haram). However some modernist think that the music, which encourages un-Islamic practices, is forbidden for that reason but the music which is not erotic, but relaxing and has a healthy effect on the listener, may be acceptable. Music, differentiated as it may be in the countries between Morocco and India, follows: variations of highest subtlety on a comparatively simple given subject or theme. Bible mentions about use of music by David (pbuh) while praising God: “Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.” (1Chronicles;23:5); “And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of music of the 61

LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endures for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.”(2Chronicles;7:6); “So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.”(2Samuel;6:15). Pictures and Sculptures: Making of statue existed in the time of David and Solomon, as indicated in Qur’an: “They worked for him (Solomon) as he desired: making arches, statue...”(Qur’an;34:13); but because the pagans used the pictures and idols for worship hence the Muslim scholars are in agreement about prohibition of statues, and paintings of living creatures. However the Prophet (peace be upon him) once used a piece of cloth with pictures on it for prayers. After he finished, he expressed his dislike to that piece of cloth and said that it distracted him from his prayers. From this it may be deduced that it is discouraged to use such material for a prayer mat. Its use, however, does not affect the validity of prayer. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned that pictures are strongly discouraged, he made the exception "unless they be printed on material." This means material which is used for making clothes. So it may not be appropriate to say that photography, as it is used today, is forbidden, though some scholars hold opposite view. Indeed, it has numerous beneficial uses. If it is used for a bad purpose, as in the case of pornography or compromising individual privacy it becomes forbidden. Calligraphy: The centre of the Islamic artistic tradition lies in calligraphy, a distinguishing feature of this culture, in which the word as the medium of divine revelation (Qur’an) plays such an important 62

role. After the 13th century a highly refined art of miniature developed, primarily in the non-Arab countries; it dwells, however, only rarely upon religious subjects. And a perfect harmony is reached in some of the miniature manuscripts of Iran, Muslim India, or Ottoman Turkey, which, in their lucid colours and fine details of execution, recall both the perfection of the calligraphy that surrounds them on delicate paper and the subtlety of the stories or poems that they accompany or illustrate Arabesque & Architecture: The typical expression of Muslim art is the arabesque, both in its geometric and in its vegetabilic form; one leaf, one flower growing out of the other, without beginning and end and capable of almost innumerable variations, only gradually detected by the eye -which never lose their charm. The arabesques, were developed according to a strict ritual to a mathematical pattern and were refined until they reached a perfection of geometrical complicated figures, as in the dome of the Karatay Medrese in Konya (1251); it corresponds both to the most intricate lacelike Kufic inscriptions around this dome and to the poetical style of Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi, who wrote in that very place and during those years. According to a US study published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in its Journal on 21 February 2007; ‘Designs on arabesque tiles in the Islamic world during the Middle Ages revealed their maker’s understanding of mathematical concepts not grasped in the West until 500 years later. Many Medieval Islamic buildings walls have ornate geometric star and polygon or ‘girih’, patterns, which are often overlaid with a swirling network of lines - This girih tile method was more efficient and precise than the previous approach, allowing for an important breakthrough in Islamic mathematics and design.’ An aversion to empty spaces distinguishes that art; neither the tile-covered walls of a mosque nor the rich imagery of 63

a poem allows an unembellished area; and the decoration of a carpet can be extended almost without limit. The architecture of mosques with big halls, of Iran and adjacent countries; central buildings with the wonderfully shaped domes of the Ottoman Empire, and Muslim Spain are unique in elegance. If any decoration was needed, it was the words of God, beautifully written or carved in the walls or around the domes. At first connected with the mosques and later independent of them are schools, mausoleums, rooms for the students, and cells for the religious masters. The Mughals in India have left most beautiful buildings like Taj Mahal, mosques and gardens like Shalimar. Poetry: The aimless poetry with pagan inclinations is not approved in Islam, however there is no restrictions on good poetry: “Shall I tell you, O people, on whom the devils descend? - They descend on every slandering sinner. Those who listen to hearsay - and most of them are liars and those poets who are followed by those who go astray. Do you not see, how aimlessly they wander in every valley, preaching what they do not practice themselves? However, an exception is made for those (poets) who believe, do good deeds, engage much in the remembrance of Allah and defend themselves when wronged, showing no vindictiveness. The unjust oppressors will soon find out what vicissitudes their affairs will take.”(Qur’an;26:221-227). Narrated Ubai bin Kab: Allah's Apostle said, "Some poetry contains wisdom." (Sahih Bukhari Hadith. Number;8.166). The ambiguity of Persian poetry, which oscillates between the worldly, the divine, and often the political level, is typical of Islamic writings. A similar characteristic even conditions innumerable historical works in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, which, especially in classical times, contain much valuable information. The immortal mystical poems of Rumi comprise thousands of variations on the central theme of love. 64

Although such a perfect congruency of poetry and fine arts is not frequently found, the precept about Persian art that "its wings are too heavy with beauty" can also be applied to Persian poetry. Thus, the tile work of a Persian mosque, which combines different levels of arabesque work with different styles of writing, is reminiscent of the way Persian poetry combines at least two levels of reality. The 20th century great Muslim poet, philosopher Muhammad Iqbal beautifully conveyed the divine message through his poetry, reviving the spirit among Muslims of India, resulting in creation of Pakistan. Influence on Europe: Europe has known art objects of Islamic origin since the early Middle Ages, when they were brought home by the crusaders or manufactured by the Arabs in Sicily and Spain. Much admired and even imitated, they formed part of the material culture in those times, so much so that even the coronation robes of the German emperor were decorated with an Arabic inscription. At the same time, Islamic motives wandered into the belles letters of Europe, and Islamic scientific books formed a basis for the development of Western science. Islamic culture as such, however, was rather an object of hatred than of admiration; a more objective appreciation of both the works of art and of literature did not start until the mid-17th century, when travelers told of the magnificent buildings in Iran and Mughal India, and the first works from Persian literature were translated, influencing German classical literature. Indian miniatures inspired Rembrandt, Persian carpets were among the most coveted gifts for princes and princesses. A bias against the cultures of the East persisted, however, until after the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment; the indefatigable work of the British scholars at ‘Fort William’ at Calcutta brought new literary treasures to Europe, where they were studied carefully by specialists in the 65

emerging field of Islamic studies. Poets such as Goethe in Germany in the early 19th century paved the way for a deeper understanding of Islamic poetry. Islamic literatures, however, continue to be known to the larger Western public almost exclusively by The Thousand and One Nights, or The Arabian Nights' Entertainment (translated first in the early 18th century), Omar Khayyam's roba'iyat, and the lyrics of Hafez. Although the beauty of the Alhambra, for example, had already inspired European scholars and artists in the early 19th century, a thorough study of Islamic art as an independent field began only in the 20th century. Islam piqued interest among European scholars, setting off the movement of Orientalism. The founder of modern Islamic studies in Europe was Ignác Goldziher, who began studying Islam in the late 19th century. European Islam: European Islam is a hypothesized new branch of Islam, which some believe is emerging in Europe, and which would combine the duties and principles of Islam with the contemporary European cultures, including Europe's post-Enlightenment values and traditions such as human rights, rule of law, democracy and gender equality. A distinction must be made between Islamic reform and Islamic political activism conducted under the banner of Islam. The latter is sometimes characterized by extremism, fanaticism, and violence, which are contrary to Islamic precepts. But these manifestations of a socio-political nature must not be confused with the ideals and values of Islam. The Perfected Religion: Islam was completed during lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), during last Hajj, Allah declared:

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“…. This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you as religion al-Islam.”(Quran”: 5:3) The famous six Hadith (Tradition) books were written about 250 years later, through individual private collections. While the Quran had been officially compiled and approved, Hadiths had not. Muslims were already offering prayers 5 times a day, all other practices were in place, some not fully elaborated in Quran, were very much in practice, through Sunnah of Prophet (pbuh) in Twatir (unbroken continuity). Probably this could be one of reason of not officially codifying Hadiths by rightly guided caliphs, Allah says: “These (Quran) are the Messages of Allah We convey to you with Truth. Then, in what HADITH, if not in Allah and His Verses, will they believe?”(Quran 45:6) With the passage of time many believers and scholars started making a record of the practice and narrations of the Prophet (pbuh) in a text form for the use of future generations (some reported to be recording, memorizing during time of Propeht, pbuh). Amongst the thousands of records kept through time, the works of six eminent and pious scholars was accepted by the believers to be the most authentic amongst them; namely: Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah, Imam Maalik. The records of the above six eminent scholars later came to be recognized as the Saha Sitta or the Six most authentic records. The traditionalist majority Ulema, present and quote dozens of arguments from Quran and Sunnah in favour of Hadith literature, as source of Islam along with Quran. Hence they reject Quranists as misguided. The true Muslims must take a balanced view or the middle way when dealing with anything. Just because someone calls a statement or a deed a hadith, we are not to 67

completely submit to it, nor completely reject it; but the right and correct mode of conduct would be to do a thorough investigation to determine whether the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) indeed did do or say the thing claimed by the narrator. The scholars have developed very comprehensive “Science of Hadith”, and classified the level of authenticity of Ahadiths in to many catagories. The terrorists use Quran and many Hadith (Traditions) by twisting their meanings to justify their heinous crimes. The job of Ulema cannot be done by people of little or no knowledge. Islam Perfected (5:3)- Need of Analytical Study : Allah said: “This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion (Quran;5:3) When this verse was revealed; `Umar cried. The Prophet said, `What makes you cry' He said, `What made me cry is that our religion is being perfected for us. Now it is perfect, nothing is perfect, but it is bound to deteriorate.' The Prophet said, (You have said the truth.)'' What supports the meaning of this Hadith is (another) authentic Hadith: “Islam was strange in its beginning and will return strange once more (Sahih Muslim 145, Tafseer Ibn Kathir) There is need of thorough analytical study by scholars of highest eminence to determine the situation and ‘Perfected’ state of Islam at the time of revelation of (5:3), era of four rightly guided caliphs from theological aspects and reasons of official ban on recording Hadith literature. Since Allah had already declared completion of religion Islam. The deterioration was to follow!

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Salient Aspects of Islamic Society and Culture: 

    

Islamic society is to be governed through (Shura) consultation, based upon justice through Shari’a law, which is only possible in Muslim dominated societies. There are many Muslim countries which are secular. The choice should be left to the people rather than imposing through coercsion. The Muslims living in other countries have to adhere to the law of land, which grants freedom of faith and religion to everyone according to UN charter. Riba (‘usury or interest) is prohibited in Islam, to avoid exploitation and develop economy. Islamic banking is flourishing not only in Muslim countries but also in West. Muslims are allowed to eat everything (halal) which is good for the health and permissible. Pork, alcohol is prohibited for Muslims, it should be respected by others. The Muslim women dress modestly, wearing of Hijab does not affect freedom of others. The Christian nuns dress modestly in similar way. LGBT is un Islamic, should not be enforced. Humanitarian obligations (Haqooq-ul-Ibad) are highly relevant in Muslim communities. It is totally baseless malicious propaganda to state that the minorities are not well treated in Islam. The Charter of Medina, in fact was the first ever written constitution in the history of mankind which gave the non-Muslims right of choosing a legal system they wished their affairs be governed by, be it Islamic or Jewish law or preIslamic Arab tribal traditions. The Christians and Jews have special place in Islam, they are called People of the Book in Qur’an. The history of Islam proves this, when Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived together in dominant Islamic societies in Spain, Baghdad and Ottomans empire. There are other social courtesies which Muslims are urged to extend to non Muslims. 69







Human life has very high value according to Qur'an. Islam, being the religion of moderation is in total harmony with the human nature, it allows the fine arts, the adornments, which God has created for the enjoyment and , development of human faculties within the bounds of decency and faith. Islam emphasizes moderation and balance in every sphere. The society based upon Islamic principles is not the society of ascetics and hermits. Ethics and human rights are accorded high priority. Many such aspects projected as ‘Dilemma’ are nothing but ‘Delusion’. The cardinal principle of peaceful coexistence of any society be based upon: “be good to your parents, kinfolks, orphans, the helpless, near and far neighbors who keep company with you..”(Qur’an;4:36), “Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyselfs.”.(Matthew 22:39-40, similarly Leviticus 19:18)

Conclusion: It can be concluded that Islam isn’t just compatible with Western values but also with human values; it started to espouse and establish them long before western democracies. However there are differences as its normal with different cultures, but they can always be reconciled with toleration, mutual respect and due regard for the sentiments of others. Muslims avoid pork, wine, emphasize women modesty and other different cultural and moral practices should be acceptable to West or anyone else as long as it does not affect their freedom. If autocratic rulers of Muslim countries, who survive with the support of West and the radical Muslim preachers twist the teachings of Quran and Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) in their words and actions, then blaming Islam is unfair. The Islamic world today is spread over vast land mass stretching from one corner of the world to the other, with significant 70

presence in Europe and America, vigorously attached to the teachings of Islam and seeking to assert its own identity. Despite the presence of nationalism and various secular ideologies in their midst, Muslims wish to live in the modern world but without blindly imitating the ways followed by the West. The Muslims world wishes to live at peace with the West as well as the East without accepting their hegemony. Muslims want to harness their resources and energies for building a better life for their people on the basis of the teachings of Islam and not to squander its resources in either internal or external conflicts. Muslims want to create better understanding with the West and to be better understood by the West and rest of the world. The future of the Islamic world and the West cannot be totally secluded; hence it is only through understanding culture of each other that we can make it a peaceful world. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````` References: http://AftabKhan-net.page.tl http://seekershub.org/ans-blog/2012/04/30/how-many-mass-transmited-mutawatir-hadiths-are-there/ http://www.slideshare.net/nsnirjhor/a-collection-of-mutawatir-hadith List of 324 Mutwatir (Continious) Ahadith: http://web.archive.org/web/20061031015411/http://hadith.al-islam.com/bayan/Index.asp?Lang=ENG&Type=3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Hadith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith_of_Umar%27s_ban_on_hadith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_and_Progressive_Muslim_movements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutub_al-Sittah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-truth-about-whether-islamic-values-are-compatible-with-westernvalues-a7141381.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quranism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_and_Progressive_Muslim_movements https://weeklysift.com/2015/01/26/liberal-islam-is-it-real-is-it-islam/ http://www.quranreading.com/blog/verses-of-quran-that-define-structure-of-an-islamic-society/ http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-beliefs-about-sharia/ http://regentsprep.org/regents/global/themes/goldenages/islam.htm http://www.mei.edu/content/islamic-civilization http://www.muslimworldleague.com/sites/default/files/005.pdf http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mustafa-akyol/islam-forgotten-liberalism_b_898733.html http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta2/tft/blog.php?blogstory=4 http://dailyhadith.abuaminaelias.com/2011/12/04/hadith-on-faith-islam-began-as-something-strange-so-giveglad-tidings-to-strangers/

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