The Future of 1.5 Billion Believers

الأربعاء 21 نيسان 2010

Islam has had an enormous positive impact on life, culture, and thought around the world. Yes, despite this rich history, Farida Farouk argues that recent “rediscoveries” of Islam are leading the world’s fastest growing religion down a dangerous path. Governments and autocratic regimes need to change and adapt a secular policy in order to modernize and become more democratic.

opinion

Written by Farida Farouk.

After independence in the 20th century Arab countries have been ruled by authoritarian regimes. In that same period, Fundamentalist Muslims rediscovered Islam. Hassan Al Banna set up the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1920s as “the path” for development. He stated that Islam was the solution and there was no better system than the Shariaa, which comprises both the Quran and Hadith. Al Banna discussed how Shariaa contains a large collection of laws, which dictates how Muslims should live their daily and religious lives.

Islamic extremism has been spreading very quickly; however, the fundamentalist project has a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength that will actually lead to its downfall. Its followers ignore the fact that the golden era flourished because of its openness to other cultures and tolerance. The dream of some Muslim clerics of creating a Muslim state as it existed in the golden era is wishful thinking in an increasingly sophisticated world. Apart from the hijab, sex-segregation, and banning of sex driven video clips, the Islamists have nothing substantial to offer.

On the most part, many Muslims around the world are ordinary people. There are some who are quite religious and others who are not. It is important to note that due to the fact that over 50% of the Muslim population is illiterate and in view of the fact that the Quran is written in old classical Arabic, not many understand the content of the holy book. Hence, many Muslims remain unaware of the passages in the Quran and the Hadith and they only know what their religious leaders speak about.

Nowadays, there is not just one single model of Islam but several interpretations by different schools. For example, the number of the Prophet’s Hadiths regarded as sources of religious doctrine and practice varies widely from one school to another. The great jurist Abu Hanifa accepts just over a hundred, while the conservative theologian Ahmed ibn-Hanbal accepts over ten thousand in his book Al-Musnad.

Sources of jurisprudence are different depending on the schools, with the Hanafis relying on istihsan (using few traditions and mostly relying on the Quran in accordance to their beliefs) and the Malakis on istislah (public advantage). Also, there are those who use dogmatic interpretation of holy texts and others like Ibn Rushd, who used interpretation in favor of reasoning (al ta’weel).

Of course I can’t speak of modernizing Islam without discussing reforming the educational system by revising the curricula of religious schools. Instead of learning about only a single school of interpretation, which is common practice, students should be exposed to all such schools. Instead of studying only the rulings and interpretations of the religious schools, students should also learn about the evidence used to arrive at these interpretations, as well as other methods of interpretation. Students should also study comparative religion, modern logic, philosophy and psychology, as well as economics and political theory as background for improved interpretation.

One interesting story from Islamic history is: At the time of the prophet Mohammad some women were complaining that the revelations he was receiving so far only mentioned “the believing men.” They were asking the prophet about “the believing women”. Very soon after that, the prophet began receiving revelations that mentioned both “the believing men” and “the believing women.”

If God included women in the Quran, who has been keeping them out nowadays? The answer of course is: the YouTube Islamist and scholars. Fortunately, things are starting to change and it is mostly because of efforts made by Muslim women who are reinterpreting Islam and standing up to the centuries of male dominated interpretations of the religion. There are liberal Muslim male theologians and thinkers who are fully supportive of this cause as well.  We see such work done by an Iranian-American Laleh Bakhtiar who was published in the New York Times for her translation of the Quran. Her new translation does not include the word “beat” but substitutes it with “to go away”. However, the New York Times article did bring about interesting challenges to the YouTube Islamists and scholar.

Hence, just as the Arab and Muslim world are impoverished in all areas of science, they are in the same manner, impoverished in the sciences of Islamic religion. The underdevelopment in Islam is the same as it is in medical studies, science, and research. The emergence of worldly Muslim scholars is vital and necessary in order to avoid the isolation of the Muslim world and the campaigns of criticism that are only escalating against them.

The urgency for such changes is necessary, unfortunately, any alterations within the Islamic religious establishments is very unlikely to take place. The biggest Islamic establishment in our days, especially in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are getting rid of any scholar who proposes any kind of change even when it’s minimal. This only proves that any demands for overall changes will not occur, at least not now!

Governments in the Arab and Muslim countries today are corrupt and greatly benefit from the absence of ijtihad (interpretation of religious texts). Moreover, these governments help keep the doors of ijtihad (interpretation of religious texts) closed in order to control the religious establishment. Having said all that, the long awaited development within the Islamic institutions is dependent upon a political leadership that is welcoming to a rational understanding of history and a view for the future.

Of course I cant speak of modernizing Islam without discussing reforming the educational system by revising the curricula of religious schools. Instead of learning about only a single school of interpretation, which is common practice, students should be exposed to all such schools. Instead of studying only the rulings and interpretations of the religious schools, students should also learn about the evidence used to arrive at these interpretations, as well as other methods of interpretation. Students should also study comparative religion, modern logic, philosophy and psychology, as well as economics and political theory as background for improved interpretation.

One of the main reasons why Muslims have failed to bridge together Islam and modernity is because the process of ijtihad (interpretation of religious texts) was closed several centuries ago. In order to modernize the doctrines of Islam the sacred texts need to be interpreted in the light of contemporary realities and modern knowledge. Sharia experts should be both men and women; experts from the fields of medicine, astronomy, economics, social and political sciences, and law should also be included as consultants and advisers. Even non-Muslim scholars who are sympathetic and objective should be invited to contribute.

So what are the issues facing Muslims today that require ijitihad (interpretation of religious texts)?

  1. The role of women. The role of women in Islam needs to be reviewed by carefully examining the original texts. Not only do women make up half the population, but more importantly, they are the mothers of future generations. As such, they are a valuable, and a society that does not grant its women full rights in all fields will not achieve its full potential.
  2. Sunnis and Shiites. The gap in doctrine between various Islamic doctrines (schools and sectarian positions) should be narrowed.
  3. The spirit of globalization. Using modern ijtihad (interpretation of religious texts) to foster better relations between people of diverse faiths and cultures by promoting dialogue among various groups rather than encouraging the notion of a clash of cultures and civilizations.

Sadly, these qualities are not found within the communities of the Muslim and Arab world. There is a vital need of a political leadership that aims to bring about comprehensive procedural change within the structure of the Islamic scholarly establishment; a leadership that wants to move forward into the age of science and the progress of humanity.

Without this driving force, Muslims will be heading for a massive confrontation with humanity, which will be as disastrous as a collision between two celestial bodies. Until then, the road is long and hard. Modernization is expensive, but promising.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article was published. This is an update version.

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