01-The Quranic Horizons (January - March 1996) PDF

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Chief Editor: Dr. Absar Ahrnad

Associate Editor: Dr. Ahrned Afia
Advisory Editorial Board

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. Saeed Sheikh Dr. Sayyid Tahir
- - - Mohamrnad Akram Khan Prof. B. H. Siddiqui
Mama S. Shabbir Bukhari Dr. Rafique Ahm
. -- -3 Prof. Dr. M. A. I<.Lodhi Prof. Dr. Kazi A. K
=-, F Dr. Khalid Alavi Prof. Manzoor w Rahrnan
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Dr. Azim Ullah I a a n
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Phone: 5869501-3 Fax: 5834000
rnce Per lusuc: Rs.30/-

Annual Subscription in Pakistan: Rs. loo/-
Verily this Qur'an guides to the path that is most right (Al-Asra 17:9)
The Our'anic Horizons

Quarterly Journal of the Qur'an Academy
Vol. 1:No. 1
January-March 1996
Contents
Why This Venture!
Dr. Absar Ahmad
The Objective and Goal of

Muhammad's Prophethood (SAAWS) - I
Dr. Israr Ahmad
Islam and Modernity: A Dialogue

Pro$ B. H. Siddiqui
A Wake-Up Call ,
Dr. Ahmed Afzaal
Sects and Sectarianism

S.K Hashmi
I
The Qur'anic Horizons is published four times a year. Subscription rates per
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Iran, Turkey, Oman,Muscat, Iraq, Algeria, and Egypt -US $1 0;
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USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South America - US % 16
Why This Venture!
w e have the pleasure to place before the, readers the

inaugural issue of the quarterly The Qur'anic Horizons.
As its very title amply suggests, this journal is neither
designed to be a commercial enterprise nor an entertainer - the usual
pattern of a seemingly successful publication. We have, indeed, a very
different motive: to initiate, in the light of the Holy Qur'an, a thought
process in the Muslim Umrnah with a view to fix a direction in theory
and practice. As such, it represents a serious, sustained, and in-depth
attempt at knowing collectively the Qur'anic Guidance and thus to
resurrect the lost memory of the authentic Islamic consciousness and
life.
Pace so-called modern intellectual Islamists who indulge in
spurious and fanciful Qur'anic interpretation and far-fetched theories
of hermeneutics, we believe that the meanings and message of the
Qur'an have been kept intact over the past fourteen centuries through
the collective understanding and practice of the majority of orthodox
Muslims. The main thrust of the Qur'anic teachings is on action and
praxis and its fundamental message is a simple one: individuals
should live their lives as though they were always in the presence of
God, to Whom they will have to render the final account of their
deeds; and polities and governments should constantly be in a state of
equity and justice. Its essential and eternal aim is to establish ad1
(justice) in political, economic, social, cultural, spiritual, and other
dimension. And to achieve this goal, it asks mankind, the subject of its
address, to move only within certain legal and ethical boundaries, to
run the transactions of life according to certain well-defined
principles, and to shape society according to primordial value
Whv This Venture! 3
judgments. Within the boundries set by the rules of Shariah, ethical
notions, and eternal concepts, individuals and societies are free to
express individual viewpoints and experience the wider avenues of
life and thought.
The Qur'anic Horizons is an organ of the Qur'an Academy,
which is being run under the aegis of the Markazi Anjuman
Khuddam-ul-Qur'an. Like its sponsoring Anjuman, the journal will
operate on both global and national levels. At the microcosmic or
national level, it represents an attempt to analyze the concept which
heralded the birth of Pakistan, to restate it in the context of new
political developments and compulsions, and to indicate where it
advanced and where it failed, and why. Dr. Israr Ahmad, the founder
president of Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Qur'an, puts special
premium on Pakistan among all the Muslim lands vis-a-vis the
renaissance and resurgence of Islam. This judgement is based on his
observation that the academic, intellectual, and revivalist center of
Islam has shifted from the Arab world to the Indian subcontinent at
the start of the second millenium of Hiira, and also because popular
Islamic sentiment was quite prominent in the very genesis of Pakistan.
The Qur'anic Horizons will thus constitute an effort to erect a
conceptual framework of Pakistani Muslim's existence; this will be
done without breaking link with history, recent at well as distant, and
by juxtaposing it with what is commonly described as our ideology.
We will also use the journal for a broader exercise - the study of the
Almighty Allah's sunnah governing the rise and fall of nations and
civilizations, and how it operated in determining Muslim Ummah's
failures and achievements. And this will be the global or macrocosmic
dimensions of our deliberations, as the Qur'an itself is "Guidance" for
the whole of humanity and for all times to come.
Those who freely and authentically choose to accept the

message of the Qur'an owe it to themselves to translate its teachings
into individual actions as well as into socio-political structures. But
4 The Our'anic Horizons 1:1
the process of translating the message of the Qur'an, i.e., its ethico-
legal codes and conceptual framework, into real life experience, a
dynamic society, a government and a state, and into a thriving and
scintillating civilkation - is not an easy task. It calls for persistent
Jihad, i.e., struggle and endeavor 'in the way of Almighty Allah
(SJf"U.
The Qur'an is an exciting, challenging, and inspiring book;
only we have to fathom its wisdom with a strong will to implement it
in our individual life as well as in the social aspects of our existence.
Every generation of Muslims must re-live its excitements and face its
challenges with fresh vigor. When it comes to interpreting and
expounding Qur'anic guidance, a crucial distinction must always be
retained. The Holy Qur'an is, basically and essentially, a Book of
Guidance, though it frequently makes allusions to the world of Nature
as containing the signs of Allah (SWT). We are not obliged to accept
the ideas and thoughts presented by previous generations in their
attempts to interpret such allusions to the physical and natural
phenomena; instead, these ideas need revision and rethinking in the
light of latest scientific researches and investigations. However,
concerning the matters of the Shariah, it is only by tenaciously
adhering to the guidance derived from the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet
(SAAWS) and his companions - keeping in view the contemporary
reality - that the present and future generations of Muslims can give a
living form to the tlan of the Qur'an. Living by the Qur'an and
shaping a polity based on the ethical ideal of Qur'anic principles is
thus a dynamic and multi-faceted exercise.
The past two or three decades have seen a tremendous rise of

Islamic impulse among intellectuals and educated elite throughout the
world and this has resulted in the establishment of numerous research
institutes and foundations in various Muslim countries as well as in
major metropolitan cities of Europe and America. Muslim professors
and academicians have found prestigious teaching and research
Why This Venture! 5
positions in top universities and electronic media throughout the
Western hemisphere. Governments in Muslim states have also put
sizable resources and funds at the disposal of religious iffairs
ministries for Islamic propagation, teaching, and academic activities
for the cause of Islam. Of course, government sponsored efforts never
meant Islamization of affairs in the real sense as they only support
their own "favored" or "sanctioned" version of Islam. But
unfortunately most private-sector efforts have also deteriorated into
"organizations" with phony annual reports, inflated newspaper
coverage, and glamorous facade of posh offices and libraries. These
efforts have neither been augmented to become part of the Islamic
movement in their countries of origin nor geared to give real
intellectual lead to the Islamization process. The Qur'anic Horizons is
a unique journal in this regard too, insofar as its patron is himself
actively engaged in the revivalist work and knows first hand the
dynamics of Islamic revivalist movement from within. Dr. Israr
Ahrnad is an Islamic activist of the genre, say, of Maulana Mawdudi,
since the major content of his experience as well as his thought is the
same as that of the founder of Jama'at-e-Islami.
Originally we planned to publish the first issue of the journal
in the last week of January 1996 so that it coincides with Ramadan
1416 A.H - the Holy month of the Islamic calendar having special
relationship with the revelation of the Qur'an. But due to certain
official problems beyond our control the first issue has been delayed a
little. However, we are still putting it out as January-March 1996
issue.
Absar Ahrnad
THE OBJECTNE AND GOAL OF
MUHAMMAD'S PROPHETHOOD
(SAAWS)
IN THE LIGHT OF THE HOLY QUR'AN
Dr. Israr Ahmad
(Translated into English by: Dr. Absar Ahmad)
w e Muslims believe that the best of all human beings -

Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon
him - was much more than just one of the many prophets,
as he was Khatam al-nabiyyeen (seal of the prophets); simultaneously,
we also believe that he was much more than just one of the numerous
messengers of Allah, as he was Aakhir al-rusul (the final Messenger).
Prophecy or Prophethood not only ends and comes to a close with the
advent of Muhammad (SAAWS), but it also achieves its final plenitude,
consummation and culmination in him This means that Prophet
Muhammad (SAAWS) represents the completion &id climax of all
earlier prophetic missions, as well as the fulfillment and full blossoming
of all antecedent Divine revelations. Seen in this perspective, it becomes
absolutely certain that whereas the objective and aim of Muhammad's
prophethood cannot be fundamentally different from those of all other
prophets, at the same time it must also reflect the characteristic of
completion and N 1 realization. And this by itself confers 04 him a
distict and special place in the galaxy of noble prophets.
It is, therefore, clear that in order to fully comprehend and
appreciate the objective of Muhammad's advent as the final prophet we
must first understand, as enunciated by the Holy Qur'an, the general
objective of the institution of Prophethood itself. Only then can we
This paper was origiually presented in the fifth session of the second annual
"Qur'an Conference", held on March 26, 1975, at Jinnah Hall, dor re.
Muhammad's Prophethood (SAAWS) 7
attempt to grasp the distinctive and unique nature of the goal of

Muhammad's Prophethood, as well as its significance. May Allah's
peace and blessings be upon him.
THE AXIAL PURPOSE OF PROPHETS

Three Doctrinal Beliefs
It is common knowledge that Islam is based upon three
metaphysical beliefs, viz., the faith in Allah as the one Supreme Creator
and Sovereign (Tawheed), the belief in the accountability in the life-
after-death (Ma'ad), and the faith in the institutions of Prophethood and
Revelation (Risalat). However, what is generally not realized is the fact
that these three doctrinal beliefs are very deeply connected and logically
related, and, taken together, constitute an indivisible organic unity. Let
us try to examine very briefly and schematically the real import of these
beliefs and the nature of their mutual relationship.
Belief in Allah
Keeping aside philosophical controversies and theological
intricacies, the quintessential claim of belief in Allah is as follows. The
entire realm of being and the whole cosmic complex is neither eternal
nor ever-lasting; rather, it is both contingent and perishable. In itself, it
has no warrant for its own existence and it cannot explain itself.
However, there is one such Being as has neither beginning in time nor an
end - Allah, the proper name for God. It makes no difference whether
one calls Him Allah or ar-Rahman (The Most Beneficent). He is the
Creator and Sustainer of the universe and of man, and, particularly, the
giver of guidance for man and the Supreme Judge of his conduct. God's
existence can be brought home to those who care to reflect, so that it not
only ceases to be an 'irrational' or 'unreasonable' belief but also
becomes for them the Master-Truth. He is all-enveloping, literally
boundless, and He alone is absolute, eternal, and intinite. Everything
else carries in the very texture of its being the hallmark of its finitude
and creatureliness. He is the personification of all good attributes, like
Power, Majesty, Mercy, Munificence, Knowledge, etc., in the utmost
8 The Qur' anic Horizons 1:1
degree. In the very nature of the case, there can be only one God, for
whenever one tries to conceive of more than one, only one will be found
to emerge as the First. The Holy Qur'an declares:
Do not take two gods (for) He is only One. (Al-Nahl 16:15)
God bears witness that there is no god but He. (Aal-i-Imran
3:18)
Say (0Muhammad!) if there were other gods beside Him, as
these people assert, they would all (necessarily) seek their
way to the (one) Lord of the Throne. (Al-Asra 17:42)
Nobody fiom amongst the creatures shares His substantial

essence, attributes, rights, authority and privileges. God cannot be
regarded as an existent among other existents. In the metaphysical realm,
there can be no democratic and equal sharing of being between the
Original, the Creator, the Self-Necessary on the one hand and the
borrowed, the created, the contingent on the other. The Qur'anic
condemnation of Shirk (assigning partners to God) has its roots firmty in
the metaphysical realm and then issues forth its corollaries in the
political and moral fields.
The whole Sura al-Zkhlas, like many other verses of the Holy
Qur'an, most categorically emphasizes the oneness and absoluteness of
God Almighty:
Say: 'He is one God: ' ~ o dthe eternal, the Uncaused
(Absolute) Cause of all being. He begets not, and neither is
He begotten; and there is nothing that could be comapred
with Him.' (Al-Ikhlas 112:1-4)
And say: 'All praise is to God, who begets no offspring, and
has no partner in his dominion, and has no weakness, and
therefore no need of any aid, and (thus) extol His limitless
greatness.' (Al-Asra 17:111)
He allots to no one a share in His dominion and rule. (Al-
Kahf 18:26)
Almighty Allah (SWT) has created the universe with a purpose and for a
definite period of time. The creation of the universe is a serious affair,

not a spod or triviality:
' And We have not created the heavens and the earth and what
is therein purposelessly - that is the opinion of those who
reject (God) or are ungrateful. (Al-Saad 38:27)
The non-ultirnacy of nature itself proves its destructibility and
the Qur'an tells us that God in His wisdom has created the myriad forms
of existence for a finite duration of time, known only to Him. At the
pinnacle of God's multi-layered creations appears man whom He
endowed with a dual nature: Allah (SWT) created his animal litrm and
then breathed into him out of His own Spirit, and made him His
vicegerent on earth. In other words, the Holy Qur'an presents a
theomorphic conception of man: he is homo cum Deo. The creation of
man represents the acme of Divine creative process, as, according to an
authentic tradition of Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS), God has created
man in His own image. The following verses of the Holy Qur'an refers
to both aspects of the creation of man:
We have indeed created man in the finest of moulds, then We
reversed him to the lowest of the low. (Al-Teen 95: 45)
Belief in the Life Hereafter
The core of this Islamic belief lies in the assertion that the
present terrestrial existence of man does not constitute his total life;
rather, it is a short preamble of the everlasting life in the Hereafter, a
very brief preface of the long lifebook. Life in this world is merely a
trial or examination period, the rewards or punishments of which will be
enjoyed or suffered in the Hereafter (Al-Akhira). Physical death
experienced by man in this world does not represent the annihilation of
the individual person; rather it is only his transportation from this world
to the eternal life in the next world. Immediately after death is the
Barzakh, a brief halting station on the way to the Hereafter, and the ever-
lasting life will begin after the Day of Judgement (the final accounting of
deeds). Resurrection of the dead, final reckoning, weighing of deed-
records, torments of the hell-fire and joys of the Paradise - all are
essential parts of the Qur'anic eschatology which fully elaborate the

Islamic belief in the Hereafter. Al-Aakhira or the 'end' is the moment of
truth. Thus "that day man will recall what he had been striving for" (Al-
'Naaziat 79:35) is a typical statement of this phenomenon. It is an Hour
when all veils between the subjective perceptions of man and the
objective moral reality will be rent:
You were in deep heedlessness about this (Hour of self-
awareness), but now We have rent your veil, so your sight
today is keen. (Qaaf 50:22)
Indeed, the essence of the Hereafter (Al-Aakhira) consists in the
long-range results or consequences of man's endevours during his
earthly life. Ad-Dunya, or the immediate objectives and the here-and-
now of life, on the contrary, represents the lower values, the baser
pursuits which appear so tempting that most men run after them most of
the time, at the expense of the higher and long-range ends. The Holy
Prophet (SAAWS) has elaborated this in one of his moving sermons
thus:
I swear by Allah that all of you will certainly die, just as you
go to sleep at night. Then surely you will all be raised again
as you wake up in the morning. Then you will definitely be
judged for the deeds you had been doing. You will get
rewards for good deeds and punishment for the evil ones; it
will either be the everlasting life of Paradise or the endless
torment of Hell-fire. (Cf. Sermons of the Holy Prophet,
reproduced in Nahajul Balagha)
The Relationship between the Belief in Allah and the Belief in the
Hereafter
With a little thoughtful reflection one can realize that the Islamic
met&hysical belief in the Divine Creator and the eschatological belief in
the Hereafter together constitute the total sapiential knowledge of the
whence (mabda) and wither (ma'ad) of man. That is to say, one who
upholds these beliefs reflectively and with full consciousness, ipso facto,
possesses authentic knowledge both about his source or origin and his
ultimate destiny or destination. The Holy Qur'an summarizes this in the
following words:
Verily, we are from Allah and unto Him we shall return. (Al-
Baqara 2:156)
As a matter of truth, a man without this absolutely essential
knowledge of the whence and wither of humanity is like a wayfarer who,
due to a mishap during the course of his journey, neither remembers as
to wherefrom he started his excursion nor recalls the destination to
which he was traveling. One can well imagine the miserable plight and
mental anguish of that traveler. This is exactly the situation of a man
who, not knowing his ultimate destination or the purpose of his
existence, spends his entire life in pursuing this-worldly goals, in
accumulating the means of material sustenance and luxuries, and in
seeking carnal gratifications. Such a man is so absorbed in his immediate
physical concerns and his narrow material gains that he does not heed
the higher ideals and values of life. The Holy Qur'an allegorically speaks
of this man thus:
But then, is he who goes along prone on his face better ,
guided than he who walks upright on a straight path? (Al-

Mulk 67:22)
That is to say, the man who is ignorant of Divine guidance is
confined in a narrow single dimension. He therefore sees only what is
immediately beneath his feet, and is utterly unaware of the direction his
path is taking him to. This is a metaphor of the spiritual obtuseness
which prevents a person from caring for anything beyond his proximate
worldly concerns.
Or else, this man is like a kite which, its thin cord having been
cut, is entirely at the mercy of the ever-changing winds. The winds may
carry it wherever they like. The Holy Qur'an expresses this very
graphically in these words:
For he who ascribes divine qualities to anything beside God is
like one who is hurtling down from the sky, whereupon either
the birds snatch him off, or the winds blow him away to a fa.
off place (Al-Hajj 22:31)
The net result of this rejection or ignorance of the Divine

guidance in respect of the whence and whither of man is that he becomes
enmeshed in metaphysical doubts and uncertainties, ending up with
wholesale agnosticism or skepticism. The logical end-point of this
epistemological confusion is that some thinkers are led even to the extent
of casting doubts on their own objective existence and into total ethical
nihilism,
An Important Question
At this juncture a very crucial question arises, the right answer to
which can explain the logical relation between the Islamic metaphysical
beliefs discussed above - that is, belief in Allah and in the Hereafter -
and the doctrine of Prophethood. The question is: on what basis is man
to be judged in the Hereafter? Or, in other words, on what grounds is
man accountable for his deeds on the Day of Judgement?
The most authentic explanation of this issue, in the light of the
Holy Qur'an, can be very succinctly expressed thus:
Primarily (and essentially), a man is accountable for his deeds

on the grounds of natural capacities and higher faculties which are
bestowed on him by Allah (SWT), viz., the abilities of sight and hearing
and reasoning, the faculties of perception and intuition and insight, and a
powerful penchant and love for the Creator - that is to say, the three
faculties of nafs (self), qalb (heart), and ruh (spirit or soul).
Secondarily, Almighty Allah (SWT) has, in His infinite Mercy,
supplemented the above mentioned inherent potentialities of man with
heavenly guidance through revelation of Books and sending of His
Prophets and Messengers, so that men Mght have no excuse before God
on the Day of Judgement, so that they may not be in a position to plead
ignorance. Revelation and Prophethood is thus an additional (and
external, so to say) factor that makes man fully answerable to God for
his deeds in the Hereafter. This point, however, calls for a little
clarification:
Mfa-i-Nafs
Self or ego is the lowest of all the faculties possessed by man.
Considered from this standpoint, man no doubt is only a highly evolved
animal and belongs to the realm of Creation (Aalam-i-Khalq). A major
part of this self is carnal, and its dominant inclination is towards inferior
and baser pursuits. The Holy Qur'an calls this self 'nafs-i-ammarah',
i.e., the self which prompts man to worldly and immoral aims. This is an
expression for the lowest stage in the spiritual growth of man, the stage
where low desires and animal passions rule his personality and he
succumbs to them like any other brute. Different aspects of this self were
studied and pointed out by M a , Freud, and Adler. Each of them
focused his attention exclusively on one of the urges and desires
belonging to the lower human self. Darwin, too, was not entirely wrong
in asserting the human biological evolution which is a fact in respect of
the natural development of the earthly or animal part of man.
Diametrically opposed to the above mentioned animal self is that

component of man which is his soul or spirit. It is a Divine element in
man, as Almighty Allah (SWT) has associated it with Himself: "and
breathed into him of My Spirit" (Al-Hijr 15:29 & Al-Saad 38:72). This
spiritual element of man totally belongs to Aalam-i-Amr, or the realm of
Divine directive force: "Say, the spirit is from God's direction" (Al-Asra
17:85). Being strictly of Divine origin, it has an inherent love for, and
attraction towards, Almighty Allah (SWT), and, consequently, aspires
for a communion with Him. In spiritually mature personalities, however,
this dormant tendency becomes very acute and lights up in the form of
what is described as a Divine spark.
The Internal Strife of Good and Evil
Being a composite of baser animal ego (nafs) and the Divine
spiritual soul (ruh), man can rightly be characterized as a a microcosm"
of the whole being - possessing in, and reflecting from, the innermost
recesses of his selfhood both evil tendencies and higher spiritual
aspirations. He experiences within himself the lowest drives of evil and
14 The Qur'anic Horizons 1:1
vice, as well as the noblest urgings for moral righteousness and spiritual
excellence. Man's inner personnlity thus is an arena of a long and
perpetual pitched baffle between the forces of evil and goodness.
The Basic Grounds for Accountability
Almighty Allah (SWT) has not sent man in this world without
giving him any capacity and potential to cope with the inner strife of
good and evil. On the contrary, man has been endowed with numerous
faculties that help him in fighting out the blind and irrational promtings
of evil. Even the lowest element of his personality - the animal self or
Latifa-i-Nafs - is equipped not only with the capacities of sight, hearing,
and reasoning, but also with an acute moral sense. There is a world of
qualitative difference between the sensory and mental operations of
human beings and brute animals. Logical reasoning through induction
and deduction, abstractions and thoughtful reflections, as well as
metaphysical speculations are only the prerogatives of human beings.
Moreover, the human self has been equipped by Allah (SWT)with a
moral sense that discriminates between virtue and vice, between moral
rectitude and immorality. That is why man's own inner moral self, or
nafs-i-lawwarnah in Qur'anic terminology, is the most authentic judge
within. Slightest departure from the path of moral rectitude activates this
"self-accusing soul" and the pricks of conscience are immediately
experienced by the evil-doer. The following verses of the Holy Qur'an
categorically state these truths:
Indeed, We created man from a mixed sperm-drop in order to

try him, and therefore We made him capable of hearing and
seeing. (Al-Dahr 76:2)
Nay, I call to witness the Day of Resurrection! But nay, I call
to witness the accusing voice of man's own conscience (Al-
Qiyamah 75:1,2)
And (by the) human self, and how it is formed in accordance
with what it is meant to be; then inspired it with its moral
failings as well as with its God-consciousness. (Al-Shams
91:7,8)
The connotation of the verb sawwa, used in the Arabic text of

the last quotation above, is that Almighty Allah (SWT) has endowed the
human self with an inner coherence and with qualities consistent with
the functions which it is meant to perform, and thus has adapted it a
pnon to the exigencies of its terrestrial existence. Moreover, Allah
(SWT) has implanted a keen moral sense in him; thus, the fact that man
is equally liable to rise to great spiritual heights as well as to fall into
utter immorality is an essential and primordial characteristic of human
nature as such. In other words, it is this inherent dichotomy of tendencies
which gives to every right choice a value, and, thus, endows man with
moral free-will.
The Holy Qur'an speaks of three types of human self, or three
stages or states of the spiritual development: Nafs-i-ammara (Yousuf
1253) is prone to evil, and, if unchecked and uncontrolled, leads to
perdition and eternal damnation; nafs-i-lawwama (Al-Qiyamah 75:2)
which feels conscious of the evil and resists, asks for God's grace and
pardon after repentance and tries to amend; nafs-i-mutma'inna (Al-Fajr
89:27), the highest stage of all, when it achieves full peace and
satisfaction in obeying Divine commands. According to the Qur'an, a
man is always cognizant, because of his inborn moral sense, of the
'
morality or immorality of his actions, irrespective of the rationalizations
or excuses that he may offer. Thus, the Qur'an says:
Nay, but man is a witness against himself, even though he
may veil himself in excuses. (Al-Qiyamah 75: 14,15)
On the Day of Judgement, one's tongue, hands, feet, and skin
will bear witness against him as to his actions. It is not what a man will
say about himself, or what others say of him, that determines the
judgement upon him. It is what he is in himself. His own inner
personality will betray him and condemn him.
The above cited Qur'anic verses and the brief explanatory notes
make the truth. crystal clear that man is not, like animals, merely a
sentient or instinctive being; rather, he has been made by the Creator into
a full-fledged human person - a human being capable of discerning
between right and wrong and thus of choosing his way of life. On the
basis of this ingrained moral sense, every human being as such is
answerable on the Day of Final Reckoning, and is fully liable to
punishment or reward. Every individual will have to account for his own
deeds personally, and face the trial and the judgement himself. The Holy
Qur'an make clear this point thus:
(Be conscious, then, of) the Day every human being shall
come to plead for himself (alone), and every human being
shall be repaid in full for whatever he has done, and none
shall be wronged. (Al-Nahl 16:111)
The Holy Qur'an categorically refutes the Christian doctrine of
vicarious redemption as well as the Jewish idea that "the chosen people"
- as the Jews consider themselves - would be exempt from punishment
on the Day of Judgement. On that day, nobody would be able to help
another, nor will there be any possibility of ransom or intercession, as
the Qur'an says:
And remain conscious of (the coming of) a Day when no
human being shall in the least avail another, nor shall
intercession be accepted from any of them, nor ransom taken
from them, and none shall be succoured (Al-Baqara 2:38)
In addition to the above mentioned faculties of sight, hearing,

reasoning, and moral acumen, Almighty Allah (SWT) has also endowed
man with the heart (qalb),i.e., the faculty of contemplative intuition and
the seat or organ of numinous apprehension. The heart is indeed ablaze
with the light of love and gnosis of Almighty Allah (SWT). It reflects ,
within itself all the transcendental truths and the reality of all true
existence.
The heart is, so to say, a microcosmic reality which contains
within itself the reflection of the entire supersensible Macrocosm.
Whereas latifa-i-nafs has been bestowed with the faculties of receiving
and interpreting sense data - which is the foundation of all physical and
theoretical sciences - latifa-i-qalbhas been given the power of direct
perception of spiritual verities. Heart, in Qur'anic epistemology, is the

seat of the true self or the repository of soul, of which we may be
conscious or ignorant, but which is our true existential and intellectual -
and therefore universal - center. Knowledge afforded by the heart is
qualitatively different from that which is acquired at the level of latifa-i-
nafs through external senses and ordinary channels of ratiocination. The
heart is, as it were, immersed in the immutability of Being and is, thus,
an organ of ilm-i-ladunni, which is knowledge imparted directly by God
thtough intuitioh and inner perception. It is a supersensory organ of
cognition in which the knowledge of esoteric truths transpires through
tafaqquh, i.e., meditative reflection, where contemplativity is stressed
more than the sharpness of intelligence.
By bestowing upon man the subtle and luminous cognitive
faculty of heart, Almighty Allah (SWT)has conclusively rendered him
responsible and accountable for his deeds in the Life-after-death.
Muslim poets in general and the mystic poets of the Indo-Persia
in particular have, in their lyrical compositions, lauded the role of the
heart in attaining veridical knowledge. They have done so quite rightly,
and with hardly any fanciful exaggeration, since the paramount
importance of the heart was emphatically pointed out by the Holy
Prophet himself (SAAWS). For instance, according to one of his oft-
quoted sayings, Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS) said, "Verily, just like
pieces of iron which get rusty if water touches them, hearts also become
rusty." Thereupon his Companions asked, "We do polish rusty objects,
but how can we polish rusty hearts?He answered that hearts are
polished "through frequent remembering of death and reading of the
Holy Qur'an."
Men who do not use their God-given cognitive faculties can only
be called worse than cattle, inasmuch as animals follow only their
instincts and natural urges and are not conscious of either the possibility
or the necessity of higher knowledge or moral choice. Animals do see
physical objects, but they lack the capacity to perceive them
meaningfully as items of articulated and theory-loaded knowledge. If a
18 The Qw'anic Horizons 1:1
human being similarly fails to attain the metaphysical knowledge of the

Really Real - despite possessing all the faculties to do so - then he is
not just like animals, he is worse than them.
... they have hearts with which they fail to grasp the truth, and
eyes with which they fail to see, and ears with which they fail
to hear. They are like cattle; nay, they are farther astray. (Al-
Aa' raf 7:179)
Though these people apparently have all the faculties of reason
and perception, yet they have so deadened them that those faculties do
not work in the real sense; as a result they remain misguided throughout
their lives and go headlong into Hell.
The External Prompter of Good and Evil
As explained above from the Qur'anic point of view, the inner
denizen of man's self is an arena of ceaseless struggle between good and
evil tendencies. It is this deep-seated moral fact that constitutes the
eternal challenge for man and renders his life an unceasing moral
struggle. Man is squarely charged with his efforts to overcome evil
because he is unique in the order of creation, and has been endowed with
the highest faculties of intellect and intuition in order to fulfill his
mission as,God's vicegerent on earth.
In addition to the inner impulses mentioned above, man also
encounters some external agents and prompters, both on the side of good
and of evil. However, the truth that must be appreciated deeply here is
that, ultimately, the decisive role in this respect is played by man's own
inner preference and choice. That is to say, the real nucleus of initiation
and volition is the subjective-self itself. External forces can only partly
instigate and encourage either in the direction of virtue and moral
probity or in the dirktion of sin and immorality, Even Iblees (or Satan),
the greatest instigator of evil, has no power to force a man to perform an
evil deed. Although Satan waylays man from all sides, his machinations
fail against really virtuous persons. To be sure, no man is immune from
the Devil's temptations - not even the prophets - yet it is within the
reach of any man of true faith and will to resist and overcome these
enticements. Thus the Qur'an states:

Verily, you shall have no power over My servants - unless it
be such as are (already) lost in grievous error and follow you
of their own will. (Al-Hijr 1542)
Behold, he (Satan, the accursed) has no power over those who
attained to faith and who put their trust in their Lord. (Al-
Nahl 16:99)
These and some other verses of the Holy Qur'an clearly assert
that Satan cannot force men to commit sin, and will address his erstwhile
followers on the Day of Judgement thus:
I had no power at all over you; but I called you, and you
responded unto me. (Ibrahirn 14:22)
This shows that the real evil emanates from man's own complex
of desires, for Satan makes it clear that it is only by means of
suggestions and insinuations (wasawis) that he was able to reach the
sinner's self; and had it not been for an already-existing evil disposition
due to lust, anger, superstition or fanciful ideas, these temptations would
have had no effect whatsoever. This, in effect, means that Satan never
forces, nor can force, anyone to do evil but he only tries to entice or
allure his potential victim. His enticement consists in presenting the
immediate and superficial gains or pleasures of this worldly life, so that
many people fell victim to these temptations, most of them temporarily
but many permanently. The latter are termed by the Holy Qur'an the
"tiiends" or the "party" of the Devil. Thus, Iblees is far more cunning
and artful than strong, more sly and contriving than forthrightly
challenging.
Similarly, on the other side, no preacher or instigator of faith and
virtue - not even Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS) - could ever convert
any person to the right path. And, surely, we cannot possibly imagine a
better and more sincere preacher than our beloved Holy Prophet
(SAAWS). Therefore, we read in the Qur'an:
(0Prophet!) you cannot give guidance to whom you please,
but it is Allah who guides whomever He wills; and He is fully
aware of all those who would let themselves be guided. (Al-
Qassas 2856)
According to several authentic traditions, the above verse relates
to the Prophet's inability to induce his dying uncle Ubu Talib - whom
he loved dearly and who had loved and protected his nephew from the
leaders of Quraysh - to renounce the pagan beliefs of his ancestors and
to profess faith in God's unity.The Qur'anic statement " you cannot give
guidance to whom you please" has undoubtedly a timeless import as
well; it stresses the inadequacy and inability of all human endeavours to
"convert" any other person, however loving and loved, to one's own
beliefs, or to prevent him from falling into what one regards as error and
sin, unless that person wills to be so guided.
With regard to external tempters and motivators of evil, we all
know that they are the friends and progeny of Iblees, from amongst both
men and jinns. The Qur'an explicitly states:
Indeed, he (Satan) and his tribe (ilk) see you from where you
cannot see them. (Al-Aaraf 7:27)
A tradition of the Holy Prophet (SAAWS), reported by Imam
Bukhari (RA), also tells us that Satan so vigorously influences a man
that he, as it were, penetrates his entire inner being just like blood that
circulates in the whole body. In contrast with the all too common
knowledge of external agents and motivators of evil, however, what is
generally less appreciated is the truth that angels help and provide
strength, tenacity and moral firmness to the true believers in this worldly
life. Just like the hordes of Satan who, through their beguiling activity,
tempt a man towards evil, the pure and holy angels provide inner peace
and perseverance to believers in following the straight path of Islam and
in the arduous task of establishing the sovereignty of Allah (SWT), i.e.,
in establishing the socio-political order of Islam. Both Almighty Allah
(SWT) and His angels bless and give glad tidings to them, as is borne
out by the following verses:
And remember when your Lord commanded the angels: 'I am
with you; so give firmness unto those who have attained to
faith (with these words from Me) I shall cast terror into the
hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth ...' (Al-
Anfa1 8:1.2)
(But) behold, as for those who say, "Our Sustainer is Allah"
and then stood f m , upon them angels descend (saying):
"Fear not and grieve not, but receive the good news of that
Paradise which has been promised to you. We are your
companions in the life of this world and (will be so) in the
life to come. (Haa Meem Al-Sajda 41:30,31)
Peremmry Factor or Argument for 1slam (Itmum-i-HuJat)

Now, we can easily discuss and expound the last point of the
first portion of the subject under discussion. We have obseived that
although the basic internal motivators of evil and good are already given
to man in the form of latifa-i-nafs and latifa-i-ruh, the really decisive
grounds for moral and virtuous conduct are the cognitive faculties of the
nafs, the inherent moral sense, and the power of spiritual apprehension.
On the other hand, with regard to the external and objective impelling
factors for evil and good, there are respectively the Devil (including all
Satanic agents) and the angels (including all the angelic forces). But here
again the decisive and peremptory role is played by Divine revelations,
God's messengers, and His revealed Books. Together, they constitute a
peremptory argument form Almighty Allah (SWT) for man's
accountability, and leave for him no ground for excuse or ignorance on
the Day of Judgement. The affirmation of alI these doctrines is known as
the belief in Prophethood (Irnan bir-Risalat). We read in the Qur'an:
(We sent all) Prophets as heralds of glad tidings and as
warners, so that men might have no excuse before God after
the corning of these Prophets; and God is indeed Almighty,
Wise. (Al-Nisa 4:65)
0 People of the Book! Now (after a long time during which
no messenger has come) there has come unto you (this)
messenger of ours to make the truth clear to you, lest you say,
'No bearer of glad tidings has come unto us, nor any warner',
for now there has come unto you a bearer of glad tidings and
a Warner. And Allah has the power to will anything. (Al-

Maida 5:19)
From these two Qur'anic verses it becomes clear that the real
purpose and objective of the advent of God's messengers (or envoys) has
been to establish conclusively and finally man's responsibility to act as
God's vicegerent on earth and to follow His guidance in this life, and to
leave no scope for excuses on the Day of Judgement. All excuses offered
by man for his misdemeanor will be lame and of no avail.
To Be Continued
Imam Muslim (RA) has narrated, on the

authority of Thauban (RAA), that Prophet
Muhammad (SAAWS) is reported to have said:
"Almighty Allah folded up the whole earth for me
(in a vision), so that I was able to see all the easts
and all the wests, and surely the domination of my
followers will be established over all those places
that were shown to me by thus folding the earth."
Coming Up hr our Next Issue

Islamic Revolutionary Thought and its Decline
Dr. I w Ahmad
Qur'an and Riba

or.Scyyid T&r
Qur'anic Concept of Human Psyche
Dr. Absar Ahmad
Islam and Modernity: A Dialogue
Prof. B. H, Siddiqui
T
he present paper aims at exploring the possibility of a meeting-
point between Modernity and Islam in the context of sociology
of knowledge, despite their being poles apart in their approach to
knowledge, reality, and nationhood. Granted, the world-view of
Modernity is narrow, extremist and fragmentary, yet Modernity may
undeniably have relevance to Islam in certain respects. It may enrich its
broad based culture in more than one way. The latter may welcome this
enrichment and assimilate it in its ever growing organism, rejecting
outright, of course, the elements that conflict with its fundamental
values, emotional attitudes, social norms, or esthetics criteria. To achieve
this objective, I shall briefly discuss in this paper some root notions of
Modernity and those of Islam, the very opposite of each other, to
facilitate their comparative study, and try to establish, in principle, a
working relationship between the two, to pave the way for recons&cting
the theological and legal thought of Islam, where desirable and
necessary. However, all this depends on how we define modernization,
as we shall see later, in the context of our culture and that of others.
Another aim of this paper is to bring to -the fore the
consequences of the modem desacralization of knowledge on the one
hand and the relevance of religion to the spiritually starved Postmodern
man on the other. Far from being an abstract concept, Modernity is a
continuously moving, dynamic process. It invented, to begin with, the
modem-secular, in contrast to the medieval-sacral, man. As time went
on, the Secularism ofthe Modem man begot the spiritually homeless,
restless, lonely Postmodern man. The process did not stop here. Out of
the spiritually ill emerged the revolutionary Post-postmodern man,
crying hoarse, as we shall see later, for a return to the Premodern mode
of thought and behavior. This movement of Modernism through
Postmodernism and then beyond, suggests and promises in so many
words, a return to religion, in order to rehabilitate spiritually the self-
alienated Postmodern man.'
Intellectual Legacy of Adam

Modernity and Religion are two diametrically opposed outlooks
on life. The one i s known for its positivist, secular, amoral, and
mechanistic world-view, and the other for its transcendent, sacral, moral,
and teleological world-view. Both the outlooks are the fruits bf the
knowledge peculia~. to them. The knowledge which advocated
mechanistic world-view is the knowledge of lifeless facts yielded by
sense-experience. Th~s knowledge, on which the Godless
SciencdModernity i s based, is devoid of meaning and purpose. It is
value-free or value neutral, given to the Big Bang theory of creation and
blind evolution as its is. The knowledge which advocates a teleological
world-view is the knowledge of the transcendent revealed by God to His
prophets, This knowledge, on which religion is based, is meaningful and
valuefull. There is a purpose implicit in it which gives meaning to facts
of experience and to life as a whole. Meaning, purpose, and value are
inseparable dimensions of it, given to the view that the world is a
creation of God who created it not is sport, but to see who amongst us
does righteous deedse2
Knowledge is a powerful weapon in the struggle for existence.
We need knowledge of facts as well as of values to steer through life on
this planet. It was to cope with this situation that God gave Adam the
knowledge of things Celestial (eschatology) as well as that of the
essence of all things of the terrestrial world3 (Science) where he was
destined to live. This latter type of knowledge was essential for his very
survival on earth. God did not bless angels with this knowledge, for they
did not need it in the heavens.
Adam happens to appear on the cosmic scene as potentially a
man of science, in the first instance. He was made prophet by God much
Islam and Modernity: A Dialogue 25
later when He had pardoned him of the lapse on his part and his progeny
incraased sizably in number. Intellectually speaking, the importance of
Adam lies in his unmistakably being an apostle of the unity of
knowledge, both Celestial and Terrestrial. He combined in his person the
knowledge of facts with that of values, without separating the one from
the other. Human reason cannot arrive at ultimate truth without the aid of
Revelation. It is Revealed Knowledge that endows a sense of purpose
and direction to the knowledge acquired by man with his own
observation and intellect. It provides it with a spiritual perspective and a
holistic conception of life. It is in recovering this legacy of Adam, lost to
his progeny, as we shall see later, that the cure of all the ills of the
Postmodern man lies.
Raot Notions of Modernity
Modernity owes its origin to the rise of science as an intellectual
and social force. It is a revolt against tradition and authority of all kind,
especially the religious one. It completely displaces emotion by reason.
It is rationalist in the sense that it makes reason the sole authority in the
pursuit of knowledge, and is naturalist in that it seeks to explain inner
and outer nature without supernatural presupposition and without any
reference to transcendence. Thus, it is bound by rationalism on the one
hand and naturalism on the other. The world, it asserts, came into being
by an accidental juxtaposition of the blind forces of nature and is
evolving without any purpose or direction. It is evolving mechanically
like a kite cut off from its supporting string, swaying this way or that
way, as the wind blows, in the sky.
Following are some of the root notions of Modernity.
1. It is rooted in positivist, empirico-rationalist epistemology. It makes
science the sole standard of knowledge and declares sense
experience to be the only source of the knowledge of reality. It not
only separates Reason from Revelation, but refuses to accept
Revelation as a source of knowledge. The epistemology on which it
is based is reductionist through and through, and deprives it of a
holistic view of life.
2. Likewise, its ontology is also reductionist. It explains all phenomena

in terms of matter. It makes matter, as opposed to spirit, the standard
of reality, and declares that the real is observable and the observable
is real. It denies the existence of any invisible spiritual world behind
or beyond the visible world of matter. This reductionist ontology
renders the question of transcendence a superfluous one.
3. The reductionist epistemology and ontology, as described above,
highlight one-sidedness and extremism as the distinguishing mark of
Modernity, which render its world-view extremely narrow,
fragmentary, and incomplete. Extremism, to say the least, is the bane
of Modernity, depriving it of a holistic approach to life.
4. The extremist mindset of Modernity separates epistemology from
ontology - knowledge from being - and thus takes a truncated,
piecemeal view of reality. It is unable to see things in totality and,
therefore, fails to properly construct the essential connection
between being and knowledge on its own, i.e., without conceiving of
the world as creation of a transcendent power.
The empirico-rationalist knowledge, the mother of science and
Modernity, is open-ended. It is subject to change, addition, and
modification in the light of future research. Ours is an age of
explosion of knowledge which demands nothing short of openness
to change, rapid change, all-round change in individual attitudes,
social behavior, economic pattern, political setup and, particularly, in
educational planning. It is in the readiness to adjust to new
conditions of Life that the inherent dynamism and activism of
Western Culture consists. Needless to say, it makes a virtue of a
necessity, for there is nothing stable, secure and abiding in its
structure or outside it which may give it "a foothold in a world of
perpetual change,'* and direct the process of change in accordance
with it. Life is not all change and flux. It has within it elements of
permanence also but there is nothing permanent in the ever changing
structure of Modernity, born of extremism as it is.
6. Modern society is ethnocentric. Ethnicity is "a state of mind in

which the supreme loyalty of the individual is felt to be due to the
nation-state."' The prejudices of color ,race, language, and tenitory
determine the structure of a nation which, in turn, give rise to
chauvinism and jingoism - unwarranted pride in one's own
nationality and unjustified hatred for other races and nations. Since
ethnic nationalism promises subjugated people their liberation and
reformation, it has come to be the new god of modern society. But,
by placing ethnicity above humanity, it restricts the social horizon of
the ethnic group
Modernity has its center in man. It is a humanistic movement in the
sense that it puts human interests above everything else. It is man
himself who is the measure of all things, source of all knowledge
and values. It promises the richest possible unfolding of man's
potentialities. However, the man Modernity talks tall of is not the
universal man descending from Adam. It is the ethnic man born in
Renaissance, cut off from the rest of humanity by the physical
barriers of color, race, language, and territory.
8. The project of Modernity promises good life here and now. It
concentrates itself on the cash-value of today and is content with it,
for it does not and cannot visualize any world beyond this world.
Intellectual Roots of Islam
Islam is a polity based on an ethical ideal. This ideal, based on
the idea of "One God" as it is, determines the cognitive, affective, and
conative orientation of Muslims, and inspires and molds their lives in
'accordance with it. It conceives of man not as mere body, nor as mere
spirit, but'as an embodied spirit. God created his body from clay, and
then breathed of His spirit into him.6 It is this coexistence of matter and
spirit, with a belief in their actual inseparability, that forms the basis of
life in Islam and provides a sure foundation for its transcendent morality.
"The ultimate Reality, according to the Qur'an is spiritual and its life
consist in its temporal activity. The spirit finds its opportunities in the
natural, the material, the secular. All that is secular is, therefore, sacred
in the roots of its being,"7 asserts Iqbal, with all the force at his
command. "There is no such thing," he continues, "as a profane world.
All 'this immensity of matter constitutes a scope for the self-realization of
spirit."8 This sacral view of matter strips science, the mother of
Modernity, of all its naturalism, amoralism, secularism, and positivism.
Let us now turn to the intellectual roots of Islam.
1. Ontologically speaking, Islam takes, in a way, a dualist view of
reality. The real is not one, but two. It is spirit as well as matter. But
it does not separate them from each other for it is in their union that
we see signs of God both in anfus (selog and afaq (universe)". This
matter-spirit ontology of Islam is the very opposite of the monistic
ontology of Modernity which restricts reality to matter only and
becomes a stranger to a holistic view of life.
2. In Islam, it is ontology that begets epistemology, as opposed to
Modernity wherein empirico-rationalist epistemology creates a
somatic ontology for itself. Since Islam takes a dual view of reality,
it does not and cannot restrict its epistemology to any one source of
knowledge. It uses senseperception (basr") for obtaining
knowledge of things concrete, intellection @ad1*) for obtaining the
knowledge of things abstract and intuition (qalb13), besides
revelation (wahi14), for obtaining the knowledge of things spiritual.
Islamic epistemology is comprehensive and many-sided. It is an
integrated whole of senseperception, intellection, and intuition
under the umbrella of revelation.
The comprehensive ontology and epistemology of Islam make it a
moderate and balanced ideology, doing justice to all the three aspects
of man - thought, feeling, and action. The extremist Modernity
conceives of man in terms of thought - inductive intellect - only,
doing grave injustice to other two aspects of his being - feeling and
action. It is an expression only of a part of his nature, as opposed to
the whole man. In Islam both thought and feeling lead to action, and
there too pointed emphasis is on moderation. "Eat and drink, but do
not exceed (the limit of m~deration)."'~"And those who, when
spend, are neither prodigal nor stingy and there is a firm (moderate)
position between the two."I6 Moderation is the general ethical
principle of Islam. Nay, it is the very quintessence of Islam. So much
so that the Qur'an calls the Muslim community " a community of
middle path" (urnmatan w~satan),'~ a community given to the
rniddlewayness in all matters of life.
4. In Islam, epistemology is a part of ontology, as opposed to
Modernity which separates them from each other. Since God is the
creator of the world and the source of all our knowledge about it,
Reality is at once being as well as knowledge. The knower and the
known are not two separate things. They fuse into one in the act of
knowing. Thought stripped of the modem positivistic rationality is ,
indeed, what Iqbal call$, " a greeting of finite with the infinite."I8
Modernity, as we have said in the very beginning, is a revolt against
tradition and authority of all kind. It is obliged to adore change as its
professed ideology. As against this extremist position, Islam strikes a
balance between tradition and change. It lays as such emphasis on
conserving its culture as on its reconstruction to cope with the
changing conditions of life. Life is continual growth. Shariah law
has always kept pace with it through the exercise of ijtihad
(individual judgment) and @a' (consensus of the learned), as borne
out by its long history of selective adoption and assimilation of
elements of other cultures. The eternal, in Islam, "reveals, itself in
variety and change."lg Its inner intensity and breadth knows no
bound. Only we have to reopen the gate of ijtihad, closed more than
a thousand years ago.
6. Modernity conceives of nation in terms of the unity of color, race,
language, and temtory. As opposed to this narrow ethnic conception
of society, Islam, to begin with, conceives of society as a vast human
brotherhood. We are all descendants of Adam and are brothers unto
one another: the whole world is a family of God. This is the most
general side of the emotional unity of mankind. At a lower level and
in a less general sense, we happen to be Muslims, Christians, or
Jews. Muslims all over the world recognize one guidance: the
Qur'an; and look towards one person as their leader: Prophet
Muhammad (SAAWS), have one goal: to attain the pleasure of Allah
(SWT);and are collectively called Ummah in this special spiritual
sense. Ummah is above earthly fetters; but it lives on earth. The
earthly accidents of color, race, language, and territory spilt the
parent culture of Islam into various cultural sub-groups. There are
signs of God, says the Qur'an, "in the variety of languages and
colors."20 Islam does not want to reduce the world to a desert of
cultural uniformity or to a state of colorless cosmopolitanism. It
recognizes the diversity of cultural sub-groups within Ummah , on
the basis of the language they speak, the race they descend from, the
territory they belong to, and the color of skin they happen to have.
But these are not units of ultimate value in Islam. They are meant
"for facility of reference only."" without "restricting the social
h~rizon'"~of the cultural sub-groups. "0 Mankind," says the
Qur'an, "Lo! We created you from a maleand-female couple, and
made you into tribes and groups so that ye may be known one from
the other.'n3 Earthly accidents give the Ummah a name in local
habitation, for purposes of identifying its various cultural sub-
groups.
Muslims are an Ummah, not a nation in the ethnic sense of the word.
Nation is earth-rooted; Ummah is above earthly fetters. But though
Islam condemns ethnicity, it adores patriotism - love for one's
people and country. It enjoins upon Muslims to se&e and defend
their country against aggression even at the cost of their lives.
Patriotism is radically different from ethnocentricity. The latter is an
absurdly extravagant pride in one's people and country, with a
corresponding hatred for other nations and countries. It is a crime
against humanity. But the former is a social and moral virtue and a
duty in a religious sense.
7. Just as Modernity has its center in man, so religion has its center in
God. The center of interest of both is man and his betterment, but
they look at it from different angles: the one form the vantage point
of man, the other from the vantage point of God. The one is known
for its humanist tradition, the other for its humane tradition. The
humanism of the one is intellectually conceived; that of the other is
emotionally aroused. The idea of one God is Islam entails not only
the idea of one humanity but is also "inseparably linked up with a
humanism and a sense of social order and economic justice."24 The
following Surah bears it out:
Did you see the one who repudiatts the faith? He it is who
maltreats the orphan and does not exhort (others) to feed the poor.
Woe betide those who (although they) pray, are (yet) neglectful of
their prayers;'those who (pray for)show (and even) refuse (the use
ot) utensils (to needy people)."25
Modernity has nothing to do with the emotional humanism of Islam,
nor does Islam has any concern with the intellectual humanism of
Modernity.
8. The positivistic Modernity is outright this worldly. As against this,
the transcendent Islam is partly this worldly and partly other
worldly. It occupies a middle position between these two worlds. It
is not other-worldly, for it does not advocate renunciation of this
world. At the same, it is not this-worldly, for it does not make this
world an end in itself, as does the positivistic Modernity, but insists
on its having a transcendent value. The importance of this world
consists in its being a place for doing good deeds and that of the
other in its being a place for getting reward of deeds, good or bad.
The general thrust of the teaching of Islam is on carrying out the
commands of God here and now. This emphasis on one's "conduct
in this world," Fazlur Rahman c d s "Islamic" variety of
"positivism."26 It is in this sense, he continues, that Islam, from the
vay beginning, "is not an other-worldly, but this worldly
religion."27 But "Islamic positivism," he goes on, is quite different
from the one preached by Modernity, which denies transcendence
and seeks to base moral values on an empirical foundati~n."~~ Thus
Islam promises good life in this world as well as in the warid to

come, as opposed to Modernity which restricts it to this world ody,
An eight-point description of the mind of Modernity and that of
Islam shows that they are poles apart from each other so far as last six
points are concerned. No compromise is possible between them on thee
points. As regards the first two points, Islam may accommodate
Modernity's framework of values, after striping it of its positivism md
secularism.2gIt may further s h k to reconstruct its theological and legal
thought in the light of modern knowledge, as stressed by the Muslim
modernists Jamaluddin Afghani (d. 1879), Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905)'
Sayyid Ahmad Khan (d. 1898), Iqbal (d. 1938) and others, The modem
Muslim, writes Iqbal, '%as to rethink the whole system of Islam without
completely breaking with the past."30 He cautiously advises him "to
approach modern knowledge with a respectful ,but independent attitude
and to appreciate the teachings of Islam in the light of that
knowledge.'"' He advises the modem Muslim at another place to watch
carefully %e progress of human thought, and to maintain an
independent critical attitude towards it."32 He even hopes that "the day is
not far off when Religion and Science may discover hitherto unsuspected
mutual harmonies."33
What is ~odernization?~~
We have seen in the preceding pages what Modernity is, and we
have also seen what Islam stands for. Muslim modernists have also
stressed, stated above, the need and urgency of reconstructing the
medieval deductive ilm al-kalam (theology) andfiqh (jurisprudence) in
the light of modern inductive knowledge. What they have not
emphasized so far is the long overdue all-round education of ulama in
the ideology of Islam as well as in that of Modernity along with the
impact of the explosion of knowledge in recent years on our social life,
so that they may recognize change as something desirable and that
society can and should be changed, and may reopen the gate of absolute
ijtihad closed more than a thousand years ago. Education of the ulama
alone on the lines suggested above will unlock the door to modernization
in the world of Islam. This is because lay Muslims with liberal education
could speak for themselves only, but could not, by themselves, lay the
foundation of a new Islamic theology and jurisprudence in the light of
modern knowledge.
Now a word about the meaning of modernization coupled with a
definition of it which may fit in our framework of values. We are living
in an age of explosion of knowledge. Since knowledge is the root of
culture and culture is the fruit of knowledge, any change or increase in
man's knowledge of himself or his environment directly affects culture
and provides an impulse to adjustment to it. This process of social
change initiated by it is called modernization or social reconstruction.
However, modernization is not a straight path. It cannot take place in one
go, nor can it take place rapidly and smoothly. It is a lengthy and tedious
process. Man - the subject of modernization - has a negative tendency
to cling to the old and familiar as well as to the new and novel, giving
rise to a tug of war within himself. He has to carve out his way between
these two opposing tendencies carefully and cautiously. Thus it is within
the framework of the tension between conservatism on the one hand and
liberalism on the other that all modernization takes place.
Let us now define modernization. E. Vojas, for one, defines it as
"a process of manifold interrelated changes in the economic, social,
political, and cultural fields through which less developed societies
acquire the characteristics of more developed ~ocieties."~~The emphasis
here is on rapid and all-round change and on the transference of
institution from the less developed to the more developed societies. This
is a culturally colored definition and does not suit our purpose. It is a
definition of Westernization rath& than that of modernization.
A rather general and culturally neutral definition of
modernization, equally applicable to both developed and developing
societies, is that of Prof. C. E. Black. He defines it as "the dynamic form
that the age-old process of innovation has assumed as a result of
explosive proliferation of knowledge in recent centuries. It owes a
special significance to its dynamic character and to the universality of its
impact on human affairs."36 He conceives of modernization as a mullet-

dimensional process" by which historically evolved institutions are
adapted to rapidly changing functions tat reflect the unprecedented
increase in man's knowledge."37 This definition has an edge over othds.
It regards modernization as a mullet-dimensional complex process, gives
historical evolution its rightful place and rejects reductionism outright.
The pointed emphasis it lays on the transformation instead of the
transference on institutions, makes room for diverse developments to
take place, as different societies set out to modernize themselves in the
context of their own cultural framework. Above all, it resolves the
opposition between Modernity and tradition, by assigning a key-role to
historical evolution. "Modernization," Black continues, "must be
thought of not as a simple transition from tradition to Modernity, but as a
part of an infinite continuum from the earliest times to the indefinite
future."38 Needless to say, it is Black's moderate and comprehensive
vies of modernization that suits our purpose. It makes room for
integrating modern knowledge, after carefully sifting it, into the cultural
framework of Islam, as opposed to blind wholesale adoption of it.
Cultural borrowing is a selective process. A growing culture does not
resort to uncritical wholesale adoption of a foreign culture. It adapts it to
its own requirements.
Modern Islam in Search of a New Zlm al-Kglam

The Qur'an regards nature, both anfus (self) and afaq (world), as
a vital source of human knowledge. It recurrently invites us to think and
reflect over the phenomena of nature, e.g., the sun, the moon, the variety
of human color and tongues, the alternation of day and night, the
lengthening of shadows, the mountains, the clouds, etc., etc., and see
signs of the transcendent in them. This intellectual exercise stressed by
the Qur'an was the al-kalam (theology) of the early days of Islam. With
the passage of time, the scepter of knowledge passed from the hands of
religi~nto those of philosophy. Thus al-kalam abandoned the natural
logic of the Qur'an and structured itself anew on the speculative Greek
philosophy, during the reign of the Abbasid caliphs, to keep pace with
the time. As a science, the one aim of al-kalam is to present the teaching
of Islam in the idiom and diction of the time, e.g., religion, philosophy
or science. It is a dynamic, not a static science and moves with the spirit
of the time. It grows stale and worn-out, as soon as the time of which it
is the product, changes into a new one. Ours, as we know, is an age
dominated by science and technology. The crying need of this age is to
re-structure the medieval deductive ilm al-kalam on the inductive
knowledge made available by science, to which I shall turn now.
It was Sayyid Ahmad Khan (d. 1898), the founder of the Muslim
University, Aligarh, who genuinely felt the need of replacing the old ilm
al-kalam by a new one. He declared: "today we are, as before, in need of
a modern ilm al-kalam whereby we should refute the doctrines of
modern sciences or undermine their foundations or show that they are in
conformity with the teaching of Islam . While I am endeavoring to
introduce these sciences among the Muslims, it is my duty to defend the
religion of Islam and to reveal its original face."39 He laid the foundation
of this new ilm al-kalam on the criterion of conformity to Nature and
comparability with reason.40 A true religion can neither be against
Nature, nor against reason. "Religion," he argues, "is the word of God
and Science is the work of God," and so they can never be antagonistic
to each other.41 Much against what he affirmed above, he placed
"science on a somewhat higher pedestal than religi~n'~'and made
reason, as against revelation, the overriding standard. To assert the
autonomy of Nature and that of the laws which govern it, he denied the
efficacy of prayer (du'a), rejected the doctrine of miracles, and identified
God with the first cause of Science.
Another outstanding Muslim Modernist of the Indian
subcontinent is Iqbal (d. 1938). He also wrote a new ilm al-kalam, The
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in slam," but he did not repeat the
mistake which Sayyid Ahmad Khan committed, in his 'enthusiasm for
science. On the contrary he made revelation , as against reason, the
overriding standard. Nevertheless, he recognized reason as a source of
the knowledge of religion and for using it in ordering our lives. Not
content with it, he goes so far as to say that "religion stands in greater
need of a rational foundation of its ultimate principles than even the
dogmas of science."@ Islam is not only not incompatible with science,

but is the only religion which religiously calls upon man to use his
reason and investigate Nature. There is , indeed, some truth in his
assertion that " the birth of Islam ... is the birth of inductive i n t e l l e ~ t . ' ~ ~
Iqbal's epistemology is a reflective synthesis of thought and
intuition. He does not see any opposition between them, for they operate,
as with Abduh (d. 1905), in different spheres, at different levels. They
must not only not conflict with each other, but must positively cooperate
in human advancement. They must "complement each other, for they
spring from he same root.'* There exists an "organic'*7 relationship
between them, and so neither can dispense with the other. This gives a
special "spiritual meaning to physical science. "The knowledge of
Nature is the knowledge of God's behavior.'*' Nature is to God, what
habit is to man. Reason lays its hand on the external aspect of reality
,intuition on its internal aspect. The one externalizes knowledge, the
other internalizes it, and it is from the union of the two that genuine
knowledge emerges.
Iqbal structured his new ilm al-kalarn on an intellectual-cum-
spiritual foundation. He gave it the much needed inductive bent. But as
Fazlur Rahrnan rightly laments, his legacy has not been followed so
far.49"His Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam has remained a
purely personal statement of the Islamic Faith and has not so far been
able to function as a datum-line from which further development could
take place."50
Modern Islam in search of New Fiqh

Just as Kalam (theology) is the doctrinal side of Islam, the sum
of its basic beliefs and dogmas, so all practical affairs of public nature
fall with in the purview of Islamic Bqh (law.) Sociologically speaking,
neither Kalarn nor lslamic fiqh has kept pace with the changing time.
This has created a "distance," even a "cleavage" between the old cultural
attitudes and the new social realities which W.F. Ogburn calls "cultural
lag," and which we have to overcome or at least to shorten without
further loss of time. Culture is essentially an adaptive mechanism. It
makes possible the satisfaction of human needs. Both spiritual and

physical; if it does not, it loses not only its vigor but also its hold, as if
the case with the present day culture of Islam.
It is in law rather than in theology that the Muslim mind found
its earliest and most highly developed expression, making it what H. A.
R. Gibb calls "one of the most brilliant essays of human reasoning." Two
things lie at the root of the Islamic conception of law: first, that it is
essentially and fundamentally religious; second, that it embraces the
spiritual as well as temporal aspects of life. It must have its basis in
Divine revelation - the Qur'an, the uncreated Word of God, and in
Sunnah, the sayings and doings of the Prophet. These are the two
"material sources or roots"s1 of Islamic law. Although law in Islam is a
Divine in origin, yet the action inspired by it is human. h e humanity of
this act, as of others, lies in the intention (niyy~h)~'with which it is
done. The two aspects of law - Divine and human - taken together
constitute the philosophy of law in Islam. The law is morally binding
upon man, for the source of moral obligation, as of the law itself, is
Divine, not human. Notwithstanding this, the exercise of judgment on
the interpretation, application and implications of law, as also on the
objectives of it (Maqadis al-Shariah) and on the intentions of the
Shariah obligations (Asrar al-takala, is human. We cannot understand
the content of revelation without calling reason to its help. Revelation "is
not above reason, as reason is not above re~elation."'~
Shariah law connects man, God, and society together. Although
it is immutable and eternal in content, yet it is variable in the method of
applying it to the conditions and problems peculiar to a particular time
and place, inviting one to resort to ijtihad, "the principle of movement in
the structure of ~ s l a r n . "This
~ ~ is but a necessary corollary of its being
comprehensive in character and universal in application. With the
termination of the institution of prophethood for all times to come, the
task of interpreting and applying the Shariah law to new conditions of
life has become a religious responsibility of the Muslim jurists. The
early jurists of Islam fully realized their responsibility and there grew up
as many as nineteen schools offiqh from the middle of the first century
of Hijra down to the beginning of the fourth, in order to meet the

spiritual and physical needs of a growing civilization. Of these, four
schools of Sunni flqhs5 - the Hanafi, the Shaf'ai, the Hanbali and the
Maliki - earned name for their juristic insight, for "they gradually
passed from the deductive to inductive attitude in their efforts at
interpretations."" These medieval schools of flqh no longer satisfy the
needs of an age dominated by science and technology. We now need a
new fiqh reconstructed on an inductive basis. This reconstruction is the
price of survival which must be paid in this age of explosion of
knowledge and no growing culture can afford to neglect this need
without running the risk of extinction. "AU civilizations," Observes F,
Schuon, "have decayed, only they have decayed in different ways; the
decay of the East is passive and that of the West is active. The fault of
the East in decay is that it no longer thinks, the West in decay thinks too
much and thinks wrongly. The East is sleeping over truths, the West
lives in errors."57
We have so far insisted on the need and urgency of ijtihud to
make the Shariah law move with time. Far more important than this is
the strategy which should be adopted in order to safeguard ijtihad against
error and omission, as far as possible, so that it may deliver the desired
goods. By strategy I mean the hermeneutical method suitable for a
religiously oriented intellectual enterprise. This method - for the process
of interpretation - as recommended by Fazlur Rahrnan, consists of
double movement of thought: "First, one must move from the concrete
case-treatments of the Qur'an - taking the necessary and relevant
conditions of life of that time into account - to general principles upon
which the entire teaching converges. Second, Erom this general level
there must be a movement back to the specific legislation, taking into
account the necessary and relevant social conditions now obtaining."58
Based on this hermeneutical method, ijtihad may give us "a viable
Islamic set of laws"5g to regulate our lives in modern conditions of life.
Keeping itself within the two-fold movement of thought, it will not over
step the proper limit of reform nor it will destroy the Islamic framework
within which it has to function.
Postmodern Islam in Search of a Methodology for Recasting

Modern Value-free knowledge into Islamic Framework of
Value
The reconstruction of theological and legal thought on an
inductive basis, as we have seen in the preceding pages, was the main
problem of the Modern Islam which is as yet unsolved. The problem of
the Postmodern Islam is radically different from that of the modem
Islam. It is the reconstmction not of the old ilm al-Kalam andfiqh in the
light of modern knowledge, but the reconstruction of the mcuh-coveted
modern knowledge itself in the light of the norms laid down by Islam.
Modernism lacks morale and ethic which alone could give it strength. It
failed to develop in the Muslim world for this very reason. It could not
grow and flourish in spiritual soil. Muslim modernists gave serious
thought to it and resolved to make good this deficiency of modem
knowledge. To begin with, they established, under the inspiring guidance
of Isma'il R. A1 Faruqi, an International Institute of Islamic Thought, at
Herndon, Virginia (USA), in 1981, with the sole purpose of sacralising
the Western secular knowledge which ushered in the Postmodern era of
research in the word of Islam. A year later, Al-Faruqi streamlined the
intellectual basis of the project and published it under the title
Islamization of Knowledge: General principles and Work Plan which
laid down in clear terms not only the future plan of the Institute to
Islamize knowledge, but also that of the American Journal of the Islamic
Social Sciences, first published in 1983. The task before us is to
restructure modern social and natural sciences in the light of Islamic
ontology, epistemology, cosmology, sociology, and axiology, already
discussed under the head "Intellectual Roots of Islam," the sum and
substance of which is as under:
1. Ontologically speaking, it is God who created the world ex-nihilo
and is still sustaining it. Life has a transcendent value. It has an
other-worldly orientation with a marked emphasis "on one's conduct
in this world."
2. Man is the crown of creation and the moral agent of God (khalifa) on
earth. He is under obligation to structure his conduct on transcendent
morality and spread the culture of Divine arnanah (trust) and Khilafa
(vicegerency), to ensure peace in the world.
3. He is to live in this world under the sovereignty of God and in
accordance with His Will. God's Will is of two kinds: the one we
call the moral law, the other the natural law. The one is realized in
freedom, the other is realized necessarily. The one can be broken but
cannot be changed. The other can neither be broken nor changed.
They coexist with each other. They are a priori and lend unity to the
cosmic order. The entire creation is an integrated whole, for it is the
creation of one and the same God.
4. In Islam, reason is an ally, not an enemy of revelation. Without
reason, the truth of revelation cannot be understood. It is reason that
sees the signs of God both in anfus (self) and afaq (world).
Knowledge is a unified whole of reason and revelation. It is on this
integration of the two that the Islamic epistemology follows from the
unity of truth.
5. Truth is not made, as the pragmatists think. It is already there. It is

one, not many. Moral law and natural law both point to one and the
same truth - the will of God. Since truth is one, knowledge of it is
also one. Unity of knowledge necessarily follows from the unity of
truth.
6. Human life is an indivisible whole. We cannot split it into "the way
of God" and "the way of the world." Shariah law embraces all
things, spiritual as well as temporal, for it is structured on the
indivisible unity of life. This cultural monism is of the essence of
Islamic sociology on the individual plane.
7. On the social plane, the cultural monism of Islam rests on the
indivisible unity of humankind. "One God, one humanity" is the
corner stone of its sociology. Local barriers of color, race, language,
and territory do not affect this emotional unity.
In short, unity of God, unity of cosmic order, unity of

knowledge, unity of truth, unity of life, unity of humankind and, above
all, transcendent morality, are the cardinal principles in terms of which
we have to recast the modem valuefree knowledge into the Islamic
framework of value.
I turn now to the movement of Modernism, through
Postmodernism to Beyond Postmodernism, the characteristic features of
which are progress, nihilism, and resurgence of religion, respectively.
Modernism: Progress
Modernism had an unshakable faith in the full possibilities of
science. It was optimistic not only about the present but also about the
future of mankind. It believed that science will solve, one by one, all of
man's problems, and usher us into an era of peace, progress, and
prosperity, vitally connected as it is with industry, democracy, and
expansion. The dream, however, did not materialize. The two
devastating world Wars have considerably weakened the idea of
progress. Modernity fought against itself in fighting against fascism in
Germany and Italy on the pretext of defending Western democracy, for
both fascism and democracy are the product of Modernity. In Vietnam
too, the same atrocities were committed in the name of democracy.
Science is the proud achievement of human mind which aspired to be a
blessing for humanity, but, instead, it has become an efficient engine for
destroying it. Why? Because the knowledge, which we call science, is
secular and value-free. It is stranger to morale or ethic of any sort. It was
the absence of moral restraint and rectitude in the culture born of it that
gave the modern world a free hand to misuse knowledge and bring bad
name to it.
Postmodernism: Nihilism
Postmodernism is a continuation of Modernism. It is a logical
consequence of the latter's desacralising knowledge on the one hand and
the explosion of secular knowledge in recent years on the other, with the
result that it is in a state of flux all the time. Modernity is the name of
novelty and change. There is nothing secure, stable, and permanent in its
structure. This insecurity of Modernity ushered us into an age of
Postmodernity, the distinguishing features of which are "nihili~m,"~~
loss of spiritual center, as H. Smith defines it, and "alienati~n,"~' spilt
between man's mind and spirit, as Neibuhr explains it. Modern man was
materially wel150ff, Postmodern man is spiritually homeless, insecure,
and lonely. Machines were and ought to have remained our good
servants, but unfortunately they are more and more becoming our bad
masters making us strangers to ourselves. The greatest problem of the
Postmodern man is to find a way of preserving the humanity of man and
preventing the erosion of spiritual and moral values in an age dominated
by science and technology. Prof. S. M. Vujica rightly observes: "A
purely scientific civilization, destitute of ideals and values, devoid of the
humanizing and mellowing influence of religion, philosophy, and arts,
would be as cruel for the soul as the prescientific civilization was for
the body."62 Whatever else science might be able to do, it cannot heal
the wound of the soul. What the Postmodern man needs today, writes
Harold Urey, "is a great prophet who can accept the facts of science and
at the same time give the inspiration to fill the great spiritual void."63
This is the only cure of the "nihilism" and "alienation" the Postmodern
man is suffering from.
Beyond Postmodernism: Resurgence of Religion
Just as Postmodernism was a continuation of Modernism, so
what is described as Beyond Postmodernism is a contihuation of
Postmodernism. It is a desperate attempt to regain the spiritual center
lost in a thoroughly secularized world. It is a consequence of the ever
deepening feeling that the future of humanity lies not only in conquering
nature outside ourselves, but also that within our own selves. It basically
affirms the spiritual dimension of man to fill the great vacuum created by
the loss of faith, without in any way belittling the temporal aspect of his
being. It is a burning passion to recapture the intellectual heritage of
Adam - integration of science and religion - lost to his progeny, as
presaged in the very beginning of the paper.
The growth of positivism and secularism was the result of the

aggressive epistemology of the West. But with all its imperialistic
designs, it failed not only to erase religion from human memory, but also
to lessen its significance. This is the considered opinion of H. Smith, the
author of Beyond the Poshnodem Mind,as also of C. Geertz, E. Gellner,
B. Wilson, P. Berger and their teachers E. Durkhiem and M. Weber, the
well-known anthropologists and sociologists of religion The work of
these people pinpoints two main things: 'First, instead of diminishing in
importance as a result of the encroachment of science and technology,
religion has become highly differentiated and functional. Second, religion
is responsible for the ultimate meaning of life."64 The resurgence of
religion in agrarian as well as industrial societies is "one of the most
significant features of Beyond ~ostmodernism."~~ Islam is no exception
to it. It will not be far from truth to say that the religious phenomenon
may play a vital role in determining the complexion of the coming 21st
century.
END NOTES
'For a better understanding of the development of Modernism through

Postmodernism to Beyond Postmodemim, cf. Smith, Huston., Beyond the
Postmodem Mind (New York: Crossroads, 1989)
~ u r ' a n :Al-Mulk 67:2
3
Ibid, Al-Baqarah 2:31. Here is a detailed interpretation of the ayah: "He
taught Adam" - among other things - "the names of all things" of the world
in which his lot was cast. Now, names are of two kinds: proper and common.
Proper names are non-connotative. They are pot given because of any essential
attribute inherent in the object named. They denote individuals, but connote no
attributes. For example, Karachi, Lahore and Aslarn and Ahmad are names of
individual 'cities and persons which serve the purpose of identification.
Comman names which God taught to Adam are denotative as well as
connotative. They are given because of the attributes which essentailly belong
to the objects named. They not only denote individuals of a class, but also
connote their attributes. For instance, the essential attributes of man are
animality and rationality. We identify man as a species because he possesses
those attributes. ,Thus when God taught Adam "the names of all things," He
presumably made 'him conversant with. the essence of things of the world
where Adam was destined to live. God did not bless angels with this
knowledge, for they did not need it in heaven. It was the knowledge of the
things of world which gave Adam a position higher tahtn the angels and in
deference to which they had to prostrate themselves before him. God gave this
knowldedge to Adam as a tool to control his environment. But He presumably
did not gave him knowledge of each particular thing of the world. He gave him
intellect, analytic as well as specualtive, in order to serve as the source of the
knowledge of the concrete and the abstarct respectively, which in turn gavie
him knowledge of "all things" of the world. "The first thing that Allah crataed
was intellect," the Prophet (SAAWS) is reported to have said. Cf. Siddiqui, B.
H., Knowledge: An Islamic Perspective (Islamabad: International Institute of
Islamic Thought, 1991).
4
Iqbal, Allama Muhammad., The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam, Edited and annotated by M. Saeed Sheikh (Lahore: Institute of Islamic
Culture, 1986)
5
Encyclopedia Britannica, volume V, "Nationality"
Qur'an: As-Sajda 32:7-9
7
Iqbal, Allama Muhammad., op.cit., p. 123
8
Ibid, p. 123
Qur'an: Ha-Meem Al-Sajda 41:53 & Al-Dhariyyat 51:21
10
Ibid., Ha-Meem Al-Sajda 41 :53 & Al-Dhariyyat 5 1:20
11
Ibid., Al-Mulk 67:23
12
Ibid., Al-Mulk 67:23. It is used in a double sense of mind and heart.
13
Ibid., Al-Shu'ara 26:89; Al-Saaffaat 37:84; Qaaf 50:33.
14
Ibid., Al-Mulk 67:23. The Qur'an mentions sama' (hearing), basr (sight) and
fuad (mind, heart) in seriatem as theree sources of knowledge. Wahi
(revelation) is recided by the Prophet and heard and obeyed by the believer.
Sama' in the ayah refers to wahi which the Qur'an gives first position in its
epistemology.
IS
Ibid., Al-A'raaf 7:31 ,
16
Ibid., Al-Furqaan 25:67
17
Ibid., Al-Baqarah 2: 143
18
Iqbal, Allama Muhammad., op.cit., p.5
l9 Ibid., p.117
20 Qur'an Al-Room 30:22

21
Iqbal, Allama Muhammad., op.cit., p. 126
22
Ibid., p.126
23
Qur'an Al-Hujuraat 49: 13
24
Rahman, Dr. Fazlur., Islam (Lond0n:Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966) p. 12
25
Qur'an Al-Ma'un 107:1-7
26
Rahman, Dr. Fazlur., 'Roots of Islamic Neo-Fundamentalism', in Stoddard,
P.H. (Ed.) Change and Muslim World (New York: Syracusa University Press,
1981) p.25
27
Ibid., p.25
28 Ibid., p.26
29 It was Iqbal who frrst laid stress on a subjecting modem knowledge to this
process, in a letter to Khwaja Ghulam al-Sayyadain, in 1936, and gave it the

name of "muslimization of knowledge." Cf. Ghulam al-Sayyadain, Khwaja.,
Zqbal's Educational Philosophy (Lahore: Sheikh Muhammad Ashraf, 1965)
pp.144-45. Later, Isma'il Rafeeq. Al-Faruqi renamed it as "Islamization of
Knowledge," in his book Islamization of knowledge: General Principles and
Work Plan (Pennsylvania, International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1983).
Islamization of knowledge is now a popular movement in the world of Islam.
30
31
Ibid., p.78
32 Ibid., p.xxii
33 Ibid., p.xxii
34
The terms "Europeanization" and "Westernization" were first used for what
we call "Modernization" today. But soon they lost their appeal mainly because
of their ethnocentric import. Modernization apparently does not smack of
ethnocenticism and so it is being used today all over the world without any
rnisgiveing. But to say that it is completely free from ethnocentric import is not
very true. Modem culture has its center in the ethnic man. It is not easy for it
to root out the "pressure" of this "cultural compulsive" from its "rninset" and
become stranger to itself. "All social thought," writes V.FV Calverton, "is
colored by such compulsives and those who think they can escape them are
merely deceiving themselves by puruing a path of thought that is socially
fallacious." (Calverton, V.F., The Making of Man, New York: The Modem
Library, 1931, p.28) The foundation of the modem industrial society was laid
by the eighteenth century Industrial Revolution in England. But the process of
modemization did not actually commence before the year 1789, the year of
French Revolution, which C.E.Black considers to be "the base year" and
"milestone" in the history of modernization. It was French Revolution, he
continues, that "contributed both ideology and institutions that were widely
imitated" and served "as a germinal stage of political modemization." (Black,
C.E., The Dynamics of Modernization: A Study of Comparative History, New

York: Harper and Row, 1967, pp. 107,108)
35 Vojas, E., "Problems Connected with Modernization of Underdeveloped
Societies" in Desai, R. R., (Ed.) Essays in Modernization of Underdeveloped

Societies (Bombay: Thacker and Co., 1971). pp. 493-504.
36
Black, C. E., op.cit, p.7
37
Ibid., p.6
38 Ibid., p.54. This is what Iqbal has stressed in the following couplet:
(One is the [changing] time, one is the [evolving] life, and one is the
[expanding] universe also; it is the ignorance [of the function of historical
evolution] that opposes tradition to Modernity.)
39 Cited by Fazlur Rahman, op.cit., p.217
lu Khan, Sir Sayyid Ahmad., Maqalat-e-Sir Sayyid, vol. 111 (Lahore: Majlis-e-
Taraqqi-e-Adab, 1961) p. 17
41 Khan, Sir Sayyid Ahmad., Akhn' Mazameen (Lahore: n.d.) p.84
42
Qureshi, Dr. Ishtiaq Hussain., Education in Pakistan (Karachi: Ma'aref, 195)
p.68
43
The contents of the book are: Knowledge and Religious Experience; The
Philosophical Test of the Revelation of Religious Experience; The Conception
of God and the Meaning of Prayer; The Human Ego - His Freedom and
Immortality; The Spirit of Muslim Culture; The Principle of Movement in the
Structure of Islam; Is Religion Possible?
44
45
Ibid., p.101
Ibid., p.2
47
Ibid., p.4
48 Ibid., p.45
49 Rahman, Dr. Fazlur., op.cit., p.226

50
Ibid., p.226
51
Ibid., p.68
52
"Actions," said the Prophet, "are to be judged by intentions." Bukhari,
translated by Abdul Hakim Khan, (Lahore:1982) vol. I pp.94 & 119; vol. I11
p.53
53
"Revelation though above any reasoning, is not above reason." Arberry, A.
J., Revelation and Reason in Islam (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1957)
p.34
54
Iqbal, Allam Muhammad., op.cit., p. 117
55
Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 767) introduced the positivistic principles of ijtihad
(individual judgement) and istihsan (equity) in Islamic jurisprudence. Jursits
were divided into two groups during his time: traditionalists and innovators.
Imam Shafa'i (d. 818) struck a balance between them, despite his marked
leaning towards hadith. Imam Malik (d. 798) laid stress on the role of Custom
obtaining in Medina and invoked the authority of ijma' (consensus). Imam
Hanbal (d. 855) adhered to the literalist interpretation of hadith, allowing
marginal role to ijma' and qiyas (analogical reasoning).
56
Iqbal, Allam Muhammad., op.cit., p.13 1
57
Schuon, F., Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts, translated by D. M.
Matheson (London: 1954) p.22
58
Rahrnan, Dr. Fazlur., Islam and Modernity (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1982) p.20
59 Ibid., p.20
60
Abu-Rabi, Ibrahim M., "Beyond the Postmodern Mind," review article in
The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, vo1.7, no.2 (Hemdon: The
Association of Muslim Social Scientists and The International Instititu of
Islamic Thought, 1990) p.253
61
Ibid., p.244
62
Proceedings of the Eight Session of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress,
(Karachi: 1961) p.171
63
Ibid., p.172
64 Abu-Rabi, Ibrahirn M., op.cit., p.247
" Ibid., p.255

A Wake-Up Call
Reflections on Media, Freedom, and Morality
Dr. Ahmed Afzaal
he pace of Westernization in the Pakistani cultural scene has

increased tremendously during the last couple of years. The
easy availability of explicit foreign videos, novels, and glossy
magazines, the increasingly bold and daring policies being adopted by
our own electronic and print media, as well as the leniency with which
all this is being tolerated and even encouraged by those in authority - all
these are signs df a serious decadence. Add to this the liberalization of
social norms that used to regulate the behavior of young men and
women, and you have a perfect recipe for societal degeneration.
Attempts to criticize and condemn this trend are often brushed
aside as irrational and dogmatic opinions of a few narrow-minded
fanatics, or as signs of an obscurantist mentality. Such derogatory labels,
however, do not constitute any logical argument, nor do they prove
anythmg. Instead, what we really need, in order to reach a rational
solution to the issue of whether or not we should adopt the Western and
liberal values, is an objective analysis of the whole problem.
Let's start our discussion at the very beginning.
Facts of Life
Like all animals, the Homo sapiens consist of two different
genders: male and female. The biological urge to mate ensures the
sharing of different types of genetic material, so that greater variation in
form and function can be achieved with each passing generation. A sort
of Natural Selection is applicable here, because the animals who mate
A Wake-Up Call 49
are able to leave offsprings to continue the race, whereas those who are
not interested in mating quickly become extinct. The strong sexual urge,
therefore, guarantees the continuation of species.
Throughout the animal kingdom the male is always the sexual
aggressor while the female remains passive. This difference is based on a
fundamental biological fact. The male reproductive cells, the Sperms, are
small and motile, while the female reproductive cells, the Ovums, are
large and relatively immobile. A female produces far fewer eggs than a
male generates sperm. In other words, there are always more sperms than
eggs. This means that, from a purely biological standpoint, males of all
species can spread their sperm far and wide, impregnating as many
females as possible, but the females may get only one mating
opportunity per season. Therefore, the female must hold back and choose
the best possible mate, while the male can afford to be rather indiscreet.
Although this is clearly applicable to the human beings
inasmuch as they possess physical bodies and instincts similar to those
of the lower animals, there are a number of significant differences. It is a
self-evident fact that the intensity and vigor of sexual urge in human
beings is far greater than any other, animal. Moreover, there is no built-in
mechanism iq the human beings, again unlike other animals, that would
diminish or abate their sexual desire once its primary purpose -
reproduction - has been achieved.
~e human race could easily have been prevented from
becoming extinct with only & fraction of the normal human sexual urge.
This implies that, as far as the human beings are concerned, the sexual
urge must have an important function in addition to that of biological
reproduction. What is that extra function?
The answer is quite obvious: Nature wants us to live together, as
families and clans and tribes and societies. That is exactly why men and
women not only crave physical union, they also yearn for permanent
relationships and love and commitment and spiritual devotion. That is
why the human infant is the most helpless and fragile creature in the
entire animal kingdom, and also the most dependent on his parents' care
50 The Qur' anic Horizons 1 :1
and protection. Again, that is why human parents are more loving and
caring than any other species. Clearly, Nature doesn't want men and
women to come together just for the sake of their physical need, but she
wants them to develop real and lasting love and companionship that
would, on the one hand, ensure the survival and well-being of the
helpless newborn aqd, on the other hand, become the basis d a stable
family life which would, in turn, give rise to closeknit communities.
However, the strong sexual instinct in man is a doubleedged
sword. On account of its remarkable intensity, human sexuality has a
potential for getting out of control and becoming an end in itself. Thus,
an essential prerequisite for establishing and maintaining a stable and
healthy civilization is to restrain the sex impulse by special customs and
social institutions, to allow its expression only within well-defined
boundaries, and to strictly prohibit and check any transgression of those
limits. Otherwise a chaotic expression of sex impulse will result, leading
to the decay of the institution of family, degeneration of morals, and a
culture of men exploiting women.
There is an undeniable link between the sexual norms of a nation
and its overall well-being. A famous study of eighty primitive and
civilized societies, carried out by former Cambridge Professor J. D.
Unwin, has proved the existence of a direct correlation between
increasing sexual freedom and social decline.' According to the results
of this study, the more sexually permissive a society becomes, the less
creative energy it exhibits and the slower its movement towards
rationality, philosophical speculation, and advanced civilization.
Similarly, the eminent British historian Arnold Toynbee has argued that
a culture which postpones rather than stimulates sexual experience in
young adults is a culture more prone to
Unfortunately, in our morbid zeal of blindly imitating the West,

we even ignore how a growing number of European and American
writers have been enlightening their own people about the disastrous
consequences of sexual permissiveness. While many of the secular and
liberal "intellectuals" among us are still waiting eagerly for the arrival of
A Wake-UDCall 51
the "Sexual Revolution" of the 1960's from the United States, the
Americans themselves are beginning to recognize the importance of
traditional family values and premarital abstinence. A new breed of
writers and activists in USA and Europe are forcefully presenting the
case for decency in the media and a return to traditional family system as
the ideal way of life.) Their logical and sober advice,is often based 09
the recognition of inborn differences between the two genders.
Gender Differences
Although radical feminists have long insisted that men and
women are alike except for their reproductive functions, and that all
apparent differences are produced by a ''repressive" environment, we
now possess evidence that proves the exact opposite. Authentic scientific
research has clearly demonstrated that such differences between men and
women are genetic in okgin and have firm biological foundations.
The more protective and less belligerent attitude of women
towards others, their greater competence regarding relationships and
people, their tendency to sacrifice personal interests in order to meet the
needs of friends and relatives, their propensity to avoid conflicts and
confrontations, their anxiety to please others, as well as their strong
maternal and nurturing instinct - all these traits make women ideal
homemakers. On the other hand, men are physically stronger, tend to
excel in the logical manipulation of concepts, and are, in general, more
self-assured, self-sufficient, and independent as compared to women -
all of which make them well-adapted for their role as providers,
protectors, and supervisors of the family unit.
More relevant to our subject, however, is the difference between
men and women that is manifested in their emotions and attitudes
regarding sex. The basic biochemical mediator of sex activation,
aggression, and dominance - in both men and women - is the hormone
"testosterone." The primary sources of this hormone are testes in men
and the adrenal glands in women. The distinctions occur because, unlike
the female, the male brain is exposed to testosterone right from its
development in the mother's womb, and also because, after puberty,
there is twenty times more testosterone in a man's body as compared to
that in a womaq's. This makes men, in relation to women, much more
aggressive, dominant, and sexually active. Also, the higher testosterone
level leads to the well-documented male tendency towards promiscuity.
Men, in general, tend to be more interested in the physical aspect
of sex as compared to its personal dimension. On the other hand, women
value companionship, love, commitment, attachment, and affection
much more than physical gratification. Research has shown that men are
likely to become imtable when deprived of sex, whereas women rarely
experience the same feeling of deprivation in a celibate state. Men have a
greater capacity for spatial-visual skills and are more responsive to
visual stimuli; that's why they are so preoccupied with the shapes and
forms of the opposite sex, and that's why over 90% of the consumers of
pornography are men. On the other hand, women are usually attracted
towards the members of the opposite sex due to the latterts
communication competence, social position, confidence, or sense of
humor, and only rarely because of their physical appearance.4
Women frequently complain that men see them as "objects."
Men complain that women are only interested in talking. Both are
correct because, for men, sex is largely a matter of objective things and
actions, whereas for women it has more to do with comm~cationand
intimacy. No amount of protesting and grumbling can change the
essential nature of either men or women. Instead, women must keep in
mind that men are very easily aroused, and that they Erequently
misconstrue the slightest hint of friendship as a sexual invitation. The
old warning that men are only after one thing is absolutely true.
The Miracle of Marriage
Men are basically promiscuous. It is only the institution of
marriage that can convert their aimlehs lust into constructive love, and
divert their short-term preoccupation with physical pleasure into long-
term commitments for the w e and protection of their families. In the
absence of any social and legal restriction on sexual activity outside of
marriage, men tend to revert back towards their instinctual pattern of
A Wake-Up Call 53
promiscuous and irresponsible sexual behavior. We can see how this

permissiveness results in a huge number of unmarried mothers who are
left to provide for themselves as well as for their children. Contrary to
what Western women have been led to believe, "One Night Stands" have
nothing to do with equality or freedom; this is only a modern version of
the old deception - men taking advantage of women.
Sexual permissiveness demolishes the institution of family.
Despite all attempts to portray "Single Motherhood" as something
desirable and trendy, the fact remains that the intact two parent family
offers much greater security and much better outcomes by providing
ideal environment for the proper growth and development of
children. ~nregulitedsexual freedom, on the other hand, allows men to
be indiscriminate in their "adventures", and since - in the absence of
strong social conventions - nothing and no one can force them to act in
a responsible manner, their promiscuous behavior results in a large
number of illegitimate children who never receive the care, protection,
and love of their fathers. We certainly don't want to introduce this kind
of social anarchy into our own society. Or do we?
Mistaken Views of Human Nature
Some of us are indeed under the impression that the .sexual
freedom now prevalent in the West resulted from the much needed revolt
against "unnatural" restrictions and prudish or puritanical rigidities of
the Victorian age, that a liberal lifestyle represents enlightenment and
rationality, and that we should also follow suit. However, it may be
pointed out that the culture of sexual permissiveness - which can be
traced to its origin about a century ago in the Anglo-American milieu -
is in sharp contravention to the true human nature, and that it actually
represents the unfortunate but inevitable outcome of two very misleading
theories.
The ideas of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939) have played a decisive role in changing the general
conceptions and behavior of Western men and women. The view of man
as nothing more than a sophisticated animal has had devastating effects
on the entire societal and familial structure. Out went morals and ethics
and the need for self-restraint. All attention was now focused on the
satisfaction of physical needs and gratification of carnal desires. If I am
an animal and so are you, then why bother with religion and tradition
and convention? Everything and anyhng should be permissible,
provided, of course, that no '9aw" is broken. But the 'law", when it is
formulated by majority vote, itself becomes a most pliable and flexible
institution.
Then came Freud, whose views regarding the nature of human
self are highly ingenious, but also, to a large extent, inaccurate.
According to him, the principal and primary urge of the human "id" is
sexual in character, and all social customs and conventions that restrict
the free expression of sex instinct are damaging to the mental health of
the individual and lead to different types of neuroses. Although his
views remained controversial among the scientific community, Freud
quickly became a popular figure and his name became synonymous with
sexual freedom, especially in the United States. His ideas then infiltrated
into art, literature, drama, and feature films, thereby influencing whole
generations. The effects of his theory on the Western thought and culture
are too numerous and far-reaching to estimate. However, it can be safely
argued that the cult of promiscuous sex owes its popularity largely to the
teachings of Sigmand ~ r e u d . ~
How can we challenge the gro- trends of permissiveness
when it is backed by "Science"? The malignant effects of the
materialistic version of evolution and the sexual view of the human
psyche can be neutralized only by appreciating that human beings,
unlike all other creatures, have a dual nature. A human being is
composed of a physical body as well as a spiritual soul. This implies
that while man certainly possesses the purely animal instincts for
survival, reproduction, and dominance, at the same time he also has a
strong predisposition towards moral virtue and an urge to love, adore,
and worship a Supreme Being. Ignoring the spiritual side of humanity
results in the misconception that we are nothing more than well-
developed apes, and this, in turn, leads to a society where the physical
A Wake-Up Call 55
and carxial aspects assume ultimate importance. Instead, the

establishment of a healthy and balanced culture requires that the soul be
allowed to rule the body, and not vice versa.'
The Myth of Unlimited Freedom
Once we realize the extent of the damage that is caused by
sexual permissiveness, it is easy to see how various kinds of erotic
images in the mass media contribute towards moral and social
degeneration, without serving any constructive purpose. The prevalence
of such images, whether suggestive and subtle or explicit and obvious,
only accentuates the already potent effects of sex hormones, especially
among the adolescents and young adults. The resulting preoccupation
with sex consumes a lot of their time and energy, leaving very little for
healthy and positive pursuits.
Moreover, in view of the central and pivotal importance of
marriage and its constructive role vis-a-vis human civilization, we can
appreciate the significance of closing all avenues that could lead, directly
or indirectly, towards a relaxation of the restrictions on non-marital
sexual activity. Such a relxation is, of course, highly detrimental to the
institutions of marriage and family, and, therefore, to the fabric of
civilization itself.
Keeping in mind the naturally strong human predisposition
towards sex, we can also see that all ways and means employed to
intensify and heighten this instinct will only result in unnecessary
frustrations and mental conflicts, which will lead, sooner or later, to the
free and unrestricted expression of sexual urge, along with all its
disastrous consequences. Furthermore, the kind of physical attractiveness
and erotic appeal that is routinely depicted in the mass media is so rare
that most women cannot live up to such a high standard of perfection;
the resulting dissatisfaction in their husbands is insidiously damaging to
the institution of family. It may be pointed out that it is precisely this
myth of the ideal female body that has resulted in the menace of what
has been described as the "comrnodification" of women. The moral
decadence of the Western society clearly demonstrates that extremely
adverse consequences can result if a society remains tolerant or

indifferent to the kind of images that are presented in the mass media.
The easy availability of explicit material in the form of books,
magazines, films, posters, and even computer diskettes and CDs,
actually represents commercial exploitation of a human weakness on a
grand scale. No civilized and sane society should ever allow its own
destruction at the hands of a few entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, this is
exactly what we are' doing under the guise of "progress", "upward
mobility" and "freedom".
There is a serious misunderstanding prevalent among our so-
called liberal elite. It consists of their tendency to confuse the highly
desirable values of equality and freedom with the equally undesirable
propagation of obscenity and vulgarity. The freedom to express is, no
doubt a basic democratic and moral ideal, but it can never be absolute
and unqualified. A society that values its stability and moral standards
can never .allow a few of its citizens to express things that would
undermine the societal foundation and threaten to disintegrate its moral
fabric. The democratic ideal of freedom from censorship has more to do
with the right to express dissent against the government and to criticize
its policies, and has nothing to do with spreading licentious and immoral
material. It is indeed amazing that the stateowned electronic media in
Pakistan, while shamelessly denying the people their fundamental right
to disagree with the government, continues to insist on transmitting
obscene and objectionable material under the hypocritical banner of
"freedom." *
Indeed, the manufacture and sale of salacious stuff can be
justified neither on the grounds of frees.speechnor by appeals to human
psychology. All kinds of libidinous material are damaging to public
morality and social well-being, but, of course, the more explicit and
obscene they are, the more extensive will be their harm. Also, the
younger and more impressionable the viewers, the more permanent and
far-reaching will be the damage.
A Wake-Up Call 57
Sometimes people try to defend their "right" to have access to

such material on the grounds that sex is a natural activity, and, therefore,
it is unnatural to put any restrictions in this regard. What they don't
realize is the fact that sex is essentially a private matter; its open
performance or depiction is not only repulsive to the undefiled and
pristine human nature, it also robs a beautiful act of its personal, social,
moral, spiritual, and esthetic dimensions, leaving nothing but animal
lust.
In the entire animal kingdom, we find only a single "animal"
that has a sense of privacy, and the capacity for shame when this privacy
is violated; that animal is, of course, the Homo sapiens. Even iin the most
primitive tribes, men and women cover their private parts and do not
copulate in public. The sexual act is an animal activity that also involves
uniquely human emotions and ideals. But when sex is made into a public
spectacle, the audience cannot see the human element; they can only
view the animal coupling, and this is what debases a unique human
experience into a mere animal connection. Pornography, by making a
gross public display of the private physical intimacies of human life,
degrades both men and women to a subhuman level. That is why we
describe such books and movies as "dirty"; not that the sexual act itself
is perceived as unclean, but because its public performance and depiction
in explicit detail is what debases and brutalizes and insults our
sensibilities.
The dignity of a human being is derived not from the basic
instincts or the physiological processes of his body that he shares with
other creatures; rather it is based on his higher faculties - rational,
moral, and spiritual - which are the real foundations of his distinctive
individuality. In our everyday lives, we partially hide our instinctual and
animal aspects under cover of social conventions, which help keep their
demands under control. Pornography, by depicting in explicit detail the
instinctual and animal aspects of human existence, removes this very
protection of social conventions, thereby degrading human beings and
robbing them of their dignity.9
.58 The Qur'auic Horizons 1:1
Innocent Fun?
Pornography has a well-documented role in sexual violence.
Rape and child molestation is on the rise in Pakistan, but we are still
choosing to ignore the most important causal factor in such criminal and
disgusting manifestations of deviant sexuality. Research has shown that
repeated exposure to pornography often results in compulsive and
aberrant behavior and in many cases leads to sex crimes. American
psychotherapist Dr. Victor B. Cline has done extensive studies regarding
the effects of pornography. He has described a four-factor syndrome in
almost all of his patients. The first stage is that of Addiction. After
becoming involved in pornographic material, people tend to become
dependent; they keep coming back 'for more and more. The material
provides a very powerful sexual stimulant or aphrodisiac effect as well
as exciting imagery, which is frequently recalled and elaborated into
fantasies. The second phase is that of Escalation. With the passage of
time, the addict requires more explicit and more perverted material to get
the same amount of stimulation. He begins to prefer pornography and
autoeroticism over normal sexual relations, often resulting in divorce and
loss of family. The third phase is that of Desensitization. The addict
reaches a point where material hitherto considered shocking is now seen
as acceptable and commonplace. He begins to legitimize the sexual
activity that he witnesses, and, irrespective of how deviant, he feels that
"everybody does it." The fourth stage is called Acting Out. 'Ihis is
characterized by an increasing tendency to act out sexually the behaviors
repeatedly witnessed, including compulsive promiscuity, exhibitionism,
child molestation, rape, and sadomasochism. Evidence suggests that
sexual deviations are always learned forms of behavior and not inherited
traits. The models for this type of learning most commonly come from
pornographic magazines and video^.'^
Violent and abnormal manifestations of sexuality is often the
result of prolonged exposure to pnuient material. In our own country, a
great and commendable effort is being made by various Non-
Governmental Organizations in educating the masses regarding the
seriousness of violence against women, especially its most despicable
A Wake-Ur, Call
variety - rape. However, the theme which is conspicuous by its absence

in the whole corpus of speeches, seminars, articles, and advertisements is
the role played by the breakdown of morals, free social interaction
between young men and women, and easy availability of sexually
explicit material. While we should certainly condemn rape, there is an
equally important need to recognize and eradicate the factors which
promote and contribute towards this crime.
Unfortunately, whenever the role of provocatively dressed
women and their equally provocative demeanor is pointed out as
unnecessarily exciting the potential rapist, the immediate rejoinder -
-
often delivered sarcastically consists of the counter-argument that this
is "blaming the victim." It is undeniable that no man has the right to rape
a woman under any circums~ces,but does it mean that young women
should deliberately place themselves in dangerous situations?
Why is rape so serious a problem even in societies where non-
marital sex is freely available? 'Ihis has a lot to do with the nescience
and ndivet6 of women regarding the dynamics of male sexuality. Women
too often forget the basic fact that sexual behavior in men is deeply
intertwined with aggression. The leaders of the Feminist and Women's
Liberation movements in the West have misled their sisters into
believing that men and women are exactly alike; that women can do
anythmg, go anywhere, say anything, and wear anything, without having
to face any undesirable consequence. They have also attacked and
weakened the traditional morality where women enjoyed the protection
of their fathers and brothers. The consequences of such misguided and
essentially futile attempts to change the basic human nature have been
nothing short of disastrous." The same thing is now happening in our
own society.
Moreover, feminists keep on telling us that rape is not a crime of

passion, but that it is a "hate-crime", by which men intimidate and
threaten women and force them into subjugation. Based upon a
misleading and superficial judgment that all men are oppressors and all
women are victims (which itself betrays a hatred for men), the theory of
rape as a manifestation of misogyny is full of fallacious assumptions. A

more plausible explanation of the rising incidence of rape is as follows.
In an environment where non-marital sex is condoned, the
sexual "victories" assume an out of proportion importance for men and
their threshold for tolerating rejection is greatly diminished. At the same
time, the widespread availability of, and exposure to, pornographic
material puts an abnormal strain on male sexuality, and it makes men
c&tantly preoccupied with sexual performance and
prowess. l2 Moreover, women are depicted in such books and movies as
always sexually ready, willing, and eager; they are often shown as
enjoying rape, physical torturf, and h~rniliation.~~ As a result, the
viewers or readers begin to perceive various acts of sexual violence and
coercion as normal, everyday practices. All these factors, when
combined with the natural aggressiveness of men and also the ndivet6 of
women concerning the male obsession with sex, lead to the unfortunate
incidents of rape. In order to reduce the prevalence of this crime,
therefore, something more serious than mere malebashing is needed.
In addition to rape, non-marital sex, child molestation, and even

homosexual practices are becoming more and more common in our own
society. Whenever .citizens demand that media policies be reformed in
order to check the growing moral decadence, they receive the
condescending advice not to see or buy "what you don't like." One is
simply dumbfounded at such shallow and childish "solutions" of crucial
moral and social issues. Whether or not someone likes obscene and
erotic material is simply irrelevant. The point is that morally and socially
damaging material is being published, transmitted, imported, and openly
sold in the market, and all this has to be stopped. Not every one is
mature enough to realize the damage caused by such material, and even
those who do understand are rarely able to protect either themselves or
their families. No one can live in a vacuum, isolated from the rest of the
society. Whether he likes it or not, every individual is affected by what
happens in his environment. Where the whole atmosphere is pollutkd,'
only an imbecile can say: "if you don't like smoke, just stop breathing."
A Wake-Up Call 61
If we want to avoid the predicament that is troubling the

Western world, then, obviously, we must curb our own drift towards
permissiveness before it is too late. The wise person is the one who
learns from other people's mistakes. The spread of all forms of obscene
or pornographic material, whether indigenous or foreign, must be
controlled. The use of erotic images in both the electronic and print
media must be effectively prohibited. Those who are in charge of
making our cultural policies must divert their attention from music,
dancing, and modeling to more constructive endeavors. The time to take
corrective measures is rapidly running out. If we were to lose this time in
our complacency and nonchalance, then the future generations would
need much stronger and more strict measures to control what would then
be a more serious decadence. As they say in Persian, fools do the same
thing as the wise, but oilly after suffering a whole lot of trouble.
Finally, there is another and more sinister dimension to the
whole issue. Note how utterly idiotic is the claim that such liberal
policies are being adopted because people "want" this sort of
entertainment. People want a just and equitable distribution of wealth.,
they want a break from the devastating inflation; they want peace and
security. Obviously, they are not receiving any of these. All they are
being fed is a heavy dose of obscenity and vulgarity in the guise of
culture and entertainment and progress and liberty. It seems there is a
deliberate attempt to keep us occupied with these toys and, thereby, to
divert our attentions away from the real issues. Indeed, the whole
entertainment industry is acting as "Opium of the Masses."
Let's wake up for a change.
END NOTES
' Unwin, Professor J. D., Sex and Culture, quoted in Christenson, Dr. Reo M.,
Censorship of Pornography? (The Progressive, September 1970)
2
Toynbee, Arnold., Why I dislike Western Civilization (New York Times
Magazine, May 10, 1964)
Some of the most prominent persons in this field include: Phyllis Schtafly,
the author of The Power of the Positive Woman (1977) and the editor/publisher
of the newsletter The Phyllis SchlaJlyReport; George Gilder, who has recently
revised and updated his book Sexual Sucide (1973) as Men and Marriage
(1986); Donald E. Wildmon, who is the president of The American Family
Association; Pat Socia, who is a sex-education consultant and teaches
"Abstinence-Only" curriculum in High Schools; Janet Kid, who is the author
of The Benefits of Chastity Before Mam'age; and Mary Whitehouse, who is the
founder of Clean-Up T.V Campaign, and has been described as the "articulate
voice of the silent majority raised in protest against pmography."
4
For details of recent scientific evidence =garding gender differences,
see:Evatt, Cris., He and She, (Califomia: Conari Press, 1992), Moir, Anne &
Jessel, David., Brain Sex (New York: Dell Publishing, 1991). and Begley,
Sharon., Grby Matters, (Newsweek, March 27, 1995). The issue of gender
differences is also covered in Davidson, Nicholas., The Failure of Feminism
(Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1988), Levin Michael., Feminism and
Freedom (New York Transaction Books, 1987), and Stein, Sara Bennett.,
Girls and Boys: The Limits of Nonsexist Childrearing (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1983)
5
Cf. Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe., Dan Quayle War Right, The Atlantic
Monthly,April, 1993.
Cf. Torrey, Fuller E., Freudian Fraud: Thti Malignant Effects of Freud's
Theory on American Thought and Culture (Harper Perennial, New York, 1992)
7
For a refutation of. Freud's theory from an Islamic perspective, Cf.,
Rafiuddin, Dr. Muhammd., Ideology of the Future (Lahore: Sheikh
Muhammad A s M , 1946)
8
The Supreme Court of the United States of America has repeatedly given the
verdict that the Freedom of Speech clause (in the Fist Amendment of the US
Constitution) does not apply to obscene and pornographic material. For
example, the Supreme Court in Roth v. United States (1957) ruled that the First
Amendment's concept of Free Speech is not absolute and that obscene material
has no expressive value. The court explained:
[the] protection given to speech and press was fashioned to
assure unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about
of political and social change desired by the people.
In Miller v. Califomia, the Court ruled:
in our view, to equate the free and robust exchange of ideas
and political debate with commercial exploitation of obscene
A Wake-Up Call 63
material demeans the grand conception of the First
Amendment and its high purposes in the historic struggle for
freedom.
In Paris Theater v. Slaton (1973) the Supreme Court ruled:
The sum of experience, including that of the past two
decades, affords ample basis for legislatures to conclude that
a sensitive, key relationship of human existence, central to
family lie, community welfare, and the development of
human personality, can be debased and distorted by crass
commercial exploitation of sex. Nothing in the Constitution
prohibits a state from reaching such a conclusion and acting
on it legislatively... We categorically disapprove the theory
that obscene films acquire constitutional immunity from
st& regulation simply because they are exhibited for
consenting adults only. The rights and interests other than
those of the advocates are involved. These include the
interests of the public in the quality of life, the total
community environment, the tone of commerce, and
possible, public safety itself.
For details, cf. Kirk, Dr. Jeny. R., The Mind Polluters (Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1985). and Parker, Thomas., The Impact of Pornography on
Marriage, in Christian Life Commission (CLC) Annual Seminar Proceedings
(1989)
9
Cf. Kristol, Irving., The Case For Liberal Censorship, and Clor, Harry.,
Obsenity and Freedom of &pression, in Cline, Victor (Ed.) Where Do You
Draw the Line? Explorations in Media Violence, Pornography, and Censorship
(Brigham Young University Press, 1974)
'O Cline, Victor B., Pornography's Effects on Adults and Children (New York:
Morality in Media, 1993), Zillrnan and Bryant, Pornography and Sexual

Aggression (New York: Academic, 1984), and Zillmann et a1 (Eds.) Media:
Children and the Family (New Jersey: L. Erlbaum & Associates, 1993)
'I Cf. Paglia, Camille., Sex, Ati, and American Culture (Vintage Books, 1992)
12
Cf. Brod Hany., Pornography and the Alienation of Male Sexuality, Social
Theory and Practice (Fall 1988)
l3 Gordon, George N., Erotic Communications (Hastings House, New York,
1980), and statements by Johnson, Hilarry., in Pornography: A Humanist Issue,
The Humanist, July/August 1985. It may be pointed out that some radical
feminists - like Susan Brownmiller and Andrea Dworkin - are also active
against violent pornography, but the target of their opposition is restricted to
the portryal of women as inferior and subordinate to men, which they believe
to be derogatory and a causal factor in violence against women; they are not
against eroticism in the media as such.
Continued From Page 72

the Sunnis is to be selected and elected by the Muslims, whereas, for the
ha, the political and the religious leadership of the Muslim community
is vested in the Imam, who is divinely inspired, sinless, and infallible.
How can we reconcile such diverse viewpoints?
As a matter of fact, there is no practical need for a reconcilement
with reference to this particular point. The majority of the Shias living in
Pakistan are Ithna Asharis, or the "~elvers", who believe that the
twelfth Imam disappeared and went into seclusion in the year 874 C.E.,
iand, therefore, they are now supposed to await his return (Intizar). In the
meantime, the Shias are required to follow their religious experts who
interpret the Islamic law for the community. In the absence of their
-.authentic Imam, the Shia doctrine of Infallible Imamate is not going to
pose any practical problems. Both the Sunni and the Shia Muslims are,
therefore, in the same boat, because both have to look up to their
religious scholars and Ulama for guidance, and also because both believe
in the possibility of and the need for Zjtihad.
One cannot over-stress the urgency of achieving a state of
internal cohesion and unity in the Muslim Ummah. And, as we have
seen, there is, indeed, a simple and practical approach towards that unity.
The question is whether or not we are mature enough to go beyond our
present state of debilitating sectarianism.
SECTS AND SECTARIANISM
A Practical Approach to Unity
w henever someone offers "Islam" as the only possible

solution to the myriad problems afflicting our country, the
question that immediately props up is: "Whose Islam?'l'his
is a valid question, and all the different sects and factions, especially all
those groups and parties who are working for Islamic revival, must
arrive at a consensus in this regard. Otherwise, it is obvious that the
sectarian and partisan approach - which is quite prevalent today among
the Muslims, especially in our part of the world - will remain the
biggest impediment in the establishment of a true Islamic State.
The realization is growing that Islam is, in fact, the only solution
to the evil remains of Colonialism and the only answer to the threat of
New World Order. But, regrettably, there is very little cognizance of the
biggest hurdle in achieving this goal: our own internal strife and the
menace of sectarianism. Any meaningful progress towards the
establishment of an Islamic state is impossible unless we find a solution
to this issue.
There is a tremendous onslaught of Zionist hegemony under the
guise of the New World Order. The Arabs are practically in their pocket.
It is only our part of the Muslim world - consisting of Iran,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, as well as the Russian and Chinese 'hrkestan -
that has a potential for offering a substantive resistance to their nefarious
designs. How can we unite the diverse people inhabiting this region?
The only cement that can bind them is Islam. But again, all efforts to
create a solid 1slamic bloc in this region are going to be unsuccessful
unless a lasting and workable solution to the problem of sectarianism is
found.
The Qur'anic Answer to Sectarianism
The most fundamental point that needs to be noted in this regard
is the distinction between Deen and Shuriah. According to the Holy
Qur'an, all the prophets and messengers throughout human history have
- -
taught the same Deen l s l h the essence of which is to accept
Almighty Allah (SWT) as the sovereign and ruler of the universe and the
prophets as His representatives, Thus, we see that all the messengers
demanded two things from their respective nations: worship Allah and
obey me. It means that, during the days of Prophet Noah, Islam consisted
of worshipping Allah and obeying Noah (AS). In the times of Prophet
Hud, Islam consisted of worshipping Allah and obeying Hud (AS).
During the age of Prophet Moses, Islam consisted of worshipping Allah
and obeying Moses (AS). Similarly, now that the institution of
Prophethood has concluded after reaching its zenith in the person of the
last messenger, Muhammad (SAAWS), the essence of Islam for all times
to come will consist of two things: to worship Almighty Allah (SWT)
and to obey Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS).
We know that the Shariah - or the code of life given by-
Almighty Allah (SWT) to Prophet Moses (AS) and through him to his
people was very different from the one given to Prophet Muhammad
(SAAWS), even though both of them taught the same Deen, i.e., Islam.
It follows that it is possible for different messengers to have different
teachings regarding the details of law, rituals, customs, etc., but that all
these differences remain well within the broader circle of Deen, which
has remained unchanged throughout human history.
Consider the implications of this basic fact taught by the Holy
Qur'an. It means that, irrespective of how divergent their views and
practices may be, as long as the different Muslim sects agree to worship
Almighty Allah (SWT) and obey Prophet Mfiamrnad (SAAWS), all of
them will remain inside the broader circle of the Muslim Urnrnah.
Unless there is a categorical refusal by a group of people to submit
Sects and Sectarianism 67
before the clear injunctions of the Holy Qur'an and those of Prophet
Muhammad (SAAWS), any schism or cleavage won't happen. Since all
the different sects (Madhahib) in Islam - whether Hanafi, Shafa'i,
Maliki, Hanbali, Zahiri, Salafi, or Jafari - are unanimous that the
commandments of the Qur'an and the Sumah are binding upon them,
none of these represent any defection fiom the fold of Ummah.
Although various schools of thought among the Muslims differ
concerning the principles or rules of interpreting the Divine law, all can
be united on the basis of the original sources of guidance, the Holy
Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS). Just as the
same Deen can manifest itself into a number of different codes of life -
for example the Shariah of Moses (AS) and the Shuriah of Muhammad
(SAAWS) - it can also manifest, at a secondary level, into numerous
schools of jurisprudence, all of which are in agreement regarding the
fundamentals but differing in minor issues of detail.
Disagreements are Unavoidable
There is a crucial distinction between expressing differences of
opinion and creating rifts and antagonisms in the community. According
to the Holy Qur'an, the diversity and variation that we find everywhere
in the universe is a sign of Almighty Allah's infinite creativity. People
differ greatly in their aptitudes, priorities, intelligence levels, and
preferences. Therefore, even when it comes to the interpretation of the
teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah, knowledgeable and
sincere scholars will inevitably differ with each other. There is absolutely
nothing wrong with differences of opinion concerning interpretations of
the same injunction of the Qur'an or the Sunnah, just as there is nothing
wrong when judges differ in their interpretations of the law or
Constitution. However, the point is to view such a disagreement as an
academic and technical one, and not to let it become a reason for
creating discord and rivalry.
The fiiction prevalent between various Muslim schools of
jurisprudence is rather unfortunate. But it must be kept in mind that this
sort of animosity is never caused by sincere disagreements, rather it is
always a result of the sinister desire to dominate and subjugate others. If

disagreements are combined with sincerity of intention and
uncompromising loyalty to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, then such
disagreements are certainly desirable and beneficial in the sight of Islam.
But sometimes these differences of opinion are exaggerated and grossly
misused by the belligerent and formalist type of self-proclaimed
"scholars", and it is only then that they result in unnecessary bitterness
and strife.
Islam has reached its ultimate perfection and fulfillment with the
advent of Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS), in the sense that the Holy
Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS) will remain
the only sources of guidance for the entire humanity, for all times to
come. Since there are not going to be any more prophets, it follows that
it is now up to the learned people from among the Ummah - who are
well-grounded in the knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah as well as
other related sciences - to deliberate over the Divine and Prophetic
injunctions in order to provide the framework for new legislation and
codification of the Islamic law.
Another upshot of the belief in the termination of Prophethood is
that a disruption or rift will be created within the ranks of the Ummah
only when someone challenges the authority of Prophet Muhammad
(SAAWS). Therefore, in the entire fourteen hundred years of Muslim
history, only those sects were unanimously declared as non-Muslims
who had refused to accept Prophet Muhammad (SAKWS) as the
supreme authority. Thus, a consensus of opinion among the Ulama with
regard to the verdict of apostasy (Takfeer)is found only with reference to
those sects who had adopted for themselves a new "prophet", Qadianism
being a case in point.
The extraordinary spirit of tolerance and magnanimity, which
was very much in vogue during the early centuries of Islamic
jurisprudence, must be revived among the Muslims of today. Our Ularna
should realize that Islam is much more than mere pedantic debates over
minor points of law and trivial theological distinctions. Our own history
has shown how damaging this constant preoccupation with basically

futile controversies can be. Instead of broadening the intellectual
horizons, such pursuit only serve to render the mind incapable of
comprehending as to what is really at stake. Minor judicial and
theological disagreements should never be allowed to cause hard feelings
among the members of the Ummah. Our objective should be the
establishment of the Deen of Allah, rather than the domination of one
sect by another.
Since all Muslim sects agree that the "Straight Path" consists of
obeying Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS), their mutual disagreements
regarding the interpretation of Shuriah can be easily reconciled and
harmonized, once they realize the urgent and acute need for a united and
cohesive Ummah. The most significant point in this respect is that the
envisioned Islamic State will not be able to function for even a single
day if such unity is not achieved.
Legislation in the Islamic State
The immense amount of work that was done by earlier jurists,
while stillmvaluable to a large extent, will not be able to meet the
practically infinite demands for fresh legislation in the future Islamic
state. How shall we deal with the very practical issue of legislation once
an Islamic state is finally established? The ideal solution would be to
bind the legislative Assembly or Shura, through an unambiguous article
of the Constitution, that it cannot formulate any law that is repugnant to
the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The jurists and scholars belonging to various
schools of thought will deliberate and discuss and argue among
themselves regarding the resolution of contemporary issues, the
solutions of which are not found explicitly in either the Qur'an or the
Sunnah. These scholars would make use of the whole corpus of the
Islamic literature on jurisprudence without any bias or discrimination. A
number of "think-tanks" can be established for this sort of research, but
without legislative authority, in order to avoid any resemblance with
theocracy. These institutions and academies can indirectly guide the
members of the Assembly as to the kind of laws that are harmonious

with the spirit of Qur'an and Sunnah,
Of course, the gates of Zjtihud would have to be reopened if we
are to run a modern Islamic state. Equally obvious is the fact that the
jurists and scholars of the Islamic Shuriah will continue to disagree with
each other as to which of the numerous possible solutions of a particular
issue is closest to the spirit of Qur'an and Sunnah. Again, there is no
harm in such disagreements. All these various solutions can then be
discussed and pondered over by the members of the legislative
Assembly, and the best possible law shall be formulated by them in
accordance with majority vote.
There still remains the possibility that the legislative Assembly
might commit a mistake, whether intentional or inadvertent, by passing a
law that is, in fact, contrary to the teachings of Shuriah. In that case,
either the President can refuse to endorse the bill, asking the legislature
to review its decision, or a citizen can approach the judiciary to plead
that a violation of the Constitution is being committed. The Supreme
Court will obviously seek the opinion of the representatives of the
government as well as legal experts and religious scholars, and it will be
then up to the judges of the highest Court to decide if indeed a
transgression of the Shuriah has occurred. If the Court were to find that
the new law is, in 'fact, repugnant to the Shariah, it will have the
prerogative to declare it null and void, forcing the Assembly to start the
whole process all over again.
That the Ulama in the future Islamic state would not insist on
following any particular school of jurisprudence is, unfortunately, not an
immediately attainable ideal. It would take time to convince the
followers as well as the religious scholars of various schools that, instead
of demanding that all law-making should conform to the rules and
principles laid down by their particular Imam, they should rather accede
to give primacy to the original sources of guidance - the Qur'an and the
Sunnah - in the larger interest of Islam as well that of the Muslims.
However, till the time that such a consensus is achieved, legislation in
the 1sl-c state can continue on the basis of that school of jurisprudence
which is followed by the majority. For example, legislation in Pakistan
can be done on the basis of majority Fiqh, which is the school of Imam
Abu Hanifa. It may be noted that this is a pragmatic, not an ideal,
approach.
Since there can only be a single "law of the land" in any given
country, it follows that the adherents of all other schools of
jurisprudence, by accepting legislation based on the majority Fiqh,
would have to sacrifice their own emotional attachment to their specific
.Imam for the greater good of the Ummah. It is also obvious that, in case
the majority Fiqh is used as the basis for legislation, the Islamic state
would give complete and absolute freedom to all its citizens concerning
their private and personal affairs. That is to say, although the "Public
Law" would conform to the principles of one school of jurisprudence, all
citizens would be free to practice their own Fiqh in matters of worship,
rituals, marriage and divorce laws, etc. The state would never interfere at
all in these matters.
Futility of the Sectarian Approach
We must realize that the present atmosphere of conflict and
disharmony prevalent between various Muslim sects is utterly useless
and futile. Each one of these various sects have more than a thousand
years of history behind it. It is nothing more than a delusion that one
faction can somehow eliminate the other. Can the Shia Muslims force
their particular ideas on to the Sunnis? Can the Sunnis ever succeed in
wiping out the Shias? Can the followers of Imam Abu Hanifa ever
eradicate the followers of the Salafi school of thought? Can the latter
exterminate the former? The answer is too obvious to mention.
We must read the writing on the wall. We must recognize that it
is simply impossible to either disregard the existence of different sects in
Islam or to try and remove in an dficial manner their long-standing
disagreements. The correct approach is to accept the right of each sect to
practice what it believes to be true in the private and personal sphere
and, at the same time, to try and work out an understanding with regard
to the practical issue of legislation in an Islamic state, as described
above.
Can the Shia and Sunni Muslims unite?

While it is relatively easy to work out an accord between the
various schools of Ah1 al-Sunnah, it is much more problematic to deal
with the issue of Shia vs. Sunni. The divide of disagreement is much
broader and deeper between the Shia and the Sunni Muslims, as
compared to that between the different schools within the Sunnis, This is
primarily because, even though both sects turn to the same Qur'an for
guidance, they have t o y y different sets of books on Hadith. This
fundamental difference in the respective frames of reference of Shia and
the Sunni Muslims is, indeed, a very significant one. But Iran has
already dealt with this problem and so can we.
The solution that is adopted by the government of Iran after the
revolution of 1979 is workable all over the Muslim world. It is clearly
stated in their Constitution that the law of the land in Iran would be
based on Fiqh Jafari, but the followers of all other schools would be free
to practice their own Fiqh in their private and personal affairs. This
highly ingenious but equally simple and uncomplicated approach
represents a really enlightening lesson for the entire Muslim Ummah.
Whenever an Islamic state is established in Pakistan, the
Constitution can be amended to the effect that the process of legislation
shall be based on the Hadith collections and the schools of Fiqh that
belong to the majority, that is, those of Ah1 al-Sunnah. At the same time,
the Shia minority would be given the same status in Pakistan which is
given to the Sunnis under the Iranian Constitution. While the Public Law
would follow the beliefs and concepts of the majority, the Shias would
enjoy total freedom to practice their own Fiqh in all private and personal
matters, including that of Zakat.
Another controversial issue is that the Shia doctrine of Imamate
is in sharp conflict with the Sunni belief in Caliphate. The Caliph among
Continued On Page 64
H m
The Qur'anic Horizons
A Project of Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Qur'an, Lahore
Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Qur'an, as the name indicates, is

an institution for the propagation of Qur'anic teachings. Much more than
just an ordinary organization, the Anjumafi - established in 1972 -
actually represents a mission and a movement, the objective before
which is to call people towards the Holy Qur'an, to rekindle the light of
Zman in the hearts of the Muslims, and to pave the way for Islamic
The basic thought behind Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-

Qur'an is that the goal of the establishment of an ideal Islamic state - or
the system of Khilafa, in other words - cannot be attained without the
revival of true faith and conviction in a signiiicant portion of the Muslim
community. This, in turn, is possible only by the propagation of the
Qur'anic guidance, both on a mass scale for the benefit of the general
public as well as on the highest level of scholarship in order to attract
v >- -
and influence the intelligent and educated elite of the societyZ -s -. -
' $3
In addition to numerous other ongoing activities, Markazi
Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Qur'an has started, by the grace of Almighty
Allah (SWT), a regular quarterly journal in E n a s h language. It is hoped
that a thorough and in-depth presentation of the Qur'anic wisdom,
through this periodical, would go a long way in reaching and intluencing
the intelligentsia in Pakistan as well as abroad.
Contributions
Papers submitted for publication must conform to the following guidelines:
All manuscripts must be typed on one side of the paper with double spacing,
with at least one inch margins on all sides, preferably on A4 paper.
Footnotes should be numbered consecutively and typed separately following
the main text.
4 Papers may also be submitted as computer diskettes provided they are
composed on Microsoft Word 6 for Windows, Wordperfect 6 for DOS, or in

a compatible format. A hard copy should also be included.
The Sole Aim
before
- -m
is to Disseminate and Pram gate
the Knowk A
-and Wisdom
-
' Tlle Qlu"nn

(the fountain-head of faith and enlighrenmenl
on a V&t Scale
and
the Highest Intellectual Level
so as to achieve
a m - - the'~uslimsin general
+ and
their Intelligentsia in particular
with Tt Ultimate Objective of brineins about an
IshrericRena
and ushering in, for the second tirlle in history
the Blessed Era
in which '
The True Islamic Way of Life reigned supreme.

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The Our'anic Horizons

The Objective and Goal of

Islam and Modernity: A Dialogue

Sects and Sectarianism

w e have the pleasure to place before the, readers the

Those who freely and authentically choose to accept the

The past two or three decades have seen a tremendous rise of

w e Muslims believe that the best of all human beings -

attempt to grasp the distinctive and unique nature of the goal of

THE AXIAL PURPOSE OF PROPHETS

Nobody fiom amongst the creatures shares His substantial

definite period of time. The creation of the universe is a serious affair,

essential parts of the Qur'anic eschatology which fully elaborate the

guided than he who walks upright on a straight path? (Al-

The net result of this rejection or ignorance of the Divine

Primarily (and essentially), a man is accountable for his deeds

Diametrically opposed to the above mentioned animal self is that

Indeed, We created man from a mixed sperm-drop in order to

The connotation of the verb sawwa, used in the Arabic text of

In addition to the above mentioned faculties of sight, hearing,

perception of spiritual verities. Heart, in Qur'anic epistemology, is the

human being similarly fails to attain the metaphysical knowledge of the

enticements. Thus the Qur'an states:

Peremmry Factor or Argument for 1slam (Itmum-i-HuJat)

a Warner. And Allah has the power to will anything. (Al-

Imam Muslim (RA) has narrated, on the

Coming Up hr our Next Issue

Qur'an and Riba

Intellectual Legacy of Adam

2. Likewise, its ontology is also reductionist. It explains all phenomena

6. Modern society is ethnocentric. Ethnicity is "a state of mind in

Islam promises good life in this world as well as in the warid to

impact on human affairs."36 He conceives of modernization as a mullet-

Modern Islam in Search of a New Zlm al-Kglam

dogmas of science."@ Islam is not only not incompatible with science,

Modern Islam in search of New Fiqh

makes possible the satisfaction of human needs. Both spiritual and

of Hijra down to the beginning of the fourth, in order to meet the

Postmodern Islam in Search of a Methodology for Recasting

5. Truth is not made, as the pragmatists think. It is already there. It is

In short, unity of God, unity of cosmic order, unity of

The growth of positivism and secularism was the result of the

'For a better understanding of the development of Modernism through

20 Qur'an Al-Room 30:22

process, in a letter to Khwaja Ghulam al-Sayyadain, in 1936, and gave it the

C.E., The Dynamics of Modernization: A Study of Comparative History, New

Societies" in Desai, R. R., (Ed.) Essays in Modernization of Underdeveloped

49 Rahman, Dr. Fazlur., op.cit., p.226

" Ibid., p.255

Dr. Ahmed Afzaal

he pace of Westernization in the Pakistani cultural scene has

Unfortunately, in our morbid zeal of blindly imitating the West,

promiscuous and irresponsible sexual behavior. We can see how this

and carxial aspects assume ultimate importance. Instead, the

adverse consequences can result if a society remains tolerant or

Sometimes people try to defend their "right" to have access to

variety - rape. However, the theme which is conspicuous by its absence

Moreover, feminists keep on telling us that rape is not a crime of