Approaches to The Understanding of Islam: Ali Shari’ati

My topic concerns different approaches to the knowledge and understanding of Islam. ‘Different approaches’ constitutes a precise and important scientific consept, and it denotes methodology for the understanding of Islam. The question of methodology is of extreme importance in history, and particularly in the history of science. The correct cove method for the cognitive method for the discovery of truth is more important than philosophy, science or the possession of mere talent.

We know that in the Middle Ages, Europe spent a millennium in the most appaling stagnation and apathy, and that immediately after the end of this period, the stagnation and apathy gave way to a multi-faced and revolutionary awakening in science, art, literature, and all areas of human and social concern. This sudden revolution and burst every in human thought  resulted in the birth of the civilization and culture of today’s world. We must now ask ourselves, ‘Why did Europe stagnate for a thousand years? Without doubt, numerous factors caused the stagnation Europe in the Middle Ages, and various causes suddenly awaken Europe from its sleep, setting it on the cours of swift and dazzly progress in every respect.

We must point out here that the fundamental factor in stagnation of thought, civilization and culture that lasted for millennium in medieval Europe was the Aristotelian method analogical reasoning. When this way of looking at questions a object changed, science, society and the world also changed, and a result of that, human life too. We are conserned here with culture with thought and the scientific movements, and it is for this reason that we regard the change in methodology as the fundamental factor in the Renaissance. At the same time, it is true from sociological point of view that the main factor in this change was transformation of the feudal system into that of the bourgeoisie was caused, in  turn, by the breaching of the wall that separated Islamic East from the Christian West, the breaching brought about by the Crusades.

Method is then of far-reaching importance in determind progress or decline. It is the method of investigation, not the a existence or non-existence of genius, that brings about stagnate and apathy or motion and progress. Because the latter has discovery the correct method of reasoning, by means of which even a media intellect can discover truth, while the great genius, if he does know the correct method of looking at things and reflecting on problems, will be unable to make use of his genius.

It is for this reason that we see in the history of Greek civilization tens of geniuses gathered in a single place in the fourth and fifth centuries. The history of mankind has remained under their infhience down to the present. But the whole of Athens was unable to invent a wheel, whereas in modern Europe, an average technician who cannot even understanding the writings of Aristotle and his pupils has made hundreds of inventions.

Thinking correctly is like walking. A person lame in one foot and unable to walk fast, if he chooses the right path, will reach his destination sooner than the champion runner who takes a rocky and winding path. However fast the champion may run, he will arrive late at his destination, if he reaches it at all; whereas the lame person who chooses the right route will attain his destination and goal.

The choice of correct method is the first matter to be considered in all the different branches of knowledge – literary, social, artistic and psychological. The first task of any researcher must therefore be the choice of the best method of research and investigation. We must make full use of the experience of history, and we must consider ourselves obliged, as the followers a great religion, to learn and know Islam correctly and methodically.

If we believe in something that we do not fully know, it his little value. It is the precise knowledge of that in which we believe that may be counted a virtue. Since we believe in Islam, we must acquire correct knowledge of it and choose the correct method in gaining that knowledge. In order to learn and know Islam, we must not imitate and make use European methods – the naturalistic, psychological or sociologic methods. We must be innovative in the choice of method. We must of course learn the scientific method of Europe, but we do not necessarily need to follow them.

Today, scientific methods have changed in all branches knowledge, and new approaches have been discovered. In the investigation of religion as well, new paths must be followed and new method must be chosen. It is obvious that a single, unique method cannot be chosen the study of Islam, since Islam is not a one-dimensional religion Islam is not a religion based solely on the mystic institution of all and restricted to the relationship between man and God; this merely one dimension of the religion of Islam. In order to study dimension, a philosophical method must be followed, because man’s relation to God is discussed in philosophy, in the sensation general and unfettered metaphysical thought. Another dimension this religion is  the question of man’s life on this earth. In order study this dimension, use must be made of the methods that has been established in the human science of today. Then, too, Islam a religion that has built society and a civilization; in order to see these, the methods of history and sociology must be used.

If we look at Islam form only one vantage point, we will have seen only one dimension of this multi-faced phenomenon; even if wee it correctly, this will not suffice for a knowledge of the whole. The Qur’an itself is a proof of this. It is a book that has many dimensions, some of which have been studied by great scholars throughout history. For example, one dimension comprises the linguistic and literary aspects of the Qur’an; the literary scholars have examined these minutely. Another dimension comprises the philosophical and creedal themes of the Qur’an, that the philosophers and theologians of today would do well to reflect upon. A further dimension of the Qur’an, one which has remained more obscure than all the others, it is human dimension, comprising historical, sociological and psychological matters. The reason for this dimension’s remaining unknown is that sociology, psychology and human science are for more recent that the natural science. Similarly, the sciences of history is the most recent science to have appeared in the world; it is something different from historical data or the books of history that are among the oldest books in existence.

Historical passages concerning the fate of nations, their relations with each other, and the causes for their decline and fall, occur requently in the Qur’an; the must be studied by the historian with a historical and scientific approach. The sociologist must examine tern according to sociological method. Cosmological matters and questions relating to the natural sciences and natural phenomena must be examined and understood according to the methodology of the natural sciences.

Only two way exist in which to acquire knowledge of a great personality, and both of these ways must be pursued simultaneously in order to yield rhe final result – the knowledge of the great man in question. The first way consist of studying and investigating the intellectual, scientific and written works of the individual, his theories, his speeches, his lectures and his books. Knowledge of this ideas and beliefs ofa person is an indispensable preliminary the understanding him. But our investigation of this will not suffice is a complete understanding of the person, because many things way exist in his life that are not reflected in his works, his writings, and his pronouncements, or, if, reflected there, they may be difficult  discern. The second way, which complements the first and make possible a complete understanding of the person, is to study his biography and to seek an answer to such questions as: where was born? To what family did he belong? What has his race and what his country? How did his childhood pass? How was he educated  is what environment did he grow up? How was he educated? What were his teachers? What events did he confront in the course of his life? What were his failures and his successes?

There are, then, two fundamental method for gain knowledge of a person, and both must be followed: first, investigation of his thoughts and beliefs; and second, the examination of his biography from beginning to end. There are, then, two too fundamental method for learning his correctly, precisely and in accordance with contemporer methodology. First, the study of the Qur’an, taking it as compendium of the ideas and the scientific and literary output the person known as ‘Islam’; and second, the study of Islamic history, taking it as the sum total of the development undergone by Islam from the beginning of the Prophet’s mission down to the present.

These are the two methods, but unfortunately the study of the Qur’an and the study of Islamic history are very weak, as they now exist in our corpus of Islamic studies; in fact, they exist on the fringe of those studies. Fortunately, however, as a result of the awakening that has taken place in Muslim society in our age, Muslim are paying increased attention to the study of the Qur’anic text and to the analytical study of Islamic history.

The knowledge and understanding of the Qur’an as the source of the ideas of Islam, and the knowledge and understanding of Islamic history as the cord of the various religious sciences and made it their chief concern to go back to the Qur’an and study its text. Another method exist for gaining knowledge and understanding of Islam – the method of typology. This method which many sociologist believe effective, consists of classifying topics and themes according to type and then comparing them a that basis.

Based on this approach, which is used in Europe in research a certain topics pertaining to the human sciences, I have established method that can be applied to every religion. It consists of the identificat ion of five distinguishing aspector characteristics  every religion, and then comparing them with the correspondent features in other religion:

1)      The god or gods of every religion, i.e., the end worshipped by the followers of the religion;

2)      The prophet of each religion, i.e., the person who proclaim the message of the religion;

3)      The book of each religion, i.e., the foundation of the his proclaimed by the religion, to which it invites men in facts and obedience;

4)      The circumstances of the appearance of the prophet of a religion and the audience to which he address himself, to each prophet proclaims his message in a different fashion. One will address himself to people in general another to princes and the nobility, and still another  to learned, the philosophers and the elect. One prophet  to thus seek to draw near to established power, while and sets himself up as an adversary and opponent established power;

5)      Those choice individuals each religion nurtures produces – the representative figures it has trained then presented to society and history. In just the same way that the best method for assessing a factory is to inspect the goods it produces, and for assessing a plot of land is to examine the harvest it yields, so too religion may be regarded as a factory for the production of men, and the men nurtured by each religion constitute the goods it produces.

               According to this method, in order to learn and know more of Islam, one must first know god or Allah. Various ways exist for gaining knowledge of God, such as gazing and meditating upon nature and the methods of philosophy, illumination and gnosis… but the method I wish to propose is that of typology. We examine the type, concept, features, and characteristics of the God discussed in Islam. In other to correctly recognize the characteristics of God, we must rever to the Qur’an and the words of the Prophet, as well as the elite among those whom he trained. For the divine attributes have been clearly st forth in the Qur’an, and the Prophet and those whom he trained have referred to them in their pronouncements. Then we can compare Allah with the figure depicted in other religions as God – Ahuramazda, Yahwa, Zeus, Baal, and so forth.

               The second stage in knowing and learning Islam consists in knowing and learning its book, the Qur;an. One must also understand what kind of a book the Qur’an is, what topics it discusses, and what areas it emphasizes. For example, with respect to proving the existence of God, do it recommended to man that he should refine his soul in order to know God? Or does it instruct us to attain knowledge of God through the study of the particulars of creation, the external and internal worlds? Or should we follow both paths? Having answered these questions, we should proceed to comparison of the Qur’an with other religious texts, such as the Gospels, the Torah, the Vedas, the Avesta, ad so on.

               The third stage in acquiring knowledge of Islam is learning to personality of Muhammad ibn Abdullah. To know and understand the Prophet of Islam is extremely important for the historian, a nobody has played in human history the same role as the  Prophet. The role of the Prophet in the events he occasioned is an extreme powerful and positive one. When we speak of the personality of the Prophet, we mean both his human attributes and his relations with God, with the particular spiritual strength he there from. In other words, we are concerned both with his human and his prophetic aspects. For example, with the human dimension of the Prophet, we must study the way in which he spoke, worked, thought, smiled, and slept; we must study the nature of his relation with enemies, with friends and family. We must also examine failures and his triumphs and the manner in which he confront great social problems. One of the basic and fundamental way learning the original essence, spirit and reality of Islam is, he learning about the Prophet of Islam, and comparing him with a prophets and founders of religions, like Moses, Jesus, Zoroaster and the Buddha.

             The fourth stage consists of examining the circumstances under which the Prophet of Islam appeared. If we compare the circumstances under which the Prophet of Islam appeared with those under which other prophets appeared – whether true or false – such as Jesus, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Confucius, Buddha an so forth, we reach the following remarkable conclusion: all the prophets, with the exeption of those of the Abrahamic line, turn immediately to the existing secular power and seek association with it, hoping to propagate their religion and message in society by means of that power. By contrast, all the prophets of the Abrahamic line, from Abraham down to the Prophet of Islam, proclaim their missions in the form of rebellion against the existing secular power.

              The fifth stage in the learning and understanding of Islam consists of studying the outstanding examples, the finest goods to these factories for the production of men have delivered humanity, society and history. If, for example, we choose to study Aaron in the religion of Moses, St. Paul in the religion of Jesus, and Ali, Husayn or Abu Dharr in the religion of Islam, as outstanding specimen of each the religion, this will facilitate for us the understanding of the religion. An exact, clear knowledge of those persons will, from the scientific point of view, resemble the knowledge of a factory through the knowledge of the goods it produces, because religion is a factor engaged in the production of men. 

Resume Article Mata Kuliah PDPI (Pendekatan dalam Pendidikan Islam) pada jurusan Pendidikan Islam - Pascasarjana UIN Sumatera Utara oleh Muhammad Azwar E A, S.Pd.I