The Golden Age

The 500 years, or so, of the Abassid Caliphate are rightly known to the World as our Golden Age, and yet most of us today view that time with hostile suspicion. (750-1258CE). 

Twice we were sacked by marauding tribes, the last by the Mongol hoarders, but it is these sackings that lend authenticity to those times for us when we recall our Messenger’s (saw) prediction of such, and by his calling them “my people”. *1

It was a time that predated the schisms caused by the followers of the madhabs.

And there are potent lessons here for one who deliberates. 

1- That the idea of Islam does not belong to any one people, but to all the World’s people, ready for each and every Nation to bring to fruition. *2

Whereas for the Ummayads that predated them, Islam was for the Arabs *3.  With the Abassids we saw the administrative language of their empire became Persian, since the Persians were adept administrators. 

The Muslim world became necessarily multi-lingual, with for example my grandfather knowing Arabic, Persian, Urdu and several other Indo-Pak languages. And they were all that much the richer for it. 

2- it was an unprecedented time of tolerance that saw its roots within the societal idea that was Medina at the time of our Messenger (saw). 

Here we saw the Yuhood flocking to Muslim lands because of the freedom of conscience guaranteed by Islam. 

3- that we as a Prophetic Nation, as one Ummah, became innovators and leaders in every field of endeavour from the Sciences to the Arts. Where the free exchange of knowledge and peoples was a given. 

And it is by the beacon of this light that Europe came out of the Dark Ages, benefiting from our love of sharing, and freedom of giving.  

*The three above are undeniable, historically verifiable facts.*

Then we should readily question what makes us, today, view those times with mistrust. 

Towards the end of the Abbasid dominion, Ibn Rushd surveyed the state of Muslim thought. *4

And there he states that “with respect to the Mu’tazilites, none of their books have reached us in this island (of Spain) to be able to investigate the methods that they followed …”

This is striking since the narrative that we accept is that the dominant school of thought within the early Abassids were the Mu’tazalities. 

Further when you study this time you would come to know that the school of thought that predated the now dominant Ashari view, did not actually call themselves Mu’tazalities. 

That it was what their detractors called them, in a derogatory fashion, because they said (the detractors that is) that they were want to cede from certain questions. 

This means that either, or even both,

1- for most Muslims, at that time, the rational approach that has come to be called Mu’tazalite was neither a sect, nor did they see themselves as separate from the people, but was common currency amongst most. 

2- that if they did name themselves, that the name that they gave themselves has been wiped from the annals of our history. 

*This is a shocking state of affairs given that those were our golden years*

That we do not know, or have, 

1- whether they gave themselves a name, and if so what. 

2- expositions written by them in regards to their thought. 

What this means for us is that *in order to realise our Golden Age*, we need to be like investigative journalists, find the threads of truth and follow them to their conclusions. 

So what little we do know of them is that they would frame their justification of belief not from referencing to God the Most Merciful, directly, but by drawing attention to the miracle of the Quran. And this by simply asking “Could it have come from any other, other than Allah?” and this in complete harmony with the how the Quran itself begins, in Al-Baqara. *5

Then it should seem strange to us for us to accept the narrative of the defining conflict, of who we modern Muslims are, that saw Ahmed bin Hanbal being held in honour. *9

For recall the Abassid era was renowned throughout the then known World for its tolerance. 

Ahmed bin Hanbal is most honoured, it would appear, because he suffered torture at the hands of the tolerant Abassids? The defining question of what caused such ill treatment is one not often asked, nor scrutinised. 

For the Mu’tazalites, for want of the name that they gave themselves, did not care whether or not the Quran was the created or uncreated word of God. 

That was far, far from their method, which was to show that no one other than God could have sent this down. 

But off course the whole dilemma of whether or not the Quran is the created or uncreated word of God, only has significance within the framework of knowledge that is provided by the Ashari worldview/ belief structure, specifically within their designation of Al-Asma wa Sifaat: God’s names and attributes. 

For the Ashari the Asma wa Sifaat, are things to be fully accepted without seeking to understand, or thought. (La bil khayf) *6

And their insistence on the Quran being the uncreated Word of God, appears when you look at it from this standpoint, to be their assault on the rational World view presented by the Mutazalites, whose primary concern was to create thinking Muslims. 

And off course when framed like that, there can be no doubt as to why the Ashari World View then dominated and scrubbed out from our history the rationalist view of the prior generations. 

And so I do not believe the written history that remains of the Abassids persecuting Ahmed bin Hanbal for claiming the Ashari view, for he was an Athari- believing fully in the literal understanding of God’s being- and not an Ashari. *7

No Arab before him had ever held a belief in God, other than His Transcendental Nature, that He is like no other. 

It is a pity that this most dire innovation within the Muslim beliefs ever happened, but what is more so, is that the man who championed this innovation is held in respect. *6

And I do not fear the blame of any blamer. 

Indeed when we reread the Hadith narrated in Abu Dawud *1, then we should rightly be worried that we live at the “end of times”. 

And when we recall the manner in which the Most Gracious terms the stages of creation as days each marking periods, then it should not come as surprise to us that this period has lengthened beyond the 500 or so years of the Abassids. 

That we are living in a time where the Ahl-Hadith is the dominant mode of thought amongst the Ummah of the Messenger (saw). 

With its promotion of ignorance. 

That you must accept a Hadith without deliberation, to do otherwise would be an affront to the Messenger’s (saw) authority. *8 The one whom the Most Gracious commanded us to follow. 

And yet the Speech of God, is something that we are commanded to deliberate upon. And that has no uncertainty about it, nor any doubt. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation. Not talks and lectures, nor this above. 

Notes:

*1 Sunan Abu Dawud 4306 (compiled before 889CE). 

Narrated Abu Bakrah (ra), that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“Some of my people will descend onto low-lying ground they will call al-Basrah, beside a river called [the Tigris river] over which there will be a bridge. Its people will be numerous and it will be one of the capital cities of the Muslims. At the end of times, the descendants of Qantura’ will come with broad faces and small eyes, descending on the bank of the river.

The towns inhabitants will then split into three sections: One which will follow cattle into the desert and perish; another which will seek security for themselves and perish; while the third will put their children on their backs and fight the invaders, and they will be the martyrs.” 

The description of broad faces with small eyes fits exactly with the Mongolian face. 

*2 see verse 53, Al-Maedah 

*3 the Umayyads applied the Jizya to even those newly reverted who were non-Arab. 

*4 1179CE, Al-Kashf’an Manahij Al-Adilla (The Exposition of the Methods of Proof). Where Ibn Rushd goes so far as to assume that the Murazalite arguments must have mirrored the Ashari ones, even though from the above we can see that the Ashari sect completely defaced (by removing their name), defiled (by giving them a derogatory name) and eradicated them from our history. 

*5 Ibn Rushd (ibid) in his survey mentions the Ashari way of proving the existence of the Most Merciful, and when you examine it without bias then you would see that it is opaque and does not do what it sets out to do. Their theory of occasionalism, where they purport that God constantly destroys and recreates the Cosmos as a means of nullifying cause and effect, is on par with building castles in the air that was seen by the Philosophers. 

Here we can see that the Mutazalite approach whilst being far simpler, was also far stronger. 

*6 lit, without a how.  Accept without reason, nor thought.  

The Rationalist approach to the dilemma of God’s names and attributes, that He relates to us in His Speech is that they are there to help us understand His Nature, and connect and respond to Him in supplication. 

So for example to illustrate the point let us use the Hadith Qudsi in which God informs us that if you come close to him a hands breadth… and ends with the God will come to you running. 

The Rationalist view:

That figurative speech is used to enervate you to act, that God loves for you to come close to Him and responds to any that does. 

The Athari (literalist) view:

That God literally comes to you running, even as you run. 

The Ashari view:

That we cannot know how God runs to us, we accept it and do not question how this happens.  

The Ashari view therefore lays claims to being the middle view between the two preceding views. 

But what is not in doubt is that the figurative (rationalist) view was the first, the literalist (Athari) view was an innovation in belief, and the Ashari view sought to be balanced between the two. 

*7

The Ashari view came about in response to the Athari view. Therefore the Athari view propounded by Ahmed ibn Hanbal predates the Ashari view. 

*8

There is no doubt that we are commanded to follow the Messenger  (saw), and yet the Messenger (saw) taught us to take a nuanced and intelligent view of things so for example when Abu Bakr (as) was called to mediate between him and Bibi Aisha (ra). To not be intelligent in regards to understanding them would be to do a disservice to them. 

*9

Our history books say that he was tortured for saying that the Quran is the uncreated word of God, in contradiction with Mutazalite theology. And yet Ibn Rushd could find no such expositions of the Mutazalites.  

That he was tortured is not in doubt. 

He championed an animalistic conception of a religion that had always before that time understood the nature of God to be transcendental, above creation. 

Ahmed bin Hanbal, born Nov 780CE Baghdad, died 2nd Aug 855CE Baghdad. He championed the anthropomorphism of God, the Athari view, said that there was no harm in visiting graves, believing in saints and their relics. In contradiction to the Messenger’s (saw) words to the effect that there is benefit in it if it reminds you of death. However you do not visit a saints grave to remind you of death. 

He said of Abu Haneefa (rm) that his father had said that there was no value in him. 

Abu Haneefa (rm) known to have had contact with companions of the Messenger (saw). Born 699CE Kufa, died 14th June 767CE. Therefore of a prior generation to Ahmed bin Hanbal. 

Championed transcendentalism, and argued steadfastly against the Athari innovation. 

In the above accounts, about the rise of the above two personalities to prominence, we can see a SunnatAllah, that I have deliberated upon before. That Allah t’ala ever presents you with a choice to know who you are.  

Choose wisely. 

*ADDENDUM*

To be added later. 

Opportunities

Constantly within our book we are reminded of Allah t'ala ni'ma upon us- that He send down pure water from the skies, that He created us in the wombs of our mothers and fashioned us with due care, and in due proportion, and so much more. 

But what is interesting about the narrative contained in our book is the *manner of gratitude that is incumbent upon us.*

For Allah t'ala wants for you to act, and to be grateful for the opportunity that He provides to you.

For when He makes accessible to you an opportunity, then only a fool would squander it.

So He reminds us for the pure water that He sends from the sky, and a grateful believer does not squander that bounty. But instead irrigates his land so that he might have provision.

He provides for us the night so that we might rest, and the day so that we might seek our livelihoods, so a grateful believer does not squander those opportunities and instead works hard to provide.

And when you are put to trial, a grateful believer is happy that he has the opportunity to prove his true worth, that he will act morally, stand up for truth against falsehood, pay the due of those to whom a due is owed, even when his means are straightened, that God might know who he is.

That is what Allah t'ala means when He says that *He does not change the state of a people until they change themselves*, that gratitude is not about Allah t'ala providing you with water, and nourishment, gushing straight into your mouths (Surah Raad, verse 14), but true gratittude is about you being thankful for having the opportunity to do good, to go that extra mile, to change the face of this country, and our people, as no one else can.*1

That we are actors, 

That we supplicate the Most Merciful, and then thank Him for the opportunity, and ability, that He affords us and then act to remove oppression from this country of ours, from those that surround us. 

So much so, that this be a rudder that changes the course of our World's history, that we might stand as a Nation again that removes oppression from our Holy Lands- the Lands of Ibrahim (as) and his progeny.

And that is what Islam was meant to be, 

not a flash in the pan, a power that had it’s day and now wanes

not a religion for a byegone era, 

but a force of change for the future.

And that is not an empty promise, for indeed the Promise of God is ever true, that when we change ourselves, are forever grateful for opportunity, and means,that He gives to us, and then seize that opportunity that presents itself to us, then He will change us in ways that no one will understand.*2

That we are the cusotdians of this World, by God's leave and with His permission.

And these others, these faithless people who oppress and wrong, and have no shame in oppressing and wronging.
Away with the faithless ones.

Knowledge is gained through study and deliberation. Not solely this above, but when you act to fulfil the opportunities that God presents you with.  

The Lords Prayer

When the Huwayiroon  *1  asked Nabi Isa (as), Jesus the son of Mary *2, for a prayer he gave them what is known as the Lords Prayer:

<<Our Lord who art in Heaven 

Hallowed be thy name 

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On Earth as it is Heaven. 

….>>

It is said that this prayer unites the Christian World. 

And then some 600 years later, Muhammed (saw) was given Al-Fathihah- a prayer that known as the opening, the bringer of success, the seven oft repeated, and The Mother of the Book (Umm ul Kitab). 

Al Fathihah starts with a verse so phenomenal that it is sufficient for you to stand in awe of the Most Merciful, whose Mercy is so powerful that it cannot be thwarted nor diminished. 

This Friday, and then for the rest of your life, when you stand in prayer contemplate the meaning of this prayer. 

Find the reading (meaning) within it that is the answer to the prayer of Nabi Isa. 

Search for and find the reading (meaning) with the connectives between each verse that reveals it power. 

And then let that be for you a daily source of immense happiness, a daily source of both guidance and instruction. 

That we are the successors, and inheritors of the Kingdom of God on Earth. 

And this religion of ours is God’s very own religion *3. 

But do not become like those that believe that they are blessed, and then oppress the people, for indeed God hates the oppressors. 

Nor like those who believe that they are blessed and stray, inventing things in the religion for which there is no basis. 

The true religion is simple. 

And do not complicate it, thinking that in doing so it brings you closer, for it only drives you, and others, further away. 

And right action stands out clear from error. *4

*May you be blessed with a lifetime of contemplation* 

Knowledge is through study and contemplation, not lectures, nor this ostensibly above. 

*1 the disciples, who when Isa (as) asked who will be the helpers for God, said “we will be the helpers of God”. 

*2 Nabi Isa (as) called himself alternatively the son of man, and the son of David.

In the first instance emphasising his human nature. 

 In the second instance ruling himself out from being the Lord of David, the one foretold to come from out of the Dessert. 

*3 endorsed and established by Him. From the time of Ibrahim (as), He had called us Muslims (last verse of Surah Hajj), and every Prophet and Messenger that He sent was Muslim. 

*4 follows from the greatest verse of the Quran. Ayah tul Kursi. 

The Cosmic Choice

When you think deeply about the true religion you see how clearly it mirrors the cosmos and the Sunnah of Allah (the ways and methods of God) that we can see evident within it. 

For Allah is al-Batin, the One who wishes to remain hidden, Az-Zahir, the clearly evident One. And so He appointed the Angels as Messengers of His will, sent heavenly books to challenge us to intelligence, and to wake us to reality, in the hands of Prophets (*1) to give us better examples of living. 

That He wishes to remain hidden, and for us to believe in Him not because of any authority sent down, but because of the vast intricacies and care that surrounds not just us, but absolutely everything. This extends not just to those things we can see, but even to those things that we have yet to find and discover. His care and sustenance is the one fact that no one can doubt. 

So that even when He sends a true Prophet and Messenger to the people, He raises amongst them his enemy. *2

So that the people have a ready choice. 

And so belief is never such an easy thing. 

That He wants for you to choose belief over disbelief and does not compel you to it. 

So it is with His speech, that for some it only misguides them because they have no faith, no honesty and no truth. 

And even with those that He wishes to do good to, because they do good to others, even for them He only makes clear the choice and opens up the opportunity. 

And He leaves the choice to you. 

Now look at His religion. 

How our Imams are not titles, but positions that we fulfil. 

That we have no priesthood with whom no authority lies, save only a religion perfectly open to all. 

Look at the Quran, revealed in simple Arabic that it might instruct. 

For here you do not need to look at the origin of each word in order to find the meaning. But solely to contemplate and deliberate upon the context. 

For unlike any other language Arabic has remained unchanged and evolved down through the centuries *3. 

So when an Imam shows you that he is well versed in the Arabic tongue as a means of impressing upon you his qualification, you should know that he follows not the Sunnah of the Most Gracious. 

For the Message needs no authority, it’s truth should be free to ring true to you without encumbrance from one who claims authority. 

And it is replete with meaning just waiting to find expression within each and everyone of you, who would deliberate and contemplate. 

*How beautiful God’s religion that remains free for you to choose.*

 

Knowledge is sought through study and deliberation, not this above, nor lectures and talks. 

*1 a Prophet that received a Book attains the stature of a Messenger. 

And we send our salutations and peace upon them all. 

*2 so a verse of the Quran informed our noble Messenger, Muhammed (saw) about this Sunnah of God. 

*3 here I am not taking about the different dialects of Arabic, but MSA - Modern Standard Arabic. 

Try reading Chaucer which is only a hundred or so old and then compare it to Tabari which is a thousand plus years old. 

A letter to Brian Cox and all Physicists

In most Muslim religious circles, though they are unaware of it, a Popperian view of the Natural Sciences holds sway. 

There, Karl Popper, a mid 20th Century Philosopher, argued that Science is in the job of falsifying theories, and thus that there is nothing sure or certain about it. 

This was later bolstered by Thomas Kuhn who empirically showed that Science can be seen as a social enterprise that progresses through seismic shifts in understanding that he likened to revolutions. 

But whilst Kuhn took a realist and sociological view of the job of science, Popper’s was fully dogmatic. 

Too many people erroneously compounded those two separate ideas, believing that they each corroborated one another. 

But whilst Kuhn showed that Scientific progress is a social enterprise and this dented the view of Scientists being solely in the business of truth discovery, it did not endorse the opposing view of Scientists being in the business of falsifying theories. *1(a & b)

Then when we come across verse 53 of Surah Fussilat and we are confronted with; 

“We will show them our signs..” in the outer reaches and within themselves; 

we are forced to deliberate as to whether the “them” mentioned here is as a collective many, or as a collection of many individuals?

In the language of science - is it observable and repeatable, as in the collective many, or is it like a “revelationary showing” that is only accessible to those who are brought close, but as individuals only. These cannot share what they know, because it is not accessible to the vast many. *2

And then when we also come across verse 2 of Surah Raad, Thunder, we should be in awe of its clarity. 

Surah Raad sits between Yusuf and Ibrahim, and when you read it you should realise that it is talking about our Messenger, who is a Messenger to us all and to those that will come after us. (All of the peoples *3). 

Verse 2 here, talks directly to our current cosmological understanding of the Universe, but with such clarity that it is as if God is here showing us His signs first hand:

<Allah it is who raised the Heavens without any support that you can see,

And then afterwards He ascended the Throne.>

When you compare the ‘Arsh with the Kursi mentioned in greatest verse contained in Surah Baqara, one is translated as throne and the other as seat. 

Even in the English idiom we know the difference, vis a vis ..

“Throne of Authority” and “Seat of Knowledge”, look now again at Ayah tul Kursi to see this for yourself. 

And then ask yourself what happens on Thrones?

Edicts are issued and Laws are enacted. 

So here Allah t’ala is informing us that it is He who expanded the whole Cosmos and then rose on His Throne of Authority and established the Laws of Creation. 

<And then that He subjected the Sun and the Moon> to those Laws. 

Arabic is unusual as a language because  it’s words take forms that designate so much from subject to object to indirect object, from male to female, from singular to many to even two. 

The next word here is outstanding, because Allah t’ala does not refer to the Sun and Moon and say “both of them” (as most translators of its meaning hold), but simply “all” as a singular subject, and not even “all things” (kuli shay), nor even “all of them” (kuli huma). *4

Here the All is not made definite by the inclusion of a preceding Al- (the definite article in Arabic) nor by a following noun or pronoun, but is in the indefinite subject form… meaning ALL- EVERYTHING- and as the subject of that speech. 

Most Mufasir miss this and translate the Kulli here as both of them, when the word is clearly ..

<ALL run in their course for an appointed time. >

And everything when you think about it in cosmological terms is either a satellite like the moon, or a star like the sun. 

But here it is clear that Allah t’ala is talking about the Whole Cosmos, and not just everything contained within it. 

And in particular, in relation to our cosmological understanding this would explain those words in that place. That Allah t’ala here is telling us that He is the One that set everything in motion, established laws to govern those motions, and all of them are subjected to those .. running their course for an appointed time. 

Now look out of your window and consider how much movement can you see?

In this verse God is saying that everything is in motion. *5

<And He regulates all actions and makes clear (or decisive) to you (plural form) the signs that you might know of the meeting.>

The last portion of this verse above, refers to itself. 

God says We make clear to you, meaning to us here in this age of men, the truth of this verse so that you might also know of the truth of the promised meeting. 

This is a direct message without any ambiguity. And that ambiguity has only fallen away in this age of men, and it is clear as daylight to all of us with a care for a rudimentary understanding of the current state of cosmology. 

That the promised meeting is a sure reality. 

So blessed are those that prepare for it, and unblessed are the heedless. 

Knowledge is through study and contemplation. 

Not lectures, nor this above. 

1a

It is the job of theorists to put forward theories that are falsifiable, and that therefore lend to the construction of experiments. It is the offshoot of these experiments that is the engine for technological advancement. 

*1b

Can it really be said that Newtonian dynamics has been supplanted by Einstein’s relativistic universe?

Or is it better to consider that they each hold explanatory power within each their respective remits?

*2

And when they do, then they risk humiliation. 

*3 see the end of v7 of Raad. 

*4 As one of my good friends who is an Arab has it that it means “Each of Them” without a restriction to the two, informing us that there are more. 

*5 I read a quote recently that Jafar bin Abi Talib (ra) had said as much, and held this as a certain conviction, maybe having understood or deliberated on this verse or a similar verse.