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Islam, Christianity and the Modern Civilization
Dr. Muhammad Masjid-Jame‘i
Concerning the clash of Islam and Christianity with the modern civilization, the problem is not just that this civilization was formed and grew within the Christian territory and, therefore, has been and is more compatible with it than with Islam. The basic thing to be considered is that Christianity as a religion could somehow adapt itself to the developments that arose out of the growth of this civilization and the new necessities that it had created in the various scientific, social, political and cultural and even moral and educational grounds. This adaptation was initially indebted to the inherent characteristics of this religion.39
Christianity consisted of a core, i.e. the message and verdicts of Jesus and the Bible and the Old Testament, which was later recognized as part of Christianity and its peripheral parts that had been developed and added thereto by the Church authorities and the ecclesiastical scholars so as to make Christianity a perfect and comprehensive religion that would take charge in all the material, spiritual, individual and collective affairs of the followers throughout the Middle Ages.
The Christian society governing Europe in the Middle Ages was like Islam governing the Muslims in that time. The two similarly responded to the various needs of their followers and actively participated in the various dimensions of their individual and collective lives, the difference being that the entirety of Islam originated from its substance, i.e. the Qur’an and the tradition, while only part of the nature of Christianity at that time related to the pure original Christianity. In fact, it was the consensus of the Church authorities and the ecclesiastical scholars that compensated for the gaps and shortages to make it a perfect and comprehensive religion.
Naturally, these two religions reacted in two different ways to the pressures that sought to fight them and force them to retreat. Here, it was religion itself that defined its principles, fundamentals and limits while, elsewhere, part of this whole was explained and determined by the prime religious legislator rather than by the others who, although they were sacred and reliable, but yet could not be as important as the prime religious legislator. A more important point is that the validity and authority of such people, more than rising from within the religion, rose from the consensus of the believers. It was the consensus of the Church authorities that put the saints and the clerics in such a position as to be deemed part of the law and of the religion.
In practice, these two reacted in two different ways to the modern civilization, which were in fact their competitor and even opponent. Christianity resisted for a while but it was a resistance that was against the natural course of the history and in vain, while finally it collapsed due to various causes. Undoubtedly, however, the most important cause was its vulnerability. It was this characteristic that gave rise to Luther, Calvin and the other founders of Protestantism. They provided a different interpretation and, despite all hardships and difficulties, they penetrated and went forward.
Is it not true to say that what they claimed was returning the pure original Christianity and truncate everything that had been gradually added by the Church authorities and ecclesiastical scholars? They stepped on the scene with this claim while the conditions were appropriate for the progress of such a thought. Therefore, it expanded rapidly and bypassed all the barriers. Such a phenomenon could not be formed and progress within the Islamic territory.
Although there have been many within the Muslim World that have followed more or less the same goals in the last century while directly following Christian Protestantism or without considering it, they failed from the very beginning or they did not end up being successful.40 As we said, the main cause was the differing natures of the two religions. Religious reform in the sense of rejecting part of the beliefs and even the fundamentals of Christianity could occur in Christianity but not in Islam. A Christian could be a devout believer while putting aside the additions on the grounds that they were not from the prime religious legislator. This would not contradict his faith and purity of belief but a devout Muslim could not do so because the entirety of what existed and he believed in and committed to was from Islam rather than from Islamic scholars having reached a consensus thereon.
Islam, like any other school of thought during its history, had acquired many additions and there were many common interpretations of its principles and concepts that differed from what Islam itself had defined and provided. Many people rose to remove these additions and to reform these false interpretations in order to introduce it the way it had originally existed. However, this is different from the reforms that took place in Christianity or the other religions and was required by modern history and civilization.
This civilization sought the decomposition and retreat of religions more than it required their reform and modification. It wanted religion to put aside all its non-personal claims and to submit. This was its goal and Christianity and the other religions responded to it, to a great extent, positively. However, Islam could not and the reformist Muslims who had, as they claimed, worked for such a goal, failed. The present radicalist movement is itself the reason that reformist movements with such a claim and goal failed and their failure was more for ideological than political reasons.41
The difference in Islam and Christianity and their specific attitudes towards the modern civilization is not simply because, for example, Christianity can have Luthers and Islam cannot or because a movement such as Protestantism can occur within Christianity and be victorious while it cannot be in Islam. Even the more radicalist branches of Christianity have a different attitude towards the modern civilization than that of Islam and this is all because of the internal natures and structures of the two. The comprehensiveness of Islam and its emphasis on the necessity of full and precise implementation of its orders and that the otherworldly salvation and even the worldly respect of the Muslims are subject to implementing the orders, unlike other religions or at least unlike their present interpretation, maintains its authenticity against the increasing and crushing pressures of the modern history.
This is explained by Johnson from another angle, “Nowadays, Islam and the Western world have begun to clash with each other and are opposing each other. No other great religions have entered into such a struggle. Neither Christianity, which is part of the Western world and has been exhausted by modernism nor Hinduism or Buddhism, which are deeply spiritual and think of spiritual salvation nor Judaism, which is a small tribal religion. None of these religion leaders had such an effect on the West that could be compared with the influence of the caliph, Mahdi or the Ayatullah. The reason for this is that Islam has been clashing militarily with the West for 1500 years and the present situation is the continuation of the same.”42
Although his analysis and interpretation relate to the political and military clashes of Islam and the West, it is still clear that this is a clash of Islam as a religion that emphasizes its original values and the modern civilization that requires its adjustment and even withdrawal.
Further Return
Therefore, considering the inherent characteristics of this religion, one has to ask why it left the scene of history for such a long period or rather why it has actively come on the scene today. What we are witnessing today is in agreement and harmony with its inherent characteristics and what we used to see was an unstable, temporary complication, especially because no religion permeates the society and history so extensively and deeply and is capable of mobilizing the force of its followers for realizing its goals as Islam, and is, while its opposition to the West and to the outside of itself is, deeper and more serious than any other religion or school.43
The present Islamic movement is in fact a manifestation of the resistance of this religion against the globalization of the modern civilization. Its first goal is to reject this globalization within its borders. This is a natural current. Lack of such a current would be unnatural and questionable. If the other religions and cultures did not have such a move, or theirs was not so deep and strong, it is because they have not inherently opposed the globalization of the modern civilization or because they did not have binding values and standards for their territory or because they could coordinate their values and standards with the value system of the modern civilization.44
Indeed, one has to add that the internal developments of the Islamic society within the last century were so as to provide the necessary material force for realizing such a conflict. The events of the recent periods and the constant blows that the Muslims received from the modern civilization formed their thoughts, beliefs and personality so that they could employ themselves for such a huge movement.
The best way to investigate this is the study of Islamic thought in the recent era. In the first decades of the confrontation of Islam and the modern civilization, the Muslims were so terrified that, in order to defend their religion, they did not think of anything other than proving its similarity to the modern civilization. By the apologetic approach these people wanted to prove the existence of that similarity. The next generation expressed its beliefs more confidently. Its goal was not defending Islam by proving its similarity to the standards of the modern civilization, the way its ancestors had done. Its goal was to explain it independently. The understanding and expression of today’s generation is principally different and does not consider and is not satisfied with anything less than the full-fledged rule of its ideal and religion. In its view, it is Islam which is the criterion for truth or falsehood and it is the others that have to be compared to it rather than the opposite.45
This development itself indicates a development in the mentality and psychology of Muslims, especially the Muslim youth and students. The important thing is that this set of intellectual and ideological developments was simultaneous and even in harmony with the social, economic and political developments of Islamic countries and, therefore, they increasingly reinforced each other until late ‘70’s, when it reached the point of explosion and created a fresh current that continues to date. As we said, this movement is the politico-religious and sociocultural manifestation of the new period that encompasses the entire non-industrial world other than Latin America. The new period is mainly the product of its previous period, i.e. the period in which the dazzle, power and technology of the modern civilization terrified and threatened the civilizations in non-European regions and made them retreat while gaining a full-fledged hegemony. The new situation, which was accompanied by the hegemony of the modern civilization, was adventitious and unstable rather than natural and stable. The stability was due to the fact that the old heritage had been forgotten without any reason and its inheritors had been forced to remain silent.
This state of being forgotten, which was often accompanied by humiliation, could not last for long. Yet, its termination required some backgrounds to be prepared. The backgrounds were prepared in the last century and matured and culminated in the recent two or three decades, thus the entrance of the Third World into a new historical period. This new period encompassed the Muslim World as well, but more intensely.
Now, it is another problem what factors and forces the new period is influenced by and what its strong and weak points are, and how far it can maintain its stability, creativity and growth. If the radicalist ideology of the new period, of which the new period is a creation, can respond to the various needs of the Third World, especially within the Muslim World, in a way that radicalism, modernism and respecting the original values, while seeking reform, none is sacrificed for the other, it can then be said with certainty that this ideology will emerge the victor. Resorting to the original values without considering the various needs of the fast developing world today cannot guarantee such victory on its own. This is truer of our period, i.e. the ‘80’s and the next decade, than of any other period in the past. Considering this principle not only guarantees victory for radicalist ideologies in the battle they have entered into, it can also be said that the stability and continuation of the new period is indebted to the same success. The failure of these ideologies and their inability to respond to the needs and necessities of the new period will more or less coincide with the end of this period.46
The discussion that will be dealt with in the coming parts of the book has to do with the study of the political thought of the Shi‘ites and the Sunnis. One must understand both these schools and what their characteristics and differences are.
Roots of the Ideological Differences
The basic problem in this respect is that the difference in these two religious branches is considered to be limited only to the caliphate of Imam ‘Ali (‘a). It is not the problem whether ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib was the immediate substitute of the Prophet (S) or being the fourth caliph. The difference goes beyond this.
Basically, the argument is not about a person and who he was. It is about stature and about what the stature is and who can be given such a status. In other words, rather than being about applications, the argument is about concepts. The discussion is primarily what Imamate is rather than who the Imam is. It would be a mistake to reduce the problem to a set of historical events. The truth is that this concept affects all the dimensions and angles of religious Shi‘ite and Sunni thought.
To put it more straightforwardly, the ideological, jurisprudential and theological structure of the Shi‘ites and, consequently, their historical experience and psychological and social structure on one hand, and those of the Sunnis on the other hand, have been formed and grown under the effect of two different series of factors. The main cause of this difference is that the Sunnis understand, view and interpret Islam according to the version of Islam that was realized at the time of the Senior Caliphs [khulafa-ye rashidin], the Companions [sahabah] and the Followers [tabi‘in] while the Shi‘ites determine Islam according to the recommendations of the Prophet (S) concerning his substitution. One considers Islam based on the early Islam while the other evaluates early Islam according to the Islamic criteria and rules.
In the one place, religion is looked at and understood according to history while in the other place according to religion. These are two absolutely different attitudes and understandings. It can be said that the main differences between the Shi‘ites and Sunnis and the distinctions of these two as two jurisprudential and theological schools result from the same current.47
When the early Islam history, especially the history of the Senior Caliphs is attached an importance equal to that of Islam itself, such Islam would indeed be different with the version of Islam provided by another group who, not only do not believe in such importance and value, but also have a critical attitude towards it. Now we see that the issue is more serious than it seems at first glance. The difference of these two is the difference in the interpretation of Islam.
In one place, Imamate, caliphate, the Imam and the caliph are understood different from the way they are understood in the other. In one place, the stature and characteristics of the Prophet (S) is lowered to the level of the following caliphs while, in another place, the stature and characteristics of the Imam are raised to the level of the Prophet (S)—which is indeed natural except in the issue of revelation and prophethood. These two attitudes entail other issues that are mainly manifested in political thought. In other words, the political thought of these two sects more than any other discussion are influenced by their varying attitudes in their understanding of Islam.
Here it should be said that such discussions should not result in misunderstandings such as ‘What does Islamic unity mean when there are such differences?’, or ‘Unity is a principle and, therefore, one has to avoid setting forth such discussions.’ Firstly, these two sects and the general public within the Islamic sects, despite all the differences, have some essential commonalities due to the potential and the stable fundamentals of Islam, which makes it possible to stand in unity. Secondly, the religion itself has emphasized unity as a duty. Therefore, such doubts cannot be raised in the first place.
The problem is that, in order to have a proper analytical understanding of the past history of these two religions and their present conditions, one has to examine them very carefully and to systematize their diverse elements and factors in order to develop and determine their political thoughts. What was and will be said will be in the employment of and will be targeted in this important task.
Notes:
39. The best example of such correspondence can be found in Vatican Council II, pp. 903-1014. The difference in Islam and Christianity before the modern civilization had its effect on their followers as well. In this respect, especially see Rowshanfikran-e ‘Arab wa Gharb (Arab and Western Intellectuals), pp. 14-7.
40. In his book The Future of Islam, London, 1882, Blunt believed that the future belongs to liberal Muslims; Islamic Futures, p. 25.
41. In the last century, the problem was not only that progressive and modern thinking individuals rose while being inspired by or without considering the Protestantism movement so as to take a similar action. The more important problem was that some of these individuals were introduced by a group of people as being like Luther and said that they, like him, would achieve victory while we saw that this did not happen. One of the best examples was ‘Abd ar-Razzaq. Although his book Al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm (Islam and Fundamentals of Order) is mainly based on historical and scientific facts, he could not find a proper position because of contradicting the fundamentals of Sunnism, as these fundamentals were not so as to fade away and be forgotten through time.
It would be appropriate if I quote one of the best-known and most reputable periodicals of that time, i.e. the magazine Al-Muqtataf, on his book and the position of its author, “… The fury that this book aroused against its author, who is an al-Azhar cleric and a religious court judge, reminds us of the fury against Luther, the leader of religious reformation in Christianity, one whose deeds had the most effect on the religious, literary and material progress of Christian countries.
In our opinion, what ‘Abdu’r-Razzaq has written will face the same that Luther’s writings faced, not because Luther and his companions were right in all that they said and did and again, not because we believe that what ‘Abd ar-Razzaq and his likes have said are right and devoid of any error, rather because the critical and skeptical position of some thinkers results in discussion and research, will draw the curtain aside and reveal the truth. We have not forgotten how they rose against Muhammad ‘Abduh, but they gradually calmed down until he was entitled an Imam and everyone followed him on his path.” Al-Muqtataf, October 1925, p. 332, quoting the introduction by Muhammad ‘Ammarah to Al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm (Islam and Fundamentals of Order), p. 24.
42. Johnsen, International Islam, The Economist, 3 Jan. 1980, quoting Asaf Husayn, Islamic Movements, p. XII.
43. These facts have been hostilely and vindictively said by many Westerners. See Islamic Futures, pp. 43-4; The Dagger of Islam, pp. 4-9, 69-82, and ibid., pp. 27-35, in which the author gives a good account of the difference in Christian Westernists and Muslim materialists in the Arab World in the encounter with the modern civilization. Also see The Dagger of Islam, pp. 27-35.
44. Concerning the encounter of Christianity with the industrial civilization and what message this religion has and can have for today’s humankind see the book of one of the greatest Christian scholars of the present time , i.e. On Being a Christian, pp. 25-51, 89-112, 554-601.
45. The best example of this is the book Ma‘alim fi’t-Tariq (Worlds on the Way) by Sayyid Qutb. One of the primary important goals of this book is the final and at the same time bold and powerful rejection of those who, according to the author, are the weak-kneed failures trying to ruin the epical spirit of Islam by depicting it as modern and fashionable. Although the book was written as instructions for a pioneering group that was responsible for creating an Islamic society—pp. 50-1—its main mission appears to be a serious full-fledged opposition to whatever that seeks to ignore Islamic radicalism.
Also see the introduction to the fourth edition of Al-Fikr al-Islami al-Hadith Wasalathu bi’l-Afkar al-Gharbi (Islamic Thought of Hadith and its Connection with Western Thoughts), whose author explicitly says, “The attempt by orientalists when they advise Muslims to adjust their religion to be compatible to the modern civilization is indeed no less dangerous than Marxism. It is interesting to know that the author says this when Marxism haunted everywhere. To find lively and more revolutionary examples, see the various issues of Ad-Da‘wah wa’n-Nadhir, by the Organ of Ikhwan al-Muslimin in Egypt and Syria, and especially the Organ of An-Nadhir.
46. It is necessary to mention an important, although brief, point about the future of the present Islamic movement. Unfortunately, little has been said about this in a serious or realistic manner, which is one of the weak points of this movement. At any rates, we will try to elaborate on some points.
One of the basic problems with the present Islamic movement is that it seeks to solve all the problems in the light of mere faith and devotion while almost ignoring the inevitable necessities of living in today’s world and often fails to separate these necessities from the Western culture and civilization. The Western culture—it would be better to say the modern culture because it does not just belong to the West anymore, it is a global civilization and all have a share in it and its developments—is one thing and the means of living in today’s world something else. No devout Muslim or any other devout person believing in the One God can support this civilization in its full form. This is too clear to require any discussion or argument.
However, one has to bear in mind that living in the world today requires the consideration of certain principles without which one cannot live or live a respectable life.
Order and precision, hard work and perseverance, sense of responsibility and disciplinability, working conscientiously, manageability and obeying the law and not justifying it, taking responsibility and not irresponsibly interfering in others’ affairs, being content with one’s limits and not expecting beyond one’s capability and capacity, adaptability and collective working and, finally, thinking based on science and reason and deciding based on calculations—indeed where one has to use science, reason and calculation—are among such means. If it was possible in the past to run a society without these, it is not possible anymore. It is strange that Islam has clear explicit orders in all these respects. However, Muslims have lived in the past centuries in a way that shows that they are committed to them less than any other people or nation. This lack of commitment has many historical, social, moral, educational and psychological reasons that have to be studied.
One of the most important reasons is a deeply individualistic interpretation of Islam by Muslims. A good person according to the past customs was one who, apart from regular worships, would do benevolent things as well. He would build a mosque, school, water reservoir, bridge and the like and endowed them to the public. Presently, having been influenced by social and revolutionary trends, people think of a good person as one who perseveres in the various fields of fighting the irreligious, the violators and the oppressors. Undoubtedly, these are indications of a true faith.
However, the problem is that, other than such indications, the other manifestations of religious faith are basically not taken into consideration. According to them, criteria of being good is not, for example, doing one’s duty carefully and patiently, with perseverance or trust or closely cooperating with one’s colleagues in collective cooperation, which is a requirement of today’s industrial life, and listening to one’s superior or not avoiding doing one’s work with different excuses and avoiding the interference in affairs that are not one’s business.
The fact is that such concepts are unknown among us and have nothing to do with religion or religious duty. One can even say that not only they are unknown, but, in practice, their opposites prevail and are considered as values. For example, if the concept of “cleverness” in our customs is analyzed as well as who its applications are and what and who are the opposite concept and applications, it will clearly be seen how far the concepts prevailing in the minds, thoughts and spirits, whether individual or collective, are contradictory to the means required for living in the world today. Worse than this is that these applications have found religious positions for themselves and there are few people who would see them as contradicting the religion, faith and religious purity.
Unless these problems are solved satisfactorily, the society will not be on the path of progress. As it was mentioned earlier, this is not just our problem. It is more or less a problem in all Islamic societies and for the present Islamic movement. Our problems will not be solved only by individually motivated devotion in the sense that is common today. No doubt, this is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. The devotion needs somehow to be related to the principles and values required by living in this part of history.
In order for us and the Islamic nation to have a proud future, this relation is necessary, in a way that neither the religious fundamentals are distorted nor the concepts are degraded so much that any law-breaking, lack of sense of duty, disorder, laziness, carelessness, lack of knowledge and aimlessness is justified or legalized by any person. In the vast realm of the Muslim World, one can almost say that Islamic countries to the east of Iran suffer less from this problem and the more we go towards the east, this problem will be less noticeable. For certain reasons, Turkey and principally the Turks face this problem less seriously whether in Iran or outside Iran.
In the Arab World, this problem is serious, complex and deep, as in Iran although this problem may be weaker or stronger in each of these countries, depending on their situation in the past, the solidity of their national unity, colonial experience and type of the present government. For further explanation, see Africa: the Past Heritage and the Future Situation, pp. 81-6, and also two books, one by the most prominent specialist in social, economic and cultural issues in the Muslim World, i.e. Diya’ ad-Din Sardar, enitled The Future of Muslim Civilization and Islamic Futures.
47. Some scholars in the past and some writers today have intentionally paid attention to this difference. From among the past ones, refer to Al-Fasl fi’l-Milal wa’l-Ahawa’ wa’n-Nahl, Ayn Hazm, J.E., p. 94. He says somewhere, “It is not right to argue with them—the Shi‘ites—by relying on our own stories because our stories are not acceptable to them and they cannot rely on their stories to argue with us because we do not think they are true. Both parties have to argue based on something else which is acceptable to both sides whether the one who argues accepts it or not…” From among the new writings, see Ma‘alim al-Khilafah fi’l-Fikr as-Siyasi al-Islami (Worlds of Caliphate in the Islamic Political Thought), pp. 131-8; and Al-Fikr as-Siyasi ash-Shi‘i (Shi‘ite Political Thought), pp. 116-80.
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