Notes on Islam Part 4

His sign is in all things, * [Arabic: fa fi kulli ay?in lahu]

Indicating that He is One. * [Arabic: aayah naral anna hu wa?id]

+Note 7.+

_III.--Why is Islam the best religion?_

My real task begins with this Note. I have to explain to you why I consider Islam[48] the best of the religions that are now professed by men all over the world. Mark, I do not say that other religions are not good, but I only say that Islam is the best religion of all those I know. Why do I say so? Because no other religion accords so well as Islam with the modern ideas of Science.

By applying the adjectives "good," "better" and "best" to religions, I indicate the _degree_ to which each religion, by its tenets and teaching, induces men to seek their welfare [Arabic: falah]: and by the word "Science" [Arabic: ilm] I mean simply the systematised knowledge of things known and knowable.

_Science_ discovers things that are necessary or desirable for human welfare. _Arts_ generally show the way in which those things can be obtained or manufactured. _Governments_ provide, or ought to provide, facilities for scientific investigation and for improvement in arts. And it is _Religion_ that should move men to take the fullest advantage of the science and arts of the time. You may take a horse to a river but you cannot make him drink unless he is thirsty. If he is thirsty he will drink of his own accord; but if he is not, neither the appearance of clear water, nor the easy way to get at it, nor indeed your whip or coaxing can ever induce him to drink. In the same way Science may show you water or anything that is useful, Arts may show you different ways of getting it, the Government of your State may offer rewards or even threaten punishment; but you will not drink, that is to say, you will not take advantage of the good things shown you and placed at your disposal, unless you are thirsty, unless there is something in you which impels you to it. This thirst, this something that is the moving force or _motive_, is created or furnished by Religion.

The chief use of religion lies in the desire that it fosters in men to live well, and virtuously.[49] It is true that for most men the fear of punishment and the hope of reward, either here or hereafter, are motives for right conduct: and some religions (and even Islam as taught by some Moulvies) give glowing pictures of Heaven and h.e.l.l awaiting good and bad people after death.[50] But these motives are unworthy of the higher nature [Arabic: qu wa ye malakuti] of man. They are like the crack of a whip or the show of green gra.s.s to a horse that will not run. They are not so effective and lasting as the high spiritual motive for a virtuous life furnished by true religion. I cannot dwell further on this point without entering upon a philosophical or metaphysical discussion which is foreign to the purpose of these Notes. Suffice it to say that the spiritual or religious motive for virtuous conduct is the best of all motives, as it conforms to the higher or angelic [Arabic: malakuti]

nature of man and a.s.sists him in subduing his lower or animal [Arabic: ba ha'i mi] nature.[51]

"The son of man is a unique and complex product (of Evolution) which has combined in him the natures of [Persian: Aadmi zada turfah m'a both the angel and the beast. joo ne ast za fa-rish-ta sa-rish-ta If he leans towards the latter, hay wan gar kunad mayl een shuwad his animal nature, he wa k.u.m azeen dar kunad qasn falls lower than the beast aanshuwad beh azaan.]

itself, but if he turns his attention to the former, his angelic nature, he rises higher than the angel himself."

It is but religion, true Religion, that enables the "son of man" _i.e._, mankind to surpa.s.s angels in G.o.dliness. Note, this is exactly what Sir Oliver Lodge says in his book, _The Substance of Faith allied with Science_.

There is another use of Religion to which I should refer briefly before I pa.s.s on to the main argument. You always intend doing many things but never succeed in doing them _all_, either because you change your mind or because somebody or something prevents you from carrying them out. It is nevertheless important to yourself and society that your wishes, which are naturally more numerous than your actions, should be as good as the actions themselves. Laws and social conventions cannot adequately control them, for they take account of only outward manifestations, that is, actions which flow or result from your inward desires, pa.s.sions and prejudices. These are controlled by such religions as true Christianity and true Islam which take that as done which was merely intended to be done, and inhibit bad intentions even before they appear in action.

Now, whatever religion supplies the best motives for virtuous conduct and most effectively prevents mischievous intentions, must necessarily be one which conforms best with the most approved ideas of the science and arts of the time. I hold that Islam is such a religion.[52]

Let me begin by showing a conformity of Islam to a modern idea, that there are more worlds than one.[53] There are still some religions which a.s.sume that there is no other world than the world we live in, and that G.o.d created and maintains it for men only. Science has proved that such a.s.sumptions are unwarranted, and has even suggested grounds for believing that there are beings in the innumerable worlds of stars. This world of ours with its inhabitants has therefore no right to monopolise G.o.d to itself. Nor indeed have we, human beings, any right to consider ourselves as its superior inhabitants. Science is now-a-days on the track of finding out beings who are or who may be superior to man. Note that all this is implied in the expression [Arabic: rabbi l-?alamin]

"the Lord of the _worlds_" contained in the Sura and other parts of the Qur'an. It does not say "the king of the _world_" ([Arabic: rabbi l- ?alam]) or of _men_ [Arabic: rabbi l- ?insan] but says generally and truly that G.o.d is the King or Lord of great or grand _worlds_: [Arabic: rabbi l-?alamin], the definite article [Arabic: al] in Arabic is often used to express greatness or grandeur as in the word [Arabic: Allah]

which means the Most High G.o.d.

According to Islam there are two sources of knowledge, _Science_ and _Revelation_: the one represents man's effort to learn G.o.d's ways, and the other represents G.o.d's grace to discover His ways to man.[54] I for one believe that the difference between the two sources of knowledge corresponds to the difference between "Experience" and "Intuition,"

between Acquired Ideas and Innate Ideas--a difference which modern philosophers (Spencer and Bergson) consider to be one of degree only and not of kind.

+Note 8.+

_Unity[55] and Union._

I cannot go over the whole field of Muslim theology to show how its ideas are in accord with the scientific thought of our days. I will confine myself to three principles and three maxims implied in the a.n.a.lysis of the Opening Sura [Arabic: Sura al-fati?a] given in one of my previous Notes[56].

I. The verse [Arabic: al-?amdu li-llahi rabbi l-?alamin; ar-ra?mani r-ra?im] points to _the Principle of Unity_:

There is but one G.o.d who created the worlds, maintains and rules them.

From this results the _Maxim of Union & Loyalty_:

Union is strength = Be loyal to your King.

II. The verse [Arabic: ?iyyaka na?budu wa-?iyyaka nasta?in] points to _the Principle of Perfection_:

Wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d, His protection, and guidance are necessary for the perfection of our mind and body.

From this results the _Maxim of Self-help_:

G.o.d helps those who help themselves = Be true to yourself.

III. The verse [Arabic: ?ira?a lla?ina ?an?amta ?alayhim gayri l-mag?ubi ?alayhim wa-la ?-?allin] points to _the Principle of Moderation_:

It is the straight path of righteousness that enables you to avoid crooked paths of sin and error and leads you to happiness.

From this results the _Maxim of the Average_:

Adopt the mean of two extremes = Be moderate in everything.

I will now endeavour to shew, as briefly and as simply as possible, how the principles and maxims I have stated correspond with the best scientific ideas of the present age. By "the best scientific ideas," I mean nothing more than _conclusions_ arrived at by eminent men of science after severe study and prolonged investigation. I can only refer to the conclusions as such without attempting to summarise the reasoning, etc. by which they have been reached. You may read the works of authors I shall name, if you wish to learn more of their thoughts.

I.

_Principle of Unity._

1. The first Principle of Unity [Arabic: tawhid] implies that there is but one Energy or Force whose different transformations we call _forces_, but one Life whose appearance in different shapes we call _lives_, and but one Mind whose different manifestations we call _minds_. But the universal Energy, the

[Sidenote: 1. Herbert Spencer.

2. Dr. A.R. Wallace.

3. Prof. James.

4. Sir Oliver Lodge.

5. Dr. Theodore Merz.]

universal Life, and the universal Mind[57] [Arabic: rabbi l-?alamin, ar-ra?mani r-ra?im, maliki yawmi d-din] are themselves but so many forms, appearances or manifestations of the one Being [Arabic: Allah]

who is Infinite [Arabic: ?-?amad] and Absolute [Arabic: lam yalid, wa-lam yulad]. This is exactly what scientific men and philosophers have said and are saying to-day. Read the works of any of the eminent men mentioned in the margin, and you will find that the conclusion they have reached after life-long investigations, tallies remarkably with the conception of G.o.d which Islam formulated centuries ago.

Every child begins with the experience of 'This is _mine_' and 'That is _not mine_.' This experience matures in the adult into "I" and "not-I"--the _subject_ that knows and the _object_ that is known. We call the _knower_ or subject, Mind; and the _known_ or object, Matter.

Most modern Philosophers agree in believing that Mind and Matter are but two aspects of One Reality underlying All. Just as a big building like the Falaknuma Palace presents different aspects when viewed from different directions, and yet is one and the same building; so the Reality of Existence _appears to us_ in different aspects as Mind and Matter, and yet is one and the same Reality[58].

Dr. Theodore Merz of the Durham University, at the end of his grand survey of the Scientific Thought of Europe in the 19th Century,[59]

says: "The scientific mind advances from the idea of Order or arrangement to that of Unity through the idea of Continuity."

The process adopted by Science of arriving at Unity is only the reverse of what Islam adopted: the former begins _a posteriori_ with Order finds Continuity and arrives at Unity, but the latter started _a priori_ with Unity, pa.s.sed over Continuity, and found Order, thus:--

_Science._ _Islam._