It’s hard to keep track of time these days but we know we’re getting older. So are the kids. Despite being young our generation will soon be gone and the future will be theirs. But what future are we passing on? What kind of existence are the faithful living today? What have we fallen into? It’s not a matter of ‘catching up’ but being ahead, exuding confidence in what is actually superior (rather than misplaced confidence in the absurd), and with agility staying ahead of the curb. Not playing not to lose, but playing to win. The vanguard (sābiqūn, see Q 56:10) engender this: those at the forefront driven by their faithfulness to God and overachievers in whatever they do, as God expects of them. “They are the closest (to God.)” (Q 56:11)
But this is not what people are commonly taught is from God.
Preachers will frequently tell you that God put us on earth, only for the ākhirah (afterlife). This idea is then commonly presented in a way that suggests people need not concern themselves about life on earth. Or their happiness. Or their worldly productivity. Material acquisition is pointless because life is just momentary, resources are distracting, “You’ll be rich in Jannah”. Every lawful aspect of life, especially by those who cannot perceive of achieving them, is deferred to “Jannah” as an excuse to mitigate the duty to excel in the now. Believers need not put in effort and excel, plus resources count for nothing. Even in the realm of “religious” learning some YouTube videos suffice. The power and influence required to safeguard a covenantal environment will simply descend from the heavens – or by protesting with placards. Apparently there are no social and physical causal processes because, and rather absurdly, actions do not breed results. Everything will simply be the result of ‘blessings’ that come about from the correct creed, observing restrictions, and ritual worship.
The creed? Well it’s all based on resistance. We must resist ideas, resist politics, resist everything. Often they don’t even know why they’re being resistant and any justification is incoherent. They know what they don’t stand for, but they’re not quite sure what they do stand for. Besides the fact that this is unproductive, it’s all unnecessarily tiring. With all the focus on the negative, the positive hasn’t offered much meaningful direction. Adam popped into existence spontaneously but was also gradually fashioned from earth and kicked out of heaven (not sure how he got to Earth). God is neither here nor there, nor everywhere nor nowhere. God has eyes, two eyes, no eyes – everything or nothing “in a way that befits His majesty.” Say your “Says” or the spirits will snatch your body. Or a witch/wizard will control you. Or someone’s eyes will zap you with an eye that’s evil. Science is evil.
The restrictions? Don’t show this nor cut your hair like that. Don’t wear perfume, shape your eyebrows or beards. Don’t enjoy yourself except with food, but most things you can’t eat so overeat what you can. Go to the mosque but don’t let the women in or you’ll be tempted to fornicate, probably in the mosque! Don’t take out that loan even if you need the capital because it’s like having sex with your mother. Don’t mingle with the disbelievers, but live in “their” country, obey “their” laws and pay taxes to them. Be frightened of God but don’t be because He’s more merciful than a mother to her child. Don’t say God, say Allah. Don’t be western whilst you live in the West. Don’t be happy, death is nigh. But smile, it’s sunnah…and “Islam is easy.”
Ritual worship? It’s the meaning of life. But don’t do it all day, so don’t be meaningful all day. Hold prayer beads. Perform lots of units (rak’āt) of prayer – movements and sounds. Recite Arabic phonemes from a holy book, it gives blessings. Practice hunger and sleeplessness for a month. Take two-week walking holiday in Saudi Arabia. Wear ‘Islamic’ eastern clothing with western trainers, jeans and jackets – it’s how the Prophet did it. It’s all for God so don’t be critical.
“You know what your problem is? You’re just logical.”
Yes, it seems that is my problem. Is this somehow meant to be a negative?! Who wants to be with such dysfunction?
The reason I’m writing this (as when I write most things) is because a good and intelligent person with righteous intentions put it, “This appeals to my intellect and sits with revelation, but how do I know I’m just following what I want to hear?” Look at how conditioned one has to be when intelligence and revelation is what you want to hear…but don’t. Muslims will incite the “kāfir” with logical arguments, but then later question its use. That’s trolling.
Subservience to God is not suffering and silliness. A disfigured patchwork presented as a code (dīn) that sounds absolutely nonsensical is just that. The intuitions of many sincere believers will tell them that this is so, “but then again, if everyone is saying it who am I to argue?” But everyone isn’t advocating such absurdity (it’s just your bubble and algorithm define social media feed) and most of us know living like the above is no way to achieve anything int he world. Such ‘religious’ takes will never produce anything of value, neither in this life or with God in the hereafter – and it’s certainly not good practice to (mis)represent God’s will with such ugliness and expect favourable outcomes. Personally, I’ve never come across anything so erratic and dissonance-inducing. (Christianity is on another level, but at least they’re happy lol)
But what about the textual ‘evidence’ for all of this? Well anyone can offer evidence for the greatest absurdity. The Christians for Trinitarianism. The Hindus for paganism. The religious extremists for murder and mayhem. The way of godliness and the intellect is the way of Abraham and his progeny: Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, David and Solomon, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Our rational and godly philosophy remains, as expressed by the covenant philosopher Ibn al-Qayyim, that:
“the foundations and edifice of covenantal law are built on wisdoms and benefits to a person, in their living and (life) journey. All of the covenantal law is justice, mercy, benefit and wisdom. Every issue that goes from justice to oppression, from mercy to its opposite, from benefits to loss, and from wisdom to imprudence is not covenantal law even if it is made to appear so through interpretation (of revelation).” (I’lām al-Muwaqqi’īn)
These judgements we make, as Ibn al-Qayyim infers, through the intellect. It doesn’t matter if it’s an eastern or western/northern or southern intellect – human intellect is human intellect with the universal capacity to reason. Those faithful to God, His messengers and their cause are meant to be people of intellect and reason. They are meant to be the civilised, the overachievers, the subservient elite. They have been gifted with guidance and wisdom (hidāyah and hikmah).
Ibn al-Qayyim likewise wrote,
“…the principles of the followers of prophetic guidance is that in which is manifested the evidences of the Qur’an, prophetic traditions (sunnah), narrations, critical deliberation and intellect.” (Kitāb al-Rūh)
How have we come to a time in which we actually have to advocate the use of reason in order to determine what’s intelligent and what’s stupid?
