Occidentiosis: A Summary of Introduction of Hamid Algar (I)

This is part one of two blog posts I'm writing to introduced an old book of post-mid 20th century, produced right before Islamic revolution of Iran. The link between the two is a reality hard to deny, in fact, too important to be mentioned. In this first part I will introduce the writer of the biographical introduction to the book and its themes by Hamid Algar, a renowned, majestic scholar of Islamic studies, history and languages. In the second part I will try to summarize the introduction which is not a piece of reflection, but a piece of historical information and a lucid narrative of author's (Jalal Al-i Ahmed) unstable intellectual, literary and political life. The book might have created many doubts as to exact summation of author's views that were amended after author penned the books. But more of that in part 2.

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One of the few Muslim scholars of Islam that i'm fascinated these days is Hamid Algar. I should mention that my fascination with him is not newly born. It is only that he falls into that category of few luminaries who have the immense capacity to critique Western modernism from Islamic point of view, and write with no apologetic tinges on Islamic subjects that can be well understood by a modern reader and someone trained in classic thought, I believe.

More on Hamid Algar is necessary before , as the deliberate mentioning of his name in the title necessitates (with premediatation) a personal introduction to him. It is going to be personal, as you can look up his credentials online.

First time I ever saw the name of Hamid Algar and his books in a bookstore was 3-4 years backs. Two books I encountered were two printed lectures: Sufism and Al-Fatiha. In those days i every somewhat aware of the disease of Occidentiosis, secular fundamentalism and reformist literature by the books of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, most important being Nasr's collection of essays Islmaic Life & Thought. However, i wasn't able to critically discern an authentic one from the rest - although i doubt i can critically evaluate even now.

Hence, the very first reading of his books conveyed a hidden message that here is a scholar with high level of objectivity, understanding and depth that i hardly encountered in DAWN's book reviews or few books by westernized muslims or non-muslims on Islam. For instance, in Al-Fatiha he advocated the transcendent roots of word Allah, challenging the scholarship of Orientalists. I didn't understand much of the high-level semantic discussions; although most of the discussion in Al-Fatiha can't be termed semantic, it was on another plane altogether. Here I must apologize that this recollection is 3-4 years old, and new after reading fully the book is due.

Another example of author's independent, non-apologetic and scholarly attitude, stemming from an Islamic worldview from within: in the book Sufism, he rejected the modernistic/western notions of Sufism, and even refused to discuss subject further with this very Sufism, and preferred traditional term of tasawwuf, as it lacked the secularized connotations attached by westerners and modernized muslims with this traditional, integral part of a religion who principles are Immutable and which always resisted Reformist kind of change.

The most clear and sharpest critique on modern western intellectual thought to come in the form of an essay in a monographic book, The Challenge of Islam. His essay was about intellectual challenges that modernism presents to Islam. He was conscious to mention that in reality modernism cannot present a challenge to Divinely Revealed religion of Islam as such; in fact, it is Islam that presents a challenge to idols of western ideologies. I will inshaAllah write a summary of arguments presented in the essay.

Please do look forward to introduction to Occidentiosis by Jamal Al-i Ahmed.

A Very Brief History of B. Russell

Following is a short introduction to Russell, a famous British philosopher, that I had to give in a critical review of one of his essay, in one literature class I was attending.

Bertrand Russell (d. 1970), a British writer, wrote on various significant issues concerning humanity, philosophy, literature, linguistics and sciences. He was a ‘world-view’ builder of modern world. He was given Nobel Prize in Literature for his contribution to the issues of humanitarianism, liberty and freedom of thought. He despised religious ideals and considered all revelations to be same as ‘gospel truths’[1], meaning fiction. Thus, he joined hands with moderns, who divorced reason from revelation, in an intellectual effort to provide alternative world-views and answers to issues which religion answered.[2] This essay has imprints of such anti-traditional, anti-religious attitudes. Nonetheless, it is not much about religion itself. It is about the social issue of work-ethics and rights of workers to have leisure. There is an agreement between this view and other religions, especially Islam, as we shall see later in the paper. Russell also visited USSR to study socialism[3].

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[1] This is taken for granted for in one of his letters, he was asked whether he has read Qur’an, Holy book of Islam, to which replied that all gospel truths are alike, although he had not read the book.

[2] See Asad Zaman, “The Origin of Western Sciences,” available on his personal website: http://sites.google.com/site/asaduzaman, in which he traces the West’s disenchantment of religion and how social sciences and humanities attempt to answer five fundamental questions which religion answered for centuries, Christianity and Islam, primarily.

[3] Visit Bertrand Russell’s page on Nobleprzie.org website.

Rememberance

Today in evening, as I returned from Gujranwala, a city in Punjab, from the marriage ceremony of a pious and scholarly friend, Allah gave me opportunity of attending a conference of ulema commemorating the life and efforts of Hazrat Khawaja Khan Muhammad, who recently passed out. One observation struck me, for it exactly matched with an intuition/feeling of my own that i personally felt about Hazrat Jee whenever i reflected over his death.

One scholar compared the time of Hazrat Jee's birth and death. "When he came into this world, he was crying in pain, and everyone around him laughed and smiled in joy, or even ecstasy. People were distributing sweets in streets and homes. It was a moment of celebration. Why it wouldn't be, as it clearly was a blessing for this ummah, his birth!

"And when he died - he left this world smiling towards his Rabb, Creator and Sustainer, leaving everyone behind him crying in sorrow!" I feel deprived these days of a shelter and of spiritual support, and it only increases as i hear or read more about what he did for the defense of Finality of Prophet of Muhammad... May Allah give Hazrat Jee highest rank in paradise, forgive him totally... Aameen!

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Later this day, i visited the grand Lahore fort, a place where Mughal emperors (e.g., Shah Jehan) lived, if that's a right designation, excuse me if not. I saw Sheesh Mehal, its extravagantly decorated buildings, swimming pools, courts and gifts for musicians and lady dancers. Actually, i saw the worship of passions of one's self seemed to be at its height in those days in those wretched and dismantled buildings which seem to be haunted by evil spirits (that's the general environment for any sensitive eye)... And now the fools are after safeguarding every detail of it, every painting of lady dancers and those drunken parties, painted on the walls...

Nonetheless. i thought: What comparison between the two histories that I have just mentioned...! Dictionaries would end up if we start describing these two histories - one of taqwa and the other of pangs of power corruption, lustful self-indulgence and what not - yet what would live for eternity would definitely live for eternity. May we have a strong, inner sense of what's useful and what's useless. May it also be reflected in what we think, speak and act upon... May we love Allah "with all our heart, with our mind..."