Understanding

Critic:-

"A.F" wrote an article explaining why he had left Islam. In his comment on this "C.B." basically asserted that it is impossible for an informed Muslim to then become an apostate.

I know "A.F". He was not a person who joined a heterodox version of Islam, nor was he someone ignorant of Islam. He is an authentic apostate from orthodox Islam who had a decent understanding of the faith. And I've met other real apostates from Orthodox Islam.

Comment:-

It all depends on what is meant by "understanding".

At the superficial level at which this word is understood by many people it simply means knowing some things, having information. This is the same as a book, CD or computer having information.

At the deeper level which is more compatible with Islam, it means that the piece of knowledge has been absorbed and has modified a person and become part of him so that it informs his behaviour.

I agree with "C.B." that no one who really understands Islam can possibly become an apostate. He can abandon Islam in study, application and practice. He can try to ignore it, suppress it or try rationalise it away in order to justify his self-indulgence. But he will do this by self-contradiction and inner conflict which not merely causes suffering but psychological damage and other uncontrolled and uncontrollable inner and outer results. However, this state can only be maintained because it has been suppressed out of consciousness.

However, there are different degrees of understanding and people do perceive things selectively, emphasising some aspects and ignoring others. The ability to discriminate and the power of insight that can discern similarities and universals behind diversity also varies and has its effects. Opinions depend on what people concentrate their attention on. Attention or emphasis can be placed not only on (a) real inner or outer experiences, but also on (b) verbal ideas (from books, lectures, conversations, TV etc) and on (c) fantasies, desires, fears etc. It is not the case that all who claim to be Muslim have a full understanding of Islam or that non-Muslims cannot understand some aspects of Islam whether or not they are recognised as such. While there is only partial knowledge falsehoods can also enter, mislead and neutralise knowledge.

A person who is not a Muslim and does not understand Islam can not judge whether someone else, apostate or not, has understood Islam. His judgement about Islam and Muslims or Apostates cannot be accepted.

When speaking of knowledge, it is necessary to distinguish between information, understanding and conscious awareness. They are not the same thing.

Understanding has three aspects:-

(1) That the thing understood links harmoniously with other experiences to form a self-consist system.

(2) That it finds resonance in the inherent nature of the person, and links harmoniously with it. However, things that are not compatible with the nature of a person can be recorded in the memory and form separate "complexes" which also exert influence on behaviour.

(3) That it has relevance to the person's life and modifies his behaviour.

A person need not be conscious of all this. But it is better that he is. This is because other sub-rational mechanisms such as habit, addictions, excuse making, fantasy, projection, introjections, displacement, distortion owing to desires and so on, things attributed to Satan, also operate at the sub-conscious level. In general, because consciousness requires unified self-consistent perception it gets rid of contradictions and inconsistencies. Consciousness is attributed to Allah.

Critic:-

The real problem is the attitude of the Ulama and self appointed Scholars. They often disregard the richness of the Quranic message, and rigidly insist that there is just THAT meaning to the Quran that the particular Alim or Ulama group claims it to be. Any other understanding is quickly labeled as UNISLAMIC or DEVIATION and the person proposing it is quickly labeled as DEVIANT, or FITNAMONGER, or even KAFIR.

It is this attitude and practice of the ULAMA that is the WALL against which MUSLIMS have been hitting their heads for centuries, and hurting themselves enormously. These ULAMA are a very powerful group and they have learnt to enjoy this power in the name of ALLAH. It is the task of the Muslims to first of all dethrone these adamant non understanding ulema. Only then some headway can be made. But the good news is that the process is already on its way. These non-listening non-observing ULAMA are already being largely ignored by the Muslims in the street.

Comment:-

It all depends on who are regarded as "Ulema" and who regards them as such or rejects them.

The fact is that those who study the Quran intelligently and apply it are much more likely to be correct than those who do not.

The ignorant and stupid take the ignorant as leaders to be followed. The intelligent and knowledgeable recognise, understand and follow person who they see are intelligent, virtuous and have knowledge.

But there are a great number of people today who would rather follow their own desires, fantasies, prejudices, lusts and wish to twist the Quran to serve their own egos. We have had such hypocrites on this very site, claiming, for instance, that alcohol is not forbidden and that fornication and adultery are condoned because it has been made difficult to prove in Islamic courts.

I would say that Muslims have been degenerating for centuries precisely because they have been ignoring genuine Ulema and following their own desires and egos.

Does not the Quran instruct:-

"O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and those in authority amongst you; and if you dispute (quarrel or argue) about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you (in truth) believe in Allah and the Last Day; that is better and fairer in the end." 4:59

"But if you follow most of those who are in the land, they will lead you astray from the Way of Allah. They follow naught but opinion (conjecture or suspicion) and they only guess. Your Lord, He knows best who errs from His path, and He knows best the rightly guided." 6:117-118

"But most of them follow naught but conjecture (suspicion, fancy, guesswork, speculation); verily, conjecture can by no means take the place of (or avail against) truth. Verily, Allah is Aware of what they do." 10:37

"And follow (or pursue) not that of which you have no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart, of all of these it shall be asked (to give an account). And walk not on the earth proudly (insolently); verily, you can not rend the earth asunder, nor can you stretch to the height of the mountains." 17:36-37

"Restrain thyself with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His countenance (or nearness and intimacy), and let not your eyes be turned from them, desiring the adornment (and pomp) of the life of this world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance, and who follows his own lusts (prejudices, fantasies, superstitions), and whose affair has been abandoned." 18:29

"Have you considered him who takes for his god his own lusts (prejudices, fantasies, superstitions)? Would you then be guardian over him? Or do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are but like the cattle, nay, they are further astray in the path." 25:43-44

"And if they cannot answer you, then know that they follow their own lusts; and who is more in error than he who follows his own lust without guidance from Allah? Verily, Allah guides not a wrong doing people." 28:50

"What! Is he who has a clear argument (or relies on clear proof) from his Lord like him to whom the evil of his work is made fair-seeming when they follow their own lusts (or low desires)?" 47:14

"And there are those of them who seek to listen to you, until when they go forth from you, they say to those who have been given the knowledge, "What was it that he said just now?" These are they upon whose heart Allah has set a seal and they follow their own lusts (or low desires). And as for those who follow the right direction, He increases them in guidance and bestows on them their piety and restraint (against evil)." 47:16-17

Why do you not carry out these instructions yourself instead of being concerned with others.

A Critic:-

I really can't stand Muslims-- the "moderates" are cowards-- Oh yes... I do love Muhammad and the Qur'an... they are fantastic, but it is *my* understanding of them I love, and I do not share the same understanding with, apparently, anyone on SRI, nor with the vast majority of those who would call themselves "Muslim". And so I reject you.

But God knows best. So. "Am I a Muslim?"

Comment:-

A Muslim is one who "Surrenders to Allah". And this involves humility - giving up one's ego.

It always flattering, comforting and ego boosting to be exclusively the correct one possessing knowledge. This is made possible by sticking to "my understanding" rather than seeking Truth from Allah.

A Muslim:-

Show me. Do not tell me.

Show me faith. Do not tell me about faith.

Show me the meaning of life. Do not tell me about life.

Comment:-

What? On this internet site?

If you want to be shown you must go to someone who demonstrates it. If you want to know then you must ask and go to a place where they tell you.

But you learn by practice.

If you cannot learn when you are told, you will probably not learn when shown, even when you are able to recognise what you are shown, which is doubtful.

Critic:-

The problem with contemporary Muslim conversations, writings, arts and so on, especially from the Middle East is the perpetual: TELLING PEOPLE INSTRUCTIONS. This is the relics of a colonized past when the British/French/Germans/Russians... used to INSTRUCT us on how to carry out and on their will, their education and culture.

Comment:-

It is always easy to blame others, especially "Contemporary Muslims" for one's failures. This is a substitute for doing anything - that is, of course difficult. If all Muslims have this attitude then we get "Contemporary Muslims". But of course one could always look at and learn from those Muslims who still understand and practice their religion - there are still many even if only 1% of Muslims. However, it is much more comforting to place attention on imaginary "Contemporary Muslims".

Question:-

I see that, unlike some critics, you do not expect all people or Muslims to be perfect. How do you see the role of man in the world? What causes differences and how is understanding to be achieved?

Comment:-

Islam is also called The Straight Way. It is not, therefore, only the destination which is Return and Surrender to Allah, but it is also a way that leads to that destination. It is a journey, a pilgrimage. This means that there are people who are at various points on the way and moving forward. The traced out way constitutes the guidance. It is a mistake for anyone to suppose that they have arrived at the destination or that while they can see others behind them that there are not still others who are further along the way. In so far as all human beings are inter-dependent, parts of the single soul, the intelligent and virtuous thing to do is to help those behind and seek the help from those ahead. Both are aids to the pilgrim’s progress.

The differences between human beings can be regarded as the result of their position or address in space and time. That is to say, they are the product of the forces that converge at that point and diverge from it. That position also gives them an implicit function, meaning and responsibilities in the scheme of things, and their welfare and development is connected with the discharge of those responsibilities. These are formulated and made explicit in the Quran and other Scriptures.

Human beings, like other things, can be regarded as various instruments or organs that have a transformation function in the body of the Cosmos. This means that they (i) receive an input from the environment which they (ii) must process and (iii) produce an output. These three are interdependent. Some of this output is used to create changes in the environment, but some is used to maintain, transform or develop the organ itself. But human beings can be regarded as having three levels of functioning – the physical, the mental and the spiritual. Consciousness, conscience and will can be regarded as the three aspects of the Spiritual level. Connected with input is Receptivity. Connected with processing is Motive and Values. Connected with Output is Skill of action. These three are interdependent.

Input has three aspects:- material, energy and information (also called Order). From the Islamic point of view all things are made of Truth. The Awareness of Truth is Knowledge. Knowledge does not merely refer to knowing some thing in the external world but also within oneself. It could refer to knowledge of facts, meanings or values, of thoughts, feelings, motives or actions, and of skills, how to do things.

Knowledge can be regarded as having three levels – (1) information, (2) understanding and (3) consciousness. These are different things, though they interact and are inter-dependent. Information remains as isolated images of sensory or verbal experiences in memory. Images are not the same thing as the direct experience or the objects experienced. Understanding refers to data that has been processed, digested and assimilated. It forms part of a self-consistent system which has become part of the individual. It is an inner condition which also affects outer behaviour. Being conscious refers to awareness of something in its context.

Consciousness is not the same as thinking. Consciousness refers to the experience of something real while thinking takes place in images or symbols. Consciousness requires receptivity while thinking is an activity. These tend to be mutually exclusive. Awareness stops when thinking begins and vice versa, awareness requires the suspension of thinking. Knowledge at this level is always Revelation. It cannot be created. Creation is an activity. This requires thinking. Thinking means processing data. This consists of analysing, relating, and synthesising, thereby re-arranging. Human creativity requires a previous input of data. The input of data depends on consciousness. The human mind, designed to solve the problems connected with living, is usually constantly active and seldom in a state of awareness. Even when in a state of awareness it is interfered with by thoughts. It is the motive which directs thought, but also directs attention and concentrates consciousness. There are several levels or states of consciousness that can be described as basic-consciousness, sub-consciousness, pre-consciousness, waking-consciousness, self-consciousness, objective-consciousness, cosmic-consciousness. Each of these have sub-levels. The world we experience and see depends on the state of consciousness. The world as experienced is not the same as the real world, but can represent it to different degrees.

As Knowledge depends on receptivity which depends on the degree of consciousness, there are several levels of Revelation. Some scholars describe 10 levels or degrees. But some of these could be regarded as sub-levels of others and one could describe them as corresponding to the levels of consciousness and the 7 heavens.

(1) Inherent Instincts: 16:68, 5:111, 28:7, 91:7-8

“And your Lord inspired the bee: take to habitations in the mountains and in the trees, and in the habitations of men.” 16:68

(2) Knowledge from Allah: 2:31, 18:66, 22:54, 28:80, 30:56, 58:11, 2:230, 247, 255, 3:7, 18, 5:104, 6:98, 145.

Guidance by Allah:-. 2:26, 142, 214, 272, 5:16, 118, 6: 10, 89, 9:19, 24, 28:56, 41: 17, etc.

(3) Understanding - 21:78-79, 3:190, 5:85, 100, 7:32, 8:65, 11:51, 12:111, 13:19 etc.

Inner hearing - 8:23, 35:22, 47:16

In the heart – 2:97, 204, 3:8, 103, 126,151, 156, 5:113, 6:25, 7:179, 8:11, 24, 62-63, 9:15, 13:11, 18:14, 22:46, 23:78, 25:32, 26:194, 29:49 etc.

(4) Through His spirit or angels. 3:39-45, 4:97, 6:8-9, 8:12, 11:77-81, 10:108, 16:2, 40:15, 66:4

(5) Revelation to the Prophets. 2:97, 26:192-4, 53:4-5, 4:163, 42:51-52, 3:20, 98, 101, 108, 164, 5:59, 6:54, 127 etc.

(6) To be spoken to directly by Allah: 2:253, 4: 164, 7:143

(7) Vision as the Prophet had in his ascent through the heavens (Mira’j) 17:1, 60, 53:11-18

It is probably correct to say that each of these has subdivisions that also correspond to these levels. There will be degrees of knowledge and understanding that correspond to the degrees of consciousness.

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