Faith, History and Science in a Secular Paradigm - 1
By Prof. Dr Nazeer Ahmed
Adviser, World Organization for Resource Development and Education
Washington, DC
(Editor’s Note: This article is taken from the invited valedictory address given by Professor Ahmed to the Convention of Indian Secular Institute held in Bangalore, India on September 15, 2013. In this thought provoking address, Professor Ahmed has expanded the envelope for secularism and has redefined it in spiritual terms, not as a negation of religion, as was done by nineteenth century European philosophers but as the transcendent shared space of interacting faiths. He has done so while holding on firmly to his Islamic foundation. These thought-provoking ideas are as applicable to America, Europe and South Africa as they are to India.)
The prospects for secularism have never been brighter. At the same time, the threats to secularism have never been greater. In my brief presentation, I will offer some perspectives that may perhaps clarify the state of secularism in the modern world. Is there an existential essence to secularism? How do faith, history and science fit into a secular paradigm?
In a pluralistic global village, civilizations overlap and individuals have multiple identities. The same person may at once be an Indian, a South Asian, a believer or an atheist, and if dual citizenship is allowed, an American or an Australian, or he may simply consider himself a citizen of the world with no label. Cross-cultural dialogue requires the commitment to seek out and broaden the shared space, the tolerance to accept the validity of the doctrines and the faith of the other, and the openness to participate in and enjoy the holidays and feasts of the other.
In this shrunken globe, as old frameworks crumble and new ones emerge, every faith is engaged in searching for its own soul so that it can define and refine its position with respect to the other faiths. Oftentimes this dialogue is an internal one, within individual souls as they seek to reconcile multiple, overlapping identities and the inevitable tensions inherent therein.
Secularism is no exception to this rule. It must redefine itself so that it remains relevant to the lives of modern men and women. This requires an examination of its origin, its historical context, the terminology used to define it as well as the assumptions that underlie that terminology.
Although secular ideas have existed in every society since ancient times, modern secularism is a product of the perceived conflict between faith and philosophy that emerged during the early years of Christianity and Islam. As the domains of these faiths increased, they came in contact with Greek rational thought. Ideas collided. One may, for instance, seek the origin of secular thought in the dialectic between Al Ghazzali (d 1111) and Ibn Rushd (d 1198). It is not my intent here to retrace the historical battles that took place between the Mutazalites and the Kalam school in eighth century Islamic history or the dialectic between faith and reason addressed by Thomas Aquinas (d 1274). The response of these two great traditions to the secular-religious dialectic was fundamentally different. The Islamic world rejected rational deductive philosophy and adopted empirical inductive science. The Christian world bifurcated its world view into the sacred and the secular. Matters of faith were confined to the Church while history, sociology and science were opened up to secular inquiry.
Modern secularism was born in the nineteenth century in the heyday of European expansion. Developments in science and technology went hand in hand with industrialization and colonization. The accumulation of enormous wealth, albeit it was concentrated in the hands of only a few bankers, merchants and industrialists, held out the promise of unlimited human development. Secularism, developing on the heels of humanism, saw no need for the Divine in human affairs. Humankind, at any rate the European part of it, seemed to be doing quite well without the burden of religious dogma. This was the heyday for philosophical speculation. The Theory of Evolution was a prime example of such speculation. In its social implications, it supported the dominance of the West over the rest of the world and gained wide acceptance as a “scientific” theory even if key tenets of the theory remained without empirical validation.
In the twenty-first century, the widely accepted definition of secularism as a non-religious movement needs to be re-examined.
In the post-industrialized world, there has been increasing disillusionment with material progress and an awareness of the terrible price paid for dissociating oneself from spiritual space. Faith in its many forms is alive and well. Indeed, in the last two decades there is a resurgence of religious fervour the world over. This is as true of India as it is of America and Europe. Some of this fervour is exploited by extremist groups to further their own political agendas. Extremism robs religion of its spirituality and creates a thorny bush out of a flowering plant. As a Muslim with a deep faith, I must point out here that the Qur’an explicitly discourages extremism (“Innallaha la huhibbul mu’tadeen - Verily, Allah does not love the extremists.” The Qur’an). There is no clash of civilizations in the world as Huntington would have us believe. There is a clash of extremisms as Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University has explained.
A consequence of increasing religious fervour is that secularism finds itself increasingly isolated in a world awash with religious extremism.
It should be obvious that secularism has done itself a disservice in accepting the definitions advanced by Western man in the 19 th century, namely, that it is a movement that is anti-religion. Although its primary application was in the political domain in separating church and state, it was soon applied to social and scientific disciplines as well. There is no reason why we should accept this traditional definition that is couched in negative terms as a movement that is irreligious. Indeed, we have an historic opportunity to expand the horizons of secularism and its global reach by redefining it in spiritual terms. We need to stretch the envelope and think outside the box.
An overwhelming majority of the people of India subscribe to one religious identity or the other. Even the most avowed secularist in India does not renounce his religious identify. By defining itself in non-religious terms, secularism isolates itself and reduces its appeal to the masses.
So, allow me to offer a new definition of secularism appropriate for a highly religious, pluralistic society.
Secularism is the existential essence of spirituality. One may also say that secularism ought to be the existential essence of spirituality. A third way to express a similar idea is to say that secularism is the shared spiritual space that emerges when coexistent spiritual groups transcend their individual religious domains and join hands to work for the common good.
This definition may sound new and challenging but it need not be. It is inherent in the teachings of the great spiritual masters of the past.
Let me offer an example. It was the year 1250 CE. The Eurasian continent was reeling under the Mongol onslaught. Much of the landmass from the Indus to the Danube lay in ruins. In the midst of the cacophony of war and the clang of swords and shields rose the melodious voice of a great sage, Mevlana Rumi (d 1273) in far away Anatolia. Arberry referred to him as “the greatest mystical poet in the history of mankind.” Describing himself in the midst of this mayhem of destruction, the Mevlana wrote:
“What is to be done O men of faith! I do not recognize myself. I am not Christian, or Jew or Muslim, nor Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen; not any religion or cultural system.....This is me: sometimes hidden, sometimes revealed....for me to fit inside everyone’s heart, I put on a new face”.
These mystical passages, profound in their insight on the human condition, have been translated and explained over the years in many different ways. Such passages are not the subject matter for mundane conversations; they are addressed to the spiritual elite. One possible explanation is that Rumi was expressing the state of the soul when it transcends the constraints of ritualistic religion. When the soul transcends the confined bounds of ritual, it ceases to be Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Sikh, Zoroastrian, believer or disbeliever and soars into the unbounded space of Divine Grace. This is the pristine, primordial state of the soul as was explained by Al Gazzali. Thus secularism is not a negation of religion. It stands on the shoulders of religion. It begins where ritual leaves off.
Faith is the moving principle of civilization. Where there is no faith, there is no civilization. This is the Universal Law of Civilization.
In the fascinating panorama of the struggle of man on earth, faith has played a pivotal role. Each of the major religions of man imbues its followers with a particular vision of the transcendent and the relationship of the human to the transcendent. That particular vision governs to a large extent the relationship of each faith with the world at large. As the globe shrinks under the incessant impact of technology, men and women of different faiths need to come together to understand one another and shape a common human destiny.
A civilization is a human system in faith space. Faith is a divine gift to humankind. It brings man in contact with heavenly energy that flows down from divine Grace. Was that energy to disappear for a moment all existence shall cease to be.
The reservoir of faith is infinite. It is inexhaustible as compared with the reservoir of human energy which is limited and exhaustible. A civilization based on faith endures. One that is not anchored in faith may last several generations but does not endure.
A civilization is a living organism. Within this organism, life and death, renewal and decay are coexistent. When the forces of renewal are dominant, a civilization prospers. When the forces of decay take over, a civilization collapses.
Like waves, civilizations collapse with a thunder. But the forces that cause them to collapse are not instantaneous. They build up over time until the civilization becomes unstable. The process is like that of an earthquake. The forces that cause an earthquake build up over years, perhaps centuries. And when they exceed the limits, the pent up energy is released with the suddenness of an earthquake flattening everything that stands in its way. (Continued next week)
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