The problems that confront man in the present age can all be traced, directly or indirectly, to one underlying cause: the separation of man from God. In this modern age, man has acquired many material comforts, but he has lost his faith in God. Material progress has provided man with plenty of physical nourishment, but it has left his soul to starve. The soul is essential to the life of the body. If it is separated from the body entirely, then the body dies; and if it is deprived of spiritual nourishment, then it starves in the same way as the body does. It is this spiritual nourishment, which the Quran describes as ‘better and more lasting’ (THE QURAN 20: 131). This is what the Prophet Jesus was referring to when he said, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’ (Matthew, 4:4).
The problems that confront man in the present age can all be traced, directly or indirectly, to one underlying cause: the separation of man from God.
The greatest asset that Islam has to offer man today is this belief in God. All religions originally preached the true concept of God, but as time passed, none of them were able to preserve the concept of God in its original form. Some groups turned God into a national fetish. Others took to worshipping a variety of objects in the name of God. In some religions the concept of God was turned into an abstract philosophy. However Islam has preserved the true concept of God in a pure and complete form. It is in Islam that modern man will find the God he so desperately needs (THE QURAN 3:85).
Spiritual Starvation
It is thanks to modern civilization that man has been deprived of God and his soul has been left to starve. It is this spiritual starvation that has driven some young people in Japan to say: ‘Our culture is a merchant culture, and a merchant culture does not fully cater to man’s needs.’ The phenomenon of the hippy culture is also an expression of modern man’s hunger for true faith in God.
The case of a youth, seen walking down the streets of Delhi, illustrates this point. He was dressed in simple eastern clothes. He wore beads around his neck, rings on his fingers, and bracelets on his wrists. In his hands he held a tambourine. He was from Canada. ‘There I had my own house,’ he said, ‘my own car, a good wife, a suitable job... Here I have no house. I sleep wherever I feel sleepy, even if it happens to be on the pavement. I have no car, no job. My wife has left me.’
‘But why did you leave all these comforts in Canada and come to India to rough it on the road?’ someone asked him.
‘There I was comfortable physically, here I am comfortable spiritually,’ he answered thoughtfully.
Modern civilization has provided man with countless material benefits. But these things have brought comfort to only one half of his being; they afford no comfort or satisfaction to the other half. Modern man’s loss of inner peace—the result of this contradiction in technological civilization—finds expression in boredom, unrest and frustration.
The soul is essential to the life of the body. If it is separated from the body, then the body dies; and if it is deprived of spiritual nourishment, then it starves in the same way as the body does.
The late Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), the renowned Swiss psychologist, made a correct analysis of this modern spiritual malaise when he wrote: “Over the last twenty years people all over the globe have consulted me about their psychological problems. All of my patients who were in the latter stage of their lives, that is, over the age of thirty-five were, in the last analysis, suffering from one thing alone: lack of religious belief. One can truthfully say that each one of them was suffering from a lack of the very thing that present day religions have provided their adherents with, throughout the ages. These people could only be cured by a renewal of their faith in God.”
The Process of Separation
Philosophy places emphasis on total knowledge of things. It seeks to delve beneath the external nature of things into their inner essence. For almost five1 thousand years, particularly in the period when Greek philosophy dominated human thought, philosophers had been attempting, with no success, to achieve this aim.
But in the 16th century, when scientific research began in Europe, scientists found it to be in their interests to separate the reality of things from the properties of things. They divided knowledge into two categories: Knowledge of things and Knowledge of truths.
They came to the conclusion that it was not possible to achieve absolute knowledge of truths, for truth is of a subtle nature and cannot be weighed and measured in the scales available to man. (THE QURAN 17:85) Unlike the philosophers, they came to the conclusion that man has been given, as the Quran points out, only a ‘little knowledge.’ Science is determined to put this ‘little knowledge’ to practical use, rather than delve into a knowledge of truth that could not be uncovered. It concentrated on properties, and eliminated realities from its field of study; it dealt with quantity, not quality; it answered the question ‘how’ but left the question ‘why’ unanswered; it limited its study to fields in which absolute knowledge could be obtained.
Modern civilization has provided man with countless material benefits bringing comfort to only one half of his being; they afford no comfort or satisfaction to the other half.
This way of thinking continued to gain ground. For the first time, in Galileo’s day, the fragrance of a flower was separated from its chemistry. Scientists then studied the chemistry of flowers, but not their fragrance, which could not be analysed. Descartes (1596-1650) took this principle of dualism one stage further by applying it to his study of the human being. He studied the body and ignored the soul. The spiritual part of man was thus separated from his material being.
This dualism was not apparently harmful when applied in the field of science. One does not have to know the reality of a magnetic field, for instance, to be able to utilize it in the production of light and motion; knowledge of the properties of a magnetic field is sufficient for this purpose. But when this same principle of dualism was applied to man, it did irreparable damage.
Why was it that a method, which was so successfully applied to the lifeless objects of nature, was harmful when applied to man? The reason for this is that man cannot be analysed in terms of dualism in the way that inanimate matter can.
This can be understood from a simple illustration. If a stone statue is confined to a small dark cell, it will remain unaffected. But man is a psychological being; if one were to confine him to the same cell, he would die. Statues will not react if they are deprived of their freedom, but if man is deprived of his freedom, it will adversely affect his whole personality.
So, matter was separated from its meaning and body from its soul. Such were the precepts upon which western thought came to be based, and these were the precepts, which later led to the separation of man from God in the western world.
People can only be cured of their psychological problems by a renewal of their faith in God.
Differences Between Islam and Christianity
Until the 15th century, science had flourished in the Muslim world, with important centres of research in Spain and other Muslim countries. There had been no clash between religion and science when science was based in Muslim countries, because there is no clash between a true religion and true knowledge. The God who has revealed His religion in the scriptures has also created the universe which science explores. How, then, can revelation and knowledge (science) come into clash with one another?
But when the work of scientific research shifted from Muslim Spain to Italy, France and Britain, a third party soon came in the way of scientific activity. This third, hitherto disinterested party was the Christian Church. When Christianity was disseminated from Syria and Palestine into Europe, it came into contact with Greek thought. Instead of resisting it, the Church moulded its whole theology according to Platonic logic. Eventually, after a few hundred years, the Christians came to revere Greek philosophy as sacred. Later, when scientificresearch exposed Greek thought as baseless conjecture, the Church felt that if science were to become popular, the whole foundation of Christian belief would become suspect. Instead of admitting its own mistakes, it determined to suppress science by force. At this time the Church was a mighty power in European affairs and it perpetrated dreadful oppression and tyranny in its attempt to eradicate science. However, they were unsuccessful.
The fact that Christianity and Science clashed, whereas Islam and Science did not, is explainable in terms of the difference between the two religions. Here is an example that illustrates the difference between Islam and Christianity in this matter. The ancient Greeks had two theories concerning the revolution of the sun and earth. One was the theory of Aristotle, (384-322 B.C.) according to which the earth was stationary and the sun revolved around it. The other was theory of Aristarchus, (2nd century B.C.) according to which the earth revolved around the sun.
Science concentrates on the properties of matter, eliminating realities from its field of study; it answers the question ‘how’ but leaves the question ‘why’ unanswered; it limits its study to things concerning which absolute knowledge could be obtained.
The theory of Aristotle became very popular with the Christians. According to his geocentric theory, the earth was of prime importance, and it seemed more appropriate to the Christians, who believed in the divinity of Christ, that the centre of the solar system should be the planet where the Lord Jesus was born. At the time when Copernicus (1473-1543) put forward his heliocentric theory, churchmen reigned supreme in Europe. To preserve their belief, they suppressed Copernicus’s views. The portrayal of the place of the Lord Jesus’s birth as a mere satellite was a crime, which Christianity could never tolerate.
It was Christianity in its changed form, which was an impediment to scientific progress, not divine religion in its pure sense. The Muslims, not having deified their Prophet, had no scruples about accepting the very reasonable theory that the sun was the centre of our solar system. The question of rejecting it on the basis of religion did not arise. In this connection Professor Burns, in his book entitled Western Civilization, writes: “In no subject were the Saracens further advanced than in Science. In fact, their achievements in this field were the best the world had seen since the end of the Hellenistic civilization. The Saracens were brilliant astronomers, mathematicians, physicists, chemists and physicians… Despite their reverence for Aristotle, they did not hesitate to criticize his notion of a universe of concentric spheres, with the world at the centre, and they admitted the possibility that the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun.”
Changes in Christianity
When Christianity made its way into Europe from Syria and Palestine, Greek philosophy dominated European thought. In order to facilitate the spread of their religion, Christian theologians presented the faith of Jesus in a manner which would fit into the intellectual framework of the day. In the words of the Quran, ‘They imitated the sayings of those who disbelieved before them.’ (THE QURAN 9:30) The Greeks, for instance, worshipped Zeus and considered him to be the only son of Saturn, the oldest divinity. The Christians imitated this by calling Jesus the only son of God. They also adopted prevalent theories in the fields of geography and physics as explanations of the Holy Scriptures. These theories were then incorporated into their religious books.
There is no clash between a true religion and true knowledge. The God who has revealed His religion in the scriptures has also created the universe which science explores.
The conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity provided the Church with a welcome boost. Constantine presided over the mighty Roman Empire for more than thirty years (306-337), and under his imperial influence the Christian faith spread throughout Europe. But the people who entered the Church during his reign did not do so because of any deep-rooted intellectual conviction. They became Christians without changing their thoughts and attitudes. For most of them, faith was a matter of expediency, not conviction. They started moulding Christian beliefs according to their previous, non-Christian beliefs. Eventually a religion with little relation to the teachings of Jesus came into being. The historian, Adolf Harnack, has quite rightly pointed out that ‘by the 4th century the living Gospel had been masked in Greek philosophy.’ (Adolf Harnack, Outline of the History of Dogma)
Anything that is associated with a religion for a long time becomes sacrosanct. So, after a few hundred years, this altered version of Christianity came to be revered as sacred. What had initially been adopted on the grounds of expediency came to be considered as a genuine part of the religion taught by Jesus. The Greek sciences, which had no evidence to support them, came to be known as Christian Science. Subjects such as ‘Christian topography’ came into existence, which in fact were only a new expression of old Greek ideas.
The Separation of Religion from the Rest of Life
When decline set in amongst the Muslims, modern research into these subjects started in Europe and these ‘Christian Sciences’ were proved to be mistaken in their notions. There was indignation in religious circles in Europe when modern scholars made new discoveries in the fields of Astronomy, Geography, and Physics. First, these scholars were excommunicated. When this measure failed to hold them in check, Pope Innocent III (1160-1216) gave special orders for the establishment of courts of Inquisition in Spain and other Catholic countries. It is estimated that about three million people had to face these courts. Severe punishments were meted out to them. Approximately 30,000 people were burnt at the stake, even famous scientists such as Galileo Galilei and Giordano Bruno had also to face the wrath of the Church.
The separation of religion and science is a division between religion and life itself.
This sparked off a conflict between the Church and Science, which eventually became a conflict between religion and science in general. Because of inordinate insistence on the sacrosanctity of certain hypothetical beliefs, people received the false impression that religion and science were opposed to each other, and that progress for one meant inevitable decline for the other. Knowledge, according to the Quran, should draw one closer to God (THE QURAN 35:28), but as a result of Christian interpolations, knowledge came to make one, more distant from the Lord.
The conflict between Christianity and scientific knowledge continued for about two hundred years. Then, in 1859, Charles Darwin published his famous book The Origin of Species. The Church was bitterly opposed to this book, but by now the Church’s power had waned. Compromise was reached in the form of secularization. Religion and Science were separated from one another. Religion came to be considered as a private matter. In all other walks of life man’s right to freedom was accepted: that he should be allowed to do what he liked and carry out research into whatever he deemed fit.
Religion: An Appendix to the Rest of Life
This was not simply a division between science and religion: it was a division between religion and life itself. The Church did not get rid of those unrevealed thoughts and ideas, which had been incorporated into Christianity. Despite the irrationality of these additions, the Christians insisted on treating them as part of their religion. This meant that religion could not even find a place in the life of a thinking person. Man is a rational being. To believe in something, he has to be able to understand it. The inevitable result of the separation of religion from knowledge was that religion became nothing but a ceremonial appendix to the rest of life. It ceased to play a vital part in human activities.
The inevitable result of the separation of religion from knowledge was that religion became nothing but a ceremonial appendix to the rest of life.
It is stated in the Quran that ‘God has not put two hearts within one man’s body.’ (THE QURAN 33:4) This means that two incompatible concepts cannot occupy an equal place in one person’s mind. Anything which does not come up to rational and intellectual standards may be an appendix to a person’s life and it cannot become an integral part of his existence. It will remain ineffective. For religion to survive, even on a personal level, it has to conform to reason. Religion that does not come up to accepted standards of knowledge can be compared to an obsolete piece of machinery, which no longer serves any useful purpose.
The Need of Human Nature
As a result of the soul being separated from the body and God being separated from the rest of life, man was confronted with a new problem: despite his worldly affluence he still felt as if something within him was lacking. Modern man has been given everything in life, but he shows no signs of true happiness. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) begins his book, The Conquest of Happiness, with these words: “Animals are happy so long as they have health and enough to eat. Human beings, one feels, ought to be, but in the modern world they are not, at least in a great majority of cases.”
The reason for this is that modern civilization, despite its impressive achievements, has been able to provide man with only half of what he is looking for. It has been able to provide for his body, but it has been unable to provide for the needs of his soul.
Man desires a world full of meaning, but modern civilization gives him only a piece of stone with no meaning attached to it. Man desires life, but modern civilization gives him only a replica of life. Man seeks peace of mind, but modern civilization places him in a mobile machine, which cannot convey him to his destination. Man wants to know the Creator of the universe, but Science can acquaint him only with creation. Man wishes to throw himself at the feet of his benefactor, but he cannot find his benefactor anywhere in the world of science and technology. Unable to find the true God, he bows down before false ones, but they cannot satisfy him any more than a plastic doll satisfies a childless mother. According to the Quran, they are only ‘names,’ not realities. (THE QURAN 12:40)
Two incompatible concepts cannot occupy an equal place in one person’s mind.
Man’s need for a superior God is an established fact. It has even been accepted by thinkers who do not care to believe in any God or Religion. Bertrand Russell’s statement in his book, Principles of Social Reconstruction, can be cited as an example: “If life is to be fully human it must serve some end which is, in some sense, outside human life, some end which is impersonal and above mankind, such as God or truth or beauty.”
This is an admission, by an atheist, of man’s intrinsic need for God. The predicament of modern man lies in his loss of God; His salvation is dependent only on rediscovering his God.
In their attempt to understand human nature, anthropologists have studied different societies. They have all agreed that thousands of years of human history testify to the fact that the idea of God is inherent in man’s nature. Just as sheep are instinctively herbivorous and cats instinctively carnivorous, and it is impossible to change these instincts, so the concept of God is inseparable from human nature.
Communist society provides us with a contemporary illustration of this fact. After the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, socialist dogma completely excluded the idea of God. Education and training in every field was based on atheistic principles. Even so, consciousness of God is profoundly embedded in the younger generation of Soviets, who have been brought up in an entirely atheist environment. This is clear from the following incident.
That which does not come up to rational and intellectual standards may be an appendix to a person’s life, but it cannot become an integral part of his existence.
In 1973 a Soviet jetliner was flying over the eastern part of India. The engine failed and the plane crashed in Bengal. A special tape recorder, known as the ‘black box’ placed in the tail end of planes where it is least likely to be damaged, records conversations which usually provide clues as to the cause of any accident. On this occasion, a replay of the recording revealed that the last words that the young Russian pilot had uttered were. ‘Peter save us!’
Making Up for Man’s Helplessness
The course of man’s life on earth is such that he is eternally reminded of his helplessness. The educated and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, the great and the weak—all are equal in this respect.
Physically, man is so weak that even a small accident can incapacitate him. He also has to be in a highly balanced geographical situation to survive in this world; he cannot bear any upset in this balance. Moreover, man sees himself as insignificant in comparison to the vast universe in which he lives. In exploring any academic field one soon apprehends that realities are too immense and complex to be encompassed by the limited human intellect. When one sets about any task, one is often confronted by unknown factors that ruin one’s aspirations.
If, by chance, one avoids such bitter experience in life, there is no escape from death. Man is powerless before death. Death will come and shatter all his dreams, leaving them in ruins like a fine city that has been razed to the ground by a devastating earthquake.
Religion that does not come up to accepted standards of knowledge can be compared to an obsolete piece of machinery, which no longer serves any useful purpose.
Every man is plagued by this feeling of helplessness. It compels him to seek the support of something stronger than himself, which can make up for his sense of inadequacy. Consciousness of how powerless one is, makes one turn towards God. Man needs a God to whom he can express his thanks; a God in whom he can trust on all occasions; a God to depend upon when all the other props in life have failed him; a God who can reverse every setback and ease every hardship. The God of Islam provides for all these needs of man. His presence can always be felt. He is All-Powerful and All-Knowing.
