The Faith of Islam Part 9

"They maintain that the knowledge of G.o.d is as much within the province of reason as that of any other ent.i.ty; that He cannot be beheld with the corporeal sight; and with the exception of Himself everything else is liable to change or to suffer extinction. They also maintain that Justice is the animating principle of human actions: Justice according to them being the dictates of Reason and the concordance of the ultimate results of this conduct of man with such dictates."

"Again, they hold that there is no eternal law as regards human actions; that the divine ordinances which regulate the conduct of men are the results of growth and development; that G.o.d has commanded and forbidden, promised and threatened by a law which grew gradually. At the same time, say they, he who works righteousness merits rewards and he who works evil deserves punishment. They also say, that all knowledge is attained through reason, and must necessarily be so obtained. They hold that the cognition of good and evil is also within the province of reason; that nothing is known to be right or wrong until reason has enlightened us as to the distinction; and that thankfulness for the blessings of the Benefactor is made obligatory by reason, even before the promulgation of any law upon the subject. They also maintain that man has perfect freedom; is the author of his actions both good and evil, and deserves reward or punishment hereafter accordingly."

During the reigns of the 'Abba.s.side Khalifs Mamun, Mutasim and Wathik (198-232 A.H.) at Baghdad, the Mutazilites were in high favour at Court, Under the 'Abba.s.side dynasty[113] the ancient Arab Society was revolutionized, Persians filled the most important offices of State; Persian doctrines took the place of Arab ones. The orthodox suffered bitter persecution. The story of that persecution will be told later on. The Khalif Wathik at length relented. {127} An old man, heavily chained, was one day brought into his presence. The prisoner obtained permission to put a few questions to Ahmad Ibn Abu Da,ud, a Mutazilite and the President of the Court of Inquisition. The following dialogue took place. "Ahmad," said the prisoner, "what is the dogma which you desire to have established."

"That the Quran is created," replied Ahmad. "This dogma, then, is without doubt an essential part of religion, insomuch that the latter cannot without it be said to be complete?" "Certainly." "Has the Apostle of G.o.d taught this to men or has he left them free?" "He has left them free." "Was the Apostle of G.o.d acquainted with this dogma or not?" "He was acquainted with it." "Wherefore, then, do you desire to impose a belief regarding which the Apostle of G.o.d has left men free to think as they please?" Ahmad remaining silent, the old man turned to Wathik and said, "O Prince of Believers, here is my first position made good." Then turning to Ahmad, he said, "G.o.d has said, 'This day have I perfected religion for you, and have filled up the measures of my favours upon you; and it is my pleasure that Islam be your religion.' (Sura v. 5). But according to you Islam is not perfected unless we adopt this doctrine that the Quran is created. Which now is most worthy of credence--G.o.d, when He declares Islam to be complete and perfect, or you when you announce the contrary?" Ahmad was still silent. "Prince of Believers," said the old man, "there is my second point made good." He continued, "Ahmad, how do you explain the following words of G.o.d in His Holy Book?--'O Apostle! proclaim all that hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord; for if thou dost not, thou hast not proclaimed His message at all.' Now this doctrine that you desire to spread among the Faithful, has the Apostle taught it, or has he abstained from doing so?"

Ahmad remained silent. The old man resumed, "Prince of Believers, such is my third argument." Then turning to Ahmad he said: "If the Prophet was acquainted with the doctrine {128} which you desire to impose upon us, had he the right to pa.s.s by it in silence?" "He had the right." "And did the same right appertain to Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and 'Ali?" "It did," "Prince of Believers," said the prisoner, "G.o.d will, in truth, be severe on us, if He deprives us of a liberty which He accorded to the Prophet and his Companions." The Khalif a.s.sented, and at once restored the old man to liberty. So ended one of the fiercest persecutions the orthodox have ever had to endure, but so also ended the attempt to break through the barriers of traditionalism.[114] The next Khalif, Al Mutawakhil, a ferocious and cruel man, restored the orthodox party to place and power. He issued a fatva (decree) declaring that the dogma that the Quran was created was an utter falsehood. He inst.i.tuted severe measures against Christians, Jews, Shia'hs and Mutazilites. Ahmad Ibn Abu Da,ud was one of the first to be disgraced. Heresy and lat.i.tudinarianism were banished.

The final blow to the Mutazilites, however, came not from the Khalif but a little later on from Abu Hasan-al-Ash'ari (270-340 A.H.)

The Mutazilites expelled from power in Baghdad, still flourished at Basra where one day the following incident occurred. Abu 'Ali Al-Jubbai, a Mutazilite doctor, was lecturing to his students when Al-Ash'ari propounded the following case to his master: "There were three brothers, one of whom was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a debauchee and a reprobate; and the third an infant; they all died. What became of them?" Al-Jubbai answered: "The virtuous brother holds a high station in Paradise, the infidel is in the depths of h.e.l.l, and the child is among those who have obtained salvation." {129} "Suppose now," said Al-Ash'ari, "that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "No," replied Al-Jubbai, "it would be said to him: 'thy brother arrived at this place through His numerous works of obedience to G.o.d, and thou hast no such works to set forward.'"

"Suppose then," said Al-Ash'ari, "that the child should say: 'this is not my fault, you did not let me live long enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my obedience.'" "In that case," said Al-Jubbai, "the Almighty would say: 'I knew that if I allowed thee to live, thou wouldest have been disobedient and have incurred the punishment of h.e.l.l: I acted, therefore, for thy advantage.'" "Well," said Al-Ash'ari, "and suppose the infidel brother were here to say: 'O G.o.d of the Universe! since Thou knowest what awaited him, Thou must have known what awaited me; why then didst Thou act for his advantage and not for mine?'"[115] Al-Jubbai was silent, though very angry with his pupil, who was now convinced that the Mutazilite dogma of man's free-will was false, and that G.o.d elects some for mercy and some for punishment without any motive whatever. Disagreeing with his teacher on this point, he soon began to find other points of difference, and soon announced his belief that the Quran was not created.

This occurred on a Friday in the Great Mosque at Basra. Seated in his chair he cried out in a loud voice: "They who know me know who I am; as for those who do not know me I shall tell them; I am 'Ali Ibn Isma'il Al-Ash'ari, and I used to hold that the Quran was created, that the eyes (of men) shall not see G.o.d, and that we ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds; now, I have returned to the truth: I renounce these opinions, and I take the engagement to refute the Mutazilites and expose their infamy and turpitude."[116]

He then, adopting scholastic methods, started a school of {130} thought of his own, which was in the main a return to orthodoxy. The Ash'arian doctrines differ slightly from the tenets of the Sifatians of which sect Al-Ash'ari's disciples form a branch. The Ash'arians hold--

(i.) That the attributes of G.o.d are distinct from His essence, yet in such a way as to forbid any comparison being made between G.o.d and His creatures.

They say they are not "_'ain_ nor _ghair_:" not of His essence, nor distinct from it: _i.e.,_ they cannot be compared with any other things.

(ii.) That G.o.d has one eternal will from which proceed all things, the good and the evil, the useful and the hurtful. The destiny of man was written on the eternal table before the world was created. So far they go with the Sifatians, but in order to preserve the moral responsibility of man they say that he has power to convert will into action. But this power cannot create anything new for then G.o.d's sovereignty would be impaired; so they say that G.o.d in His providence so orders matters that whenever "a man desires to do a certain thing, good or bad, the action corresponding to the desire is, there and then, created by G.o.d, and, as it were, fitted on to the desire." Thus it seems as if it came naturally from the will of the man, whereas it does not. This action is called Kasb (acquisition) because it is acquired by a special creative act of G.o.d. It is an act directed to the obtaining of profit, or the removing of injury: the term is, therefore, inapplicable to the Deity. Abu Bakr-al-Bakillani, a disciple of Al-Ash'ari, says: "The essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of G.o.d, but its being an action of obedience, such as prayer, or an action of disobedience, such as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man." The Imam Al-Haramain (419-478 A.H.) held "that the actions of men were effected by the power which G.o.d has created in man." Abu Ishaq al Isfarayain says: "That which maketh impression, or hath influence on action, is a compound of the power of G.o.d and the power of man." {131}

(iii.) They say that the word of G.o.d is eternal, though they acknowledge that the vocal sounds used in the Quran, which is the manifestation of that word, are created. They say, in short, that the Quran contains (1) the eternal word which existed in the essence of G.o.d before time was; and (2) the word which consists of sounds and combinations of letters. This last they call the created word.

Thus Al-Ash'ari traversed the main positions of the Mutazilites, denying that man can by the aid of his reason alone rise to the knowledge of good and evil. He must exercise no judgment but accept all that is revealed. He has no right to apply the moral laws which affect men to the actions of G.o.d. It cannot be a.s.serted by the human reason that the good will be rewarded, or the bad punished in a future world. Man must always approach G.o.d as a slave, in whom there is no light or knowledge to judge of the actions of the Supreme. Whether G.o.d will accept the penitent sinner or not cannot be a.s.serted, for He is an absolute Sovereign, above all law.[117]

The opinions of the more irrational sub-divisions of the Sifatians need not be entered into at any length.

The Mushabihites (or a.s.similators), interpreting some of the mutashabih verses literally, held that there is a resemblance between G.o.d and His creatures; and that the Deity is capable of local motion, of ascending, descending, &c. These they called "declarative attributes." The Muja.s.simians (or Corporealists) declared G.o.d to be corporeal, by which some of them meant, a self-subsisting body, whilst others declared the Deity to be finite. They are acknowledged to be heretics.

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The Jabrians gave great prominence to the denial of free agency in man, and thus opposed the Mutazilites, who in this respect are Kadrians, that is, they deny "Al-Kadr," G.o.d's absolute sovereignty, and recognize free will in man.

These and various other sub-divisions are not now of much importance. The Sunnis follow the teaching of Al-Ash'ari, whilst the Shi'ahs incline to that of the Mutazilites.

Connected with the subject of the attributes of G.o.d is that of the names to be used when speaking of Him. All sects agree in this, that the names "The Living, the Wise, the Powerful, the Hearer, the Seer, the Speaker," &c., are to be applied to G.o.d; but the orthodox belief is that all such names must be "tauqifi," that is dependent on some revelation. Thus it is not lawful to apply a name to G.o.d expressive of one of His attributes, unless there is some statement made, or order given by Muhammad to legalize it.

G.o.d is rightly called Shafi (Healer), but He cannot be called Tabib which means much the same thing, for the simple reason that the word Tabib is never applied in the Quran or the Traditions to G.o.d. In like manner the term 'alim (Knower) is lawful, but not so the expression 'aqil (Wise). The Mutazilites say that if, in the Quran or Traditions, there is any praise of an attribute, then the adjective formed from the name of that attribute can be applied to G.o.d even though the actual word does not occur in any revelation. Al-Ghazzali (A.H. 450-505), who gave in the East the death-blow to the Muslim philosophers, says: "The names of G.o.d not given in the Law, if expressive of His glory, may be used of Him, but only as expressive of His attributes, not of His nature." On the ground that it does not occur in the Law, the Persian word "Khuda" has been objected to, an objection which also holds good with regard to the use of such terms as G.o.d, Dieu, Gott, &c. To this it is answered, that as "Khuda" means "one who comes by himself" it is equivalent to the term Wajib-ul-Wajud, {133} "one who has necessary existence," and therefore so long as it is not considered as the "Ism-i-Zat (name of His nature) it may with propriety be used."[118]

The current belief now seems to be that the proper name equal to the term Allah, current in a language, can be used, provided always that such a name is not taken from the language of the Infidels; so G.o.d, Dieu, &c, still remain unlawful. The names of G.o.d authorised by the Quran and Traditions are, exclusive of the term Allah, ninety-nine in number. They are called the Asma-i-Husna[119] (n.o.ble names); but in addition to these there are many synonyms used on the authority of Ijma'. Such are Hanan, equal to Rahim (Merciful) and Manan, "one who puts another under an obligation." In the Tafsir-i-Bahr it is stated that there are three thousand names of G.o.d; one thousand of which are known to angels; one thousand to prophets; whilst one thousand are thus distributed, _viz._, in the Pentateuch there are three hundred, in the Psalms three hundred, in the Gospels three hundred, in the Quran ninety-nine, and one still hidden.

The following texts of the Quran are adduced to prove the nature of the divine attributes:--

(1). Life. "There is no G.o.d but He, the Living, the Eternal." (Sura ii.

256). "Put thy trust in Him that liveth and dieth not." (Sura xxv. 60).

(2). Knowledge. "Dost thou not see that G.o.d knoweth all that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth." (Sura lviii. 8). "With Him are the keys of the secret things; none knoweth them but He: He knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing." (Sura vi. 59).

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(3). Power. "If G.o.d pleased, of their ears and of their eyes would He surely deprive them. Verily G.o.d is Almighty." (Sura ii. 19). "Is He not powerful enough to quicken the dead." (Sura lxxv. 40). "G.o.d hath power over all things." (Sura iii. 159.)

(4). Will. "G.o.d is worker of that He willeth." (Sura lx.x.xv. 16). "But if G.o.d pleased, He would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance."

(Sura vi. 35). "G.o.d misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will He guideth--G.o.d doeth His pleasure." (Sura xiv. 4, 32).

As this attribute is closely connected with the article of the Creed which refers to Predestination, the different opinions regarding it will be stated under that head.

There has never been any difference of opinion as to the existence of these four attributes so clearly described in the Quran: the difference is with regard to the mode of their existence and their operation. There is, first, the ancient Sifatian doctrine that the attributes are eternal and of the essence of G.o.d: secondly, the Mutazilite theory that they are not eternal; and, thirdly, the Ash'arian dogma that they are eternal, but distinct from His essence.

There is also great difference of opinion with regard to the next three attributes--hearing, sight, speech. For the existence of the two first of these the following verses are quoted, "He truly heareth and knoweth all things." (Sura xliv. 5). "No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision." (Sura vi. 103).

The use of the terms sitting, rising, &c., hands, face, eyes, and so on, gave rise as I have shown to several sub-divisions of the Sifatians.

Al-Ghazzali says: "He sits upon His throne after that manner which He has Himself described and in that sense which He Himself means, which is a sitting far remote from any notion of contact or resting upon, or local situation." This is the Ash'arian idea, but between the Ash'arians and those who fell into the error of the {135} Muja.s.simians,[120] there was another school. The followers of Imam Ibn Hanbal say that such words represent the attributes existing in G.o.d. The words "G.o.d sits on His throne" mean that He has the power of sitting. Thus, they say, "We keep the literal meaning of the words, we allow no figurative interpretation. To do so is to introduce a dangerous principle of interpretation, for the negation of the apparent sense of a pa.s.sage may tend to weaken the authority of revelation. At the same time we do not pretend to explain the act, for it is written: 'There is none like unto Him.' (Sura cxii.) 'Nought is there like Him.' (Sura xlii. 9.) 'Unworthy the estimate they form of G.o.d.'" (Sura xxii. 73.) To prove that G.o.d occupies a place they produce the following Tradition: "Ibn-al-Hakim wished to give liberty to a female slave Saouda and consulted the Prophet about it. Muhammad said to her, 'Where is G.o.d?' 'In heaven,' she replied. 'Set her at liberty, she is a true believer.'" Not, say the Commentators, because she believed that G.o.d occupied a place but because she took the words in their literal signification. The Shi'ahs consider it wrong to attribute to G.o.d movement, quiescence, &c, for these imply the possession of a body. They hold, too, in opposition to the orthodox that G.o.d will never be seen, for that which is seen is limited by s.p.a.ce.

The seventh attribute--speech--has been fruitful of a very long and important controversy connected with the nature of the Quran, for the word "Kalam" means not mere speech, but revelation and every other mode of communicating intelligence. Al-Ghazzali says:--

"He doth speak, command, forbid, promise, and threaten by an eternal ancient word, subsisting in His essence. Neither is it like to the word of the creatures, nor doth it consist in a voice arising from the commotion of the air and the collision of bodies, nor letters {136} which are separated by the joining together of the lips or the motion of the tongue. The Quran, the Law, the Gospel and the Psalter are books sent down by Him to His Apostles, and the Quran, indeed, is read with tongues written in books, and is kept in hearts; yet, as subsisting in the essence of G.o.d, it doth not become liable to separation and division whilst it is transferred into the hearts and on to paper. Thus Moses also heard the word of G.o.d without voice or letter, even as the saints behold the essence of G.o.d without substance or accident."

The orthodox believe that G.o.d is really a speaker: the Mutazilites deny this, and say that He is only called a speaker because He is the originator of words and sounds.

They also bring the following objections to bear against the doctrine of the eternity of the Quran. (1) It is written in Arabic, it descended, is read, is heard, and is written. It was the subject of a miracle. It is divided into parts and some verses are abrogated by others. (2) Events are described in the past tense, but if the Quran had been eternal the future tense would have been used. (3) The Quran contains commands and prohibitions; if it is eternal who were commanded and who were admonished?

(4) If it has existed from eternity it must exist to eternity, and so even in the last day, and in the next world, men will be under the obligation of performing the same religious duties as they do now, and of keeping all the outward precepts of the law. (5) If the Quran is eternal, then there are two eternals.

The position thus a.s.sailed was not at first a hard and fast dogma of Islam.

It was more a speculative opinion than anything else, but the opposition of the Mutazilites soon led all who wished to be considered orthodox to become not only stout a.s.sertors of the eternity of the Quran, but to give up their lives in defence of what they believed to be true. The Mutazilites by a.s.serting the subjective nature of the Quranic inspiration brought the book itself within the reach of criticism. This was too much for orthodox Islam to bear even though the Khalif Mamun in the {137} year 212 A.H. issued a fatva declaring that all who a.s.serted the eternity of the Quran were guilty of heresy. Some six years after this, the Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was severely beaten, and then imprisoned because he refused to a.s.sent to the truth of the decree issued by the Khalif. Al Buwaiti, a famous disciple of As-Shafa'i, used an ingenious argument to fortify his own mind when being punished by the order of the Khalif. He was taken all the way from Cairo to Baghdad and told to confess that the Quran was created. On his refusal, he was imprisoned at Baghdad and there remained in chains till the day of his death. As Ar-Rabi Ibn Sulaiman says: "I saw Al Buwaiti mounted on a mule: round his neck was a wooden collar, on his legs were fetters, from these to the collar extended an iron chain to which was attached a clog weighing fifty pounds. Whilst they led him on he continued repeating these words, 'Almighty G.o.d created the world by means of the word _Be!_ Now, if that word was created, one created thing would have created another.'"[121] Al Buwaiti here refers to the verse, "Verily our speech unto a thing when we will the same, is that we only say to it, 'Be,' and it is,--Kun fayakuna."

(Sura x.x.xvi. 82). This, in the way Al Buwaiti applied it, is a standing argument of the orthodox to prove the eternity of the Quran.

When times changed men were put to death for holding the opposite opinion.

The Imam As-Shafa'i held a public disputation in Baghdad with Hafs, a Mutazilite preacher, on this very point. Shafa'i quoted the verse, "G.o.d said _be, and it was_," and asked, "Did not G.o.d create all things by the word _be?_" Hafs a.s.sented. "If then the Quran was created, must not the word _be_ have been created with it?" Hafs could not deny so plain a proposition. "Then," said Shafa'i, "All things, according to you, were created by a created being, which is a gross inconsistency and manifest {138} impiety." Hafs was reduced to silence, and such an effect had Shafa'i's logic on the audience that they put Hafs to death as a pestilent heretic. Thus did the Ash'arian opinions on the subject of the Divine attributes again gain the mastery.[122]

The Mutazilites failed, and the reason why is plain. They were, as a rule, influenced by no high spiritual motives; often they were mere quibblers.

They sought no light in an external revelation. Driven to a reaction by the rigid system they combated, they would have made reason alone their chief guide. The n.o.bler spirits among them were impotent to regenerate the faith they professed to follow. It was, however, a great movement, and at one time, it threatened to change the whole nature of Islam. This period of Muslim history, famed as that in which the effort was made to cast off the fetters of the rigid system which Islam was gradually tightening by the increased authority given to traditionalism, and to the refinements of the four Imams, was undoubtedly a period of, comparatively speaking, high civilization. Baghdad, the capital of the Khalifate, was a busy, populous, well-governed city. This it mainly owed to the influence of the Persian family of the Barmecides, one of whom was Vizier to the Khalif Harun-ur-Rashid. Harun's fame as a good man is quite undeserved. It is true that he was a patron of learning, that his Empire was extensive, that he gained many victories, that his reign was the culminating point of Arab grandeur. But for all that, he was a morose despot, a cruel man, thoroughly given up to pleasures of a very questionable nature. Drunkenness and debauchery were common at court. Plots and intrigues were ever at work.

Such was the state of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, periods {139} of Muslim rule. This, too, was at a time most favourable for the development of any good which Islam might have possessed. It should be remembered that whatever glory is rightly attached to this period is connected with an epoch when heresy was specially prevalent, when orthodoxy was weak in Baghdad. The culture of the time was in spite of, not on account of, the influence of orthodox Islam.

2. ANGELS.--Of this article of the creed Muhammad Al-Berkevi says:--

"We must confess that G.o.d has angels who act according to His order and who do not rebel against Him. They neither eat nor drink, nor is there amongst them any difference of s.e.x. Some are near the throne of G.o.d; those are His messengers. Each one has his particular work. Some are on earth, some in heaven, some are always standing, some always prostrate themselves and some laud and praise G.o.d. Others have charge of men and record all their actions. Some angels are high in stature and are possessed of great power. Such an one is Gabriel (Jibra,il) who in the s.p.a.ce of one hour can descend from heaven to earth, and who with one wing can lift up a mountain.

We must believe in 'Izra,il who receives the souls of men when they die, and in Israfil into whose charge is committed the trumpet. This trumpet he has actually in his hand, and placed to his mouth ready to blow when G.o.d gives the order. When he receives that order he will blow such a terrible blast that all living things will die.[123] This is the commencement of the last day. The world will remain in this state of death forty years. Then G.o.d Most High will revive Israfil who will blow a second blast, at the sound of which all the dead will rise to life."[124]

This confession of faith makes no mention of Mika,il (Michael), the fourth of the archangels. His special duty is to see that all created beings have what is needful for them. He has charge of the rain-fall, plants, grain and all that is required for the sustenance of men, beasts, fishes, &c.

Gabriel's special charge is the communication of G.o.d's will to prophets.

The words "one terrible in power" (Sura liii. 5) {140} are generally applied to him. He is honoured with the privilege of nearness to G.o.d.

Tradition says that on the night of the Mi'raj, the Prophet saw that Gabriel had six hundred wings, and that his body was so large that from one shoulder to the other the distance was so great that a swift flying bird would require five hundred years to pa.s.s over it.

Nine-tenths of all created beings are said to be angels who are formed of light. Their rank is stationary, and each is content with the position he occupies. Their one desire is to love and to know G.o.d. Whatever he commands they do. "All beings in the heaven and on the earth are His: and they who are in His presence disdain not His service, neither are they wearied: they praise Him day and night." (Sura xxi. 19, 20.) They are free from all sin.[125] It is true that they did not wish for the creation of Adam, and this may seem like a want of confidence in G.o.d. It is said, however, that their object was not to oppose G.o.d, but to relieve their minds of the doubts they had in the matter. Thus "when the Lord said to the angels, 'Verily, I am about to place one in my stead on earth,' they said: 'Wilt Thou place there one who will do ill therein, and shed blood when we celebrate thy praise and extol thy holiness.' G.o.d said: 'Verily I know what ye know not.'" It is true that Iblis was disobedient, but then he belonged not to the angelic order but to that of the jinn. "When we said to the angels, 'prostrate yourselves before Adam,' they all prostrated themselves save Iblis, who was of the jinn, and revolted from his Lord's behest."

(Sura xviii. 48.) (See also Sura ii. 33.)

Angels appear in human form on special occasions, but usually they are invisible. It is a common belief that animals can see angels and devils.

This accounts for the saying, "If you hear a c.o.c.k crow, pray for mercy, for it has seen an angel; but if you hear an a.s.s bray, take refuge with G.o.d, for it has seen a devil."