Islam, Secularism, and Modernity

The Legitimacy of Secularism

By Imam Zaid Shakir

Opening

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the Master of the Messengers, our Master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and peace and blessings be upon them all.

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu)

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah alladhi hadana lihada wa ma kunna linahtadiya law la an hadana Allah.

All praise is due to Allah who has guided us to this path, and we would not have been able to guide ourselves had not Allah guided us.

The Context of Community and Divine Guidance

In the previous session, I was given the task of addressing the issue of community and the context of the verse in the Qur'an:

"And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good."

I mention that to lead this as a segue into a brief discussion to leave ample time for the audience and your questions and comments of Islam, secularism and modernity, which is the title of the session as I've understood it.

The Essence of Islam: Submission to Divine Guidance

So really the essence of Islam is rendering ourselves amenable to the guidance of God. Some define Islam as (الْإِنْقِيَادُ بِمَا جَاءَ بِهِ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - al-inqiyadu bima ja'a bihi an-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) - being led, allowing oneself to be led by everything the Prophet brought, peace and blessings be upon him, that's of religious relevance.

Whereas the spirit governing both modernity and secularism, and the two are intricately connected, is that human beings can and in fact must guide themselves independent of the guidance of God. And so one expression that's been closely associated with modernity and in a sense with secularism itself is that man, referring to humans, including women - women relax, generic language - man is the measure of all things, including the measure of God and the measure of religion.

The Principles of Secularism

One of the principles of secularism is that religion will have no role in informing public policy, governmental

decisions or rulings between human beings. So the judiciary, the legislative branch of government, the judiciary branch of government will allow no room, no role for religion. Values that are rooted in religious principles in a particular society may be allowed to enter into those realms but only after they've been measured and assessed by humans to pose no threat to the integrity of the secular system.

So this creates a chasm between both secularism, modernity and Islam, as Islam has been traditionally understood.

The Role of Meaning in Traditional Societies

One of the great strengths of Islam and in fact all traditional systems or approaches to life is that they gave meaning to human beings. Meaning is intricately associated with context.

So if you want to know the meaning of the word, a word you don't know, what's one of the first things you ask? Can you let me know the context that that word is used in? If you know the context, many of, if not all of you, all of you are literate people. When you're reading a book and you come across a new word, sometimes you can figure out the meaning of that word based on the context, right? You're reading, you understand the context and in that context you know this word can only mean A, B or C. So meaning is intricately associated with context. Traditional societies provided the context that gave meaning to individual lives.

You guys with me? You with me? Alhamdulillah. What did I just say? It's alright. You got it.

I can tell your eyes lit up. Context provides the meaning. Traditional societies rather provided the context that gave meanings to individual lives.

The Crisis of Meaning in Modernity

One of the features of modernity and secularism, once you remove God from the social equation, once you remove religion from the social context, then life loses its meaning. This is what many scholars of modernity have said. Max Weber probably being in their forefront, the great sociologist Max Weber.

So they said that modernity and secular societies are confronted with a dilemma vis-a-vis traditional societies that are by and large informed by divine guidance. Islam being a traditional society in that regard. So they say that one of the great dilemmas of modernity is that it pits rootless freedom because in a modern society, modernity and secular societies where religion is removed, individuals are free.

Rootless Freedom vs. Meaningful Tradition

So they say this liberates the human being and individuals are then free to do whatever they want. The caveat being what? Well, some say you shouldn't get caught breaking the law. But at a higher level, what's the caveat? You can do anything you want in a liberal, free society.

What's the caveat? As long as you don't violate the rights of others. So if you're in the middle of the woods, you could scream fire to the top of your lungs. The chipmunks would think you're insane.

Like, man, that human being is tripping over there. Man, there ain't no fire today. It's been raining for two days.

But can you do that in a crowded theater? Because you might cause harm to others. So as long as you don't harm others, you can do whatever you want. And that freedom creates a state of rootlessness.

And it creates a state where people don't know or are disconnected from the meaning of life. Many Muslims who grew up in modern secular societies don't know what they're doing. I don't know why I pray.

Everyone in a traditional society knew why they prayed. They didn't have to read Ghazali on the one hand, Ibn Taymiyyah on the other hand to figure it out. The context of the society itself provided meaning.

But now, unless you're blessed, if you want to know why you're praying, you have to study it. So you get a book, Imam Ghazali, the translation, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship. And you read it and you say, oh, now I know why I'm praying.

So this is just an example of the lack of meaning. And we'll come back to this in concluding. I'll try to be brief.

Modernity's Hegemonic Nature

Tradition on the other side, on the other hand, as viewed through the lens of modernity. So one of the aspects of modernity is that it's hegemonic. It doesn't allow for any competition.

It crushes any competition if it can. Now it's trying to crush Islam. Some Muslims are pushing back.

Some in idiotic ways, which only shows that they're slaves of modernity. We'll conclude with that point. So through the lens of modernity, traditional societies are oppressive.

Because you can't do what you want, when you want, how you want. So a Muslim wants to eat that Big Mac bacon ham sandwich smothered in swine. That's some serious pork right there.

A bacon laced ham sandwich smothered in swine. With lard on the buns. And it's looking so good.

Because they dressed it up, they photoshopped it. But here she says, haram. So the secularists and the modernists would say, you're oppressed.

You know you want to eat it, you should be able to eat it. You should be free to eat it. The Muslim sees a beautiful woman right by, walk by.

And he starts saying, he realizes, it's haram. I'm not married to her. I can't do that.

I can't say that. The secularists say, you're oppressed. So, rootless freedom.

Freedom that's void of any ability to give meaning. This is modern society. This is secular society.

Versus oppression, oppressive tradition.

Islam's Solution: True Freedom Through Restraint

Now, Islam says there's a solution. Islam says, tradition is the real path to freedom.

And the freedom that secular and modern society advertise is a myth. Secularism says, we keep religion out. Why? Because if we have religion, and religion is the basis of membership in the community, we can't have perfect equality.

We can't have perfect equality. If Islam is the basis, the Kafir won't be equal with the Muslim. The Christian or the Jew will be a dhimmi.

They won't be equal with the Muslim. So, we cannot have religion as the foundation of membership in the political community. Citizenship has to be the basis of membership in the political community.

Because as citizens, we're all equal. As citizens, we're all equal. And we have a foundation, a constitutional foundation, that guarantees certain rights for citizens.

The Reality of Secular Inequality

Now, the problem with that whole arrangement is, it's a lofty ideal, but after 200, 300 years of experimentation, we find that inequality is greater than it ever has been in the history of humanity. Am I exaggerating?

Economically, that's the public sphere that secularism dominates. Globally, today, the gap between the haves in countries like our own, or Scandinavia, or Japan, and the have-nots in places like Niger, or Mali, or Burkina Faso, or Bangladesh, is greater than it has been in the history of humanity.

Today, in this country, income disparity is greater than it has ever been in the history of this country. Today, there are people who have, for all practical purposes, monopolized political power. There are elections, but elections don't always translate into political power.

In 2008, many people hoped that the election would translate into a redistribution of political power, because hope would lead to change. And we should have known something was up when the change was framed in religious terms. Change you can believe in.

That change was oxymoronic in a secular system. We should have known there's some disappointment on the horizon. Wait a minute, change you can believe in? And so now, as President Obama, who advertised hope, and change you can believe in, militarism is greater than it ever has been.

Wars, indiscriminate killings, the black sites, Guantanamo is still in business, despite a growing wave of public outrage. It's still in business.

Economically, foreclosures still high.

You say there's a recovery, but it's a recovery on Wall Street, as some frame it, and not on Main Street.

Politically, incarceration is still the problem for African-American and Latino communities that it was before President Obama took office. If anything, it's worse.

The systematic draining of the last vestiges of any wealth from impoverished communities, like Camden, New Jersey, or your average Indian reservation, or God-forsaken places like Santa Rosa, New Mexico, where I drove through, two-thirds of the downtown is boarded up.

The Return to Religious Values

So, in light of that fact, and in light of the divorcing of policy, both political and economic from ethics, some would argue it's time for a return of religious values. And as Muslims, we would say Islamic values, Muslim values, which are consistent with the values that were advocated by the other monotheistic faiths, should have a greater role.

Because why? We believe it can resolve that dilemma that the rootless freedom can be freedom within rational, moral parameters that gives us meaning. And the oppression of tradition is oppression viewed through the lenses of modernity, or through the lenses of secularism. But through the lens of Islam, and I would argue most other traditional societies, we understand that apparent oppression is the key to real liberation.

Restraint as the Path to Liberation

Because one cannot journey to one's Lord unless one restrains oneself.

"But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge."

As for one who fears the time they will stand before their Lord and denies their soul the things it inclines towards, then paradise will be their reward. Why? Because by denying the soul, an outsider might say you're oppressing it.

But an insider will say you're creating the conditions for its real liberation. And its liberation is found in knowing its Lord. And other than that, there is no real liberation.

The Crisis of Freedom Without Meaning

Where is the freedom? Now, suicides are at an all-time high in this country. And it's highest amongst those who put their lives on the line to preserve the freedom that is supposed to be the highest value of the society. Military veterans, average of 18 every day, over 6,000 every year, are committing suicide.

None. So we have plenty of discussion. We don't even need the five minutes.

The Growth of the Soul

So, what I'm proposing, so as one restrains oneself, one removes the shackles on one's soul. And one's soul grows. And we say it grows from what? The (النَّفْسَ الْأَمَّارَةَ بِالسُّوءِ - an-nafs al-ʾammārata bis-sūʾ) - that is the nafs, that's free.

The soul in its unrefined state that inclines towards those things that we are urged to refrain for the betterment of our condition as human beings. And then it moves into the (النَّفْسَ اللَّوَّامَةَ - an-nafs al-lawwāma) and many of you are familiar with that. And then the (النَّفْسَ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةَ, النَّفْسَ الرَّاضِيَةَ, النَّفْسَ الْمَرْضِيَّةَ - an-nafs al-muṭmaʾinna, an-nafs ar-rāḍiya, an-nafs al-marḍiyya). All of these are mentioned in Qur'an.

And then it's free, it's liberated. Because the shackles that tie it to this material world are removed. And its real potential that distinguishes it from this, which by removing God from the equation, by moving religion from the

equation, both modernity and secularism say man is no more than this, a compilation of atoms and molecules that somehow gain these miraculous properties.

The Higher Nature of Humanity

And as we study neuroscience, we'll get to the bottom of how it all happened, the internal dynamics. No, we say humans are something higher.

And by reaching for that which is higher, the oppression usually associated with tradition, which provides the context for meaning, is eradicated. And by eradicating it, man or humans are both free and they have meanings. And this is the job Islam proposes. I think I do need the five minutes.

The Misguided Children of Modernity

I said I'd stop on this point. I mentioned it earlier. Those people, Muslims, who are murdering people and think that they're going to somehow do a service to Islam.

They're sending a message to the West. This is what the sheikh, Ayman Zawahiri, said, we're sending a message to the West. Yes, a message that you're insane and we need to nuke you before you get your hands on a nuclear bomb and destroy this planet.

That's the only message. There's no message, oh, the Muslims are coming. The message that you're a lunatic.

The point is, these people, these individuals, they're children of modernity, not children of Islam, as it's been traditionally understood. They've lost meaning. And to summarize, they seek meaning in murder.

This epitomizes the conditions that modernity creates. And if you don't believe me, read Richard Wright. The bigger Thomas who took shahada.

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - As-salamu alaykum).