Mubashir Hassan
This
is in response to article, Why Read Nietzsche?, by Maroof Shah (Gk 12-08-15.) The author asserts that Nietzsche poses a challenge to faith
and he needs to be engaged with and rebutted. He begins with disdain for
those who do not know Nietzsche and have not heard of his (in)famous statement “God
is dead”. Let me at the outset admit that I have not read this Nietzsche and I
have no regrets for that nor do I intend to read him.
The
author uses the term “secular reason” by which he means, Perhaps, Reasoning
based on one’s own whims, divorced from revelation and God. An ideology opposed
to religion, which does not take Creator into account, the hallmark of so
called modern thought. It is a delusion of the modern age where one is conditioned
to think that scientific progress is not possible without being secular and
maintaining distance from religion. But it is not so. The progress of science
started with those who believed in God. Contributions of Muslim scientists apart,
we have the examples of other scientists who believed in God, like Kepler, Pascal, Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Gregor Mendel, Max Planck, Michael Faraday, the list is endless. It was W. Heisenberg who said: “The first gulp from the
glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of
the glass God is waiting for you.”
It is only the fools
who say that rationality and religion can’t go together. Religion is the
highest stage of rationality and it is irreligious people who have lost the
sense of rationality. Rationality demands a Creator. Rationality can’t accept
chance formation of universe and life. It is absurdity. Those advocating chance
formation of universe rely on Big bang, but are unable to explain as to why
should a big bang occur at the first instance? The western standards make us
think otherwise. We are not so stupid to weigh everything by western standards
and regard rationality what they regard so, even if it is absurdity.
The
author regards reading Nietzsche mandatory for doing Da’wah to modern educated
youth and contends that it is difficult to get rid of Nietzsche’s influence
upon them “Those who consider themselves God’s advocates have a mighty
adversary to contend with.” His concerns are genuine, but he is mistaken in his
estimation of Nietzsche and of a believer’s mind. A true believer’s faith can’t
be shaken by philosophical discourses or assertions. The believer has a vision
that lets him perceive futility of these discourses and is not taken away by the
delusive arguments of philosophers. He has
a Baseerat (insight) that lets him sail through safely. The magic of words does not attract or
detract him. Nietzsche is not his first trial. Al Gazzali and Ibn Tymiyah had
to counter Greek Philosophies long ago.
There
are other challenges before a believer in today’s world but a believer’s heart
never quivers or flutters. He faced the challenge of communism, of Capitalism,
of crusades and other ideologies and so many trials in History, yet he
withstood and conquered all challenges. Why should he be scared with Nietzsche?
Regarding those who have gone with the tide of atheism or Nietzschean
Philosophy or other perverted and deviant philosophies, let them go where they
want to. Our Lord is not in need of them. The job of a Da’yee is just to call,
to put forth his Lord’s message and move on. He is not responsible for the
results.
Anyway
the concepts and prepositions put forth by Nietzsche or any other philosopher
can’t be a substitute to revealed knowledge which has certitude while as
philosophy doesn’t. Philosophy is just an imagination and you wander in unknown
territories, without an idea as to where you have reached. When the believers
have sure and certain knowledge, why should they listen to fantasies?
The author is too much overwhelmed by
Nietzsche and contends, “We can’t import from past thinkers, scholars and
commentaries to bulldoze the Nietzschean world. Willy nilly it is the world
shaped by Nietzsche.” These are misplaced fears. He has overestimated Nietzsche
and underestimated our own literary treasure. Our tradition is our treasure,
how can we break free from that. Should we ignore our own treasure of knowledge
and go after this trash, we are sure to go astray. The author hopelessly
presumes that the present world is shaped by Nietzsche. Perhaps he forget that
Nietzsche is just one and half century old but the civilization is thousands of
years old and that science is not a product of the post Nietzsche age, but made
progress over long period of time.
Philosophy
is the quest for truth, but does it lead us to it? Has it ever unveiled the
truth and are its results conclusive? No, not at all. Philosophy is the
products of the human thinking and is based on the imagination of the
philosopher, his conjectures, assumptions and presumptions. It relies on
conceptual analysis, critical examination, new ideas, but time and again fails
to produce positive results. We can never be sure of its conclusions. When were
the ideas of Nietzsche or of any other philosopher tested in laboratory? Never.
Even Russell admits that philosophy is not very much successful in providing
"definite answers" to its questions but explains the apparent
inconclusiveness of philosophic answers partly as deceptive, partly as
inevitable: Philosophy studies the questions that in principle are not
answerable. Philosophy has no practical value. Hair splitting discussions with
no outcome. It gives a sense of wisdom, not real wisdom.
When
Philosophy doesn’t provide definite answers, why should we take it seriously
even at the cost of our faith. Why should we confound and engage our new
generation with a bottomless enterprise. Philosophy deals with value question,
but our values have already been laid down by Him who knows the secrets of life
so what need we have to follow the conjectures of these mortals who can’t see
beyond their own realm. When we ignore Quran and hold on to philosophy, the
outcome is certainly deviation and mental depression. Philosophy is not such a
big deal as we are made to understand. However, unfortunately our promising and
talented youth are devouting their precious time to this branch of knowledge
when it is not going to help them in anyway nor is it the demand of present
times. May be our youth are searching for answers to some intriguing questions,
let them turn to the book of Allah, there they would find definite answers to
their quests.
That
our youth are unable to come to terms with the modern ideas, are unwilling
believers, want to believe but find it hard, is the author’s misconception. If
really such a problem exists, it is because we have severed relationship with
Quran. If we cling on to Quran, the modern ideologies can never get over us. These
ideologies melt before the grandeur, sublimity, substance and divinity of the
Quran. Faithful Muslims have no confusions; it is confused and perverted minds
who get things messed up. Our faith is based on rationality and no deluded
philosopher like Nietzsche can cause any ripples therein. Worldwide statistics
show that the highest number of those who practice religion are Muslims and
even those in the developed countries are discovering its truth and turning
towards it. Are they unaware of Nietzsche?
Nietzsche’s
nihilism is because of his utter depression and despondency which probably was
a factor of his mental imbalance in his later years. He has no hopes and that
is the natural consequence of not believing in the hereafter, without which
life is empty and meaningless. Certainly Nietzsche wanted a Master whom he
would obey but is unable to find one (“I need a Master. How sweet it is to
obey.” It is not his problem only but of whole lot of philosophers who, because
of their arrogance, are unable to find one and go astray, lose their way and
follow their own imagination or of others like them.
The author ends with Iqbal’s couplet,
“Teray
zameer pay Jeb tak na ho nazooli kitab
girah kusha ha na razi na sahibi kashaf”
certainly when the Quranic Ayat are revealed unto the heart, no philosophy
can delude you, but I am reminded of the couplet preceding it:
Tarap Raha Hai Falatoon
Miyan-e-Ghaib-o-Huzoor
Azal Se Ahl-e-Khirad Ka Maqam Hai Aaraaf
(Men, like Plato, still roam about
betwixt belief and utter doubt/Men endowed with reason, aye, ever on the
heights do stay.)
Mail:
mubashir_07@rediffmail.com
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