Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity. Tariq Ramadan

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СКАЧАТЬ “Seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim.” ⁸ All types of knowledge are contained within this, but in the first instance, the imperative of basic education and learning does not suffer from lack of discussion. The first Qur’ānic verse revealed is: “Read, in the name of your Lord Who created.” This is indeed the specificity of man which gives him prominence over the angel in the story of Creation. ⁹ A society which does not respond to this right loses its sense of its priority. Even more clearly, a society that produces absolute or functional illiteracy hampers the dignity of its members. Such a society is fundamentally inhuman.

      e. The right to work. Man should be able to provide for his needs. In this sense, work, just as learning, is part of the inalienable rights of the social being, and each should find his place in the society where he lives. According to Islam, man is by virtue of his action and work. ¹⁰ It is clear then that a society that prevents a man from working is one which does not respond to the elementary social contract. We know the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him): “It is better for one of you to take his ropes, go to the mountain and carry a bundle of fire-wood on his back and then sell it, than to beg of people, who will either give him or deny him charity.” ¹¹

      Work is a religious claim which goes far beyond the strict framework of the practice of worship; rather it seems more like a duty. This shows how the fight against unemployment must be a political priority; not only is it imperative, but in the broader sense, it is also both religious and humanitarian.

      f. The right for justice. Justice is the foundation of life in society besides being, for Islam, a major imperative of the modalities of action. We read in the Qur’ān: “Indeed, God commands you justice.” This principle of justice applies to all, rich or poor, presidents or citizens, Muslims or non-Muslims. Eight verses from Sūra al-Nisā’, “The Women”, were revealed to prove innocent a Jew and put the responsibility of action on a Muslim. ¹² The verse associating the testimony of faith with the expression of justice makes the subject more explicit.

      O believers, be you securers of justice, witnesses for God, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents and kinsmen, whether the man be rich or poor; God stands closest to either. Then follow not caprice, so as to swerve; for if you twist or turn, God is aware of the things you do. (Qur’ān, 4:135) ¹³

      Social organisation must imperatively guarantee respect to the rights of each individual, and this by the expression of a double preoccupation. It is certainly a question of seeing to it that judicial power applies the laws with equity for each member of the social corpus. But it is equally important that society responds to the whole requirements of organisation which are linked to the fulfilment of the rights that we have noted earlier. To think social justice is to determine a project, to fix priorities, and to elaborate a dynamic current which, in the name of the fundamental points of reference, orientate social, political and economic action.

      We should not have any difficulty in considering that the pursuit of this social reform is fundamental. It is part of the condition of intervention in the social sphere. Furthermore, this teaching is manifest in the gradual Revelations of the Qur’ān which lasted 23 years. Any reflection on the Sharī’a must take root in the source of this temporality, ¹⁴ otherwise one betrays what it came to defend.

      g. The right to solidarity. It is not possible to apprehend the Islamic religious universe without finding oneself straightaway facing a concept which places the duty of solidarity at the heart of the living expression of faith. Being before God is tantamount to showing solidarity. The third pillar of Islam, the social purifying tax (zakāt), is placed exactly at the axis of the religious and social practice. As duty before God, it responds to the right of human beings. The Qur’ān is clear when it refers to sincere believers:

      … and the beggar and the outcast had a share in their wealth. (Qur’ān, 51:19)

      The Qur’ānic injunction resonates here with force:

      You will not attain piety until you expend of what you love… (Qur’ān, 3:92)

      The responsibility of each person lies in actively participating in social life. In this, the obligation to pay zakāt is but a part of a broader social solidarity. Engagement on personal and familial levels must be accompanied by care towards one’s neighbours, life in the neighbourhood as well as towards national and international preoccupations. Certainly, Islam has devised an institutional support for fighting against poverty (by the intermediary of zakāt), but it seems clear that the solution is not firstly of a structural nature. It is rather a question of conscience and ethics. The strength of this fraternity and human solidarity is the living source of the fight against social injustice, poverty and misery. Whosoever has faith carries the duty of this engagement; whosoever has faith knows the right to claim it.

      The seven rights mentioned above do not cover all the elements that concern the individual and social spheres. However, they give a sufficiently clear idea about what the founding orientations of a Muslim society should be. At the source and heart of reflection one finds, with the acknowledgement of the Creating God, finalities which all revolve around the idea of justice. This justice is basic and primal and all human activity, in all its steps, must maintain this determination. In order to achieve this, it is appropriate to analyse situations rather than apply rules absolutely. This because the context may turn the most legitimate or most logical rules into unjust or obsolete ones, and, thus, betray in practice what they should defend in spirit.

      One would be right in pointing out, upon reading the preceding lines, that the picture so described is indeed ideal, but unfortunately nothing that concerns men or their intentions is this marvellous. One would also be right to add that the observation of contemporary Muslim societies – something hardly meticulous – systematically contradicts each point so far put forward. One would also be right that the general orientations of Islam do not have a great deal to do with the daily lot of Muslims at the end of this twentieth century. Nor is it a question of heaping on the West a load of blames and insults, making “the enemy” guilty of all our own shortcomings. This would be to lie, and indeed to lie on two accounts. On the one hand by refusing to assume our own responsibilities, and on the other by demonising, in caricature and without any discernment, a “West” that we do not exactly know.

      To think the ideal without preoccupying ourselves with the kind of reality that surrounds us is dangerous. Equally dangerous, is the attitude of some Muslims who think that it is enough to “return to Islam” in order that things be sorted out with one strike. In truth, the danger is twofold:

      ♦ The first is that it tends to present things in too simplistic and crude a manner. We convince ourselves that poverty will be resolved by the imposition of zakāt, that the economy will be cleansed by the prohibition of interest (ribā) and that society will be united because “the believers are brothers of one another”. We are then content with some well-intended speeches, and as far as the rest is concerned we would have to rely on God. As if “reliance on God” means a lack of intelligence or competence in action; as if the Qur’ānic Revelation has not distinguished between orientation and state, between where we should go and where we are; between the actualised foundation of a social project and the well-intended expression of its form. There is no place for such an attitude and “God’s tradition” (sunnat Allah) throughout the history of humanity shows ¹⁵ us that things are more complicated than this, and that the success of a human project is guaranteed, in the light of faith, to whoever knows how to develop the characteristics of his human nature. In other words, drawing near to the Divine recommendations is tantamount to multiplying the qualities of one’s humanity. But this does not mean emptying oneself in order to annihilate it in a fatalism which combines mysticism and passivity. This no matter how good our intentions are.

      ♦ The second danger is of a sensibly different СКАЧАТЬ