The question of worldview is important because it shapes our understanding of self, our interaction with the world, its Creator, and other fellow creations. Our understanding of the world relates to the subject matter of natural and social sciences as well as philosophy and religion. So, for example, in the field of natural sciences, we can ask, how should we approach natural sciences: As a study of objective laws independent of our subjective consciousness or as just our imaginations in mind? Similarly, in the field of social sciences, we can ask, are there any objective patterns or trends that could be found in human social organization and social transformations? Similarly, we can ask, what principles and values should govern our social interactions? What should be our relation to our natural environment? Are humans only mono-dimensional beings, with just material desires and needs? Is there any purpose of this world and our presence in it?These are important questions for the evaluation of any social and moral system. Shaheed Sadr's aim in Our Philosophy and subsequent books, as discussed earlier, is to outline a social system based on Islamic principles. He therefore considers the discussion of worldview very essential. His approach throughout this and subsequent works has been to critically evaluate and de-construct the established discourses first and then make his constructive contribution informed by his understanding of Islamic principles and values as well as that of philosophy and history.
In the following I take passages from Our Philosophy (here) and supplement them with excerpts from Sadr's another book, Trends of History in Quran (here). You will notice that the discussion done in Part I of Our Philosophy - on the possibility of knowledge through Rational Induction - was necessary so that in Part II Sadr could lay out the salient features of a Realistic Islamic worldview.
The Realistic Islamic Worldview
A) It is a false dilemma to assume that there are only two possible worldviews, the Idealistic and the Materialistic. The Idealistic view, particularly the theological idealism, accords all natural and social occurrences a hidden and divine aspect and interprets them superhumanly. The Materialistic view on the other hand says that nature and history can be fully understood without attributing the real cause to any superhuman factor, and hence God is irrelevant to scientific investigations/explanations.
B) The Realistic worldview asserts that "every phenomenon in life and nature is governed by the causative system and comes into being as the result of a sequence of causes and effects. This sequence exists everywhere in this world. For example, we take into consideration the case of the boiling of water in a kettle. It is a natural phenomenon which depends on certain conditions such as a particular degree of temperature and the nearness of the kettle to fire to a particular extent. This is the case of a sequence of a cause and its effect and a relationship of the present and the past in prearranged conditions."
Causatives also work in the domain of society and history. However, a distinguishing feature here is the intention/consciousness that is involved in the actions of the social actors. The working of nature, like the orbital movement of earth and moon, on the other hand, does not require that consciousness or intention on its part.
The effects of human actions on social and historical course depend, to a considerable extent, on the intentions behind them. This is where human volition/agency and subjectivity (basic instincts, material drives, beliefs and values, culture) become very important.
And related to human agency, there is Divine intervention into history through Prophets and Revelation. Human agency lies in their response to the Divine intervention, if they accept and act upon the message or not. Then there is also the role of direct Divine inspiration in the hearts of human beings, especially those who call upon Him in their supplication, in their intentions and actions. Further, God is not just the creator of all existence and the laws governing it, but He is also its sustainer. Meaning that He is not like a watchmaker who, once the automatic watch is made, is not needed anymore for the watch to function. Rather, the reality, the existence, matter and beyond, all are actively sustained through God's continuous provision in the Islamic perspective.
What is important to note here is that in the realistic Islamic worldview, all phenomena of the world, even miracles, are governed by certain objective principles; they are not beyond the causative logic. It affirms the possibility of a metaphysical/spiritual dimension to the world with norms and laws that are inter-related to the laws in the material dimensions. Furthermore, that humans can have access to these spiritual laws and norms just like they have access to those for the material dimensions. In fact, the Quran considers the governing principles of both natural and historical relams as well as spiritual dimensions all as part of the same reality and calls them God's "word", "sunnat", and "signs" in different contexts.
With regards to norms of history, for example, Sadr states: "...the Qur'an lays stress is the divinity of these laws and norms. Historical norms are divine in the sense that they have been appointed by Allah. The Qur'an has described them as Allah's words also. In other words every law of history is Allah's words. It is a divine rule. In order to promote man's dependence on Allah the Qur'an lays stress on the divinity and the sacred character of the historical norms. Man can enjoy the fruits of nature only with Allah's help. If he wants to enjoy the entire system of the world, he must act according to the natural laws and norms, for Allah operates His power through these norms which represent His will, wisdom and guidance."
(Trends of History in Quran, Lecture 6, "Field in which Norms of History Operate")
Further, according to Sadr, ‘the success of any activity involving social change depends upon certain concrete conditions and circumstances, and its objective cannot possibly be achieved unless these conditions and circumstances are realized’. Sadr makes a distinction between individual actions and ‘historical actions’. Humans can initiate individual actions, but for these actions to produce the desired effect on historical course, they need to be done through understanding the dynamics and limitations of external social conditions. Just like, how in the natural environment, Humans can bring about effective change (only) by understanding the laws that govern it.
C) The difference between the realistic and materialistic worldviews lies in this question: " 'If we accept an objective reality of the world, do we stop with objectivity at the limit of sensible matter, which would thus be the common cause of all the phenomena of existence and being, including the phenomena of consciousness and knowledge; or do we seep beyond it to a further cause, an eternal and an infinite cause, as the primary cause of what we know of the world, including both its spiritual and its material realms?' "
(Our Philosophy, Part II, Chapter One)
D) The Realistic worldview (also called theological realism) "accepts an external reality of the world and nature. Both spirit and matter, according to this notion, are attributed to a cause beyond the world and nature. "
E) "The theological notion of the world does not mean dispensing with natural causes or rebelling against any one of the sound scientific truths. Rather, it is the notion that considers God as a cause beyond [nature]. It imposes on the chain of agents and causes an ascent to a power above nature and matter. With this, opposition between it and any scientific truth is completely removed. The reason for this is that it gives science the widest opportunity for discovering the mysteries and order of nature.
At the same time, in the last analysis, it retains for itself the theological explanation which is the positing of a higher cause in a principle above nature and matter. Hence, the theological issue is not as its opponents wish to claim - namely, an issue concerning an invisible hand that sprinkles water in the atmosphere, that conceals the sun from us, or that acts as an obstacle between us and the moon, thus creating rain, a sun eclipse, or a moon eclipse. If science reveals the causes of rain and the factors leading to its evaporation; and further, if science also reveals the causes of the sun's eclipse, and [if] we know that the celestial spheres are not equidistant from the earth, that the moon is closer to them than to the sun, and that it happens that the moon passes between the earth and the sun, thus concealing the sun's light from us; again; if science reveals the cause of the moon's eclipse, which is the passing of the moon in the shadow of the earth - this shadow extends behind the earth for around 900,000 miles - I say that if this information is available to a human being, then those materialists will imagine that the theological issue will no longer have a subject, and the invisible hand, which conceals from us the sun or the moon, is substituted for by the natural causes given by science.
However, this is only due to the misunderstanding of the theological issue, and to the undifferentiation of the place of the theological cause in the chain of causes."
(Our Philosophy, Part II, Chapter One)
F) "...the Qur'an does not accord a hidden aspect to an event to sever its connection with everything else and attribute it direct to Allah. The Qur'an recognizes the existence of mutual relationship between various historical events in this world, but according to it this relationship is an expression of the wisdom and sagacity of Allah in regard to the creation and management of this world including the field of historical events.
To make this point clear and to illustrate the two points of view in this respect, we can use the following example:
Sometimes a man may say that it rains by the will of Allah. In this case he puts Allah's will in the place of natural causes as if he thinks that rain is a phenomenon which has no connection with any other happening and is directly attributable to Allah. This explanation of rain is different from its scientific explanation. Accordingly another man may say that the phenomenon of rain requires some cause and it is connected with other natural event. In fact there is a natural cycle of different forms of water. Water evaporates and converts into gas. Gases ascend and form clouds. The clouds gradually come down and with a change in temperature, again convert into liquid and rain. This series of natural events again represents Allah's wisdom and His good management of the affairs of the world, and there is no contradiction between the two explanations, although in the first explanation the mundane causes of the phenomenon have been ignored and the phenomenon has been attributed direct to Allah.
That is why the Qur'an, while according the norms of history a divine aspect, does not interpret history superhumanly alone. It only lays stress on the fact that the norms of history are not beyond the scope of the power of Allah. Their materialization depends on His will. Laws of nature are the words of Allah, His method and an embodiment of His will and wisdom in the world. They are meant to remind man to be always conscious of his dependence on Allah so that there may exist a close link between science and faith and man may look at scientific phenomena with the conviction of his faith in Allah.
The Qur'an believes in the basicity of the norms of history and does not regard any event as accidental. In many cases it considers even supernatural events to be subservient to the norms of history and not mere chance happenings. Accordingly even divine help is governed by the laws of history. In other words it is received only in appropriate conditions. In this sensitive spiritual field also the Qur'an insists on basing the interpretation of history on logic, reason and science, and not on unplanned aid. According to this interpretation divine help must be in conformity with the laws of history."
(Trends of History in Quran, Lecture 5, "Norms of History in the Quran")
G) "As for 'spiritualism' in the theological sense, or in the theological doctrine, it is a method of viewing reality as a whole, and not as a specific realm opposite the material realm. Hence, the theology that asserts a supernatural, immaterial cause also asserts a link between all that exists in the general realm - be that spiritual or material - and the supernatural cause. It believes that this link is one in whose light the human practical- and social position regarding all things must be determined. Spiritualism in the theological sense is a method for comprehending reality. It is equally applicable to the material realm and to the spiritual realm in the idealistic sense."
(Our Philosophy, Part II, Chapter One)
H) "... materialism is a philosophical tendency, as is theology. We do not have scientific or experimental materialism; for science, as we have learned, does not affirm the materialistic notion of the world in order that materialism be scientific. Rather, all the truths and secrets that science discloses about the sphere of nature leave room for the assumption of a cause above matter. Scientific experimentation cannot prove, for example, that matter is not created by an immaterial cause, or that the forms of movement and the kinds of development which science has discovered in the various aspects of nature are self-sufficient and not produced by a cause above the limits and sphere of experimentation. The same is true of every scientific truth. Therefore, the proof in support of materialism cannot be based on scientific truths or direct sense experience. Rather, it is formulated in a philosophical interpretation of those truths and experiences, precisely as is the proof in support of theology."
(Our Philosophy, Part II, Chapter One)
I) "The ... question is as follows: 'If scientific experimentation is not sufficient by itself for demonstrating the theological and the materialistic notions alike, then is it possible for the human mind to find evidence for any of the two notions, since both of them lie outside the realm of experimentation, or must the mind yield to skepticism, to freeze the theological and materialistic issue, and to limit itself to the fruitful field of science?'
The answer is that human intellectual capacity is sufficient for studying this issue and for commencing with respect to it from experimentation itself, not by considering experimentation as a direct proof for the notion which we form about the world, but as a starting point. Thus, the proper philosophical notion of the world - the theological notion - will be posited by the independent rational information in light of the interpretation of experiments and the experimental phenomena.
No doubt the reader remembers our study in the first investigation concerning the theory of knowledge of the rational doctrine, and how we demonstrated the presence of independent rational knowledge in a way that shows that the addition of rational knowledge to sense experience is something necessary not only with respect to our philosophical issue but also with respect to all scientific issues. There is no scientific theory that rests on a purely empirical basis. Rather, it rests on the basis of sense experience and in light of independent rational knowledge. Therefore, our philosophical issue that investigates the supernatural world does not differ from any scientific issue that investigates one of the natural laws, or that reveals some natural powers (p. 217) or secrets. In all of this, sense experience is the point of departure. But in spite of that, sense experience is in need of a rational explanation if a philosophical or a scientific truth is to be inferred from it."
(Our Philosophy, Part II, Chapter One)
No comments:
Post a Comment