August 1, 2004

By the middle of the 20th century, it was generally believed that religion was left with no role to play in the worldly lives of the people. In Europe, the advancement of science had proved Biblical concepts regarding the creation of the earth and the birth of mankind to be irrational, giving rise to a secular mindset. That indifference towards religion then spread to the East through interaction with the Europeans who had dominated Asia and Africa for long as colonial rulers. But during the decade of the 1970’s, the world was surprised by the resurgence of religion.

Modernization and secularism were at the peak by the beginning of the last century. However, many around the world were disappointed as it had failed to bring relief from pain and sorrow. For many others, it had even deprived their lives of any meaning and purpose. Muslim societies rejected these trends also because they had come to them through the West and were, therefore, taken as signs of mental enslavement to alien thoughts. In the book under review, an Urdu translation of Karen Armstrong’s The Battle for God, the author recounts significant developments over the last 500 years leading to the present revival of religion, in the context of three major faiths of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Armstrong maintains that the current wave of fundamentalism is not confined only to these three religions. It has swept others as well including Hinduism and Buddhism. She also underlines the fact that a call for a return to fundamentals is not new. Such moves have been made more than once by reformers in all religions, but the present effort is different in that it also takes into account the effects of the progress made by mankind over the centuries.

In Europe, the application of scientific knowledge in daily life and the use of inventions necessitated that education be imparted to the workers involved. Thus education, till then confined to the privileged classes, began to spread among the commoners. That gave rise to a desire among them to participate in the decision-making, which ultimately led to a democratization of the government. Simultaneously, education created dissatisfaction with religious beliefs and practices which were found to have been distorted by vested interests. Consequently, that era witnessed a number of reformatory movements, which emphasized the need to return to the original religion in its pure form. These movements were led by Martin Luther, John Calvin and Heldrich Zawangli. Among the Jews, a similar movement, Hasidim, gained popularity.

The Islamic world, too, saw at different stages efforts being made to retrieve religion in its original form. When the Muslim society was re-building itself after the devastating Mongol invasions, Ibne Teemiya advocated a return to the basic principles of the Quran and Sunnah. Later in the 18th century, Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab launched his movement in Arabia for the adoption of pure Islam while reformers including Ibne Idrees and Al Senussi worked on similar lines in North Africa.

The progress of science gradually led to the rejection of all that was beyond reason. However, there were other factors too that resulted in the weakening of the domination of religion over people’s lives, particularly in politics and governance. When the constitution of an independent United States of America was being drafted, it was found advisable to avoid mentioning the state religion as the Americans were divided in a number of Protestant sects. The official adoption of any one of these could have alienated the others.

The Muslim world was still undecided. In the latter part of the 19th century scholars like Jamaluddin Afghani and Mohammad Abdah of Egypt believed that Islam was a rational religion and could meet the requirements of the modern age. But soon secularism and modernization were to overtake two major Muslim countries, Turkey and Iran. In 1922, Mustafa Kamal turned Turkey into a secular state and completely westernized it. In 1925, Reza Khan became the Shah in Iran and took the country towards secularism and modernization.

However, even before this could happen, it began to be realized that it was a folly to believe that science and rationalism could protect mankind from miseries and barbarism. The First World War provided proof. Besides the atrocities committed during the war, people were astounded to learn that German militancy was inspired by Darwin’s theory of evolution which implied that only the fittest and the most powerful had the right to rule the world. Dissatisfied Protestants met in Philadelphia in 1919 to form the World Christian Fundamentalists Association, and it was from there that the term ‘fundamentalist’ began to be applied to any group in any faith which advocated a role for religion in man’s every day life.

Among the Muslims too, a number of scholars found it imperative to go back to Islam. They included Maudoodi in South Asia, Dr Ali Shari’ati and Khomeini in Iran and Hasanul Banna and Syed Qutub in Egypt. Some of them, such as the two Egyptians, did not hesitate to use violence to promote their cause. Though in most countries, Muslims are still divided in their choice of the role that religion should play in their lives, Iran took a lead by establishing an Islamic state in 1979.

The book deals with a topic which is of immense interest today. Unlike most western writers, Armstrong is unbiased and has a better understanding of some of the most talked about issues related to Islam such as the real meaning of jihad and the status of women in Islam. She also believes that most of the fundamentalist scholars of Islam including Shari’ati, Hasanul Banna and Khomeini wanted to lead Muslims towards modernization but with an Islamic perspective. Referring to the current confrontational situation, she advises the fundamentalists to show tolerance, which is a part of their religious traditions, so that a better understanding might be achieved with the secular groups.

Fisabilillah Fasad
By Karen Armstrong
Translated by Yunus Mansoor
Mashal Books, RB-5, 2nd Floor, Awami Complex, Usman Block, New Garden Town, Lahore-54600
Tel: 042-5866859. E-mail: mashbks@brain.net.pk
401pp. Rs300

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)