Islamic Humanism – Reflections on Sura al-Takwir

By Hamdija Begovic

“It is a strange kind of humanism that denies something quintessentially human: religion.”

The quote isn’t exact since I, for the life of me, cannot remember who came up with it, and I’ve grown tired of sitting and typing in variants of it (substituting “uniquely” for “quintessentially”, or “opposes” for “denies”, etc.) in the Google search bar, in hopes of tracking it down. At any rate, I believe that the above, probably flawed, version of this great quote succeeds in conveying the idea.

I have always been struck by the apparent cynicism of the more aggresive anti-religionists who try to combat this uniquely and quintessentially human reality, in the name of humanism. It is obvious that spirituality and belief in God comes naturally to us humans, and to ask (or demand, as some do) that we abandon this means, in effect, that we are asked to quash a part of what makes us human. Now, the fact that something comes naturally to us doesn’t necessarily have to mean that it is true, but the point is that hostility against a phenomenon that is clad with the two abovementioned adverbs and adjective makes “humanism” seem an ill-chosen epithet. The snobbery that exudes from some of these guys doesn’t help, either.

In contrast to this, I feel that Islam presents a different type of “humanism”. To understand what I mean, we first have to identify a couple of implications of the materialist worldview. This worldview entails, as it were, that the well-off and privileged have an advantage against their counterparts when it comes to guidance (in the sense of knowing truth); the one who can afford the best education (in particular a philosophical education, right?) will have greater access to the truth about God and religion than a poor person who cannot afford an education and has to rely on his intuition in forming his belief. In Islam, however, we know that those scholars who dabbled in speculative philosophy and returned to ahl al-Sunnah made a point of praising the pure aqeedah of the “old grandmother” who relies on her intuitive belief about God coupled with the text of the Qur’an and Sunnah bidun ta’wil. And therein lies my point. Guidance is accessible to all, it isn’t exclusive to the one possessing economic, social and cultural capital or, for that matter, intellectual prowess. And the ultimate significance of this is that the same goes for happiness – guidance in this world and bliss in the akhirah is accessible to all, not only the privileged. This type of humanism is more humane than the materialistic (especially anti-religion) one. And it is my feeling that Sura al-Takwir, among other things, conveys this message of Islamic Humanism.

The sura can be divided into three, or four, sections. First, a description of what will happen on the Day of Judgement. Then, the oaths. After that, the answer to those oaths. And then, an appeal to humankind.

The first section gets your attention by discussing an aspect of the Unseen. Now, the Unseen and the unknown fascinates us, and many times it frightens us. And the first ayat of Sura al-Takwir talk about a particularly frightening aspect of the Unseen. It mentions the horror that awaits all of us: the Judgement Day. The fact that we cannot know what our personal fate will be on that day makes it all the more frightening to hear about it, and so the first section stirs up fear in us, and it intensifies the feeling of obscureness, of being in the dark; this is our reality. Death and our personal fate in the afterlife are a frightening mystery to us. In the end, these first ayat actually make us feel extremely frail as human beings due to our own incapacity to transcend this darkness.

And the second section begins by advancing the same concept through the oaths:

So I swear by the retreating stars –

Those that run [their courses] and disappear –

The imagery is clear. A pitch-dark night wherein the light, in the form of stars, is absent. More darkness. Despair and, perhaps, a slight panicky sensation. But then, a hint of relief:

And the night as it ‘as’as

‘As’as actually means two oppsite things: it refers to the night as it approaches, i.e. the beginning of the night, as well as its recession, i.e. the beginning of the dawn. At any rate, the intensity of the darkness begins to weaken. Light is coming, the feeling of us being in the dark is receding.

And by the dawn when it breathes

Now the stranglehold of the darkness loosens and allows for the breath of light, so that it may extend and illuminate the world. For:

[That] indeed, the Qur’an is a word [conveyed by] a noble messenger

The light of God has reached us, and we are no longer in darkness. This section – we are now in the third one which contains the answer to the oaths – goes on to emphasize the fact that this Qur’an and the Prophetic message, in contrast to the state of darkness, is one hundred percent clear and trustworthy. It is sent down by a completely trustworthy angel, whom the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) saw clearly.The point is that all the obscureness and frailty evoked earlier is now gone and replaced by this assurance and confidence. Now we have got powerful (notice the phrase used to describe Gabriel:ذِى قُوَّةٍ) and clear (again, notice the phrase used to describe where the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) saw Gabriel:بِٱلۡأُفُقِ ٱلۡمُبِينِ) guidance.

The point here is that yes, as humans we are in a dark and frail state, as I imagine some existentialists would say (incidentally, Jean-Paul Sartre has a book called “Existantialism is a Humanism”). But the light, in the form of God’s guidance, is here so that we may transcend this pitiful state. We cannot transcend it alone, but only through accepting God’s guidance. It is clear and powerful. And availible to all:

And Muhammad is not a withholder of [knowledge of] the unseen.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) doesn’t withold the knowledge, the light, from the weak and poor ones, those who cannot get an education. It is accessible to all, whether or not you possess cultural, social and economic capital. This is the Islamic Humanism, that offers every human a chance for happiness. Take it!

So where are you going?