MODERN MUSLIM INTELLECTUALS AND THE QUR’AN : Fazlur Rahman

The very first chapter in the book is on Prof. Fazlur Rahman of Pakistan who was forced to migrate from Pakistan because of his views about Qur'an and Qur'anic revelation. Fazlur Rahman was himself son of an 'alim, had studied in the USA and was brought to Pakistan at the instance of the then President of Pakistan Ayub Khan. But he was forced to leave Pakistan on account of opposition from the traditional 'ulama.

 

The chapter on Rahman has been contributed by Abdullah Saeed. "Rahman", according to Saeed, "saw that the primary reason for the decline of Muslim societies was rooted in the intellectual legacy of Islam." But this decline, as often claimed by many modern reformers, did not begin with the western encroachment on Muslim societies from eighteenth century onwards. According to Saeed, "For him it was the intellectual ossification and replacement of scholarship based on original thought by one based on commentaries and super-commentaries, the closing of the gate of ijtihad, and basing of Islamic method solely on taqlid (blind imitation) which led to the decline."

 

Thus Fazlur Rahman writes in his book Islam and Modernity, "A historical critique of theological developments in Islam is the first step toward a reconstruction of Islamic theology. This critique should reveal the extent of the dislocation between the world view of the Qur'an and various schools of theological speculation in Islam and point the way toward a new theology."  This is a very important suggestion, which should have been considered very seriously and it would have benefited the Islamic world immensely.

 

The Mu'tazila theology had made a significant contribution in this direction in early Islamic history but it is sad though natural that their theology did not survive in view of orthodoxy. Many later modern Islamic thinkers were influenced by their theology. Muhammad Abduh of Egypt or Sir Syed Ahmad of India did accept rational elements of Mu'tazila theology. Sir Syed's tafsir in particular clearly shows influence of Mu'tazila theology and that is why the orthodox 'ulama of his times vehemently opposed him and forced him to stop writing commentary on the Qur'an.

 

Fazlur Rahman too was influenced by Mu'tazila as Abdullah Saeed also points out. He says, "Raman also had firm affinities with the Mu'tazili ideas on the 'createdness' of the Qur'an. This did not prevent Rahman, however, from being critical of the Mu'tazila's more extreme rationalist positions." No original thinker in fact fully endorses all positions of their predecessors though they may accept elements of their thinking or certain general ideas.

 

One cannot but agree with Saeed that "His (Fazlur Rahman's) goal was to reassess the Islamic intellectual tradition and provide a way forward for Muslims.  In his view, a re-examination of Islamic methodology in the light of the Qur'an itself was a pre-requisite for any reform in Islamic thought."  Also Fazlur Rahman greatly stressed the ethical aspect of the Qur'an. The traditional theology concerned itself more with ritualistic aspects than ethical, though did not entirely neglect it.

 

Prof. Rahman says: "Muslim scholars have never attempted an ethics of the Qur'an, systematically or otherwise. Yet no one who has done any careful study of the Qur'an can fail to be impressed by its ethical fervour. Its ethics, indeed, is its essence, and is also the necessary link between theology and law. It is true that the Qur'an tends to concretise the ethical, to cloth the general in a particular paradigm, and to translate the ethical into legal or quasi-legal commands. But it is precisely the sign of its moral fervor that is not content only with generalizable ethical propositions but is keen on translating them into actual paradigms. However, the Qur'an always explicates the objectives or principles that are the essence of its laws."

 

Thus Rahman's is a very seminal contribution in developing Islamic thought in the modern era and developing it in a rational and systematic way. The Islamic world, however, is still not ready to respond to Prof. Rahman's ideas.