Dr. Omar Javaid (Based on his talk at IBA on 21st Feb 2019)
The subsequent loneliness epidemic is making people sick, depressed and even suicidal. The question therefore is: what actually makes people happy? Harvard's longest research study suggest (see Robert Waldinger's TED Talk), it's the quality of our relationship with the people close to us, which makes us happy. What makes us maintain quality relationship, what makes us sacrifice our time and energy for the people we love which nurtures a quality relationship, it certainly cannot be individualistic and self-centric tendencies of materialist or consumerist culture.
Islam, on the contrary, perhaps more than other religious ideologies, encourages us through a worldview where sacrificing for family members is rewarded on the Day of Judgment. Other religions and ideologies, like Christianity, even like Buddhism and Confucianism does that, but Islam does perhaps even more thoroughly and comprehensively ... Taking care of our family, than extended family, than neighborhood, then tribe is a fundamental imperative in Islam. Even when selling or employing people, people living within our close proximity should be given priority according to a Hadith, unless it becomes damaging for the business. Family members involved in a family business would perhaps be more integrated/bonded thanks to their mutual interdependence, as compare to a family where everyone is job oriented, where dependence is more on an external institution to provide an income and not on the family members. Islamic worldview therefore would see family business more favorably in comparison to job orientation.
On a collective level, often there is an argument for using a modern institution and using them in a shariah compliant manner, and enjoy the benefits of both system. It is also argued that products and institutions of modern civilization, or any other civilization, can do harm only when the people who are using them are ill-intentioned! These arguments are based on an misunderstanding on how institutions and products influences the user. Abraham Maslow once said 'If you are holding a hammer, everything might look like a nail', Noam Chomsky once said 'you might be the nicest person, but if the institution you are working in is a monster, then you are a monster in your institutional capacity' ... Products and institutions influence the people they engage, as per the original purpose of their creation. Furthermore, the ideals of modernity and ideals of Islam, often goes in opposite direction. There is no place of goals like salvation on the Day of Judgment in modernism, rather modernism declares such goals as utterly irrational. Modernism rather exclusively aspires for worldly goals, and considers human reason alone qualified enough to pursue such goals.
Expecting modern institutions with shariah compliance to achieve Islam's goals of life, is like expecting a car to fly with the help of pilot because there is a ceiling fan installed invertedly on the top of the car. Islamic way of life and modern way of life, their rationale and justifications, are built on distinct logic and a body of knowledge, set of principles which may be coherent in their own domains, however, their interchangeability may only lead to undesirable results. People often recommend practicing chunks of Islamic way of life within modern institutions, and declare it as a revival of Islam, however, its like taking a component from inside a organic entity (say a liver of a horse), and putting it inside a mechanical entity (like a robot), and declare it as a act of salvaging that organic being. The story of Bed of Procrustes, is a good analogy to explain the same point."
Image source: https://www.islamicity.org/9110/islam-and-modernity/
"Who wants to be happy in life? All of you perhaps! Consumerism, one of dominant modern ideology, tells us that by maximizing consumption we can maximize our happiness, despite modern economics talks about diminishing marginal utility. Most of us today, perhaps under social pressures, often follow consumerist ideals, without realizing that in real it makes us unhappy at the end if the day. Typical corporate culture also encourage us to be a better consumer, and by focusing and surrounding ourselves with too much material products we risk acquiring materialistic values. We may begin to see and evaluate our relationship with real people in context with the relationship we have with products. Our relationship may even become disposable, eventually we would perhaps become lonely, surrounded more with things and less with people. In fact we may end up determining the worth of people we know from the products they owns, and worth of the time spent with them by the material benefit we receive from them. This has already become true in the western world according to Ralph Ferver, even in context of the time we spend with our children and parents and other close family members.
The subsequent loneliness epidemic is making people sick, depressed and even suicidal. The question therefore is: what actually makes people happy? Harvard's longest research study suggest (see Robert Waldinger's TED Talk), it's the quality of our relationship with the people close to us, which makes us happy. What makes us maintain quality relationship, what makes us sacrifice our time and energy for the people we love which nurtures a quality relationship, it certainly cannot be individualistic and self-centric tendencies of materialist or consumerist culture.
Islam, on the contrary, perhaps more than other religious ideologies, encourages us through a worldview where sacrificing for family members is rewarded on the Day of Judgment. Other religions and ideologies, like Christianity, even like Buddhism and Confucianism does that, but Islam does perhaps even more thoroughly and comprehensively ... Taking care of our family, than extended family, than neighborhood, then tribe is a fundamental imperative in Islam. Even when selling or employing people, people living within our close proximity should be given priority according to a Hadith, unless it becomes damaging for the business. Family members involved in a family business would perhaps be more integrated/bonded thanks to their mutual interdependence, as compare to a family where everyone is job oriented, where dependence is more on an external institution to provide an income and not on the family members. Islamic worldview therefore would see family business more favorably in comparison to job orientation.
On a collective level, often there is an argument for using a modern institution and using them in a shariah compliant manner, and enjoy the benefits of both system. It is also argued that products and institutions of modern civilization, or any other civilization, can do harm only when the people who are using them are ill-intentioned! These arguments are based on an misunderstanding on how institutions and products influences the user. Abraham Maslow once said 'If you are holding a hammer, everything might look like a nail', Noam Chomsky once said 'you might be the nicest person, but if the institution you are working in is a monster, then you are a monster in your institutional capacity' ... Products and institutions influence the people they engage, as per the original purpose of their creation. Furthermore, the ideals of modernity and ideals of Islam, often goes in opposite direction. There is no place of goals like salvation on the Day of Judgment in modernism, rather modernism declares such goals as utterly irrational. Modernism rather exclusively aspires for worldly goals, and considers human reason alone qualified enough to pursue such goals.
Expecting modern institutions with shariah compliance to achieve Islam's goals of life, is like expecting a car to fly with the help of pilot because there is a ceiling fan installed invertedly on the top of the car. Islamic way of life and modern way of life, their rationale and justifications, are built on distinct logic and a body of knowledge, set of principles which may be coherent in their own domains, however, their interchangeability may only lead to undesirable results. People often recommend practicing chunks of Islamic way of life within modern institutions, and declare it as a revival of Islam, however, its like taking a component from inside a organic entity (say a liver of a horse), and putting it inside a mechanical entity (like a robot), and declare it as a act of salvaging that organic being. The story of Bed of Procrustes, is a good analogy to explain the same point."
Image source: https://www.islamicity.org/9110/islam-and-modernity/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Use of any abusive or inappropriate language will give us a reason to delete your comment.