Preface of book SECULAR ISLAM with subtitle "A Restrictive Definition of Secular and Religion"

PREFACE

Not long ago, a woman was asked in a Secular Association meeting, whether she believed in God. She said, “I believe in God because I do gardening”.

From this statement of the woman in the Secular Association meeting, I gathered that one did not have to believe in a religion to believe in God, and that one did not have to be a “science-based, evidence-based” person to be a member of the Secular Society.

From this, I also gathered that the woman in the Secular Association meeting did not believe in the dichotomy of the secular and the religious and all the extremists and fundamentalists teachings and practices within and between them that made them separate and exclusive.

Hence, in this way, she did not only reduce religion and Godless science to Reality but also superimposed the true knowledge of science, religion, culture, politics, etc., one on top of the other without creating any boundaries within and between them that made them separate and exclusive, even in morality and spirituality.

In addition to this, it also occurred to me that God’s Work in Nature, did not only teach her how to eliminate the extremists and fundamentalist teachings of Secularism and Religion but also taught her how to eliminate all the extremists and fundamentalist teachings of Ethnicity, Nationalism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Humanism, etc., in the most neutral and universal manner.

The story of Abraham is very similar in the Qur’an. It begins by stating that Abraham was “a person of pure natural belief” (haneef, 2:135, 3:95, 4:125, 6:161, etc.), like the woman in the Secular Association meeting. In other words, he did not believe in the “blind faith” methodology of religion or the “science-based, evidence-based” methodology of modern science to establish his Belief System. He established “certainty of knowledge” in all aspects of his life, both secular and religious, according to the methodology of ilm-ul-yaqin (certainty of knowledge by inference and reasoning), ayn-ul-yaqin (certainty of knowledge by seeing and observing) and haqq-ul-yaqin (absolute knowledge, like this is a computer, etc.), like plants and animals do.

In addition to this, the Qur’an states that when Abraham wanted to know the Truth about God and religion after rejecting all the religions of his time based on reason, God did not send him a Book like the Torah, Gospel or the Qur’an, but “allowed him to perceive (through the “alteration of the day and night” in celestial worship) the natural laws of the different dominions of the heavens and the earth, so that he might (with understanding) have certitude”, (Qur’an 6:74-79).

From this knowledge of the creation, Abraham established a “restrictive definition” of the secular and religion, just like the woman in the Secular Association meeting. He believed in God as Designer, Creator, Sustainer, Protector, etc., of the Universe, free of all dogmas and doctrines of religion, and followed the secular and scientific path of the creation, without being Godless, just like the woman in the Secular Association meeting.

In the Qur’an, in addition to this story of Abraham, God also gives us exactly the same knowledge of the Divine System, which Abraham perceived by observing the Laws of Nature and the wider Universe. Some of the verses of the Qur’an to this effect are as follows:

       45:3 In the heavens and earth are Signs for all who are willing to
       attain conviction (for those who believe).

45:4 And in your own creative design, and in all the animals which He has spread widely, there are Signs for those who explore and attain certainty.

45:5 And in the alternation of the night and the day, and in the means of sustenance which God sends down from the height, reviving the earth which had been lifeless, and in the change of winds and seasons - in all this are Signs for people who use reason 

Therefore, in the Abrahamic Faith (Islam), our very first source of Revealed Knowledge is the Law of Nature and the wider Universe. And when we use it with the Guidance of God (the knowledge and insight of the Creator), without the sayings and doings of any Prophet like in Talmud, Hadith, or dogmas and doctrines of the Christian Church, etc., we develop a higher level of Human Civilization than that which is found in the Animal Kingdom, in a neutral and universal way, completely free of all human knowledge. For example, animals commit incest. The Qur’an (4:23-24), gives us a long list of people whom we can marry and whom we cannot. And likewise, God states that He created only two sexes, male and female, and that most of what Atheists and Liberals have to say about the LGBT+ community is conjecture. And so on.

Therefore, from this point of view, all knowledge of science, religion, culture, politics, etc., and human emotion, which does not intersect the knowledge of the secular and religious is unacceptable to the Abrahamic Faith. For example, in science, the Qur’an (51:47) states “universe is expanding” and in 21:30 states “heavens and earth were one entity and God clove them asunder” alluding to the “Big Bang” and that God “created from water every living thing”. Therefore, in the Abrahamic Faith one did not have to speculate what the state of our physical universe was before the “Big Bang” took place, like the Atheists are doing. The Qur’an (41:11) states that Sky and the earth in “smoke” (interstellar dust and gas) form existed eternally as “one entity” before “God clove them asunder” to cause the “Big Bang”. And likewise, the Bible (Genesis 1:2) and Qur’an (41:9-11) states that the planet Earth had “no shape and form” except that it was covered with “water with the wind hovering above it” and in Qur’an (41:9-11) we are told that God took 6 God days (6000 earth years) to prepare the planet earth and the lower heaven to settle all “living things” on it and it was only after that He created “all living things”. I explain these teaching of Creationism in great detail in this book with reference from Bible and Qur’an in a chapter entitled “Evolution and Creationism”.

Therefore, all Prophets of all the nations of this world were given a very simple instruction to establish one Standard way of life for all humans, both secular and religious. All they had to do was use the Word of God in the context of God’s Work in Nature and the wider universe, without saying or doing anything which was not revealed to them. For example, sun, moon, stars, mountains, trees, etc, did not “worship” God. They “served” Him for the purpose He created them. Likewise, humans, as vicegerents” of God are expected to “serve” God, not “worship” Him. And in the same way, if we wish to know more about God than we observe in His creations, the Qur’an tells us that “He is Absolute, Eternal, Who begets not nor is He begotten and there is none like Him” (Qur’an 112:1-4). And in the same way, the Qur’an tells us many other things about Him, like it is wrong to believe in “The Myth of God Incarnate” (Qur’an 9:30, 5:73).

Although, all Prophets of God came at different times from different nations and tribes (Qur’an 10:47, 16:36) of different sights and sounds (culture, custom, tradition, etc., and spoke different language)(Qur’an 49:13, 14:4) and practiced different “rites and ceremonies” (Qur’an 22:34, 22:67), which God had given them in their pure form, they gave exactly the same knowledge of the Divine System (Qur’an 42:13) to develop their spiritual Brotherhood and Sisterhood in the midst of all their Diverse sights, sounds, rites and ceremonies. Therefore, in the Qur’an (23:52-53), God informs Prophet Muhammad (s) of this Brotherhood of theirs as follows:

“And certainly, this community of yours is one community and I am your Sustainer. So, remain conscious of Me”. [Since all Messengers were one Brotherhood unanimous in purpose, all mankind must consider one another as Brothers and Sisters]

But they (mankind) have torn their affair of unity between them into sects, each sect rejoicing in what it has. [30:32].

                                             (Qur’an 23:52-53).

Unfortunately, the latter day followers of all the Prophets of all the nations and tribes deviated from this spiritual Brotherhood and Sisterhood, which was found in the midst of their diverse God-given culture, custom, tradition, and “rites and ceremonies”, by writing and following the Talmud, dogmas and doctrines of the Christian, Hadith, etc. For example, the Word of God in the context of God’s Work in Nature and the wider universe does not advocate “male and female circumcision”. And in keeping with this knowledge of the Qur’an, the Bible (Romans 2:28-29, 2Erza 1:31 Torah, Jeremiah 9:25-26 Torah) states God said, “I have Forsaken your Circumcision” for the Circumcision of the Heart, not the Flesh. Hence, by not listening to the injunctions of the Bible and the Qur’an, the latter day followers of all nations destroyed many important teachings of Tawhid (unity and universality) which were used to bind our spiritual Brotherhood and Sisterhood. For example, by stating that “circumcision” is the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (s), the Muslims have destroyed the Unity between the Word of God and the Work of God in Nature and the wider Universe; the Unity between all the Books and Prophets of God; Unity between the Word of God and the sayings and doings of all the Prophets of God; Unity between the world of God and the world of Caesar; and so on.    

In the following verses of the Qur’an, Allah makes clear that those who write and follow Hadith are “fabricating imposters”:

45:6 These are the verses of God We convey to you with Truth. Then, in what HADITH, if not in God and His verses, will they believe?

45:7 Woe to every fabricating impostor! [26:222. This draws our attention to forged Ahadith]

45:8 (The impostor) who hears God´s verses conveyed to him, yet he is haughtily obstinate, as though he never heard them. So, announce to him grievous punishment.

45:9 For when he learns anything of Our verses, he belittles them. Theirs is a humiliating punishment in store.

45:10 Ahead of them is Hell, and what they have earned will not avail them, nor will the ´awlia´ (saints, sufis, ´imams´, clergy) whom they had chosen besides God. Theirs will be an awesome suffering. [29:24, 79:36, 82:16]

45:11 This is the Beacon (True Guidance). And for those who reject the revelations of their Lord, is a painful retribution.

Hence, in the Abrahamic Faiths, we are supposed to follow the secular and scientific path of the creation without being Godless, and not any religion. For example, in the Abrahamic Faiths, we are not supposed to “worship” God. We are supposed to “serve” Him as “vicegerent” for the purpose He created us. And likewise, the Christian and Muslim “prayer”, which is performed in the church and mosque respectively, is not a “prayer” but a “pledge” to God that they will function in all aspects of their lives according to the Word of God which they recite in the “standing position” in their salaat (pledge). For example, if a Christian read from the Bible in a standing position bowing slightly, he or she is doing nothing less than a Muslim who recites the Qur’an and bows and prostrates, because both of them are making a “pledge” to God that they will always function according to the Word of God in all aspects of their lives and not according to any word of man found in the dogma and doctrines of the Church or in the Hadith, which was contrary to the true knowledge of the Bible and the Qur’an.

Actually, if all the Books and all the Prophets of all nations were here today, we as Muslims would have no problem going to a Christian church and making salaat (pledge) with them by reading from the Bible in a slightly bowing position and they would have no problem coming to the mosque and making salaat in the same way we make salaat by reciting from the Qur’an and bowing and prostrating. And we would revere their Bible as much we revere the Qur’an, not only because their Bible and our Qur’an will have exactly the same knowledge of the Divine System, but also because all the knowledge of all the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an are found in their chronological order in the Bible. This is the kind of Diversity God has shown in His Word and Work in Nature and the wider universe, which bind our Unity in Diversity, and it is our duty as vicegerents of God preserve that Unity at all cost. If we make the Abrahamic Faith our Religion, we cannot maintain that unity. For example, our salaat would become “prayer”, and not only will the Shafi, Hanafi, Shias and Sunnis break this Unity but also will the Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc, do so. That is how divisive religion is?       

In this book, we will not only reduce Religion and Secularism to Reality to establish the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Mankind, but we will also reduce our Ethnic difference and National identity to Reality to maintain to solve all the problems of our Ethnicity and Nationalism. For example, in Qur’an (49:13) God states that He “created different nations and tribes (of different sights and sounds) from a single male and female” and we should not “despise” them for being different because, their different sight and sound is their God-given Diversity just like those of ours in their pure form. Hence, in the unified field of the Abrahamic way of life there is universal sight or sound (of sign, symbol, art, color, dressing, architecture, language, education, science, politics, finance, etc.). All this kind of knowledge in the Qur’an applied to all the nations of this world and their Prophets because “nothing was said to Prophet Muhammad, which was not told to all the Apostles (Messengers) that came before him”, (Qur’an 41:43).  

Therefore, it is wrong for Muslims to go in large numbers to Western countries and invade their streets and suburbs with their long beard, kurtha, niqab, hijab, burqa, etc., and their skyline with the domes and minarets of their mosques. Like their salaat (pledge) has nothing to do with the domes and minarets of their mosque, their beard, kurtha, niqab, hijab, burqa, etc., has nothing to do with their imaan (faith). In fact, integrating and assimilating with the West and other Eastern nations on these issues will be in keeping with Divine Will and opposing it will make one a non-Believers. And for not doing so, Islamophobia will be a punishment for them. I will insha-Allah (if God willing) I will explain this in great detail in this book.

Therefore, in this book, my main aim is to explain how we can establish the spiritual Brotherhood and Sisterhood of all Mankind or Humankind in the midst of their diverse sight, sound, rites and ceremonies. I intend to do this by using the Word of God in the Bible and the Qur’an in the context of God’s Work in Nature and the wider universe, according to the Creeds of Abraham and the worldview teachings of Tawhid (unity and universality), which are the cardinal teachings and essence of all the Abrahamic Faiths. This will not be easy to do because in all issues of our lives, I will have to show, how all knowledge of science, religion, culture, politics, etc., which intersect the secular and religious, superimposes one on top of the other without creating any boundaries within and between them, which make them separate and exclusive, and how the intersection of the secular and religious damns all knowledge of science, religion, politics, culture, etc., outside the intersection of the secular and religion. Hence, my mission here will be, not only to wipe out all sectarian beliefs within and between all religions, which make them separate and exclusive, but also to eliminate all extremists and fundamentalists teachings and practices of both the secular and religious, which both theists and atheists have conjectured to promote their beliefs in religion and secularism, which have no place in our universe.

Furthermore, in conclusion to this Preface, I would like the reader to know that I do not have a translation of the Qur’an in English, which intersects the knowledge of the secular and religious. Therefore, I have been forced, as a non-Arab, to sometimes use the translation of Dr Shabbir Ahmed, which has a closer perspective of the secular outside the intersection of the secular and religion, and sometimes that of Yusuf Ali’s, which has a closer perspective of religion outside the intersection of the secular and religious, with some (or none) reservations and inserts, based on my knowledge of Secular Islam.

For example, Dr Shabbir Ahmed does not believe in Creationism; the Virgin Birth of Jesus; bowing and prostrating in salaat; etc., while Yusuf Ali has a completely religious view of Creationism, the Virgin Birth of Jesus, salaat, etc. For instance, Dr Shabbir Ahmed believes in the 6 Eras of creation from the time of the Big Bang while Yusuf Ali believes in 6 God’s days (6000 earth years) of creation like most religious people in the Abrahamic Faiths believe. Whereas, in this book, I intersect knowledge of Creationism and Evolution by saying that God took 6000 earth days, long after the Big Bang had taken place, to prepare the planet earth and the seventh heaven to settle all life form He was going to create, like I have already explained in this Preface. But I do have a problem with Yusuf Ali’s translation of “salaat”. He says it is “prayer” and I believe it is a “pledge” as I have already explained in this Preface.

In addition to this, I would also like to bring to the reader’s notice that I have divided this book into two Parts. The first Part contain many of my Website documents explaining many issues we are facing as theists and atheists today, and how the Bible and the Qur’an expects us to solve them in a neutral and universal manner according to the Creeds of Abraham and the worldview teachings of Tawhid (unity and universality), which are cardinal teachings and essence of all Abrahamic Faiths. The second Part explains why Islam is not a Religion, but a secular way of life which demands a “restrictive definition” of the secular and religion and how such a definition of Islam helps us to intersects all knowledge of Islam outside the dichotomy of the secular and religious, which has been conjectured by the ulama.

AK Sayed