(Friday 3rd February 2012 issue)
Third, with this portrayal of humanity and attachment of primacy to the instants and carnal desires of humans, we not only have not obstructed the path to bellicosity but have opened the doors to the predominance of militancy and added fuel to the fire. If we consider humans to be instinctive creatures; grant primary to their carnal instincts; eliminate thought, belief, and morality under the pretence of human superiority over faith and ethics; and allow unchecked satisfaction of instincts without any ideological or moral limits, we have certainly laid the foundation for caprice, carnal excess and utilization of aggression to achieve such aims. Aggression is the spawn of unbridled instincts.
Fourth, though Islam has a God–centered view about the world of existence, this view does no run counter to the primacy of human over all other creatures. In this view, humans are the vicegerents of God, are blessed with His spirit, have been bowed to by the angels, bear the divine charge, and enjoy nobility and virtue. In this view, not only does God not see humans as rival but also introduces them as His surrogates and asks some of the noblest of His creations, i.e. angels, to confess their smallness before them and their appointment as His vicegerents. God spurned Satan due to his insolence regarding this command, even though he had a laudable history before God and in the Heavens, and condemned him to eternal damnation. In the Islamic view, to only be God not worried about human acquisition of knowledge and wisdom, He has also taught humans the Names (or concepts according to some interpretations) and presents this comprehension as the criterion for human vicegerency in an encounter with the angles.
In this view, God has created everything in service to humankind. In return, humans can attain nearness to God and thus exert their will to appropriate and subdue all worldly phenomena.
CRITIQUE OF SCULARISM
Secularism is based upon specific epistemological, ontological, and anthropological fundamentals that are essentially different from religious epistemology, ontology, and anthropology. The definitions presented by secularism about humankind, the world, human life, human rights, as well as their benefits, detriments, expediencies, corruptions, happiness, and wretchedness are very different from those presented by religion. Therefore, we can never welcome secularism with a religion-centered ideology Religion ideologies are insistent upon having an active presence in all areas of human life. They do not deprive humans of their presence in the most esoteric of spiritual and intellectual areas nor do they consent to their absence from the most basic and mundane matters of life. However, secularism in fact means obscuring religion from all scenes of life whether personal, social, theoretical, or practical.
Secularism signifies rejection of the interference of invisible, holy, or supernatural entities in human life. This means that God, religion, and invisible phenomena do not exist or, if they do, they do not have the right to influence or interfere in any aspects-whether theoretical or practical-of human life.
In truth, just as religion attempts or organize human life in all areas of thought, morality, and society, secularism also seeks to manage human life but in a manner that the presence of God, religion, and holy issues not be felt in any area and that humans get used to handling their affairs in the absence of these matters. Hence, if humans desire science, philosophy, art, literature, consumption, technology, marriage, family, work, production, distribution education, social organizations, government, etc. they must seek them all out in the pavilion of secularism and in the absence of God and religion.
We could say that secularism is itself an ideology-the ideology of refusing the interference of sanctities, divinity, and the supernatural in all areas of human life. Therefore, a secular society or government is ideological just like a religious society or government. Actually, even though it seems that secularism desires to eliminate any kind of ideology from the government and society, it is underhandedly working towards establishing itself as the comprehensive, universal ideology for human life. Despite the fact that secularism advises everyone to tolerance and flexibility, it has never practiced them itself.
Even though secularism invites the world to pluralism, it does not recognize any other ideology that itself. It can even said about liberalist societies that whenever there is any mismatch between secularism and other liberalistic principle such as freedom, democracy, tolerance or pluralism, secularism always wins out and the rest must fall back to the extent necessary in favor of secularism.
CONCLUSION
The outcome of this paper is that tolerance means going easy, magnanimity, and moderates. Tolerance is desirable in encounters with people, in invitation to the religion, in peaceful coexistent with followers of other religions, and in government and administration. God also advocate tolerance in His divine law as well as in reward and punishment to the extent that is expedient.
On the other hand, tolerance in effectuation of the divine mission; communication of the heavenly message; announcing the truth; struggling against falsehood, distortion, and innovation in religion; defending the rights of people; establishing justice; battling oppression, oppressors, and religious sedition; executing divine punishment; and shunning the dominance of unbelievers over Muslims are all inappropriate and unacceptable. The end.
THE “ISLAMIC CENTER FOR HARMONIZATION OF SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT” in the Gambia, through its weekly Articles “The Path to Islamic Unity” selects and brings to your doors and to your minds very important topics that deal with your current Islamic and social Daly situations and needs, in other to contribute in every individual’s welfare and development in particular and the nation wide in general. Our aim is to unite all Muslim brothers under one umbrella of “Laa Ilaha Illal Laah” and to encourage religious dialogue and peaceful co-existence in our beloved mother land THE GAMBIA.
Your views and your constructive criticisms are welcome any time, either through the Center’s E.mail: harmonization46@yahoo.co.uk or through my personal phone numbers: 00220-3763332/ 9913609/7063332
