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Muslim Views . April 2020
Building scientific and fiqh literacy: lessons from the COVID-19 crisis DR AUWAIS RAFUDEEN
MUSLIM doctors and nurses, organisations, scientists and religious scholars in South Africa have been doing sterling work in responding to the current COVID-19 crisis. Organisations such as Gift of the Givers, South African National Zakah Fund and others have been distributing food parcels to the poor in order to lessen the economic burden of the lockdown. Muslim scientists have been providing their expertise at both national level, where they are helping to shape policy that deals with the pandemic, and at community level, where they have been educating the ordinary Muslim about the virus. The Islamic legal specialists among the ulama (Islamic religious leaders) have brought compelling Islamic legal (fiqh) arguments as to why we need to adhere to the lockdown regulations. It is a fundamental requirement of Islam, they say, that we preserve life. And other ulama, like religious leaders in other traditions, have productively tapped into online resources to continue their teaching and guidance activities. But despite these positive developments, there still appear to be stubborn elements that resist mainstream scientific thinking as well as the fiqh of the majority of the ulama. One element has a penchant to ignore proper science for conspiracy theories. Their concern appears to be promoting unproven
There are …many better sources out there than WhatsApp messages and other dodgy means of information on the latest scientific developments. It is also an Islamic requirement to follow the experts in a specific field … theories, such as linking COVID19 to 5G or unduly questioning vaccine treatments, rather than searching for the current scientific consensus around these issues. To be sure, this does not apply to Muslims alone and is found across the board. Fake news, as is now well known, has become a pandemic itself and it has taken the current crisis to force the tech giants such as Facebook and WhatsApp to do something about it. Their efforts are better late than never but, to a large extent, the damage has already been done. Expertise has been undermined and the recovery from the deluge of false information will take some time. Another element is the resistance to mainstream religious thinking on the issue. A minority of ulama in South Africa insist that mosques be allowed to open (with certain restrictions), complaining of ‘spiritual depression’. Again, this does not apply to Muslims alone and a number of churches have also challenged the lockdown.
This is, of course, a sensitive issue for the Muslim community. A number of Muslims are deeply attached to their local mosques and the lockdown has undoubtedly caused ‘spiritual depression’ among some, especially the elderly. The mosque represents for them an opportunity to commune with Allah in a quiet space. But spiritual depression is not an Islamic legal argument however worthy the emotions that underlie it. In addition, certain unscrupulous ulama can play on these emotions to push various less than noble agendas and increase their power base in communities. Of course, there may be more sophisticated fiqh arguments that argue against the majority position that need to be dealt with at a technical level. But the majority position is quite clear: opening mosques at this stage is harmful, and doing so, far from being a pious act, actually violates Islamic law. How does the ordinary Muslim in the street navigate this storm of scientific and fiqh information and misinformation? In my opinion,
such navigation requires that we build a minimum scientific and fiqh literacy in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. In terms of science, there are many credible sources specifically geared to the layperson. Here we can think of National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, The Conversation, Aeon, Scientific American, the science sections of sites such as the BBC and The Guardian to name but a few. There are, in other words, many better sources out there than WhatsApp messages and other dodgy means of information on the latest scientific developments. It is also an Islamic requirement to follow the experts in a specific field, and these sources would give us good access to them. Of course, experts do not always agree and there are often valid differences of opinion. But scouring these sources, and looking closely at the arguments made, will at least allow us to approach these differences in an informed manner. The same applies to fiqh. Muslims should, especially, acquire knowledge of the principles under-
lying fiqh (usul ul Fiqh). In fact, understanding these principles are more important than knowing the fiqh (law) itself. These principles include the well-known ‘six universal principles’, namely, the preservation of life, religion, intellect, progeny, property and dignity. They also include the five central fiqh maxims, namely: (1) Matters are to be judged by their objectives; (2) Certainty is not removed by doubt; (3) Difficulty must be lightened; (4) Harm must be removed, and (5) Custom has the weight of law. A proper understanding of these principles and maxims allows us to understand why ulama come to the decisions they do. In the COVID-19 case, it is obvious that principles such as the preservation of life and the need to remove harm are paramount concerns when it comes to the difficult decision of closing mosques. It also allows us to evaluate whether any counter-arguments are based on these principles as well, especially given that these principles represent the legal essence of the Quran and Sunnah. Islam is a religion based on reason and a respect for expertise. In the face of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and uncorroborated claims that seem to pervade much of our social media space, we need to re-emphasise this more than ever. Getting a proper handle on both science and fiqh is one way of doing this. Auwais Rafudeen is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Arabic, University of South Africa.
Prostration to Allah and acquiring adab in the fight against COVID-19 This is an edited version of the nasiha delivered by PROFESSOR ASLAM FATAAR at Claremont Main Road Mosque, on April 3. Prayer with humility is exhorted by Allah SWT in the Quran, in Surah Mu’minin (The Believers) verses 1 and 2: ‘Truly, to a happy state shall attain the believers; those who humble themselves in their prayer.’ The physical distancing that we are currently practising amid the COVID-19 pandemic presents a convenient time for meditation and sincere devotion. Praying with humility and tranquillity is founded on observing each posture with pause and poise, and reflecting on the inner meanings of the oral liturgies that we recite during the salaah. We are advised to enter the salaah with full reverence in communion with Allah, with our hearts and minds fully present, mindful of our shortcomings and appealing to Allah for the ability to improve our weaknesses and refine our behaviour. The salaah is an essential ritual resource to align our body, mind and heart to ethical behaviour, the adab, required in these challenging times. This reminds us of a beautiful hadith attributed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in which he explains that: ‘My Lord has instilled etiquette in me and so made my etiquette most excellent.’ I wish to dwell on this hadith as a means of explaining the cultivation of refined or adaptive behaviour by applying Islam’s ritual or spiritual resources, such as the salaah, with humility in our daily lives. My learned friends taught me about this hadith. It is generally believed that the substance (matn) can be attributed to the Prophet
(SAW), which allows us to say that the meaning conveyed is true. There are several other hadith reports that convey a similar meaning. One is when Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Prophet: ‘How come you are the most eloquent among us but it is known that you never left our community to acquire this linguistic eloquence?’ The Prophet replied: ‘The Arabic language of Ismail, Ibrahim’s son, had completely disappeared so, therefore, Jibril taught me this.’ Adab, in this version, refers to the acquisition of language and eloquence taught by Allah to Muhammad (SAW). Adab thus means both language and etiquette or ethics. The Prophetic example combines language with etiquette or moral behaviour. How a person speaks is a reflection of one’s inner moral commitments. Islamic ethics is thus intent on cultivating the human body to adapt to changing contexts in which moral languages circulate. As our language evolves and adapts, so do we have to adjust our moral meaning-making systems to changing circumstances. COVID-19 can be described metaphorically as a dhulm, a darkness, an ‘out-of-whackness’ of the world, in respect of which our everyday existence has rapidly become dislodged and re-arranged. The pandemic has travelled across the globe, affecting economic, political and social arrangements. It also affects the psychology, anxieties and mental well-being of individual people and distressed communities. Allah SWT explains in Surah Baqarah: ‘And most certainly shall We try you by means of danger and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, of lives and of [labour’s]
fruits. But give glad tidings to those who are patient in adversity.’ (2:155) This is an important aayah. It speaks to several issues that have come to afflict humans in light of the coronavirus, and it points to the virtue of patience and perseverance in the face of adversity. The emphasis in the aayah is on how situations change rapidly, and how such change throws our livelihoods entirely out of whack, putting our very survival as communities and a species under the spotlight. Furthermore, As Allah explains in Surah An-’Am: ‘And, indeed, We sent Our messages unto people before your time, [O Prophet] and visited them with misfortune and hardship so that they might humble themselves.’ (6:42) The pandemic is a catastrophe (musiba) described in this aayah as a misfortune (ba’saa) and a hardship (dharraa) which brings about confoundment and humility. Indeed, misfortunate and hardship are part of the teaching towards developing adab. Cancelling congregational prayer has left many confounded. It brought into stark relief the role of ritual prayer in the absence of jama’ah, causing us to consider how to understand what kind of proposition the salaah and other ritual practices make on us when we adjust and respond with active agency to the ravages caused by the pandemic. During such a time it is apposite that we re-examine this gift of salaah. Allah SWT declares in Surah Ta Ha: ‘Verily, I – I alone – am God; there is no deity save Me. Hence, worship Me alone, and be constant in prayer so as to remember Me!’ (20:14) Regarding salaah as an illumination of the heart, the Messenger
of Allah (peace be upon him) is reported to have said: ‘The prayer of a person is (in reality) a light in his heart, so whoever desires can illuminate his heart (by means of prayers).’ Salaah thus imbues the body with the norms of virtue, compassion, mercy and love. Acquiring adab, what emanates from virtuous space is our volition to opt for moral practices; those practices that bring comfort to the self, one’s family, neighbours and the community. We enter salaah in a symbolically purified state, a state of taharah. We rise up and stand in front of Allah, readying ourselves to receive the rahmah of God’s grace, opening our bodies to virtuous norms, to becoming good. The body is readied to imbibe these norms during our acts, movements and utterances during prayer. The salaah offers a promissory note; that is, it enables us to combine body, heart and consciousness to adopt the appropriate adab or virtue ethics. The choice is ours, yet the practice of salaah with humility facilitates such a choice in the direction of virtue. Salaah with humility (khushu) connects the physical form of its bodily postures with the norms of responsive and virtuous behaviour. These norms enter the body, soul and consciousness of the human being. The sujood or prostration is the bodily and conceptual climax of the salaah. As Allah SWT explains in Surah al-Hijr: ‘Extol your Sustainer’s limitless glory and praise Him, and be of those who prostrate themselves [before Him] in adoration.’ (15:98) The act of prostration to God, sujood lillah, is the ultimate act of submission. Sujood opens our
heart to the divine covenant. It allows us to claim our dignity. It is an act of humility and accountability. In contrast, Iblis’s refusal to prostrate is an act of rebellion, as explained by Allah in Surah alBaqarah: ‘And when We told the angels, “Prostrate yourselves before Adam,” they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis, who refused and gloried in his arrogance: and thus he became one of those who deny the truth.’ (2:34) Living life based on a demonic human disposition is corrosive and steeped in inertia. It closes us off from a life of virtue in service of others, which is so desperately needed in our responses to COVID-19. Sujood-lillah trains and disciplines the nafs (ego). Salaah transforms the body from a disposition of inertia to a state of activity. It transforms demonic or evil space into a space of comfort, compassion and care. Salaah with humility enables us to develop an inner spiritual and psychological state which impacts our behaviour, i.e. our adab, connecting an internal state of humility to outward behaviour. Salaah opens the body to responding productively to our changed circumstances, and thus helps us to figure out how best to adapt and respond to the needs of others. As we find new ways of communing with others in this current state of physical isolation, the salaah is Islam’s key spiritual resource which enables us to work out how to engage in practices of compassion and care. Aslam Fataar, PhD is Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Stellenbosch Member of Stellenbosch University Council.
