true and false knowledge. The Qur’an encourages the reader who interacts
with the text to look inside himself and toward his surroundings to verify the
truth. Therefore, the methods of justification of belief constantly have a Qur’anic
input. A trifecta relationship is formed by an individual continuously seeking
guidance from the text, thereby ‘naturalizing’ epistemology.
Similarly, once an individual accepts the possibility of truth in the
Qur’anic text, they then proceed with that certainty, not in their own selves,
to examine their justification of belief by using both their mental and sensory
faculties. Yet there must be a constant reconnecting to the text in order to
receive guidance on ‘What can we know?’ and ‘How do we know it?’ Finally,
in recognizing those intellectual quests, a Qur’anic epistemology confidently
affirms that humans can know, it is a certainty, and even if their certainty does
not materialize, ‘God knows’.
Conclusion
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Europe embarked on its epistemic journey following disenchantment with its
hitherto established natural order. Freeing itself from the chains of blind faith,
Europe, also, largely rid itself of established meaning. The disappearance of
established meaning, then, implanted a ‘doubt’ in all that was and how it was
understood. Rather than sit back, dismayed, at what destructiveness they had
wrought, the Europeans stood confidently and peered ahead with exceedingly
high hopes in what could be. With the scimitar of science they galloped
ahead, ready to forge a new era of knowledge.
Consequently, occidental epistemology began to deal with such questions
as ‘What can I know?’ and ‘How can I distinguish between those things that
The theory of knowledge and Qur’anic epistemology 49
I am justified in believing and those things that I am not justified in believing?’
Naturally so, since the disappearance of meaning necessitated a reevaluation of
‘truth’ and increased efforts to regain lost meaning. Thus began two dominant
and diverging paths in occidental epistemology that persist today: ‘We might be
able to know the truth’ – plausibility – and ‘We are unable to know anything’ –
denial. For skeptics, though, any attempt at knowledge acquisition is riddled
with human fallibility and ‘pervasive’ error. This, then, led to all our claims to
knowledge being in one form or another dependent on our senses, not being
considered as ‘true knowledge’. What began enthusiastically as a search for
tangible, hard proof of truth quickly fell into relativity. Refusing to accept
that there is no truth, occidental epistemologists developed sophisticated
methods of justification without insisting ‘knowledge’ is possible.
Doubt, then, became the cornerstone of the ‘Western’ intellectual tradition.
Throughout the universities, colleges and campuses of Europe and North
America, the most striking aspect of education is in this supplanting of doubt.
When that doubt-infested paradigm was poorly transplanted into Muslim
society, through its educational institutions, it produced chaos. This, nonetheless, is hardly surprising. Imitation without understanding cannot develop into creativity. What liberated Europe enslaved Islam. Therefore, this study sought to
differentiate between societies and their respective epistemic traditions.
Qur’anic epistemology begins with the affirmation of the ‘certainty of
knowing’, founded on a ‘scriptural’ tradition that is self-transcending and
God-centric. ‘I’ am not the centre, even though ‘I’ am the agent responsible to
read, learn and act. Moreover, it defines the sources of knowledge – God, and
the tools used to derive knowledge – revelation (Qur’an) and reason, including
both our sensory and mental faculties. However, it cautions humans in regards
to the limitations of that knowledge, both sensory and mental, by reminding
us that it is not possible without His sanction. In addition, it describes two
kinds of ‘knowing’ that we’ve labeled as either ‘intrinsic’ – in that it is innately connected to the human condition, and as ‘extrinsic’ – in that is acquired with
our sensory or mental faculties. Still, the acquisition of knowledge is not
possible, in either form of knowing, without God’s approval.
All in all, there exists an air of optimism in a Qur’anic epistemology that
dares to say ‘truth exists’ and even if I don’t know it, God does. This is so
since the source and origins of knowledge begin with God, and the process
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towards obtaining that knowledge is initiated by the human being as the
agent responsible to read, learn and act – constantly returning to the Qur’anic
text for guidance. In essence, it combines a reading of revelation and creation
in its search for true knowledge. Granted, obtaining knowledge is not a given,
but rather is understood as a gift conferred by God on whomever He pleases.
What is learned is not necessarily certain, but God is and He knows best.
To this, the Qur’an is a certainty, not the individual, who is prone to err.
Therefore, Qur’anic epistemology acknowledges that there is ‘doubt’, yet that
‘doubt’ exists in me, not in the Qur’an or God. Doubt, to be clear, exists in
our own ability to understand the text and God. Here we struggle through
50
Islam and Pakistan’s Political Culture
evidence to best understand the correct way; fully aware we may be wrong,
but secure in knowing that truth, or an objective reality, exists and God is Aware
of it. Particularly important to reiterate, in comparison to other epistemic
traditions, is the centrality of the sacred text – the Qur’an – rather than the
individual. Revelation is first: this was thoroughly explained by the use of the
Gettier problem. The implications of this are significant since the question of
human fallibility doesn’t factor primarily for justification of belief due to the
premise of self-transcendence. In other words, I may be wrong about my
understanding of the text, but, nevertheless, the text is a certainty. In the end,
Qur’anic epistemology explains the aversion to say ‘I don’t know’ in Muslim
societies; when someone is unaware, and asks a question, the response is
‘Allahu A’lam’ – ‘God Knows’.
Moreover, we attempt to reveal how the Qur’an presents a unique approach
to the acquisition and distinguishing of knowledge, endowing Muslims with a
particular epistemology. This, then, highlights the attitude its epistemic tra-
dition encourages with regard to the unchangingness or permanence of
their own values, which directly impacts their political culture. According
to the Qur’an, each nation possesses its own methodology, path and law – in
other words, epistemology. Thus, according to the text of the Qur’an, God has
ordained this unique epistemic tradition, implicitly found in the meaning of
the word ‘Qur’an’ – read, learn and act. Therefore, its ultimate accountability
and reference is with the Supreme Being – God. That is, people are required
to do the following: 1. Read, to find its source and principal reference in the
Qur’an and cosmos; 2. Learn, to discover the attributes and basic principles
which define its epistemic content; 3. Act, by living those principles in a
dynamic form according to context. These basic principles are not simplisti-
cally bound by the literal word of Qur’anic verses. Rather, as Al-Alwani pro-
poses, ‘they will be found by applying the commandments of these Qur’anic
verses by using sound human reason and sensory observation of the physical
world and in human psychology and their social interaction’.65
The Qur’an insists on using processes of rationality, deep observation and
empirical analysis for any topic or phenomenon under study. One may con-
jecture, if the possibility of individual certainty is not there, then why pursue
knowledge to begin with? Qur’anic epistemology does not guarantee that I
may be certain about the knowledge I have. Rather, it asks me to have faith in
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the certainty of it existing. Of course, the possibility is there, yet that too is
not entirely dependent on our own human effort. Knowledge is a gift and
may be attained by human effort and God’s generosity to confer certainty on
the individual who pursues knowledge. Thus, by reading the Qur’an and the
cosmos, it firmly implants this idea: believe in God, then in yourself.
Notes
1 Chak, Farhan Mujahid. ‘Critiquing the Modern Western Theory of Knowledge with Insights into Qur’anic Epistemology,’ in American Journal of Islamic Social
The theory of knowledge and Qur’anic epistemology 51
Sciences, October 2012. This chapter is revised from the author’s publication in
the aforementioned journal.
2 Audi, Robert. Belief, Justification and Knowledge: An Introduction to Epistemology, (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1988) p. 8.
3 Kasule, Omar H. Islamization of Knowledge. Intellectual Discourse Conference XVI, (Palua Pagkor, Malaysia. May 1, 2000) p. 1.
4 Rahman, Fazlur. Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition, (Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 1982) p. 86.
5 Giddens, Anthony. Runaway World, (London: Profile Books, 1999) p. 12.
6 Taylor, Charles. The Malaise of Modernity, (Concord: House of Anansi Press, 1991) p. 25.
7 Ibid., p. 5.
8 Kant, Immanuel. Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (New York: Penguin Books, 2010) p. 1.
9 Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, (London: Penguin Books, 2011) p. 43.
10 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Hilali, (Riyadh, KSA: Darussalam
Publishers, 1999) Chapter 96: 1.
11 Islam: Empire of Faith. Dir. Robert Gardner. PBS: Public Broadcasting Corp., 2000.
12 Toynbee, Arnold. Civilization on Trial, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948) p. 7.
13 Ibid., p. 9.
14 Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1994) p. 9.
15 AbuSulayman, Abdul Hamid. Crisis in the Muslim Mind, (Herndon, VA: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1997) pp. 2–5.
16 Elmessiri, Abdelwahab. ‘The Gate of Ijtihad: An Introduction to the Study of Epistemological Bias’, in Epistemological Bias: In the Physical and Social
Sciences, (London: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2006) p. 17.
17 Ramadan, Tariq. In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) p. XI.
18 Taylor, Charles. The Malaise of Modernity, p. 5.
19 Chisholm, Roderick M. The Theory of Knowledge, 3rd Edition. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989) p. 1.
20 Audi, Robert. Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, 3rd edition, (New York: Routledge, 2011) p. 2.
21 Audi, Robert. Belief, Justification and Knowledge, (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1988) p. XVI.
22 Alston, William P. ‘Internalism and Externalism in Epistemology’, in Linda Martin Alcoff (ed.), Epistemology: The Big Questions, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989)
p. 45.
23 Tanesini, Alessandra. ‘The Practices of Justification’, in Epistemology: The Big Questions, p. 152.
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24 Audi, Robert. Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, p. 6.
25 Chisholm, Roderick M. The Theory of Knowledge, p. 152.
26 Polluck, John, and Cruz, Joseph. ‘Introduction’, in Contemporary Theories of Knowledge, 2nd edition, (Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers, 1999)
p. 1.
27 Gettier, Edmund L. ‘Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?’ in Analysis, 23 (1963): 121–23.
28 Chisholm, Roderick M. The Theory of Knowledge, p. 98.
29 Ayer, A.J. The Problem of Knowledge, (Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1956) p. 32.
30 Chisholm, Roderick M. The Theory of Knowledge, p. 2.
52
Islam and Pakistan’s Political Culture
31 Audi, Robert. Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, p. 334.
32 Audi, Robert. Belief, Justification and Knowledge: An Introduction to Epistemology, (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1988) p. 137.
33 Descartes, Rene. ‘Meditations: Meditations on First Philosophy’, in Linda Martin Alcoff (ed.), Epistemology: The Big Questions, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989) p. 8.
34 Putnam, Hillary. Reason, Truth, and History, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981) pp. 5–6.
35 Polluck, John, and Cruz, Joseph. Contemporary Theories of Knowledge, 2nd edition, (Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers, 1999) p. 5.
36 Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Tom L. Beauchamp (ed.), (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) p. 328.
37 Kant, Immanuel. ‘A Critique of Pure Reason’, in Paul Guyer and Allen W. Woods (eds), Works of Immanuel Kant, (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999) p. 121.
38 Polluck, John, and Cruz, Joseph. Contemporary Theories of Knowledge, p. 5.
39 Quine, W.V.O. ‘Epistemology Naturalized’, in Linda Martin Alcoff (ed.), Epistemology: The Big Questions, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989) p. 253.
40 Al-Alwani, Taha Jabir. ‘Introduction’, in Hamid, Eltigani, The Qur’an and Politics, (London: International Institute of Islamic Thought, Biddles Limited, 2004)
p. xiii.
41 Akhtar, Sayyid Wahid. ‘The Islamic Concept of Knowledge’, in Al-Tawhid: A Journal of Islamic Thought and Culture. Vol. XII – Number 3, p. 2.
42 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by M.M. Khan et al., Chapter 2: 30.
43 Ibid., Chapter 2: 31.
44 Ibid., Chapter 2: 32.
45 Al-Farabi, Abu Nasr. On the Perfect State, Richard Walzer (trans.), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) p. 71.
46 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by M.M. Khan et al., Chapter 7: 172.
47 Hamid, Eltigani. The Qur’an and Politics: A Study of the Origins of Political Thought in the Makkan Qur’an, (Washington, DC: International Institute of
Islamic Thought, 2004) p. 33.
48 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by M.M. Khan et al., Chapter 50: 20–21.
49 Ibid., Chapter 16: 78.
50 Ibid., Chapter 17: 36.
51 Ibid., Chapter 7: 179.
52 Al-Farabi, Abu Nasr, On the Perfect State, p. 169.
53 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by M.M. Khan et al., Chapter 6: 25.
54 Yusuf, Hamza. Purificat
ion of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
Spiritual Diseases of the Heart, (Chicago, IL: Starlatch Press, 2004) p. 4.
55 Badawi, El Said, Michael Carter and Adrian Gully. Modern Written Arabic: A Comprehensive Grammar, (London: Routledge, 2004) p. 372.
56 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by M.M. Khan et al., Chapter 6: 104.
57 Al-Farabi, Abu Nasr. On the Perfect State, p. 171.
58 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by M.M. Khan et al., Chapter 3: 13.
59 Ibid., Chapter 2: 3.
60 Abul-Fadl, Mona. Toward Global Cultural Renewal: Modernity and the Episteme of Transcendence, (Washington, DC: IIIT Publishers, 1998) p. 8.
The theory of knowledge and Qur’anic epistemology 53
61 Interpretation of the Meaning of the Noble Qur’an, translated by M.M. Khan et al., Chapter 25: 1.
62 Ibid., Chapter 96: 1–8.
63 Ibid., Chapter 2: 1–2.
64 Ibid., Chapter 32: 2.
65 Al-Alwani, Taha Jabir, and Khalil, Imad al Din. The Qur’an and the Sunnah: The Time-Space Factor, (Beltsville, MD: International Graphics, 1991) p. 13.
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4
Political values
The Qur’an, Prophetic sayings and the
Rashidun Era
Introduction
This chapter deconstructs what the ‘foundational’ in Islamic political culture
is. To clarify, that includes, first, the Qur’an, with a focus on the Makkan
verses; second, the ‘Hadeeth’ – primarily the Bukhari collection; and third, the
‘Rashidun Era’ – the first three decades of Muslim governorship. Collectively,
these embody an ideal that is communicated to the reader, guiding an adherent’s
whole life by providing a yardstick to measure the desirability or undesirability
of actions. 1 Of course, scholars have assembled those components in a multiplicity of ways, and have even added other sources, to put forward their
postulates on directives. Nevertheless, the orthodox Sunni majority subscribes
to these components, which provide broad-based values that infer a political
philosophy. Variation, in other words, falls within an expansive spectrum of
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