Rise and fall of nations follow a natural cycle of
eminence and decadence. The points connecting this cycle are often reflected in
the behaviour of rulers and the actions of the community. These cycles have
always existed in human history but the point is to uncover the linkages and
inter-relationships which constitute them. In the known history of human
knowledge, this task was, first of all, undertaken by Ibn Khaldūn
in his massive work ‘The Muqaddimah’
---An Introduction to History, about which Arnold Toynbee, the author of the
masterpiece Philosophy of the History, said:
A philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the greatest
work of its kind that has ever yet been created by any mind in any time or
place.
The life of Ibn Khaldūn was marked with political turmoil,
wherein at the one hand, he gradually worked himself up to the seat of the prime
minister and, on the other hand, was jailed for years many times due to
allegations, and some times due to attempts of rebellion. His quarter-century
political-administrative career is preceded with his in-depth learning of most
of the knowledge accumulated in his times including the Qur’ān and its
commentaries. This strange amalgamation of theory and practice helps in
understanding the matchless genius of Khaldūn, and his tremendous insight into
the phenomenon of social change, from which we have chosen the issue of RISE AND
FALL OF NATIONS.
Rise and Fall of Nations
For Ibn Khaldūn, the principles of rise and fall of
nations are alike for Muslims and Non-Muslims. He had studied the history of
nations, which was available in his times, and had visited almost all the
centers of power and prosperity of his age, which were mostly situated in the
Muslim dynasties. This immense exposure to the theoretical and practical
dynamics of the world has helped Ibn Khaldūn in coming out with strict criteria
for historical judgements.
Pondering on the role of scholars, Ibn Khaldūn has
criticised the ‘should-be’ style of teachings of note-worthy philosophers like
Aristotle or Plato saying:
The ideal city (of the philosophers) is something rare and
remote. They discuss it as a hypothesis.
He was of the view that these philosophers have only
deliberated on how an ideal world should look like and have little to say
something concrete about the mechanics of the real world. Ibn Khaldūn went on to
say that to understand the governing principles of rise and fall, one must adopt
an ‘is’ ie. see-the-facts style of study otherwise one will land into the world
of utopias and wishful thinking, a behaviour leading to definite decadence. For
this purpose he urges us to get complete information, track the historical
incidents and then think deeply into the events of the age, which should help
the sociologists in arriving at the truth.
Principles of Rise and Fall
1. Spirit of the Age (Rūhi-‘Asr)
Ibn Khaldūn maintains that every century or age brings its
own sociology, or the values of social change and it is the role of sociologists
to discover these values and relate them with the problems of their nation.
Events keep on happening in all the spheres of the society and at all levels of
the community but for a scholar of sociology, these events become the source of
laws, which govern the dynamics of rise and fall. These laws derived in one age
may not be applicable in other periods of history. So sociologists must
indigenously help in raising the standard of collective living by discovering
and relating these laws with the actual problems of his society.
2. Strength of Life (Quwwat-i-Hayāt)
‘Number, weapons, and proper tactics may guarantee but the
reason for victory in war is the result of imaginary psychological factors’
observed Ibn Khaldūn.
This spirit, however, does not necessarily originate from a particular religion
or a cult as each nation has its own spirit of life. This spirit may stem from
religious convictions, as in the case of Muslims, and may also originate from
the desire to conquer the world, as in the case of Alexander the Great.
3. Strong Bias (‘Asabiyyah)
Laying the foundations of what later was called ‘Sociology
of Ethics or Morality’, Ibn Khaldūn has emphasized the importance of collective
ethics or the ethics of the society in relation to the individual ethics. He
maintains that the character of a nation can only be judged by the collective
morality and the presence of noble characteristics in the individuals may not
reflect the societal ethics. Ibn Khaldūn observed that the world-wide
establishment of the Muslims was due to their character and more importantly,
their conviction with their character or, as the historian puts it, ‘Asabiyyah
i.e. a strong belief in and bias for the righteousness of their system.
4.Independence of Thinking and Knowledge
Ibn Khaldūn observes that the Muslim Ummah enjoyed glory
and eminence all the world over as long as they were original and independent in
their approach towards knowledge and thinking. These Muslim scholars laid the
foundation of several new disciplines
and inventions in both natural sciences like biology, chemistry, and astronomy
and in social sciences like history or philosophy. Their independent thoughts
helped their respective dynasties to flourish and establish their authority and
supremacy over other nations. The world-acclaimed centers of knowledge, towards
which scholars used to come from their respective nations, were situated in the
Muslim countries. Ibn Khaldūn maintains that only riding with the dynamic tides
of knowledge can ensure supremacy.
5. Perseverance
Glory of a nation is not a function of days and even
years. Ibn Khaldūn has given the historical examples of the Abbasid Dynasty,
whose mission stayed for almost ten years and did not attack until they gathered
enough support through propaganda and consolidation of their force. Similarly,
the mission of the Fatimidis persevered for more than ten years for victory over
Aghlabids in Africa and then waited for thirty years to strike at the right
moment against Egypt. This explains the importance of perseverance in rise of
nations.
Implications and Relevance
Implications: the Qur’ānic Spirit
Ibn Khaldūn, unlike what most of the Muslim theologians
would like to see, has adopted a non-religious style of history and has arrived
at principles, which are applicable to all nations irrespective of their
religion. He was not a historian or a philosopher in the ordinary academic sense
of the word; he wrote on what he personally observed and about which he was a
part and parcel. He refers to the Holy Script, the Qur’ān, then and there but
never claims to have inferred Sociology, ‘Ilmu’l-‘Imrān, explicitly from Qur’ān,
as a noted scholar on Ibn Khaldūn, Dr. Basharat Ali has tried to attribute.
For example, after deliberating on the importance of perseverance in the light
of history, Ibn Khaldūn cites references from the Qur’ān such as: ‘And verily,
you will not be able to change God’s way.’ (33:62) in the middle of the chapter
which he wrote on ‘Gaining Power through Perseverance’
and it is apparently no relationship between the topic and the verse. Similarly,
in the chapter on ‘The Origin of New Dynasties’,
he cites: ‘God has the power to execute His commands’ (12:21). Here again, he
has cited a universal principle of Allah, which, in specific terms, has nothing
to do with the ‘Origin of New Dynastis.’
The point here is, of course, not to undermine the
importance and relevance of the Qur’ān with our lives but to emphasize the
original approach of Ibn Khaldūn towards knowledge and thinking. In addition, we
should differentiate between the Qur’ānic spirit and the literal meanings of its
verses. Orientation of literal meanings helps acquiring the Qur’ānic spirit but
it may not necessarily imply a literal linkage of Qur’ān to some of our
problems. This attitude should be followed by the Muslim scholarship in all the
fields. ‘He will then inform you of that wherein you differ.’
Relevance: the reinterpretation
1. Soul of Life: The Character
We have long estranged ourselves in discussing and discovering the basic
spirit of our life: the basic motive behind our actions at both the individual
and collective levels. We perceive that it is the Hereafter, which motivates our
actions but in effect it is not. Sometimes it is greed of power, sometimes it is
a lust for material progress, and sometimes it is (gaining acceptability in the
community) humanity. We provide it with the cover of Islam and yet do not like
to listen about the real motives. We are ready to give our lives for Islam but
not the lifetime. Religiousness is on the rise as the number of mosques, and
their attendance, is increasing; people going to perform pilgrimage are
increasing but this form of religiousness is little to do with the spirit of the
religion: the character. It is easy to go to Africa for preaching but difficult
to exhibit a moving character for one’s neighbors for it is the character, which
is the best form of preaching and, ironically, it is the character which we lack
the most.
2. Collective Morality: Social Justice
Nations can survive and rise without religion but NOT
without social justice. If we cannot provide our fellow-citizens equal access to
the opportunities of education, health and employment, no prophecy is required
to predict the disintegration of the nation.
3. Spirit of the Age: Democracy
Humanity, after the experiments of centuries, has reached
the conclusion that only democracy, given all its imperfections and problems, is
the most desirable state of government which can hold the diversifying and often
conflicting forces in a society. This was not the case in the times of Ibn
Khaldūn and for no reason, we should move in a backward direction. This age
belongs to democracy
-- tolerance and consultation for that matter -- democracy in politics,
democracy in society, and democracy in religion. This is the only way towards
progress and all the developed nations have learnt it the hard way but, as a
nation, neither are we ready to adopt democracy nor are we willing to prepare
ourselves for that. The basic reason of constant political failure of religious
parties is precisely this: they are not ready to accept this spirit of the age
and the result: this age is neither willing to elect them, and, paradoxically,
by the same token, nor ready to accept Islam itself.
4. Independence of Thinking: Indigenization of Knowledge
Supremacy depends on access to and expertise in knowledge.
Humanity has entered the information-era, where the capital belongs to
knowledge, while we are still wondering in the premises of agrarian and
industrial ages. The reality, therefore, is that we have lagged behind, and the
power of change rests with the West. We sometimes follow the change
half-heartedly and sometimes simply wonder and get shocked. We fall flat in the
arena of nations but think that we are not only standing but also believe that
we can still lead the world to a better path. This is wishful thinking, to say
the least. But this is a natural and historical phenomenon too and the Qur’ān
gives no exception to Muslims.
Nations have risen and fallen. But the point is to realize that we have fallen
and must think deeply on the reasons of our fall. When the West, during its dark
ages, realized this, they went on their knees before the Muslim scholarship in
all the fields, transferred the work done by the Muslims in their languages,
indigenized it, and presented it to the world as if it were their own. They did
the right thing but we Muslims, on our turn, declined to accept this reality and
condemned the West and its contributions, consciously or unconsciously sending
them to Hell and Fire. Our self-centered ego not only caused us material loss
but we also committed the sin of ignoring an explicit instruction of the Holy
Prophet (sws):
Words of wisdom is an awaited possession, or inheritance, of a believer; thus
wherever he may find it he is most deserving of adopting it.
This historical lesson speaks volumes of importance of assimilation of
knowledge with an objective and an un-biased approach and to indigenize it
according to our own needs and problems. Today, through educational and research
institutions, probably we cannot do much about democracy or the character of a
nation. But we can do a bit of useful work as far as Indigenization or
Islamization-- as we would like to call it—of knowledge is concerned. I,
therefore, would devote some more space to this issue.
We are often tempted to formulate things like ‘Islamic Democracy’ or ‘Islamic
Economics’ and take pride in this Islamization. This is wishful thinking, to say
the least. We have politicized the whole idea of Islamization and take no
academic pains in the subject matter. No wonder we are flouted and laughed at.
As a matter of fact, we should not waste our energies in Islamizing the whole
body of knowledge, but we should work diligently in developing our own worldview
and an indigenous philosophy of knowledge. A noteworthy scholar Seyyed Vali Reza
Nasr has the following insight to offer:
The world is the creation of God, and as such, is inherently and by
definition Islamic. Science also, in the same vein, possesses a sacred quality,
for it is predicated upon observation of the attributes and the work of the
sacred. Therefore, Muslims can aspire to Islamize not the sciences or the social
sciences, but the philosophy of these disciplines.
Principles of government such as power, equity, authority, justice,
legitimacy, domination, or subjugation – for instance, were not an Islamic
invention, which could be termed as distinctly ‘Islamic’. They had predated
Islam in Arabia, and have existed in other sociocultural milieu since then. The
Holy Prophet (sws) adopted these principles and subjected them to the writ of
Islamic law and worldview. He never claimed to devise a government or governance
anew, as some of the contemporary Muslim thinkers believe it to be possible and
incumbent on them.”
To Allah belongs the East and the West: whithersoever ye turn there is the
presence of Allah.
5. Perseverance: Wait
We have become short-tempered: both in our dealings with our fellow beings,
and in our expectations of results. Change never comes overnight: no matter how
much democracy we allow, how strong we may build our character, how
knowledgeable we may become, and how much social justice we may establish, even
then we will have to wait; have to persevere to prove ourselves deserving of
Nusrat – the divine help. Only consistent application of these principles at an
increasingly wider scale in our society, and subsequently in the Ummah at large
can bring about positive and concrete changes.
Conclusion
Progress of the Muslim Ummah, provided all the above conditions have been
met, will take decades, if not generations. The path is long, the destination is
far, yet we must hold our ground. In times, when instead of opening the doors,
we are closing some of them, for example that of democracy, it takes a blindly
optimistic fellow to predict a near date of change. We should, however, instead
of lamenting or wondering, concentrate on doing our bit, say in the sphere of
Indeginization of knowledge, to help bringing that date nearer, to help covering
some distance. Allah says: ‘Then shall anyone who has an atom’s weight of good
see it! And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil see it.’
Let’s do our atom’s weight of good!
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