Comments on Richard Khuri's
Freedom, modernity and Islamby Joseph Kenny, O.P.
for CRVP Seminar on Islam, freedom and modernity
Notre Dame University, Beirut, 20 May 2010Uncannily prophetic —That is what I would say of this book, published in 1998, and written during the previous 10 years. Subsequent events, such as the Arab awakening, and the attendant government resistance, were no surprise.
The main thrust of the book, i.e., that there is a crisis both in Muslim thinking and in modernity, I find myself in agreement with. Muslims face ideologies and movements which threaten Islamic faith or practice, if proper distinctions are not made.
Likewise modernism is in a crisis, not only in ever changing theories about physics and cosmology, but also, and principally, in its exclusion of the spiritual from the sphere of reason.
I do, however, take issue with certain subsidiary points, and would like to clarify certain others.
First, as for the idea of freedom, I prefer to refer to Mortimer Adler, who shows how, in the course of history, it has had three basic meanings:
- Psychological freedom, which is none other than free will, the indetermination of the human will to any means to an end, and even to the end, so long as it is goodness not seen in its plenitude. This freedom is a presupposition, not discussed in this paper.
- Freedom from coercion, whether this is thought-control (e.g. "correct political thinking"), muzzling the expression of thought, or physical coercion. This social freedom is in the forefront of the political struggles of Arab and African countries today.
- Freedom of realization, which means virtue, both personal and in the community. This is the principle meaning of the term in the New Testament —e.g. "The truth will make you free." At issue here is the balance between faith and reason, with neither choking the other, with a consequent de-humanization.
Modernity covers a multitude of intellectual and social constructs, which have had positive or negative effects on the freedom of realization. Its main features, as Richard Khuri sets out, are:
- Technology, a neutral asset which everyone wants. It provides the amenities of life, such as food, shelter, health-care, transportation and communication. It also provides the tools of war and oppression.
- Theoretical science. This, I observe, can be a challenge to faith, but not if proper distinctions are made, namely:
- What is proven. Scientists with hands-on experience, people with Nobel prizes, can provide many instances of this. A Thomistic realist would affirm this. So would an Avicennian, and the vast majority of Muslims and Nigerians.
In this discussion, I distance myself from Khuri in his espousal of Kant as a reference point. Kantian idealism, which puts all such discoveries under the category of "phenomenon" (leaving the "noumenon" to sola fides) excludes all knowledge, truth, and certitude about physical things, and a fortiori about immaterial things. It is a dead-end for anyone except Kantians, who seem to dominate the landscape in Germany and many other places.
In the seminar discussion, I was pleased to hear from Khuri that he did not really subscribe to Kant's views, but referred to them to connect with his readers, many of whom measure everything in reference to Kant.
- What is probable. This is most of modern scientific inquiry.
- What is hypothetical. Here, for example, popular Darwinism must be queried. Its proponents correctly list the historical sequence in the development of life, but they generally deny final causality, and fall into the fallacy of "post hoc propter hoc" by failing to search for the causal mechanism that alters DNA to produce new species. Moreover, most Darwinists reject specific differences in the Aristotelian sense. For them, from a microbe to Man, there is only a difference of variation, so that one easily melts into another.
- What is false. Here, for example, we can refer to abortionists, who describe a fetus as mere "tissue". Similar also are the arguments of those who defend same-sex marriages. At issue here is the "tyranny of relativism", or "aggressive secularism", to use Pope Benedict's phrases.
These distinctions are important, because much ideology parades as science, claiming an unwarranted certitude. On the other hand, skepticism, born of idealism, is the trade-mark of most contemporary philosophy of science. That precludes certitude about anything.
Khuri makes reference to al-Ghazālī's approach to science. Al-Ghazālī has his defenders and opponents. In my estimation, he was a fair driver, but fell into a lot of potholes.
- Social organization. Modernity is characterized by the "rule of law", where everyone is equal before the law. This operates in tension with the patronage system of personal ties: family, clan, tribe, school-mate bonds, "who you know", etc. The patronage system is obvious even in the "first world". —I think first of the politics of Chicago, where I grew up. Someone in American government told me, "No one goes anywhere without a push and a pull," i.e. personal effort, and help from someone inside. This is very obvious in Nigeria, where a friend or a bribe is often needed to get an entitlement. This feeds both corruption and thuggery. The rule of law is needed to correct these excesses, but it cannot eliminate the role of personal connections.
Modernity in Nigeria
We can exemplify Khuri's thinking by a brief and selective survey survey of Nigerian attitudes to the various features of modernism.
When it comes to technology, there is complete support, from all quarters. Nigerians excel in this area. Why then is the nation's infrastructure in such a shambles? —That is because of a history of corruption and bad politics, leading to brain-drain. The better qualified find better opportunities outside.
As for the theoretical science, numerous Nigerian university professors have made a mark both at home and abroad. Most of these are religious people; if they are not, it is not because of their science. I know of none who write critiques of religion from a scientific or philosophical viewpoint.
There are, however, a number of "village atheists" who attack religion in newspaper columns, but have little knowledge of what they are talking about.
In the study of religion, scholars of the University of Ibadan —and several sister universities— took a phenomenological approach. Some Christian clergymen did excellent studies on African Traditional Religion, resorting even to participatory observation. These departments are weak on the theological aspect of their research. The same can be said for women writing about their role in religious activities; they mostly echo what their counterparts abroad are saying.
Yoruba Muslims are much more relaxed and accommodating than the mostly Salafist Hausa. Nevertheless, lecturers in Arabic and Islamic Studies, at the University of Ibadan and elsewhere, are cautious about modernist thinking.
Modernism and its challenges have been a prominent subject in literature. Afis Oladosu gave a brilliant presentation of the subject in a Faculty Lecture at the University of Ibadan, Faculty of Arts, on 21 April 2011. It was entitled "Amnesia and nostalgia in north African literature". The amnesia refers to the loss of identity and sense of alienation accompanying the sweeping away of traditional culture before new education, new technology, new religion etc. Nostalgia refers to the attempt to retrieve an idealized past. He referred to Chinua Achebe, who depicts this vividly in his novels. The Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka takes the same line, but repudiating "foreign" Christianity and Islam. Mark Nwagwu, turned novelist after a career in Zoology, writes about the same problem, and ends with a Catholic synthesis between old and new.
As for social reform, in the early 1970s a vibrant school of Marxists flourished at Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria. Yusufu Bala Usman (of Katsina royal lineage) and Ibrahim Tahir (both now deceased) led the movement. They did not repudiate Islam, but were fervent social critics. One of their followers, Baba Tukur (now at Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto) told me that he is more religious now than in those days, but he still finds himself at odds with his fellow Muslims on multiple issues. There are many similar-minded Muslims in the north of Nigeria. They have embraced modernism, but mostly in the area of social reform.
Nigerian traditional values are not perfect, but in many respects are superior to the official and often prevalent norms found in so many other countries. Yet Europe and America have conducted an onslaught particularly on family values. To arrest Nigerian colonization of their countries, they have conducted an aggressive carrot and stick campaign for population control. Planned Parenthood is the best funded foreign mission in Nigeria. Politicians are bought over, and condoms pushed. Obama approved abortion funding abroad. Abortion legalization is sought, not to make it safe, but to fund it and compel its availability. In addition, "gay rights" are thrust on a recalcitrant Muslim, Christian and Traditionalist population. This foreign onslaught has an efficacious ally in the free availability of pornography. Years of experience show me that today's problems are not the same as yesterday.
As for politics, from its independence in 1960, Nigeria has groaned under inept and corrupt civilian and military governments. The April 2011 elections, by general consensus, were the freeest and fairest elections Nigeria has ever had. This is the result of two factors. The first is the chance, or providential, accession of Goodluck Jonathan to the presidency, who used every means available to assure a fair election. The second is the conscientization and rage of the masses against the status quo of government. They would no longer tolerate the entrenched practice of election fraud.
A highly disturbing social factor is the radical anti-modernism of a minority of northern Muslims. This has taken shape in the "Boko Haram" movement. "Boko" is a Hausa word for Roman script, and by extension all "Western" education and culture. It is responsible for many assassinations and bombings, and on 16 June 2011 for the first suicide bombing in Nigeria. This violent attitude also surfaced in the mesmerized supporters of Buhari, who lost in the presidential election of April 2011. His supporters went on a rampage, attacking anything associated with the winning party. They burned churches, the palace of the Emir of Zaria and homes of many Muslims and Christians, and massacred hundreds of people. Their avowed aim is to impose Islamic rule, as they understand it, on the whole country.
My overall comment is that Nigerians, whether Muslim or Christian, are short on good philosophical training. That shows up in weakness in reconciling faithfulness to their religious tradition with the cafeteria of modernist offers. What should they chose, and why? —They are often at a loss to give an answer. This carries over to their relationship with other religious traditions, in the area of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.
Such people are like owners of a car, who do not know how to drive, or are not good at it. They either stay at home, or drive very cautiously, or have accidents.
The space given to philosophy is a good barometer of fear, confidence, or recklessness. In the universities of the north of Nigeria (outside the capital, Abuja), where conservative Islam prevails, there are no departments of philosophy. This reflects the attitude in Saudi Arabia and most Arab countries. But in the south there are many philosophy departments, with a good number of Muslim lecturers. These departments, however, are dominated by analytic positivism, and give scant comfort to religious realists.
An amalgam of ancient Greek philosophy, medieval Islamic and Thomistic philosophy, with serious attention to modern science, would not only support basic religious beliefs. It would also open wide the potential of both faith and reason, equipping the mind to examine ideas with confidence, and discern truth from error.
Conclusion
It is clear that Muslims everywhere have little or no problem with modern technology. When it comes to theoretical science, they come across a mentality that excludes faith or confines it in a small corner. Philosophical resources are available, however, to resolve problems between faith and science, to distinguish between genuine findings and mere speculation spurred by ideology.
In social questions, Muslims are ready to use every opportunity to combat corruption and tyranny. Some yearn for a strict imposition of Shari`a, with Muslim hegemony and discrimination against Christians. But the majority take a pragmatic view, and willingly cooperate with Christians to bring about reform, with full equality to all. To justify this approach, they maintain that, although Shari`a is a must for Muslims and its principles cannot be compromised, its application is supple.
We are at a providential crossroads in history. I am hopeful that popular demand, combined with sound philosophical and social principles, will lead us to a bright future.