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NOTES ON ISLAM
BY
SIR AHMED HUSSAIN, K.C.I.E., C.S.I.
(NAWAB AMIN JUNG BAHADUR)
Collected and Edited
by
Khan Bahadur Hajee Khaja Muhammad Hussain
"_The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge._"--_Proverb_
HYDERABAD, DECCAN
GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRESS
1922
_ALL RIGHTS RESERVED_
TO
THE MEMORY
OF
K. AMJUD HUSSAIN.
_One of the four for whom these Notes
were first written,
in 1917._
+---------------------------------------------+
| Transcriber's note: |
| Bold characters are shown with "+" signs. |
| Arabic names are kept as in the original |
| text. Arabic transliterations are according |
| to ISO 233 system in most cases and from the|
| version by the CANADIAN SOCIETY OF MUSLIMS |
| with their kind permission. |
+---------------------------------------------+
[Printer's mark]
FOREWORD
The following Notes were enclosed by the author in his weekly letters to
his brother and sons who were students in the Universities of Cambridge,
Edinburgh and Birmingham. I persuaded him to allow me to have them
printed, as I thought they were suggestive and useful. He has however
desired me to say that they should not be regarded as anything but
concise memoranda jotted down (at short intervals between the busy hours
of his official life) as general answers to questions put to him. They
contain some passages which are too concise or abstract, if not vague or
enigmatic. But, the author says, he left them designedly so in order to
induce his readers to try to understand them or at least to seek
explanation and illustration. Numerous foot-notes have been added for
the same purpose.
He frankly admits that his view of Islam is neither quite orthodox nor
quite heterodox but something midway between the two. It was put forward
in order to make his boys think for themselves and argue with him. The
first three Notes may be 'skipped' at the first reading.
Sincere acknowledgments are due to Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk Bahadur Bilgrami,
C.S.I., Mr. J.C. Molony, I.C.S., Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahim, B.A., B.L.,
Mr. Syed Ross Masood, M.A., and others who very kindly read the proofs
and favoured the author with valuable suggestions.
Banganapalle, }
_11th August 1922_. } K.M.H.
Duty is Deity
Work is Worship.--_Sanskrit Proverb_
CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD 7
MUSLIM PRAYER 9
NOTE 1. INTRODUCTION 11
" 2. THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE QUR'AN 15
" 3. WHAT IS RELIGION? 20
" 4. WHAT IS TRUE ISLAM? 25
" 5. WHAT IS NOT ISLAM 29
" 6. "ISLAM" AND "NOT-ISLAM" 35
" 7. WHY IS ISLAM THE BEST RELIGION? 43
" 8. UNITY & UNION 49
" 9. PERFECTION & SELF-HELP 57
" 10. MODERATION & VIA MEDIA 63
" 11. EVOLUTION & SURVIVAL 73
" 12. "RELIGION BEGINS WITH THE FEAR OF THE LORD
AND ENDS IN THE LOVE OF MAN" 79
APPENDIX:
MUSLIM REFORMATION 87
OUR PRAYER 97
Worship Truth
Love Humanity.--_Islamic Maxim_
+THE MUSLIM PRAYER.+[1]
_Surai Fatiha_
Praise be to Thee my God, Lord of the Worlds!
O Merciful, Compassionate art Thou!
The King of all on Day of Reckoning,
Thee only do we worship and adore,
To Thee, most merciful, we cry for help;
O guide us ever more on the straight path,
The path of those to whom Thou gracious art
On whom Thine anger falls not then nor now,
The path of them that from Thee go not stray.
Amen.
Grant that the knowledge I get may be the
knowledge worth having.--_Thomas a Kempis._
NOTES ON ISLAM
+Note 1.+
_Introduction._
Two of you--Lateef and Altaf--will recollect that more than a year ago
you wrote to me saying that you were puzzled by certain questions which
a Missionary had put to you. I remember that Amjud or Mahmood even went
so far as to ask what was the good of Islam, when countries and people
professing that faith had weak governments and were crumbling to pieces
under the influence of Christian Powers.[2] I answered your queries only
in a general way as your University education had not then advanced far
enough. But I think the time has now come when I should try to explain
to you what I conceive to be the true spirit of the religion of our
fore-fathers.
I firmly believe that Islam is the best[3] religion in the world--I
mean, Islam rightly understood and interpreted and _not_ the
Muhammadanism[4] of some of our formularist Maulavies,[5] who say that
a man goes to Hell or Heaven according as he wears his trousers lower or
higher than his ankles! They have degraded our religion by paying undue
attention to formulas and forms to the exclusion and neglect of its
living spirit and reality[6]. The poet Hafiz rightly stigmatised their
vain controversies when he said that [Persian: Chon nadiden haghighat
afsaneh zadend] "since they did not see the fact, they ran after
fiction."
I am more than ever convinced of two characteristics of Islam:--
_1st._--It is not inconsistent with _true_ Christianity, or with any
other _true_ religion[7] of which the fundamental principle is [Arabic:
Tawhid] One God [Arabic: waḥdahū la šarīka lahū] "the Peerless
One."[8]
_2nd._--It conforms to modern scientific ideas better than any other
religion.
I have already explained, in some of my letters[9] to you, why I believe
that Islam is but a continuation and consummation of Christianity as
taught by Jesus himself in _his own speeches_ which are reported in the
Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament. We have nothing to do with the
interpretation of his words by his Apostles and others after them. If we
take the plain words and the plain meaning of those words reported to
have proceeded from his own blessed mouth,[10] we clearly see that they
teach the same sublime truths as our Prophet himself inculcated. Jesus
did not live long to complete his mission, Muhammad completed it. Both
were God's holy messengers [Arabic: Rusul-u-llah]. Says the Qur'an:
"This day I have completed your religion for you." [Arabic: l-yawma
ʾakmaltu lakum dīnakum]
I need not now go into details, or refer to other religions, to shew
that the spirit of Islam is not inconsistent with their true spirit, if
rightly conceived and interpreted in the light of modern science. I hope
I shall be able some day to write down the result of my own thought and
investigation in the matter. I content myself at present with drawing
your attention to the first characteristic of Islam, and I propose to
write a few Notes to draw your special attention to its second
characteristic which is the more remarkable--the characteristic that it
is quite consistent with modern ideas of science.
No scientific idea influenced the thought of the last century more
profoundly than the idea of progress or development embodied in what is
called the Law of Evolution. It is now widely accepted. You will be
surprised to know that many an Islamic tenet is entirely in accord with
it. Indeed Maulana Rumi outlined it poetically in his famous _Masnavi_
in the thirteenth century, in the same manner as Lord Tennyson did in
his _Princess_ in the nineteenth. I desire that you should try to
understand it in its modern form. I strongly recommend that you should
read an admirable book by Edward Clodd called _The Story of
Creation_[11]. When I first read it, some years ago, I felt it was as
pleasant and interesting as a novel. Its introduction and Part II are
quite easy to read. They will give you a very good idea of the great
revolution which Darwin and Wallace, Huxley and Spencer have wrought in
the thought of our own times.
+Note 2.+
_The First Chapter of the Qur'an._
The following is a translation of the "Opening Chapter" of our Holy
Qur'an. I have analysed it by placing Roman and Arabic numerals, the
first indicating verses [Arabic: ayyat] and the second indicating
sub-divisions of verses.
_Opening Chapter._ +[Arabic: Sura al-fātiḥa]+
In the Name of God the [Arabic: bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm]
Compassionate, the
Merciful.
I. Praise be to God, [Arabic: al-ḥamdu li-llāhi] .I
(1) Lord (Nourisher) [Arabic: rabbi l-ʿālamīn (1)]
of the Worlds,
(2) the Compassionate, [Arabic: ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (2)]
the Merciful
(3) King of the Day [Arabic: māliki yawmi d-dīn (3)]
of Reckoning (= day
of judgment.)
II. .II
(1) Thee only do we [Arabic: ʾiyyāka naʿbudu (1)]
worship,
(2) and Thee only do [Arabic: wa-ʾiyyāka nastaʿīn (2)]
we ask for aid.
(3) Guide us in the [Arabic: ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīm (3)]
right Path (that is)
III. the Path of those [Arabic: ṣirāṭa llaḏīna] .III
(1) to whom Thou [Arabic: ʾanʿamta ʿalayhim (1)]
art gracious,
(2) who are not objects [Arabic: ġayri l-maġḍūbi ʿalayhim (2)]
of wrath,
(3) and who go not [Arabic: wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīn (3)]
astray.
_Amen_[12] [Arabic: āmīn]
The whole Sura divides itself into three parts and each part into three
divisions thus:--
Part I.--_Nature of God_.
Three principal attributes of God:--
(1) Creator or Nourisher [Arabic: Rab]
(2) Protector [Arabic: raḥmāni wa r-raḥīm]
(3) Adjuster [Arabic: māliki yawmi d-dīn]