What is Secularism?
Secularism is an Ideology that denies the existence of God, or prophethood and revelation, or divorces them from playing any part in the public and social existence of human life. It is in complete opposition to the pure Islamic monotheism [Tawhid] which every Muslim must believe in. Thus, as one scholar states, that the difference between Secularism and Islam is ‘the difference between monotheism [Tawhid] and polytheism [Shirk]’. The two are diametrically opposed to each other as water is with fire.
Islam, unlike other ‘religions’ cannot accept the concept of secularism since it implies that God is obeyed, or His commandments are to be implemented at certain times, places and circumstances as opposed to being the complete code of life that is implemented at every breath of a Muslim, “Say: verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my life, and my death are for Allah, the Lord of All the Worlds. He has no partner. This is how I have been commanded and I am the first of those who submit.” [6: 162-163]. It is implemented in mosques, houses, cafes, schools, universities, in the streets, in government – there is no place on earth that Islam is ineffective or not practiced.
A true believer who affirms the existence of Allah cannot separate his religion, as the Christian has done with his faith, into two categories: “Render unto Caesar things which belong to Caesar, and render unto God things which belong to God” (Matthew 22:21). This paves the way for sentiments such as the Nietzschean proclamation or prophesy that ‘God is dead’ to be accepted which is, without a doubt, heresy in Islam.
Indeed, those who accept some parts of the book and reject others are in fact regurgitating the same proclamation of the philosophers that ‘God is dead’ – only accepting what their desires and whims concurs with and rejecting what their desires and caprices denies, ‘’Then is it only a part of the Book that you believe in, and do you reject the rest? But what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life? And on the Day of Judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous chastisement for Allah is not unmindful of what you do’’, [2:855].
Therefore, those who call for the ‘Secularisation of Islam’ or that Secularism is compatible with the principles of Islam either have: no or very little understanding of what Islam is, or are following an obscure version of Islam that was concocted and imposed upon them by their superiors. Those who deny and reject the Shari’ah as the overriding criterion by which their lives should be disciplined upon are in fact rejecting the very unity [Tawhid] of God as the Legislator and governor of the universe.
Secularism: Source for Unity
Allah says, ‘’And hold fast to the rope of Allah and do not get divided’’ [3:103].
Islam is a religion that accommodates variant opinions on issues pertaining to fiqh and other disciplines – this is one of the miracles or illustrations of Islam being a faith that is applicable for all times, places and for all people. Our scholars have differed greatly in matters of fiqh [Jurisprudence], authentification of ahadith, they have presented one or more explanations on a given verse or ahadith – which is all documented and will be impossible to resolve and unify people on the same opinions. This will continue until the of Day Judgement. On the other hand, there are certain fundamentals which are not open to interpretation or differences of opinion such as the fact that Muhammad, peace be upon, is the last Messenger, that a Muslim must observe the five daily prayers, that Riba [interest] is prohibited, that Khamr [al kinds of intoxicants] are forbidden, that adultery is forbidden, and that ruling by what Allah has revealed is obligatory and he who denies the superiority of Qur’an and Islam over all other ideologies, religions and paths is in fact in breach of the fundamentals of Islam of which there is no disagreement past or present nor shall any sane person who believes in Allah and the last Day disagree in the future.
For Muslims, whether you adhere to the Salafi, Sufi, Ikhwani, HT, Tablighi, Deobondi, traditionalist or the revivalist trend, this issue, that Secularism equates to kufr [Disbelief], should be our rallying point of unity. There is a concerted and targeted effort from certain sections of our non Muslim community and a small minority of the ‘Muslim’ community to confine Islam in the houses, mosques and incarcerate and restrict its comprehensive and cohesive Laws into compacted areas of life. It is a disease that was injected into the body of the Ummah and it is killing the body as cancer devours its patient, but there is a cure for this ailment which we all have the power to combat. It manifest into two issues, 1- Correct Tarbiyya, and 2- To be united even with our diversity.
We all have the same ‘Aqidah, particularly on this issue. So let us come together and stop debating and dividing our ranks over the peripheral matters and unite against the common enemy that is Secularism.
‘For Muslims, whether you adhere to the Salafi, Sufi, Ikhwani, HT, Tablighi, Deobondi, traditionalist or the revivalist trend, this issue, that Secularism equates to kufr [Disbelief], should be our rallying point of unity’
First of all the above sentence seems to outline the different kinds of Muslims in the UK, my question is: is this a conclusive list?
Secondly how on earth can equate secularism to kufr? and does that mean Muslims who adhere to the notion that no religion should dominate the public space in the UK, are they apostates?
Thirdly, what are you proposing as an alternative? Establishment of a UK khilafah perhaps?
Correction: It is not true to say that secularism denies the existence of god.
Indeed many secularists are religious people (in their own way) – they just believe in ’securlarism’ which means the separation or exclusion of religion from public life. Some secularists may indeed be atheists but that’s a different matter.
In mainstream Christianity, secularism is part of official doctrine: “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”. (Matthew: 22:21)
They are not atheists. I personally believe secularism is impossible, without religious guidance morality is personalised – what then is right and wrong, why is one man’s belief that stealing from multi-nationals any less acceptable than another’s belief that all theft is wrong?
‘Secularism is an Ideology that denies the existence of God, or prophethood and revelation, or divorces them from playing any part in the public and social existence of human life’
Read, the answers there.
wslm
The writer seems to be a in a state of confusion between secularism at state level and secularism at societal or individual level.
At the state level, secularism advocates a religion-neutral state, in which citizens are free to practice their faiths. Furthermore, laws are not biased towards any one particular religion. In State secularism, institutions of legislative and executive should be free from religious institutions and vice versa.
However, religion and politics should not be seperated, and in fact, politics should be informed by the moral and ethical principles by religion, and political debate influenced by religious disputation should be encouraged in a democratic polity. This is true secularism and the path towards a true Islamic democracy or rather secular liberal democracy in Muslim majority nation states.
Assalamu Alaiku,
Sidi Faisal, I pray you and your family are well. Juma’ Mubarak sidi. Please read the whole post to understand, Insa’Allah this will be calrified more in future blogs. tc
may Allah guide you.
wslm
I find it amusing that there are so many different versions of secularism being defined by Muslims so much so I would like to ask: Would true Muslims speaking for secularism please stand up?!
As far as I understand, secularism is such an ambiguous term, a catch-all term that allows too many meanings as any political science textbook will show. Which definition would you use? The mid 19th century one which was ideological and denoted the doctrine that morality should be based on purely rational considerations with no deference to the after-life? Or would you use in the current usage that to mean both rational moralisation and separation of Church and State?
It is an ideology (which some political scientists equate with myth) that has no locus standi, and only three countries adopt it in their constitutions: France, Mexico & India. Other states call themselves liberal democratic states but that does not mean these liberal democrats do not claim their states should also be secular ones. If fact they do so together with socialists.
One thing that we should be aware of is that this societal secularism which has been taken for granted in the West has caused massive irreligiousness.This decline of religious practise which Western academics postulated must necessarily come with modernity has been proven to be untrue for non-Western societies. Surely that should indicate something very clearly.
One myth that this myth called secularism propagates is that the strict separation of state politics and religion. Actually is not lived up to by any state that call itself a liberal democracy. Take for example France which in addition to banning headscarves (an interference in a necessarily private affair but nevertheless a core belief) in fact actually massively subsidises Catholic schools too. Turkey’s case of the headscarf ban is infamous bordering on comical but more serious is the current case against the AK party which if banned for being a threat to Kemalist secularism would create a constitutional catastrophe.
Secularism is denied to be a modern, Western invention and is said to be well known by most empires but this is challenged. In the 16th & 17th century, emerging states have neither been secular nor liberal let alone democratic. These states had to be domesticated by liberal rule of law then in the second round democratised. The modern state therefore has not always been secular. In the 19 & 20th century liberal and democratic states had to be defended from secular states such as racist, Nazi, Facist and totalitarian states. In the Arab world, democracies are under threat from secular authocratic or kleptocratic states. So this begs the question, why the love affair with secularism?
In terms of current practise, there is no case of a liberal or democratic state that can claim that it is secular. In theory, it is a contradiction. A democratic state can be Islamic in as far as it is given an equal chance to vie for votes but how an Islamic democracy can also be equated with a secular liberal democracy is beyond me.
Even if one were to compromise with the most benign form of secularism, the separation of state and religion, you would have to concede with the revisionist claim that political and religious authority was established from the early days of Islamic history. Clearly this is a misrepresentation whether wilfull or otherwise. However I believe that those closer to those times were inspired by the Prophet preempting of this phenomena when he said:
The bonds of Islam will surely be unravelled bond by bond. Every time a bond is unravelled, people will cling to the one after it. The first bond to be unravelled will be government and the last of them will be prayer (Ahmad, Ibn Hibban)
The technical meaning od the word ’secularism’ can be debated and twisted and can be used by some enemies of this deen as a means of distracting us from the real issues at hand. If we look at the time of the khulafaa ar raashidoon and the islamic government of Muhammad SAW, that is the true model to follow. Ruling the people and worshipping allah by following his commands were all the same thing. yes jews and christians were allowed to follow their own laws, that does not prove secularism, but proves the enormity of religious freedom offered by the shari’ah of Allah SWT!
It would be foolish to deny Allah SWT’s attribute of legislation. We know that there is nothing left or neglected in the qur’an and sunnah. therefore, Allah SWT has reveleaved his commands and guidance on the most important spheres of life that affect human beings, ie. politics. to leave it to the limitted knowledge and minds of insaan is a receipe for disaster!
The one who speaks of Islam in a limited capacity- with all that he views to be spiritual and not associated to this deen- well, in my view, he is secular. Like for example- when a khutbah is about the fiqh of wudu during a time when there are Muslims being invaded and killed that very week- it would be fair to come to the conclusion that the Khateeb sees no benefit in associating political thinking & action to this deen- and therefore is secular. The issue here is- was the Prophet SAW a politician or was he merely a spiritual saviour for mankind. Well we believe he was both- so to dismiss political action as non-Islamic, is to not have understood Islam. When Allah says ‘Establish salah’- He SWT requires for us to establish all the ahkam relating to salah, and nothing less. This requires a state by which implementation is possible.
Secularism is not unique to Christianity. It is creeping into Muslim thinking, and since the destruction of the Islamic empire, it has been an idea adopted by many Muslims- like those of Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Eqypt and so on. Understanding Islam as a comprehensive system of social, political and economic governance goes hand-in-hand with what people perceive to be ’spiritual’ actions. But, let it be known, that the one who calls for Islam on a state level, he too is participating in acts of ‘ibadaah, and nothing less. And may Allah SWT reward those who struggle in His path, solely for His pleasure.