The Ghazali Project

{bit.ly/AZghaz} This is second part of a two part talk on “Economics and Life Harmony”, delivered at Dr Asad Zaman on Oct 12 at Batusangkar International Conference VI, October 11-12, 2021 “Strengthening Life Harmony In 4.0 Era Through Science, Technology, Literacy, Engineering, Economics, Education and Religion”. Video/Summary of Part 1: Western Clash and Eastern Harmony { http://bit.ly/AZwceh }. We start with a very brief summary of Part 1.

There are fundamental differences between Islam and Europe on the definition of knowledge and success. The West defines success in terms of power and wealth, as illustrated in their history of colonization and conquest. In Islam, real success will occur on the day of Judgment. To achieve it, we must serve the creation of God, for the sake of the love of God. Our fundamental problem today has been created by the Western conquest and colonization of most of the Islamic world. This colonization of minds has led to Muslims adopting Western concepts of success and useful knowledge – a phenomenon we call “Modern Mu’tazila”. How can we change this? How can the Muslims realize that our only path to success lies in following the complete and perfect message of God, which is sufficient for our guidance today, and for all times? The answer lies in the three step Ghazali Project:

1. Rebuild faith in Islam, and trust in the final message of God.
2. Reject Western intellectual accomplishments, by seeing the deep flaws at the foundations of their conceptions of knowledge and success.
3. Use the deep wisdom contained in the final message of God to rebuild the entire stock of human knowledge on the sound foundations provided by Islamic teachings.

These steps are described in greater detail below.

 Ghazali Project: Step 1 – Deliverance from Doubt = Al-Munqidh Min Al-Dalalah:

How to build connection with the Creator of the Universe, and acquire a strong faith in Islam? This is the necessary first step. Imam Ghazali writes in “Deliverance from Doubt” that certainty is a condition of the heart. It occurs upon illumination of the heart by Noor of Allah. The Noor is given to all sincere seekers of truth, if they follow the prescribed procedures for the quest. Noor is a light which illuminates the landscape, and allows you to see the path. The efforts required to traverse the path are up to us. This is important to understand because receiving the Mercy of God in the form of His Noor is not a guarantee for arriving at the truth – our own additional efforts are required.

How to Arrive at Certainty? How to achieve communion with God? There are some principles which we need to follow, in order to build our relationship with God. Four of these are listed below:

1. Shukr – gratitude for all of the immense gifts of God.
2. Sabr: on any adverse circumstances. Inna Lillahe wa Inna Alaihe Rajeoon.
3. Problems of the Past (caused by our neglect of our God, sins, and resulting darkness of the heart): Astaghfar
4. Problems of the Future: “O Allah, protect me from all trials and tribulations, those which are apparent and those which are hidden”.

The Quran (9:116) tells us that “Surely, it is ALLAH to Whom belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. HE gives life and causes death. And you have no friend nor helper besides ALLAH.” In view of this, we must learn to appeal to Allah in all our life situations: “O My Allah: Help me in this situation, Guide me to the right actions, Help me to complete the right action, Create good consequences, and protect me from the bad consequences.”

The Quran promises to take the Believers From Darkness to Light, and also to take the Unbelievers: From Light to Darkness

Quran 2:257 Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve – their allies are Taghut. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein.

Then, how is it possible that the light of knowledge has been given to the West, while it is not given to the Muslims in the Quran? This is a deception created by  the glitter and glamor of Western knowledge. Appearances are deceptive. It has been prophesied that near the end of times,  Dajjal will appear to have power over life and death, and will demand to be worshipped like God. His Heaven will be bright and shiny outside, but will really be the Hell. His Hell will appear dark and deadly on the outside but will be Heaven on the inside. Thus, we should not be deceived by the apparent power of the unbelievers; The Quran (3:196) says  “Do not be deceived by the prosperity of the disbelievers throughout the land”. The Quran describes them by: “They say: should we believe like the (ignorant) masses? In reality, they are ignorant fools, but they do not know.” Even though the disbelievers think they are very smart, they are actually fools. Similarly, the Quran tells us that “Something may be good for you but you may dislike it, and something may be bad for you, but you may like it.” Today our eyes are trapped by the apparent power and glory of the disbelievers, and we have learned to respect and value Western knowledge above the Quran, even though Western knowledge is built on false foundations, and is actually folly masquerading as knowledge. But much work is required to see through this deception.

An important part of this work is to recognize the signs of God, which are all around us. These are POINTERS to God. As the Quran says “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.” The Quran tell us to use these pointers: “So whoever desires to, let him find a pathway to his God.” How can we create the DESIRE to find God, and find the pathway to God? The MIND is just one of many tools for this purpose. Prayer, coming from the heart, is the STRONGEST instrument for creating connection to God. One way of evaluating our progress along the path is given by the three Stages of Spiritual Progress

1. Nafs-e-Ammara = Homo Economicus. Rational Behavior according to economists. Maximize lifetime pleasure from consumption.
2. Nafs-e-Lawwama = the self-blaming soul. Becoming AWARE of the defects of the “maximization” model. Becoming aware of our connection to each other. Realizing the love of the creation of God, contained within the love of God.
3. Nafs-e-Mutma’innah = contentment in the pleasure of God alone.

For a description of how we can make spiritual progress, see: Ihsan: Living in the Presence of God – http://bit.ly/AZihsan. For the relationship between spirituality and economic theory, see “Islam’s Gift: An Economy of Spiritual Progress” { http://bit.ly/AZgift }.    

Allah T’aala has provided us with signs within us, as well as in the external reality. Of the two kinds, the Internal Evidence is the most convincing, because it touches the heart. To get this evidence, ASK Allah T’aala for guidance. Make the required efforts for acceptable dua. Ask forgiveness for past sins of neglect of God. Ask for guidance with humility. Express gratitude for whatever gifts you have been given. Each person must find their own pathway to God, but it is helpful to hear about accounts of others in similar situations. See: http://bit.ly/AZbiog for my personal account of my journey towards guidance from God. Another moving account is the story of Dr. Laurence Brown, whose prayer for guidance was answered by a miracle; see http://bit.ly/AZbrown  

The External Evidence for God is so strong that only the blind cannot see it. We know that there was no universe. THEN the universe came into existence, with a big bang. What was the CAUSE of this creation of the universe? This cause cannot be found within the universe, because nothing can create itself, or be the cause of its own creation. So, there must have been a creator of the universe. Atheists accuse believers of blind faith. In fact, they have blind FAITH that SOMEDAY, SOMEONE will find a cause. Muslims know that the Creator is Allah. See http://bit.ly/AZtbb

There are many other powerful signs that this universe has been precisely designed for human life. This is known as “The Fine-Tuning Argument” and also the “Intelligent Design”. The universe is extremely precisely tuned to allow for existence of human life on Earth. Very Very slight changes in cosmological constants would make human life impossible. What could explain the precision engineering required to create a universe which supports human life?  How can this be by accident? See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE76nwimuT0 

How did LIFE come into existence? The simplest form of self-replication is performed by the CELL. The CELL is extremely complex – It is virtually impossible for it to appear by accident. The process for creation of ONE protein requires encoding an ENORMOUS amount of information into the DNA, which contains instructions for manufacture of proteins.  Random selection cannot create the required information – just like monkeys on typewriters cannot produce Shakespeare. See: Mathematical Challenges to Darwin’s Theory { https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noj4phMT9OE } Watson & Crick, atheist discoverers of DNA, agree that the complexity of these molecules could not have occurred by chance. “An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.” ― Francis Crick, Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature. Since Crick thought it is was impossible for DNA to occur by chance, but he also firmly denies the existence of God, he came up with an alternative solution. He developed the theory of “Panspermia”, the idea that Intelligent Extraterrestrials seeded Earth with life. But this does not solve the problem, since we are left with the question of WHO created the intelligent Extraterrestrials?

Ghazali Project: Step 2: Tahafatul Falasafa:  Incoherence of Western Philosophers

Because the West conquered the world, the people who were colonized feel enormous respect and awe for the colonizers. Due to this respect, we have failed to reject as ABSURD, MANY Western theories about the world and about ourselves. Step 2 of the Ghazali Project involvesRecognizing ABSURDITY of Western Philosophy, and rejecting them. The roots of this problem lie deep. The BIBLE is at the bedrock of Western Civilization. EVEN after rejection of Christianity, and widespread acceptance of agnosticism and atheism, intellectual attitudes created by the Bible continue to guide modern West. To explain this, it is necessary to go into the Origins of Christianity. An important source for the materials discussed is Bart Ehrman: Forgeries and Counter-Forgeries: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics.

Three of the books of the New Testament are the Gospel according to Mathew, Mark, and Luke – Supposedly three disciples of Eesa Alaihis Salam. These are called the synoptic gospels – all have similar point of view. ALL of these Gospels have Eesa AS acknowledge his humanity and weakness in front God, who is all powerful. NONE of them claim Godhood for Eesa. Bart Ehrman provides us with STRONG EVIDENCE that these gospels were NOT written by the disciples. These were written about 40 to 70 years AFTER the supposed Crucification of Jesus. However, the Gospel according to John, written 100 years AFTER Eesa AS, says Eesa was God, and also that Eesa AS claimed to be God. How can it be that the early accounts say no, while LATER accounts say YES? If Eesa AS claimed to be God, WHY did Mathew, Luke, Mark, all FAIL to mention this fact? For details of this argument, see Bart Ehrman: How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee.

But elevating the status of Jesus from Prophet to God, created a big PROBLEM for Christianity. The Bible says quite clearly and definitively in many different places that there is only one God. How can Jesus be God, when the Bible shows him praying to God, and teaching others about God? The doctrine of Trinity evolved to make God, His Messenger to Jesus (the Holy Spirit), and Jesus, all three to be ONE god. The problem is that this is logically impossible. Three cannot be One. This led to massive debates on Trinity in the early history of Christianity. There was a wide Range of Opinions/Factions.  Tertullian, St. Augustine, Aquinas, and all early Church Fathers entered these debates, strongly defended one position and argued against others. Within these controversies, documents were FORGED to support one position, and to argue against others.  Some of these forgeries form part of the current Bible.

One Principle which emerged from these early Christian Battles has been deeply absorbed in the Western intellectual tradition: It is permissible to LIE to defend the truth – we can forge documents to support our position. CONTRAST this with Islam: O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or (your) parents or (your) kindred, whether (the case be of) a rich man or a poor man, for Allah is nearer unto both (them ye are). So follow not passion lest ye lapse (from truth) and if ye lapse or fall away, then lo! Allah is ever Informed of what ye do.

Differences between Elite & Masses. The higher echelons of the Church had knowledge of these forgeries, and indeed, participated in the creation and spread of them. As a result, the idea emerged that the upper classes have access to truth, BUT this is to be concealed from the public, in their better interest. This is also part of the Western intellectual tradition.  

The necessities of the proving Church doctrine led to a fundamental distortion of “Reasoning”. Truth is known in advance: TRINITY has to be proven. Reasoning has to be shaped to create impossible results. This led to fundamental flaws in logical process, continuing to this day. Economists know in advance what must be proven and then use models, theory, and data to get results which match their preconceptions. The methods in use are designed to make this possible; see my paper on “Models and Reality: How did models divorced from reality become epistemologically acceptable?” (http://bit.ly/weaMaR}. My personal journey to the understanding that Western intellectual gymnastics are designed to create methods to prove falsehoods is described in “My Journey from Theory to Reality” {http://bit.ly/2K5WMIA }. One common strategy used to deceive the masses into accepting falsehoods as truths is the Axiomatic Method.  This is discussed in greater detail below.

 The AXIOMATIC method proceeds from “known” truths (known to intuition). Deeply problematic ideas are buried within the axioms, which have double meanings – one meaning is obvious and apparent to everyone, and used to justify the obvious truth of the axioms. The second meaning is used in the specialized applications, created a specialized knowledge for the elite class which differs from the understanding of the masses. To carry out this deception, it is necessary to  distract attention AWAY from any close examination of the axioms, the source of knowledge, and towards the complex REASONING process, used to deduce results from the Axioms. Knowledge is HIDDEN in the Axioms. Attention focused on DEDUCTION instead of Axioms.

Summary of Three Flaws in Western Reasoning arising from early Christian attempts to prove the impossible.

1. It is permissible to LIE to support the truth. Major Scientists known to have corrupted experimental results to match their theories. Vast majority of current published research cannot be replicated.
2. Statements have double meaning, one for the masses, and one for the specialized elites. The masses are fooled into believing ideas against their own interests and favoring the powerful.
3. Methodology of Research is distorted. Toxic ideas packaged into “axioms” with double meaning. Attention distracted away from axioms into complex mathematics and reasoning.

We can illustrate these fundamental flaws in Western reasoning processes by a variety of different examples. One of the simplest cases is that of modern economic theory. The entire theory is constructed on the basis of an axiomatic description of “rational” human behavior which has no correspondence to reality. For more details, see “Behavioral vs Neoclassical Economics” {http://bit.do/azultima}. In “Beyond Freedom and Dignity” Skinner, father of Behavioral Psychology, argued for the inherently absurd position that human behavior could be analyzed without any reference to the internal motivations of human beings. Instead of multiplying such examples, we examine one case in greater detail: the case of Immanuel Kant.

According to some biographers, Immanuel Kant is the Greatest Western Philosopher. Modern philosophy cannot be understand without reference to Kant. His masterpiece, “The Critique of Pure Reason” transcends the limits of human reasoning. That is, human beings cannot understand the complex and tangled reasoning contained within this book. The key problem Kant wants to resolve is: how do we get an understanding of the real world around us? There are many concepts which we use to understand the world, which are not part of the empirical reality, and also not products of pure reasoning. One of these is the idea of causation – when we something unusual happen, we search for a cause for this event. Where do these concepts, which enable us to understand the world around us come from? For a Muslim, the answer is clearly given in the Quran. When Allah T’aala taught Adam AS the names – He gave us the concepts we need to be able to understand the world. From another perspective, we are born with some innate apparatus both physiological and psychological which enable us to function in the world around us. However, Kant rejects using God as the explanation, and wants to use reason to explain why there is a good match between the images of reality we form in our minds, and the reality around us. He arrives at an absurd conclusion as a result – he concludes that our minds generate time and space, and that these are not features of observable reality.

Even though Kantian philosophy has been discredited for the most part, the moral philosophy of Kant continues to be influential. Indeed, it has been said that Kant is the greatest of all Western moral philosophers. In my article/post on “Kant: Misogynist and Racist” { http://bit.ly/AZKant }, I have cited his pathological views on race. According to Kant:

• Native Americans are like animals, not capable of being trained.
• Black Africans cannot reason, but they can be trained. Kant explains how to design whips to inflict maximum pain, without killing blacks, in order to train them to work.
• Asians are incapable of creative thought.

These ideas are never mentioned by Kan-enthusiasts, instead, they write that “Kant defends the universal rights of man, provided he is a possessor of reason.” Thus Kant is held to be universal and cosmopolitan, and this is held to be a signature characteristic of the European Enlightenment. As already explained in the first half of this talk “Western Clash & Eastern Harmony” { http://bit.ly/AZwceh }, in the process of defending the Trinity, Western intellectuals mastered the art of speaking with double meanings. Here, “possessor of reason” is the key ambiguity here. Only Europeans are capable of reason. This method of using double meaning was also adopted in the American Declaration of Independence, which talks about universal human rights, but excludes Black Africans from the category of “human”.

To conclude, let me summarize briefly. The process of global colonization and conquest consists in a large part of creating shock and awe in the minds of the colonized. This is done by telling false tales of Western intellectual prowess, by fabricating a history which gives a Western origin to all creative thought. Genocides, mass murders, destruction of other civilizations does not testify to the smartness of the West, but rather their cruelty and ruthlessness, as well as stupidity in believing themselves to be uniquely rational. When we examine the supposed intellectual accomplishments of the West, we find them riddled with sophisticated folly. The stupidest ideas – like 3=1 – are dressed up in complex and impenetrable language to give an appearance of cleverness. Seeing through this disguise, and understanding the blunders of Western philosophers, caused by plagiarizing material they did not understand, is at the heart of the second step of the Ghazali project.

Ghazali Project Step 3: Ihya Uloom ud Deen: Revival of the Religious Sciences

It is not sufficient to reject Western philosophy, we must provide an alternative based on the solid foundations of guidance provided by the Quran and the Sunnah. We can divide the intellectual traditions of the West into two broad categories (as a rough approximation) – the Physical Sciences and the Social Sciences. One represents knowledge of external reality, while the other is knowledge of our internal world – our purpose, our constitution as a combination of heart, mind, soul, and nafs, and the nature of human society. It should be obvious that learning the purpose of our lives is the most important question for all of us. All other things depend on the answer to this question. For complex reasons, Eurocentric Social Science does not provide any direct answers to this question. However, indirectly, the answer is that our goal is to maximize pleasure in this life, since there is no afterlife, and no judgment – hence no morality. This is explicit in the Utilitarian philosophy created by Jeremy Bentham as an alternative to Christianity, and adopted as the foundation for Economic theory. Western social science is built on the assumption that our  lives are meaningless, and that we should pursue power, profits, and pleasure, for ourselves, without any concern for others. There are no rules in the Darwinian jungle of the survival of the fittest. Physical sciences have been developed to aid in this blind pursuit of short term goals, and have led to disaster for mankind – creating capabilities of killing on a mass scale. This mass murder has been extended from human beings to animals, bird, plants, and even to the oceans and the atmosphere itself. A looming climate catastrophe threatens to destroy the planet. To prevent this catastrophe, we must rejecting amoral Physical Science, and replace it with a knowledge of external reality built on the recognition that this planet is a trust, and that all life is a gift of God. All the creation of God is spiritually united as a family.

Replacing the entire structure of Western knowledge is a huge task. As a first step, we must concentrate on providing new foundations for the Western social sciences. This involves REPLACING these with an Islamic alternative based on the traditional religious sciences as developed in our own intellectual traditions. The foundations for social science were laid by the masterful analysis of social change first done by Ibn-e-Khaldun. In his honor, we will name this “Uloom-ul-Umran”. My paper on “The Puzzle of Western Social Science” { http://bit.ly/AZpss } shows that Western Social Science is deceptive – that is, it claims universal status for itself in the word “science”, whereas it is actually lessons extracted from the analysis of European historical experience. Even the idea that there can be a “science” – a set of universal laws applicable to all human societies is wrong. Are the same laws applicable to Aztecs, Incas, Zulus, Chinese, Persian, and Thai societies? Obviously not! Western Social Science extracts lessons from European historical experience and makes it universally applicable to all societies. This is OBVIOUSLY false, and the results are OBVIOUSLY stupid.  Just one example to illustrate this general principle is modern Western Economic Theory. According to this theory, rational behavior involves MAXIMIZING lifetime pleasure achieved from consumption of goods and services. This principle of rationality is valid for ALL humans!! In fact, this is a RIDICULOUS principle on which to base our lives. It fails both empirically and normatively. The Quran teaches us that: You will not achieve God-Consciousness until you spend that which you love! That is, we MINIMIZE pleasure from possession of goods to make spiritual progress, by cleansing our hearts of the love of material things. For more details, see: The Secrets of Happiness: http://bit.ly/azsoh. But the main point is that consumption of goods and services gives you a short-lived feeling of pleasure, but it is not a formula for achieving long run well-being. Long run happiness depends on character, social relationships, and attitudes. Islam provides us with much better guidance about this matter.  

In “Origins of Western Social Sciences” { http://bit.ly/IR3owss }, I have shown that Western Social Science is constructed on basis of denial of the Creator, purpose of Creation, Akhira. Therefore, it places ALL emphasis on worldly results, and denies any value to ethics, morals, and Akhira. In fact, Western social science is constructed as a replacement for Christianity, to provide guidance on how to live, and how to construct a society, along all the dimensions of politics, economics, society, and environment. Since it is built on opposition to religion, it is necessary for Muslims to create an Islamic Alternative. An outline of how we can do so has been given in “Uloom-ul-Umran: An Islamic Alternative to Western Social Science” { http://bit.ly/AZUUU }. The foundational principles of Uloomul Umran are based on seminal analysis of social change given by Ibn-e-Khaldun in his classical work on history. Some of the key principles are recapitulated here.

1. All of the Creation is the family of God. God loves best those who serve His family.
2. Build human society on basis of cooperation, generosity, social responsibility.
3. Usool-e-Fiqh creates the basis for Uloom-ul-Umran, guiding us to the construction of the Good Society.
4. This is opposed to Darwinian principles of competition, selfishness, greed, individualism, and hedonism – the basis of European Social Science.

We need to reconstruct the entire spectrum of humanities on Islamic principles. Promising first steps have already been taken in a large number of disciplines. We mention just a few examples here. For an Islamic approach to Statistics, see: http://bit.ly/AZiss. The key idea is that conventional Statistics is built on racist foundations. Founders of modern statistics, Sir Francis Galton and Sir Ronal Fisher, desired to prove that genetics ensures that talents are transmitted across generations. Therefore, inferior stocks of races should be eliminated. This EUGENICS. This deeply affects modern statistics; see “Galton: Eugenicist founder of statistics” { http://bit.ly/dsia05b }. We develop an alternative approach, based on Islamic ideas about USEFUL knowledge, which enters the heart, and can be used to SERVE mankind.

Similarly, substantial headway has been made in Islamic Psychology by the International Association of Islamic Psychology. Here Freudian analysis of the subconscious has been replaced by a four-dimensional model of human beings, based on heart, mind, spirit, and soul. Practicing clinical psychologists have found that Islamic models provide far deeper insights into the art of helping people find peace and contentment in life.

Concluding Remarks

We have just outlined initial sketches of a MASSIVE amounts of work which Muslims must do to rebuild knowledge on Islamic foundations. In particular, it is necessary to rebuild ALL of the Eurocentric Social Sciences. Also, we must harness ALL of Physical Sciences to be used for the Service of the Creation of God, instead of pursuit of power and destruction. An appropriately conjoined Physical and Social science would allow us to feed, house and clothe the billions of people which modern capitalism has made hungry and homeless, without access to education and healthcare. We must stop the ongoing wars against people, animals, and the planet. This requires living lives in Harmony with each other and with nature. The principles for doing so have been provided by the Quran, and the living embodiment of the Quran – the Message and the Messenger. The compete and perfect final Message of God is CENTRAL to the urgent need to  rebuild KNOWLEDGE on foundation of the unity of mankind, and all of the creation of God. May Allah help in undertaking this task. Concluding DUA: O GOD, please bring me out of the darkness of doubt and favour me with the light of comprehension, O GOD open to us the doors of your mercy and unfold for us the treasure of your knowledge by your mercy O the most merciful of the merciful ones.

Those who would like to participate in the task of rebuilding the entire stock of modern knowledge on Islamic foundations are invited to join the Ghazali Group. The Indonesian chapter of the Ghazali Project is headed by Lisa Listiana, and has its own website: https://theghazaliproject.com/ – Others can open chapters in their own countries or social groups.

Links:

• Previous post on The Ghazali Project and The Ghazali Group
• How to Launch an Islamic Revival: http://bit.ly/azlir
• Uloom-ul-Umran: An Islamic Alternative to Western Social Science: http://bit.ly/AZUUU