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Notes

The Gates of Damascus and The Pride of Haroon

The Romans claimed Armenia and Mesopotamia, then ruled by the Persians, because, they said, emperor Trajan had conquered them earlier - a precedent-setting notion of entitlement. The Byzantines replaced the Romans but added another reason to the claim: most of its inhabitants were Christians so they ought to be part of Byzantium - the logic of ethnicity. The Persians claimed Syria (Assyria of Herodotus), Palestine and even Egypt which they said were conquered by them hundreds of years ago (by Cambyses, the son of Cyrus in 525 BCE).
The principal among these were Petra in modern Jordan and Palymra or Tadmur in modern Syria, both conquered later by the Romans under Trajan.
The Arabs by Philip Khouri Hitti, 1965, pp 11, 21, 33, 48, 53, 97.
A Short History of the Arab Peoples by Sir John Glubb, 1969, pp 78, 96, 105 (Abbasid glory).
The Middle East by Bernard Lewis, 1997.
Coptic - the last form of the ancient Egyptian language transcribed in an alphabet adapted from Greek. Anatolia was the name for modern Turkey (a name acquired in the middle ages when the Turks arrived from further east) and derives from a Greek word meaning Sunrise. Its other name was Asia Minor, the qualifier added after the Mediterranean people realized that there was more to Asia than previously thought.
The alphabet as a basis of human language was apparently invented only once in human history - in the Near East - possibly derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphs, which include a complete set of 24 signs for the 24 Egyptian consonants apart from their logograms. This is called the Semitic alphabet, which evolved via blueprint copying along many paths. One went by way of Aramaic (the language of Christ and the ancient Persian Empire) to Arabic, Hebrew, Indian, and southeast Asian alphabets. Another line went from Phoenician to Greek by 8th century BCE (the Greeks were the first to use consonant like representation for vowels), and to the Etruscans, and Romans. Another line led to the Ethiopian alphabet via an early Arabic alphabet. (Source: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, 1999, Norton, pp 226-8). Syriac is the same as Aramaic.
Persia was named after the southwestern province of Pars or Fars on the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf. It was the dialect of this region that became high Persian. 'Iran' appeared only in 1935, derived from Persian 'aryanam' meaning 'the land of the Aryans'. When the long history of Persia under the Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sasanians came to an end some Persians sought refuge in India - their descendants survive today as the Parsees (i.e., from the province of Pars).
Roman Christianity diverted interest away from speculative theology to juridical questions about the membership of the church and the validity of sacraments. This led to two widely separate ways of regarding and defining one important doctrine - the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father alone, or from both the Father and the Son - the Roman church, without consulting the East, incorporated the latter into their creed. This bordered on heresy in the East - they said that the Trinity could only have one head and both the Son and the Holy spirit proceeded from Him. The Eastern churches also resented the Roman enforcement of clerical celibacy, the limitation of the right of confirmation to the bishop, and the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist. The East-West schism began when a western Cardinal left a bull of excommunication (July 16, 1054) on the altar of the great church of Hagia Sophia. The bull condemned the patriarch, the eastern doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the marriage of their priests, and their use of leavened bread for the Eucharist. (Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica 1998.)
Many communities held that Christ had a single nature, composed of two natures. This Monophysite doctrine was adopted by Coptic, Syriac (or Jacobites, after the name of their most prominent theologian) and Armenian Christians. Some however maintained that the distinction between the two natures was sharper. These were the Nestorians of Iraq, named after their main thinker. Another group, the Monotheletes, held that Christ had two natures but one will.
Founded by Mani, it was a syncretistic religious dualism originating in Persia in the 3rd century CE and teaching the release of the spirit from matter through asceticism. According to al-Beruni, Mani 'went to India, learnt metempsychosis from the Hindus, and transferred it to his own system.'
At this time Muhammad was close to the Hanifs - a group of people who, while abandoning paganism, were not prepared to accept any of the competing religious doctrines on offer at the time.
A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani, 1991, Warner Books.
The Bedouins of our day take delight in referring to themselves as "the people of the camel." Musil, in his book on the Ruwalah Bedouins, states that there is hardly a member of that tribe who has not on some occasion drunk water from a camel's paunch. In time of emergency either an old camel is killed or a stick is thrust down its throat to make it vomit water. If the camel has been watered within a day or two, the liquid is tolerably drinkable.♣
Built in 691. Stylistically, it is a landmark in architectural history, the first Islamic building with a dome. It was a shrine glorifying and sheltering one of the most sacred places of Jew and Muslim alike; men believed that on the hill-top it covered, Abraham had offered up his son Issac in sacrifice and that from it Muhammad was taken up into heaven.
Another split would occur within Shi'a Islam - the twelver-Shi'a and the Ismailis, followers of the two descendants of a predecessor Imam. The twelfth Iman of the former disappeared under mysterious conditions and is still believed to show up one fine day. The latter of course have had Imams ever since.
History of the World by J. M. Roberts, Oxford University Press, 1993, pp 252-274.
'There is no compulsion in religion' (Qur'an 2:256). For non-monotheists, however, the official remedy was harsher: they could accept conversion, death or slavery.
Scholars have justifiably drawn parallels between the rise of Islam and that of 20th century Communism. They both furnished total descriptions of history, society, morality and conduct; even the urge to proselytize is common, although the latter was explicitly anti-religious. The average man in the street was hardly a fanatic in either case, at most a harmless believer swept up in the 'system'. The hardliners were a minority in both cases.
Muhammad died in 632. The canonical text of the Qur'an was fixed during the reign of the third caliph, Uthman (644-656) and in honor of him the authorized version has ever since been called 'Mushaf Uthman'.
It is erroneous to call Muslims Mohammedans or Islam as Mohammedanism because Muhammad is only the messenger of Allah, his status is not divine and he is not worshipped. In this, Islam differs significantly from Christianity where Jesus is the incarnation of God and is worshipped. The Qur'an was only revealed to the Prophet through the angel Gabriel.
The tribe of Quraysh was divided between Beni Umayya and Beni Hashim, whose claim for leadership had hitherto been represented by the descendants of Ali (either through the Prophet's daughter Fatima, which the Shiites insisted, or one of his other wives). But Hashim had another grandson, Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet and of Ali. The descendants of Abbas had quarreled with the Umayya and lived in obscurity south of Kerak, in modern Jordan. Incidentally, the official name of Jordan is 'the Hashimite kingdom of Jordan'. The sons, grandsons, and subsequent descendants of Ali and Fatima were known among the Shi'a as the Imams.
Abu Muslim administered an oath of allegiance in the name of Beni Hashim, whose later representative was to lead the Abbasids. As this appellation also covered the descendants of Ali, the Shiites took the oath with alacrity. (Source: Glubb, p 91.♣)
Disillusionment followed rapidly on the assumption of power by 'the Prophet's family' (which comprised both the Abbasids and the Shiites from the two wives of Ali - the latter through Fatima, a 'purer' lineage to the Prophet), and resulted in a crop of rebellions. In 762 a Shiite rebellion broke out in Medina which was crushed by the Abbasids. One of the survivors, Idris, 'the pure soul', a great-great-great-grandson of the Prophet escaped to the Maghrib where he founded a dynasty - the current royal family of Morocco claims descent from him. (Source: Glubb, p 95.♣)
Being of Arabian ancestry, he couldn't resist the verse form. Here is a sample of his composition:

Our swords are dripping with blood, and they have

brought vengeance:

The great princes of the past brandished them on the battlefield:

And the head of our enemies are broken to fragments, like

smashed ostrich eggs.
The most important source of information about music and musical life (contains songs and biographical information on composers, poets and musicians) in the first three centuries of Islam. This is the 10th-century Kitab al-Aghani or "Book of Songs," by Abu al-Faraj al-Isbahani, a descendant of Marwan II, the last Umayyad caliph of Syria. He spent most of his life in Baghdad where he enjoyed the patronage of the Buyid amirs.
Even today there is no definitive text but many versions. 'Unlike the works of Homer which also developed through an oral tradition, this was not seen as a font of culture and legitimacy and thus worthy of careful and exact preservation, as in the case, for example, of the Qur'an. Though heavily drawn from the hinterlands, from Persia, and India, they are most comfortably identified with Baghdad and the Arab Middle East.'
Al Beruni's India by Alberuni (973- 1048) (Kitab fi tahqiq ma li'l-hind or simply, Ta'riqh al-hind), early eleventh century, translated by Edward C. Sachau. Edited with introduction and notes by Ainslee T. Embree, The Norton Library, 1971. This is an abridged version - the complete version is by Sachau in two volumes and is really for the specialist. I'd highly recommend the Ainslee version for the rest. Also see some related reference sources.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1998.
The Edward Fitzgerald Translation (1859) is the one that first introduced Omar Khayyam to a western audience and is also the best known. However, it is a free verse translation and having compared it to the literal translation I would much rather settle for the latter.
Islam distinguishes four ways by which the duty of jihad can be fulfilled: by the heart, the tongue, the hand, and the sword. The first consists in a spiritual purification of one's own heart by doing battle with the devil and overcoming his inducements to evil. The propagation of Islam through the tongue and hand is accomplished in large measure by supporting what is right and correcting what is wrong. The fourth way to fulfill one's duty is to wage war physically against unbelievers and enemies of the Islamic faith. Those who professed belief in a divine revelation - Christians and Jews in particular - were given special consideration. They could either embrace Islam or at least submit themselves to Islamic rule and pay a poll and land tax. If both options were rejected, jihad was declared.
The Muqaddimah, An Introduction to History by Ibn Khaldûn. Trans. By Franz Rosenthal, Ed. by NJ Dawood, Bollinger Series/Pinceton, 1967, 9^th printing 1989. Scroll down this page for a succinct introduction to Asabiya.
Several systems or rites of Sunni legal thought (madhhab) arose in early Islam. The Hanafi rite is the largest and is prevalent in the Indian subcontinent and in the lands of the former Ottoman empire. The Maliki rite developed in Medina and made heavy use of the prophetic hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) that circulated there. It prevails in upper Egypt and in northern and western Africa. The Shafi'i rite grew up in ninth century Egypt as a synthesis of the Hanafi and Maliki systems but with greater stress on analogy. It now prevails in Indonesia. The fourth rite, Hanbali, rejects analogy, consensus and judicial opinion as sources. It is very strict and is the official legal system in present day Saudi Arabia, and has often regarded the other three as illegitimate.
A Concise History of the Middle East by Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr., 3rd edition, 1988. Westview Press.
This has an uncanny similarity to the later Mongol chief Timur the Lame's sacking of Delhi in 1398. The then floundering Sultanate of Delhi had a Turkish lineage. It would be Timur's descendants who would forge the Mughal dynasty in India.
This arrangement emphasized continuity and collective well-being. The ancient Indian conception of the duty of a ruler is very similar - a protector and guardian of religious tradition - there is no distinction between the spiritual and the temporal. As noted earlier, ancient Persia was no different. Political philosophy was not a prominent topic in the early East.
The Qur'an, A Modern English Version translated by Majid Fakhry, 1997, Garnet Publishing.
The second chapter of the Qur'an opens with 'This is the Book which cannot be doubted and is a guidance to the God-fearing'. Another passage related to the citation in the main text goes as follows (Sura 47:4): 'So, when you meet the unbelievers, strike their necks till you have bloodies them, then fastern the shackles. Thereupon, release them freely or for a ransom, till the war is over. So be it. Yet had Allash wished, He would have taken vengeance upon them, but He wanted to test you by one another. Those who die in the cause of Allah, He will not render their works perverse.'
Majid Fakhry has drawn attention to the qualifications in such passages, 'one of which is not to initiate aggression against them ...; the other is toleration since "there is no compulsion in religion" (Sura 2:257), and the third is "gracious pardon or ransom", once they have been subdued.' Of course, the Turks and the Mongols knew which interpretation suited them most - proof of their pre-Islamic cultural poverty and ruthless ways.
'Critics consider the statutes [of the Qur'an] relating to divorce the most objectionable, and those about the treatment of slaves, orphans and strangers the most humane portions of Islamic legislation' (♣, p34). Qur'an means 'recitation'.
Ijtihad remained open in Shi'a Islam because the Imam was a living embodiment of the Prophet, his successor, and could interpret scripture according to the need of the hour.
They would also run over eastern Christendom and establish the Mughal dynasty in India - another politically quietist culture would be convulsed not for the first or the last time - but they would be repulsed by the western Christians.
Prejudice persists. The mass media in the West continues to propagate an atavistic, degrading stereotype of the Islam. An average man from modern Cairo, Baghdad or Damascus is variously portrayed as, paraphrasing Edward Said from his landmark Orientalism, a Bedouin on a camel, a religious extremist simply because he adheres to Islam, a mustachioed sheik leering from behind an oil pump, someone who regularly abuses two of his three wives, a gun toting terrorist, and the like. Essentially, someone primitive, incapable of subtle thought, irrational, lecherous, cruel, a colorful scoundrel in strange clothes, an over-sexed fiend lusting for wholesome white flesh. In short, a lesser human being. Them less civilized than Us.

The Path of Reason

The Life of Ibn Sina, A critical edition and annotated translation by William E. Gohlman, 1974. After this initial autobiographical account, the remainder is written as a biography by one of his students. It is anecdotal in nature and includes an account of how he died after suffering for many weeks from colic and other ailments.
And algebra, a man called al-Mahmud al-Massahi (the Surveyor, or the Mathematician).
By Porphyry, original name Malchus (b. c. 234, Tyre [modern Sur, Lebanon] or Batanaea [in modern Syria]--d. c. 305, Rome?), Neoplatonist Greek philosopher, important both as an editor and as a biographer of the philosopher Plotinius and for his commentary on Aristotle's Categories, which set the stage for medieval developments of logic and the problem of universals. Boethius' Latin translation of the introduction (Isagoge) became a standard medieval textbook.
Quoted from Aristotelian Logic and the Arabic Language in al-Farabi by Shukri B. Abed, SUNY Press, 1991.
Incidentally, in his Divine Comedy, Dante consigns Muhammad to one of the lower hells with 'sowers of scandals and schism'.♣ He paid a compliment to Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Rushd (Averroës) and Saladin (the Mamluk Turkish hero of the crusading epoch) by placing them in limbo. (Source: J.M Roberts, p 270.♣) On the other hand, Bernard Shaw said, 'I have studied him - the wonderful man - and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ he must be called the savior of humanity ... If a man like Muhammed were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness.'
These include Nestorian Christian scholars like Abu Bishr Matta Ibn Yunis (870-939 CE) and Yuhanna Ibn Haylan (860-920 CE), from whom he studied Arabic grammar.
These were Nestorian and Jacobite Christians. Because of theological disputes, Syriac-speaking Christians divided during the 5th century into Nestorians, or East Syrians, under the Persian sphere of influence, and Jacobites (who were Monophysites), or West Syrians, under the Byzantine sphere. Nestorians stressed the independence of the divine and human natures of Christ and, in effect, suggested that they were two persons loosely united. Most of its members - numbering about 170,000 - live in Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The Jacobites believed that Christ had one nature rather than both divine and human natures.
In the words of the Arabist Joel Kraemer.
Politics and Excellence - The political philosophy of Al-Farabi by Miriam Galston, Princeton University Press, 1990. pp 3-21.
These include scholars like Leo Strauss, Shlomo Pines, Fauzi Najjar, majir Fakhry and Richard Walzer.
A History of Islamic Philosophy by Majid Fakhry, Second Edition, Colombia University Press, 1983.
Fusul Al-Madani (Aphorisms of the Statesman) by Al-Farabi, p 61. Translated, annotated and introduced by D. M. Dunlop, 1961.
Al-Farabi's Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, translated and introduced by Muhsin Mahdi, 1962. This book has three parts: the first spells out al-Farabi's own philosophy and is titled, 'The Attainment of Happiness'. The second and third parts deal with the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, respectively.
Scholars disagree on al-Farabi's immediate purpose in turning to classical Greek political philosophy but politics was a central part of Classical Greek thought and certainly compatible with al-Farabi's concern with happiness realized in this life.
In al-Farabi's time, the major school of theological Islam was the Mu'tazilah - liberal in outlook and receptive to reason - centered in Abbasid Baghdad and strongest during the progressive reign of caliphs al-Mansur, Haroon al-Rashid and al-Mamun, although ultimately opposed to Greek rationalism. It was rejected by the Sunnis but found moderate support among the Shi'a. The Mu'tazilah school survived another century after al-Farabi and then got supplanted by Sunni orthodoxy.
The qualities of Plato's philosopher-king: Intelligence, good memory, keenness of mind, love of knowledge, moderation in matters of food, drink and sex, love of truthfulness, magnanimity, frugality, love of justice, firmness or courage. To this list, Al-Farabi added physical fitness and eloquence.
Mabadi Ara Ahl Al-Madina Al-Fadila by al-Farabi (available as 'Al-Farabi on the Perfect State'), Chapter 15: Perfect Associations and Perfect Ruler; Faulty Associations, sections 13, 14. Translated, annotated and introduced by Richard Walzer, 1985.
This distinction between the parallel worlds of the elite (khass) and the masses ('amm) was to become a key feature of medieval Islam. An introduction to many other Islamic thinkers can be found here. Be aware that this may not be very objective or factually accurate.

The Mystic Tide

According to the French scholar Louis Massignon.
According to Professor Arberry.
Alone with the Alone - Creative imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabi, Henry Corbin, with a preface by Harold Bloom, 1969, Princeton Univ. Press.
Sura 22:1-2 begins as follows: O people, fear your Lord. Surely the clamor of the Hour is a terrible thing. / The day you will witness it, every suckling mother will be distracted from the child she is suckling, and every pregnant woman will deliver her burden, and you will see people drunk, whereas they are not drunk; but the punishment of Allah is terrible.
Muslim Saints and Mystics, Episodes from the Tadhkirat al-Auliya ("Memorial of the Saints") by Farid al-Din Attar (d. 1220?). Translated by A. J. Arberry. This work relates facts, anecdotes and moralistic tales of divine intervention in the lives of pious people.
The Arabic term sufi derives from suf, 'wool'. Those who opted out of the conventional race for worldly advancement took to wearing a coarse woolen habit to proclaim their otherworldliness - the medieval equivalent of tie-dye.
Fusus al-hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom, 1229) translated and introduced by R.W.J Austin, preface by Titus Burckhardt, Paulist Press, 1980. ('he who knows ...' , p 181) Al-Arabi's thought has inspired much debate and controversy in interpretation; some of his works still await critical evaluation.
The Life and Influence of Ibn 'Arabi, A. Dupre, P. Young. Proceedings of The First Annual Symposium of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society, Durham University, April 1984.
Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyah (The Meccan Revelations), completed much later in Damascus. In 560 chapters and 37 volumes, it is a personal encyclopedia spanning all esoteric sciences in Islam, with valuable insights into his own inner life. No comprehensive assessment is available yet.
Tarjuman al-ashwaq (The Interpreter of Desires).
Poem No. 24 from Tarjuman al-ashwaq (The Interpreter of Desires), translated by Professor Michael Sells.
In his day he was given the surname "Son of Plato" (Ibn Aflatun) apart from his title "Supreme Master" (ash-Sheikh al-akbar).
Ibn Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition - The making of a polemical image in medieval Islam, Alexander D. Knysh, SUNY press, 1999.
(Sura 23:12-14) We have created man from an extract of clay; / Then We placed him as a sperm in a secure place; / Then We created out of the sperm a clot; then made from the clot a lump of flesh into bones; and then covered the bones with flesh; then fashioned him into another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators.
The Whirling Dervishes, or the Mevlevi Order, originated in 13th century Turkey. In 1972, Jelaluddin Loras, Sheikh of the Mevlevi Order of America, brought it to the US. On December 17, Whirling Dervishes across the world celebrate the birth of the poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi who founded the Order.
The Hindu mystical tradition most akin to Sufism is Bhakti - a devotional movement among followers of Vishnu - that began independently in Tamil country and brought to the north by Ramanuja (1017-1137) who can be roughly regarded as the al-Arabi of Hinduism. Kabir (1440-1518), a medieval mystic poet and religious synthesist, was the link between Hindu Bhakti and Islamic Sufism, which had gained a large following among Indian Muslims. Another Hindu mystic and poet was Mira Bai (1450?-1547), a Rajput princess, whose lyrical songs of love and devotion to Krishna are still popular in northern India. Other notable mystics include Purandaradasa (1480-1564) of Mysore, Tukaram (1598-1649) from modern Maharashtra, Surdas (1483-1563) from northern India, and Chaitanya (1485-1533) of Bengal. Here is a verse of self-realization and repentance from Surdas. (Gopal is a name of Lord Krishna, Nanda is the name of Surdas's foster father.)
I have danced my full now, O Gopal!

With passion and fury for my petticoat,

With lust for physical pleasure as my necklace,

With delusion jingling as my anklets,

With words of abuse as poetry,

With my mind full of false ideas as the big drum,

With my movement in the company of the sinful as the steps,

With avarice as the earthen pitcher making sound inside,

Beating time in various ways,

I have danced enough.

I have worn illusion as my girdle,

I have put on material craving as the mark on my forehead;

I have endlessly demonstrated my wants, without regard to time or place;

O Son of Nanda, put an end to all this nonsense!
The five pillars of Islam: The shahada, or declaration of faith; salat or the prayer offered five times a day; hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca during one's lifetime; fasting during Ramadan; and zakat or a tax originally billed as a charitable contribution.
The Sikhs - History, Religion and Society by W. H. McLEOD, 1989, Columbia University Press.

The Christian West and Epilogue

In practical terms, the conflict between the church and state came to a head in the late 11th century with Pope Gregory VII's condemnation of the lay appointment of bishops as simony and his excommunication of Henry IV, the emperor, for committing that sin.
Europe - A History by Norman Davies, 1996, Pimlico.
A History of God by Karen Armstrong, 1993, Ballantine Books.
The Funeral Oration of Pericles in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian war.
As rational philosophies of personal conduct and action, Buddhism and Upanishadic Hinduism (culminating in the Karma Yoga of the Bhagawad Gita) resemble Stoic thought. The philosophical, rational essence of all three, however, was understood only by a minority of their populations. Unlike the Classical Greeks, the Eastern philosophies at most advocated a self-denying individualism, so their preoccupation with politics is not as strong. This is the crucial difference - the Classical Greeks also embraced the ideals of personal glory, competitive achievement, fame - centrifugal aspects of ego that Buddhist thought categorically rejected.
The essence of the Buddha's teaching - as rational as they come - can be summarized by the Four Noble Truths: (1) life is fundamentally disappointment and suffering; (2) suffering is a result of one's craving for pleasure, power, and continued existence; (3) in order to stop disappointment and suffering one must stop craving; and (4) the way to stop craving and thus suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path - right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right awareness, and right concentration. 'About Gods, worship, offerings, prayers and ritual, the Buddha claimed no special knowledge.'
The Buddha treated men and women of all social ranks as equals. Moved by the spectacle of human suffering, he was determined to teach his fellow humans how that suffering could be confronted and overcome.♣ He recognized economic sufficiency as a factor in moral development. Trying to suppress crime through punishment, he said, was futile. Poverty, according to the Buddha, was one of the causes of immorality and crime; therefore, the economic condition of people should be improved. In India, 'Buddhism was identified with commerce and manufacturing [by early 1st millennium CE]. Not only did Buddhist doctrine encourage the investment of resources which would otherwise be wasted on [ritual] sacrifices, it also denied caste taboos on food and travel which made trade so hazardous for the orthodox [Brahmans].' Buddhist traders and merchants subsequently took Buddhism to southeast Asia.
From Our Fellow Animals by Ian Hacking, New York Review of Books, June 29, 2000.
In the view of another Stoic, Seneca, the fall of man came about because of the lust of appropriation. The state and the institution of property are devices set up to control the evil in man. The state is therefore desired only in a sin-curbing role and had little to contribute to moral progress. This corresponded with the political attitude of early Christianity which saw the state as part of the burden of fallen mankind, something to be passively put up with, while moral perfection was to be pursued by private benevolence, as well as, of course, by faith, ascetic practice and ritual observances. (Source: The Oxford History of Western Philosophy, Chapter on Political Philosophy by Anthony Quinton, Editor Anthony Kenny)
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines individualism as (1): a doctrine that the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically paramount; also: conduct guided by such a doctrine (2): the conception that all values, rights, and duties originate in individuals b: a theory maintaining the political and economic independence of the individual and stressing individual initiative, action, and interests; also: conduct or practice guided by such a theory. In this article, however, 'individualism' is frequently held synonymous with the flip-side of this definition: the self-regarding ideas that sanction the pursuit of ambition, glory, power, competition etc., leading to aggression, greed, glorification of passions, vanity, and other forces that create enormous burdens on society. The context, hopefully, makes it clear enough.
In Islam, science did not jar as badly with revelation as it did with Christian dogma. The latter was centered on an elaborate creation myth and the divinity of a man, both of which barely stood a chance. Islam lent itself more easily to allegory, could withstand science better because it was predicated only on the existence of a universal God; there was no creation myth and Muhammad was only His messenger, not an incarnation. It is instructive to note that Buddhist thought, rooted in a far more rational metaphysics, has not suffered at the hands of science. This was because it sprang from the domain of the essential human experience: birth, death, disease, passions, suffering, exile, love and longing, the shortness of life, the fleeting world, its inexorable change and decay. It did not make unwarranted assumptions about the material world, or promise a paradise.
Quote by Jean-Paul Sartre.
In The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky.
Satprem in Sri Aurobindo or The Adventures of Consciousness.
What one ought to do with this freedom is a whole different question, and outside the scope of this article. J



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