What is Islamic? Part 2
admin on 05 23, 2009
Let us start dissecting what the term “Islamic” would mean by reflecting on the definition proposed by Prof Al-Attas:
Islamization is the liberation of man first from magical, mythological, animistic, national-cultural tradition opposed to Islam, and then from secular control over his reason and his language
First of all, the term “reason” has been utilized in this definition, which is linked to the mind or the intellect. By Quranic principles, what we mean by the intellect or the mind is the natural, unbiased intellect, or in other words, the intellect that is based on the notion of fitrah or natural state. The term intellect or the Arabic term for it, Aql, is used together with the term qalb or the heart. In other words, aql and qalb are 2 words that describe the same entity, the human soul, or in its Arabic words, the ruh.
The analogy would be describing a person as a father to his son, while at the same time also calling the person the son to his father, or the husband to his wife. It is the same person, described in different ways related to the different functions or roles that the person plays.
The same way goes for the intellect, the heart and the spirit. They are but the same entity, described in different ways based on the different roles and functions that they perform.
And when we talk about the intellect-heart-soul, in Quranic terms we cannot separate them from the Primordial Covenant that they have taken; the oath of submission to the One God. In other words, At-Tauhid is the very core message or purpose that relates to the primary function of the intellect-heart-soul.
Summarizing the above and returning to the subject matter in discussion, the term “Islamic” must of course be related to the mind, or in other words, the intellect-heart-soul. It is related to the natural state of man, or his fitrah. It relates to the Primordial Covenant that he has taken in the spiritual world. It relates to the meaning and purpose of his existence.
In summary, the term “Islamic” must relate to the metaphysics of Islam, with its core message, At-Tauhid.
So in our first attempt to dissect this term, we would conclude that the term “Islamic” would relate to the metaphysical framework as defined by the Qur’an and the Sunnah, that would relate to Man’s natural state of fitrah, his meaning and purpose of existence.
