Perennial Philosophy: Religious Confusion

Mohd Aizam Masod Aqidah (Faith) Branch Research Division

Claims of Islam, Judaism and Christianity as monotheistic religions. It is indeed disheartening to note that Islam today is attempted to be understood from a Western orientalist philosophical point of view. Western philosophy, in general, is constantly attempting to place all religions in the same position and phenomenon. To them, the process of religious development is the result of evolution. It begins with dynamism, animism, polytheism or henotheism, and then develops into monotheism, which is also described by some researchers as religion based on one God (tawhid).

According to this evolutionary perspective, monotheism is not considered as the absolute truth. Religion is considered as still being able to accept changes and development. This will eventually lead to a borderless religious belief that includes the acceptance of atheism. Although this will probably not be easily accepted by monotheists, the framework of thought that is tinged with atheism can be detected especially in debating the issue of conflicts between religions.

In reality, this is a logical conclusion derived from an evolutionary approach to religion. But Islam is a one God (tawhid) religion. It is not the result of mans thought evolution. It is a religion that originated from divine revelations from Allah s.w.t. beginning with the
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Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) until the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The concept of a one God religion is constant and does not undergo evolution. The West obviously does not recognise the concept of divine revelation in their thought tradition, to the point where they place religion as a part of social ill that is rapidly increasing in the midst of the community.

The orientalists are also very confused when discussing the type of monotheistic religion that they also term as one God (tawhid) religion that include Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism. According to them, Islam, Judaism and Christianity are a cluster. But Hinduism is not a cluster. Islam and Judaism are considered pure monotheistic religions, while Christianity is considered an impure monotheism. Is this true?

The cause of the orientalists confusion is that they simplify and ignore the basic question about the difference between the concept of God in Islam and other religions. For example, the concept of God according to the Jewish version is clearly not the same as Islam. This is in view that the Jews have a monopoly on God solely for their own race. Other races cannot worship their God. As for the Christians, it is clear that their religion adheres to the trinity concept. While Hinduism is a religion that is based on polytheism because they worship many deities.

In fact, the title or name of God is something very basic in every religion. Each religion should have their own title for God based on the original language of their holy text. In

Islam, the title and name for God is Allah. It is written in the Quran and used by all Muslims regardless of race and language. It is never translated. There is no compromise in changing the name Allah to another name other than what is evident in the Quran and the Sunnah.

Muslims also hold that view for other religions. That is why when the Herald Catholic Weekly wanted to use the name Allah, it bewildered the Muslims. In August 2007, a Roman Catholic priest in Holland, Tiny Muskens, made the same call to followers of the Christian faith. The call however was met with protests from Christians, both Catholics and Protestants. The President of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights protested the call in his statement, Bishop Martinus Tiny Muskens can pray to Allah all he wants, but only addle pated Catholics will follow his lead. It is not a good sign when members of the Catholic hierarchy indulge in a fawning exchange with Muslims or those of any other religion. The Chairman of the General Synod of the Dutch Protestant Church, Gerrit de Fijter also rejected Muskenss suggestion that Christians use the name Allah, he said, I applaud every attempt to encourage dialogue with Muslims, but I doubt the sense of this manoeuvre.

The statements above clearly shows that the use of the name Allah for Christiani ty is still a polemic among the Christian religious leaders. The suggestion is deemed too liberal by some of the Christian priests themselves. In an interview, Muskens once said, What does God care what we call him? This statement was rebuked by Father Jonathan Morris, a Roman Catholic personage in Italy who replied, Words and names

mean things. More doubtfully, Muskens is feared to have been influenced by the liberal direction of thought that is prevalent in Indonesia based on his experience as a priest there for a period of eight years.

The above phenomenon is only a small part of the confusion that is occurring in determining the identity of each religion, especially the religions that are considered monotheism.

Monotheism becomes religious pluralism. While the West searches the true meaning of monotheism, it is as if they have found an antidote when the idea of religious pluralism succeeded in infiltrating Islamic thoughts. Among others, through the works of Western Muslim Mystic thinkers like Rene Guenon (Abdul Wahid Yahya) and Frithjof Schuon (Isa Nuruddin Ahmad). Their works, especially Schuon with his book, The Transcendent Unity of Religions is full of thoughts or ideas that have become the core inspiration for the propagation of religious pluralism discourse.

Perhaps Sayid Hussein Nasr, a moderate Shia Muslim personality, is the figure most responsible in popularising religious pluralism ideas among traditional Muslims. It is an achievement that has propelled him to the level of prominent religious thinkers, in the same league as Ninian Smart, John Hick and Annemarie Schimme. Nasr has inserted in his thesis on religious pluralism a summary on the concept of perennial philosophy. It is a discourse that resurrects the metaphysical unity that is

hidden behind the religious teachings and traditions that have been practiced by man since the Prophet Adam (peace be upon him). According to Nasr, to embrace or to be convinced of a religion and to implement all its teachings in its entirety and diligently, are equivalent to embracing other religions. This is because it is all aligned to the One, which is the true perennial reality. According to Nasr, the difference between religions and faiths are merely in the symbols and external qualities. The core of each religion is still one.

Nasrs approach does not differ much from those of some Western thinkers who are involved in civil dialogues to close the gap between the West and Islam. A matter that leaves us in doubt, does this concept of perennial philosophy have solid justification in the tradition of Islamic thoughts that is claimed as fundamental to its roots?

The concept of perennial philosophy If we were to reflect on the principle of perennial philosophy that is advanced by Nasr, the first person to use this phrase as mentioned by Aldous Huxley in his book, The Perennial Philosophy, is Leibniz. It is from Huxleys work that the term perennial philosophy became popular in the West.

Huxley explains that the basic principles of perennial philosophy can be found scattered in ancient legends and myths that propagated in primitive communities in all corners of the world. A version from the highest common factor in past and present theologies. It was first committed to writing over twenty five centuries ago and since

then this theme that has never perished, continues to be debated, from the perception of every religious tradition and in all major research in Asia and Europe.

Among the earliest prominent figure of perennial philosophy is Rene Guenon (18861951). Guenon revived the perennial truth and the values of wisdom that are inherent in tradition and religion. Guenon terms it as primordial tradition. Guenon was born a Catholic but later converted to Islam in 1912 (his Muslim name was Abdul Wahid Yahya). It was not known that while he was living in France, Guenon was already practicing the ritualistic Islamic life. Guenon was of the opinion that the real important knowledge is the knowledge on spirituality. Other knowledge must be attained, but it only has meaning and benefit when associated with spiritual knowledge.

According to Guenon, the reality ( zat) from spiritual knowledge originates from the supernatural and the transcendent. The knowledge is universal. As such, the knowledge cannot be limited by a particular cluster of religion. It is the common property of all ancient traditions. The difference in technicality that resulted is the diverse ways and methods to realise the truth. The difference is something logical and understandable because each religion has a unique contribution to understand Absolute Reality. His spiritual experience in the theosophical movement has lead him to conclude that all religion posses truth and unites at the Universal Truth.

The thoughts of Guenon were then continued by Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998). Since the age of sixteen, he had read the work of Guenon, Orient et Occident. Impressed with

Guenons thoughts, Schuon corresponded with Guenon for twenty years. After years of corresponding, Schuon finally met Guenon in Egypt in 1938. Schuon embraced Islam and was known as Isa Nuruddin Ahmad al-Syazili al-Darquwi al-Alawi al-Maryami. He can be considered a prominent figure in perennial philosophy. He phrased the term, the One Final Reality, The Absolute, The Unlimited and The Supreme. He calls for man to be close to the One.

Meanwhile, the current prominent thinker who is influenced by perennial philosophy is the renowned liberal Muslim activist from Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Nurcholis Majid. In his writings, he states that each religion is an expression of faith towards the same God. Like a wheel, the centre of the wheel is God, and the spokes are paths from the different religions. Perennial philosophy also divides religion to an esoteric (inner) level and exoteric (outward) level. A religion differs from another at the exoteric level, but is relatively the same at its esoteric level. Thus is the term one god many paths.

Islam, the true One God (tawhid) religion As Muslims, we understand and are convinced, that the first human, the Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) is a man who believed in the oneness of Allah. It is that religion of One God that was continuously preached by the prophets and taught to mankind, until the last of the Prophets, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So the perennial truth is the Oneness of God (tawhid) and not perennial philosophy that has obscured origins. Islam is the religion of source and its teachings are clear. We

do not need the ideas of perennial philosophy that according to its exponents originated from the Axial Age.

The ideas of perennial philosophy or its other labels such as Global Ethics, Global Theology or others will only culminate with the understanding of equitable religions or the unity of religions (Wahdat al-Adyan). These ideas are not only remote from Islam, but also from the direction of its ambitions. As such these ideas are only inviting trouble as opposed to being the solution to the relations between religions.

Besides that, these ideas are very dangerous if applied in this country. Malaysia is a country that has installed Islam as the federal religion. Islam must be based on aqidah (faith), syariah (Islamic law) and the behaviour of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah. Perennial Philosophy does not promise anything in maintaining these principles of Islam. It is only a philosophy on divinity that is debated not based on the standard discipline of Islamic Knowledge but is supported by Western framework or worldview.

We do need to learn about many things such as science and technology from other civilisations, but we do not need to learn about divine matters, truth and humanity from them. This is because the teachings of Islam on these matters are very precise. As Muslims, we are confident that Islam is based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) which carries the rahmatin lil alamin (blessing for the whole world and its content) mission. Not the teachings of Ammonius, Blavatsky, Guenon, Schuon, Armstrong or anybody else.