Communication

Author(s): Anwar Ibrahim

Source: Islamic Studies, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Summer 2004), pp. 369-377
Published by: Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad
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 Is?amicStudies 43:2 (2004) pp. 369-377

Communication

The following is the textof a letterreceivedby us from Mr Anwar

Ibrahim,Ex-DeputyPrimeMinister ofMalaysia,and a goodfriend of the
Islamic Research Institute,who is presently serving a term of
imprisonmentEd.

Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari

IslamicResearch Institute
InternationalIslamicUniversity
P.O. Box 1035
Islamabad

My dear brother

Praise be to Allah Subh?nahu wa ta'?l?,Who inHis infinitewisdom, has

caused an interruption inmy freneticcareer in the tempestuousworld of
active politics and therebygivenme the opportunity for repose in tazkirah
[tadhkirah]and to devour books. This injusticeperpetrated againstme by the
rulingclique has but enhancedmy spirit,intellectand resolve.
Thank you and Dr. Muhammad al-GhazaH for your kind and heart
?
warming words and the two valuable compendiums Dr. Muhammad al
Ghazali's The Socio-PoliticalThought of Sh?hWati Allah and Ghulam Haider
Aasi's Muslim UnderstandingofOtherReligions:A StudyofIbnHazm's Kit?b ai
Pad fi al-Milalwa al-Ahw?'wa al-Nihal.
I have tried to reciprocateyour kindness in the onlyway I can undermy
circumstances, that is, by scrutinisingthe texts and making copious notes. I
commend the authors for theircrowning achievement in helping to recastour

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 COMMUNICATION
370

understanding of the two great classical scholars in the context of

contemporary socio-politics.
I seek your indulgence as I sharemy personal impressionson the two
books. I only wish I had the benefit of the original textsor other relevant
reference material in prison.
In the late 1970s,we inABIM organised a seminar on Sh?hWall Allah
DehlawL At that time,he was ratherunknown in theMalay world. But the
presence of a speaker fromAligarh University, whose name I cannot recall,
was extremelyuseful, and his presentationgeneratedgreaterawareness in Sh?h
Wal? Allah. Since therewas dearth ofmaterial on ShahWall Allah inEnglish,
the only background paper circulatedprior to the seminarwas an account of
his lifeandwork by LH. Qureshi inUlema inPolitics.
Amazingly, though, and to our pleasant surprise,therewas a coterie of
Sh?hWall Allah's followers among participants from the state of Kelantan.
They seemed familiarwith some of hisworks. Their leaderwas an influential
religious scholar,Nik Muhammad Saleh. We were informed that some of
themwere murlds ofW?hid Bakhsh Rabbani. Unfortunately, some ofNik
Muhammad's pronouncements tended to be unusually harsh and he became
embroiled in a controversyover hisfatw? that thewelfare lotteryconducted
by theFederal Government was hal?l.
Incidentally, I was recently informed that since the 1960s, Sh?h Wall
Allah's book al-Fawz al-Kabirfi Usui al-Tafs?rwas used in theMadrasah
Irsh?diyyah in the state of Perak and perhaps in a few other mad?ris in
Malaysia. Unfortunately, his magnum opus, Hujjat Allah al-B?lighah, has
hardly surfaced in any of the religious institutions.Only recentlyhave [sic;
read 'has'] this work become our universities'
required reading in postgraduate
programmes, at the HU, Kuala
particularly Lumpur.
ShahWall Allah appears prominently in the IslamicGreatWorks Project
under the auspices of the latePresidentZiaul Haq, togetherwith al-B?r?n?and
Allamah Iqbal among SouthAsian scholars. I did inquire regardingitsprogress
to assist in publishing some of the titles.But as you know, events interfered
beforewe could commencewith theproject.
Muhammad al-Ghazali's introduction is highly illuminating,covering as
it were, the length and breadth of Shah Wall Allah's conceptual and
intellectualframeworkin the area of social thought.It displays his objectivity
in a very unobtrusive manner, the reader at a proper vantage and
placing point
settingShahWall Allah's works against the backdrop of the disintegrationof
theMoghul Empire, "themoment of despair and despondency" (p.
3).
Shah Wall Allah's "synthesizing and conciliatory"
approach towards
sufismand thevariousmazahib [madh?hih],his stridentrejectionof theShVah

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371

im?mah doctrine and his relentless advocacy of jihad against the "rising
influenceof themilitantMaratha, Sikh andHindu communities"must be seen
in this context.Muslim unity and thedefence of theKhalifate was criticaland
paramount, in the lightof the growing siege againstDelhi rule. Itwas possibly
this same obsession forMuslim unity thatprompted his strongrebuke of the
ShVahdoctrine.
Muhammad al-Ghazali has given amontage of sortsof ShahWall Allah's
Hanafi tradition;thenotable sourcesof his thoughtsincludingIbn Taymiyyah
and Ibn Qayyim; his Sufi experience and some other contemporary scholars
which serve as a useful for the uninitiated. For instance, he
compendium
juxtaposes Ibn TufayPs well-known thesis about the evolutionary nature of
man's spiritbeing in conformity with Allah's predetermined fitrah in hisHayy
ibn Yaqz?n with Sh?hWall Allah's irtif?q?t.Although there is validity in
Muhammad al-Ghazali's observation, the writer perhaps unwittingly
misrepresented Ibn Tufayl when he says that "the conclusions drawn by Ibn
Tufayl appear to be based on elementsof fantasyand imagination, ..."whereas
ShahWall Allah's "ideas are foundedon the observation of the functioningof
thehuman society" (p. 81).
Ibn TufayPs strengthis in conveyinghis ideas in the genre of a fictional
story thatwould appeal to his readers,who might not take to somethingtoo
manifestlydidactic andmoralistic.
As alluded to earlier,Sh?hWall All?h has a penchant for "reconciliation"
among 'ulama*.It is this thatdrives him towards tryingto resolve the issueof
authentic esoterismbetweenwahdat al-wuj?d ofMuhy? al-D?n Ibn 'Arabi and
wahdat al-shuh?dof ShaykhAhmad Sirhindi,which he reduces to a problem
of semantics (p. 14).This assertion is justifiableas it is consistentwith his view
that certain individualsare imbuedwith exceptional intelligence,as hakim and
k?mil, virtuous and with the acquired knowledge of the rectificationof the
soul, being close to the attributesof Prophethood (pp. 185-186). Or perhaps,
Sh?hWall All?h seeks to find a pragmatic solution to the lingeringand time
consuming polemics surroundingthis issue. By observing this "synthesizing
approach", he helps to defuse an otherwisevolatile issue.
Unfortunately, the issue remains contentious, and such an observation
would be criticisedby some as a misreading of Ibn 'Arabi.Wahdat al-wuj?d
goes down to the very core of Ibn 'Arabi's statement on man, a
ontological
position which has on the one hand provoked violent opposition on the part
of orthodox scholars but on the other hand spawned an entire cult of
followers spanning diverse cultural, religious and philosophical entities.And
even as Ibn 'Arabi's grows among recent we still hear
popularity generations,

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372

the officialpronouncement of heresy or heterodoxy against the followers of

Sufi tar?qahsthat immersethemselvesinwahdat alwuj?d.
The Malays, for example, who had very early exposure to Arab and
Indian Sufi teachersand tradersseem at easewith thepractice of Sufism.The
awr?d r?tibs, etc. have their roots in Sufi tar?qahs. (See Syed Muhammad
Naquib al-Attas,Sufismas Understood and Practiced by theMalays). And the
foremost proponent of wahdat alwuj?d in theMalay world is Hamzah
Fans?ri. (See al-Attas,TheMysticism ofHamzah Fans?n). But throughout a
period of apparent docility, therewere intermittenteruptions owing to the
rancorous debate over the issueofwahdat alwuj?d.
Muhammad al-Ghazali impressively summarises Shah Wal? Allah's
monumentality on a wide array of scholarship.He elucidates crucial and
complex theological issues. His tafslr and ta'wil of the Qur'?n depart
somewhat from classical exegetes, including his assertion on the
comprehensibility of mutash?bih. This is not surprising, considering his
consistent espousal of the supremacyof reason predicated and guided by the
Qur'?n andHadith (pp. 7-8). Muhammad al-Ghazali regards 'Umal-kal?m as
"perhaps themost original component of his intellectuallegacy," turninginto
a relevantdiscipline and grounded in empirical evidence (pp. 9-11).
But it is his passionate call for the continuance of theProphetic struggle
to "reform society" thathas emerged as a recurrentand enduring theme for
Sh?h Wall Allah, a theme he elaborateswith such brilliance through his
theoryof irtif?qat,the sevendiscourses and khil?fat.
The selectivebut lucid translationofHujjat Allah al-B?lighahcovering its
socio-political dimension clearly reinforces Muhammad al-Ghazali's
contention that Sh?h Wal? All?h has made a unique contribution to the
concept of governance and that he had an exceptionally sagacious
understanding of human nature. It would have been consistentwith the
book's theme ifMuhammad al-Ghazali had interpretedsome of Sh?hWal?
All?h's "prescriptions"foreffectiveadministrationand governance.
How marvellous itwould be ifwe could offersome of Sh?hWal? All?h's
"prescriptions" to the contemporaryMuslim society! Consider Sh?h Wal?
All?h decrying against those "parasites"overburdening the public exchequer
and being "habituallydependent on it*.Those who committed these excesses
were not sparedhis venom,
including those close to the rulers (or cronies, in
modern parlance!) (p. 163).
In one ofmy budget speeches, I made reference to the precepts of Ibn
Khald?n and theChinese reformer Wang An-Shih to justifylowering taxes to
stimulate productivity and growth. But Sh?h Wal? All?h seems more

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COMMUNICATION
373

emphatic, going a step further in condemning "heavy taxes" as "ruinous

justice" (p. 164).
ShahWal? Allah wrote with the courage of convictionwhen calling for
irtif?q?tand reformofman as al-ra'yal-kull?.
Not oblivious to the surrounding
corruption and decadence towards the end of Moghul rule in India, he
bemoaned "the ascendancy of a group of people who, being impervious to
universal intelligence, are apt to go for savage, perverted and diabolical
pursuits." (p. 217). Governmental authorityare [Sic; read 'is'] leftto those
who "immersed themselves in the pleasure of the temporal world ...," as can
be observed "in the living styles of your own country's kings and
emperorsThis, he argues, would only lead to "maximising taxes,"
were treated like
oppression and persecution; and "if theyobeyed them, they
donkeys and oxens" (p. 220-221).
Pursuing the subjectwith vigour, Sh?hWall Allah proposed a radical
formulaagainst thosewho "abuse theirauthorityand corrupt thepopulace by
an unbridled exercise of powers in disregardof the latter's rights".He laid
certain basic rules to condemn the violations and "the rulers could be
subjected to impeachment ..." (pp. 240-241), a proposition considered
"subversive" by autocratic rulers inMuslim countries.
Shah Wal? Allah deliberated on the egalitarian nature of Islam and
cautioned against the appointmentof adjudicatorsand judgeswho are prone to
"lustful whims or boastful desires" and submissive to the "oppressive
tendencies"of the rulers (p. 242). This was followed by an elaborate analysisof
the functionof the judiciary (in section ).
Iwould have expectedMuhammad al-Ghazali to scrutinisethese issuesof
paramount importance as convincingly espoused inHujjat All?h al-B?lighah
andwhich resonatewell with thepresentperiodwhen Muslims are struggling
under either dictatorial or authoritarian
regimes.
Sh?h Wall Allah was dealing with Dar al-Isl?m,where it would be
incumbentupon the political authority to implement the SharVah,hence the
issues of shar?Yymanahij and their application are deliberatedwith clarity.
Still, the application has to be seen from theperspectiveof his thesis regarding
the four stagesof human development, irtif?q?t(pp. 43-49), his conception of
the evolution of human society (chapter4), and finally,the obligation under
Shan'ah of installingtheKhalifah (chapter5).
It is also in this context thatShahWall Allah dealt extensivelywith jih?d.
And his lettertoChiefNajib al-Dawlah (referredto byMuhammad al-Ghazali
on pp. 128-129) encapsulates the essence of
jih?d and his passion foruniversal
justice. In it,he condemns the mistreatment of the people ofDelhi, who had
"faced the plunder of theirwealth and property as well as honour, and

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.... For the cry of the ....

disgrace oppressed does have its effects and thatno
one is to vex or offendtheMuslims or dhimm?sofDelhi."
May I conclude by renderingMuhammad al-Ghazali's excellent quote
fromMaul?n? Abul Hasan 'Al?Nadaw? in honouring Shah Wall Allah's
"exclusive distinction" in combining the various disciplines "with his own
forcefulcontemplation, observation and dialectical vigour." Maul?n? Abul
Hasan considersHujjat Allah al-B?lighahas "hithertounparallelled" being "the
first
work dealingwith this subject (i.e. philosophical explanation of the entire
legal systemof Islam) so extensivelyand comprehensively ..." (pp. 133-134).

ooo
Ghulam Haider Aasi's summation of the major works of Ibn Hazm is
impressively elucidating, going a long way towards addressing the
inaccessibilityof themaster himself to a largeportion of the reading public
due, perhaps, to his absolute familiaritywith Arabic. Aasi recognises Ibn
Hazm's capacity to initiatediscourse on a wide array of issues and a baffling
range of scholarship.He neither limitshimself to ecclesiastical confinesnor
allows himself to be constrained by any diffidencewith regard to disciplines
claimed by others as theirdomains.
IbnHazm elucidates some of themore crucial theologicalquestions in the
broadest context; the Himal-kal?m, ethics; and historiography,and critically
analyses other religious beliefs, particularly Judaism and Christianity.His
criticism is incisive and penetrating,as shown in his handling of the issue of
trinityand Christology (p. 40), which is so thorough that later criticismsof
these religious texts including thedeist critique of traditionalChristianity are
"confinedmainly to the samepoints thathad been raisedprobably for thefirst
timeby him" (p. 187).
He rejects the taqlld and denounces both the rationalism of the
Mu'tazilah and the scholasticismof theAsh'aris and their
methodology of
discourse. Sunni and Shi'ah esoterism is also discarded as
incompatiblewith
reason. Allama Muhammad who himself is a critic of the rigidityof
Iqbal,
and some traditional defends IbnHazm's
taqlld religious exegesis, rejectionof
the principle of reasoning by analogy and ijm?( as understood
by traditional
legists. Iqbal's endorsement of Ibn Hazm's thesis is, of course, understandable
as he explains
"consideringthemoral, intellectualdecrepitudeof his times".
IbnHazm in his Kit?b al-Faslfi al-Ahw?' wa alMilal wa al-Nihal can be
said to be somewhat constrainedby the relativenarrowness of the scope of his
sources, forhe relied entirelyon theArabic translationof the religious textsof
Judaism and Christianity. Nonetheless, unlike the Qur'?n, "authentic"
translationsof the Bible, for example, remain contentious. The
practice of

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interpolatingthe biblical textswith the translators'words for clarity is not

uncommon as was the case with the Jews in theAramaic Targums. These
interpretative translations, such as the Lutheran German translation or
King
James' version in 1611, are billed as "authentic". Furthermore, the New
Testament writers quoted theHebrew Bible in itsGreek translation,whereas
Jesus (Ts? 'alayh al-sal?m) taught his disciples in Aramaic. Greek was the
languageof the eliteduring thatperiod.
Ibn Hamz's study of religions is conducted through an incisive
examination of the sacred texts to ascertain whether there has been alteration
in text or context (tahr?j),distortion in interpretation (tahr?fal-ma'na) or
suppression of the truth (talb?s) (referto chapter 2). He proceeds to adduce
incontrovertibleevidence from the textsto prove that there indeed have been
alterations and distortions.
Aasi's criticismof the occasional lapsewhen IbnHazm "offershis own
interpretations of them" (p. 202) is legitimate.But his referenceto IbnHazm's
"harsh remarks" and his rebuke that the "tenor of his discourse is, to say the
least, that of an intemperateperson" is subjective. IbnHazm was writing in
themilieu ofDar al-Isl?mwith the expressedpurpose of spreadingthe religion
of Islam.Whatever flaws were inherent in his exposition of other religions,
particularlyChristianity,must be seen in the context of his ardentbut sincere
desire to impart themessage of Islam. Incidentally, thiswas the period of
Mul?k al-Taw??f, following the fallofToledo toAlfonso in 1085 (pp. 54-55).
In fact, Ibn Hazm spared no effortin castigatingtheMuslim rulers for
theiroppression and for "corruption ifas?d) in the land".He denounced "the
opportunism of the fuqah?'" calling them "wolves disguised in sheep's
clothing"who "support the rulers in their transgression"(pp. 54-56). He was
equally disparaging againsthis co-religionists,particularly theMu'tazilah and
the Shrah, even calling themheretics!

o o o

Undoubtedly IbnHazm is a fiercepolemicist,but suchwas generally the style

in traditional scholarship.And this is not confined toMuslim scholars, St.
Augustine and later St. Thomes Aquinas regard "injustice of the opposing
side" as a basis of a justwar. Martin Luther refersto Aristotle as a "blind
heathen". But a more obnoxious edict among theCatholics is extra ecclesiam
nulla salus? no salvationoutside theChurch (Catholicism).
It is rathermisplaced to interposetraditionalscholarshipand theneed for
"constructivedialogue" in the present-daycontext.But this is not to
preclude
their penetrating studies as providing us with an essential
compendium.
Furthermore,we do findexceptionalworks thatconform to the requirements

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 376 COMMUNICATION

of objective analysis and traditionalscholarship.Ab? Rayh?n al-B?r?n?'s(973

1050) treatiseon Hinduism relieson "original sources" in Sanskrit "where the
impulse to refuteother religions is hardly evident" (Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari's
Forward, pp. v-vi). His study is so perceptive that some scholars claim thathe
professes a philosophy of history influencedby the experience of theYogas.
However, al-B?r?n?'s exhaustive study of astronomy in al-Q?n?n al-Mas'?d? is
a synthesisofArabic, Indian andGreek traditions.
In amulti-religious society and a global community that ispluralistic the
imperative for meaningful dialogue cannot be overstated. But we cannot
proceed fromboth a reductionistposition and ineffability. The civilisational
dialogues that are being activelypursued are on a need for tolerance
premised
and collaboration.
Aasi seems to cancurwith Philip K. Hitti's recognitionof IbnHazm "as
being the firstscholar in the fieldof comparative religion" (p. 59). But Hitti's
assertion thatKitab al-Fasl is "themost valuable" of Ibn Hazm's
surviving
works could be disputed.He ismore renowned as an '?lim in ethics and
historiographyand his otherworks, includingalAhkamfi Usui al-Ahk?m and
alRadd 'ala Ibn Naghrllah are outstandingworks of scholarship.His al
Kal?m remained the authoritative text for centuries until surpassed Ibn
by
Taymiyyah (1263-1329) as the leadingproponent of literalismand empiricism.
I must also commendGhulam Haider Aasi for the resourceful
language
used, the close textual reading and the meticulously annotated book. He
demonstrateswith elegance IbnHazm's profound scholarshipand
bewildering
variety and depth of knowledge. It is regrettable that theMalay world,
ostensibly themost populous Muslim region, is the least vibrant in research
and discourse in such areas.
Some of the region's traditional 'ulama' initiallyviewed IbnHazm with
some reservationsdue to his
perceivedZ?hir? outlook. But hisfiqh view seems
to have gained greater
recognitionby thosewho reject the orthodox hard line
dogmatism of Da'?d ibn 'Al? al-Z?hir?. It ismost encouraging to observe a
somewhat gradual revival of interestin IbnHazm's voluminous works for it
will undoubtedly provoke equal engagement.
Incidentally, in a recent
muzaharah(sic)y some 'ulama'noted his authoritativeview inAkhbar alRus?kh
bi Miqd?r al-N?sikhwa al-Mans?kh regarding the issue of
Qur'?nic verses
as mans?kh.
categorised

Zafar bhai,
I cannot commend you enough foryour noble endeavours in
bringingabout
this seriesof scholarlypublications.As you know, I have
already thoroughly
helped myself to the two books; and I cannotwait to getmy hands on the

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COMMUNICATION
377

?
forthcomingpublication Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi's Islamic Renaissance in
SouthAsia: The Role ofShahWalt Allah.
Azizah and the children joinme inwishing you and the family thevery
best of health and protection fromAllah subhanah?wa ta'?l?.My slaams to
both the authors and colleagues at the IRI andHU.
Khuda Hafiz.

Anwar Ibrahim

$ Q

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