2015-04-24 - Friday Night Halaqa - Sheikh Khalil Abdul Rashid

Friday Night Halaqa — Ibn Khaldun, Fiqh, and the Foundations of Islamic Civilization

I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad, the most honorable of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and his companions, and upon those who follow them in good faith until the Day of Judgment.

InshAllah, first of all, in this brief talk, I want to preface it by saying that on May 18th — and someone from the Shura can correct me if I'm wrong — Shaykh Muqtar will be delivering a lecture, a workshop, on the ethics of ikhtilaf — difference of opinion — in our fiqh, in our Islamic legal tradition, and why that ikhtilaf, why those differences, are not only part and parcel of the deen, but are also critically important to the deen as well.

In other words, the absence of such a system would bring about ruin to the system. And what that means in terms of having a deen that embraces ikhtilaf and diversity — what does that mean, and is that a paradox, is it a contradiction for a deen that prizes unity, tawheed? That workshop will be an all-day workshop, inshAllah wa ta'ala. I encourage all of you to attend. I believe the date is May 18th, a Saturday, inshAllah wa ta'ala.

In light of that, in preparation for that upcoming workshop, I thought it would be beneficial to prepare the ground, if you will, a little bit. Today, we want to talk a little bit about Ibn Khaldun and the idea of fiqh — a society rooted and grounded in fiqh.

Who Was Ibn Khaldun?

All of us, or most of us, have heard of Ibn Khaldun. He was born in Tunisia in the early 14th century of the Common Era — the year 1332. He died in the year 1406 in Cairo. Ethnically, he was a Berber, but he had Arab roots, and his lineage was traced back to Arabs in Hadramaut, Yemen. From there, he has a nasab — a lineage — going directly back through the Arabs in Hadramaut called the Habaib. There is a group of tribes, a scholarly family in Hadramaut called the Habaib, plural of the word Habib.

The Habaib exist today. They are a group of scholars that live and teach actively in the Hadramaut region, and they are all connected in biological lineage and spiritual lineage to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. So Ibn Khaldun's lineage goes through the Hadramaut scholars in Yemen to the Prophet, peace be upon him.

He wrote his own biography, and that information helped later historians enormously. As you know, he was referred to in European circles as the father of modern sociology, the father of historiography — the study of history — and also the father of economics. His views on society, history, and economics were pioneering. He wrote about these things as uloom — as sciences — way before Europeans wrote about them. But he was coming from a fiqh-minded perspective, and it was that fiqh tradition that informed his outlook and his analysis of human society in general, and Islamic society in particular.

At the age of 17, he lost both of his parents. He then went to pursue various jobs in what today is known as Algeria, and even in Granada in Spain. He traveled and found himself incarcerated, although he was a faqih at that time — a young scholar. He had received his ijazat in all of the shari'i sciences — all of them, mashAllah — before his parents died. But because he was without support, he found himself incarcerated.

He met friends in jail who had connections in high positions. When he got out — also because of his lineage — he was given posts in the political realm and climbed the political ladder. He went in and out of exile, because he also wrote against some of the political leaders of his time. Eventually, he moved to Egypt, where he was given the position of Qadi al-Qudat — the Grand Judge of Egypt. He was a scholar in the Maliki school of fiqh, and so he was the head of all of the courts that adjudicated and ruled in Egypt according to the Maliki school.

And this was at age 22. SubhanAllah — what were we all doing at 22?

The Institution of the Qadi

In the Islamic tradition, the position of qadi has always been a temporary institution. Qadis never served longer than a year to two years in one place. After two years, they were always reassigned to a different place. The job of a qadi was always a transitory job — never a stable one, and intentionally so.

Ibn Khaldun held the position as Chief Judge of the Maliki courts in Cairo for six different cycles or assignments. During the middle of his second or third assignment, he actually resigned from that position because of a tragedy in his life — he lost his wife and his children in a shipwreck off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt.

Because of that tragedy, he resigned his post as qadi and took time out. We might say today he took a sabbatical, a leave of absence from all political and social life. He went into retreat — just as Imam al-Ghazali did — a spiritual retreat and khalwa away from human civilization and away from the hustle and bustle of urban life, for three years. Three years. He said, khalas.

Al-Muqaddimah: Ibn Khaldun's Magnum Opus

Before he went into retreat, after hearing of the death of his wife and children, he resigned his post and first went to Hajj. After he returned from Hajj, he went into khalwa, and for three years he was simply absent. In this three-year period, he worked a little bit on his biography — which he finished later — but he wrote what we call his magnum opus, his major work, his crucial work which has survived until today and became a transformative piece of work in the Islamic tradition.

It was held and studied and praised in the Ottoman era, and in the European colonial era it was also heavily studied and analyzed. Even today, this work serves as a reviving contribution — an Islamic approach to the study of civilization. That work is Al-Muqaddimah.

We want to talk a little bit about it and present some general ideas and concepts from Al-Muqaddimah so that we may reflect on the value of this work and its contents. There is no way we can do a full analysis at this time. But there are some main concepts that are very important for us.

There are three broad areas we want to share with you today. One: his analysis of human beings, of the bashar. Two: his analysis of society at large. And three: his analysis of the core aspects of human society, through which he introduces the study of history as a science.

History had not been definitively — or shall we say, scientifically — studied before Ibn Khaldun. He takes his knowledge of fiqh, and his knowledge of hadith, and his knowledge of isnad, his knowledge of mantiq and logic, and even to a certain degree, philosophy. And he combines all of that with the study of human society. He makes amazing, profound statements about human society and civilization, and then he makes a particular observation about Muslim society specifically.

First Concept: The Nature of the Human Being

Ibn Khaldun first says that all human beings — al-insan — are madani bi al-taba': civilized by nature. That is a radical and profound statement. And it shocked the colonial European world, which was built on the idea that there are two types of societies — a civilized society and an uncivilized, barbaric, animal-like society — with "civilized" meaning very Christian, and "barbaric" meaning non-Christian.

He says human beings are civilized by nature because Allah ta'ala has created us in need of each other — in a state of faqr. And in our state of faqr, our state of impoverishment and need, we have a natural desire and a natural inclination to lean on each other. There is no such thing as independence. That phrase has radical implications even today. There is no such thing as independence. Human beings are by nature dependent. And because they are dependent, we develop either basic or more complex ways of depending on each other, benefiting from each other.

We need each other at the basic level for our own ghidha' — our nourishment — our libas — our clothing — our aman — our safety — and our maslaha — our well-being. There is no way to escape that sense of interdependence. Even if we want to survive just on wheat and barley, we need machines to grind that up and transform it. And somebody has to make that machine. There is no such thing as a human being that can survive alone.

And because of that, humans will always interact with each other. There will always be a level of socialization. And because we rely on each other, that allows us to have a certain level of solidarity — a certain level of brotherhood. And we know that we should not violate each other.

The Role of the Qadi in Civilization

Now — where does this come from? What is the importance of being able to work with one another? As a qadi, this is at the very core of what a qadi does. The basic function of a qadi is not just to apply the shari'a in a legal sense. It is to make sure that the two persons before him — the defendant and the plaintiff — that whatever problem exists, the qadi's job is to help them negotiate and to put their lives back on track. That is the purpose of the qadi.

Most people think qadis are just applying laws the way American judges do. That is not the case. A qadi has to look at two individuals, look at how the relationship between them was broken, and then help them get back on track to negotiate and repair their own relationship so that they can continue to exist in the community. And so from his experience as a qadi, Ibn Khaldun says: this is the purpose of human beings — that we negotiate with each other so that we can derive benefit from each other. And this is civilization.

Two Types of Civilization: Hadari and Badawi

He says there are two types of civilization. There is the urban civilization, which he calls Hadara or Madani — from Madina. And there is the rural, nomadic civilization, which he calls Badawa — from which we get the English word "Bedouin." Just because they live nomadically does not mean they are not civilized. It does not mean they are barbaric.

He says these two civilizations differ in how they exercise authority. The Hadara civilization has a more sophisticated and advanced system of authority, while the Bedouin civilization is more tribal. Both groups have a sense of solidarity and support — that is where they are united. But the point of difference is in how they exercise authority.

The second difference is that the urban, Hadari society is more prone to comfort, leisure, and relaxation. Whereas the Bedouin society is more prone to struggle and activity — they constantly have to work to meet their needs. The urban society devises creative technologies to struggle less and less. And as they learn to struggle less, they prefer a life of comfort and leisure. They develop games, amusement — la'ab. And when they develop those habits, those habits begin to take away from their civilized nature in the nafs.

In other words, the more buildings we construct, the more technologically advanced we get, the more vulnerable and weaker we are from a spiritual point of view. When we fortify ourselves on the outside, that comes with a lifestyle of comfort and luxury — and that makes us soft on the inside. So our values in the urban society are more prone to drift away from the shari'i lifestyle. Whereas in the hard-struggling life — the life in the village, away from the city — it is still based on struggle. Not a lot of time for leisure. And so that lifestyle of constantly working hard teaches that person to be strong spiritually as well, to be on their guard spiritually.

There is a spiritual benefit to hard work and labor. With external struggle and effort, we are taught to be strong internally as well. And with more comfort externally, we become more relaxed internally. And the more luxurious and comfortable a society becomes, the more it is prone to attack from the outside — and attacks from shaytan on the inside as well. Both go hand in hand.

The Cycle of Civilizations

He talks about how civilizations rise and fall — how the urban civilization becomes very strong and technologically advanced and powerful, but then also becomes weak in values. And because they prefer comfort, the Bedouin society, which is accustomed to struggle, rises up, revolts, and topples them. Then that Bedouin society grows stronger and stronger, develops more technology, gains comfort, grows weak — and another society rises against them. He describes this cycle of civilization and society.

What Makes Muslim Society Unique: The Role of Fiqh

Then he asks: what makes Muslim society special? He says it is not the history, per se — although the history is different. It is not the language, per se — although the language is different. Every society has a history; every society has a language. Those things are unique to each society, but they are not the core of what differentiates Muslim society from others.

The core is that Muslim society is born, bred, developed, matures, lives, and dies in direct connection to fiqh — to the fiqhi tradition. The presence of fiqh brings with it the presence of a Muslim society. The absence of the practice of fiqh removes the Islamic part from the society. That was a very important observation.

And fiqh is analyzed at three different levels. This is very important.

First Level: Fiqh al-Akbar — The Foundation

The first is what is called Fiqh al-Akbar — the grand or great fiqh. Fiqh means understanding in the linguistic sense. Fiqh al-Akbar is the understanding of our tawheed and our aqidah — our ways of belief. That is the akbar — the bedrock, the foundation upon which everything else is built. Nothing can break it.

When we have a solid understanding of the foundation of our civilization as Muslims, that is Fiqh al-Akbar. We understand that our society and our relations with each other — our human relations, our international relations, our relations with the objects, the plants, and the animals — all of that is governed by our understanding of tawheed and aqidah. All of it.

That means we understand as a society that we live in a certain intellectual environment — an awareness of Allah ta'ala at all levels. An awareness that the path we tread as a society — that which guides our local policies, our state policies, our international policies — all of those things are guided in general by the prophetic decision-making, the prophetic way. Our lifestyle is governed by a heavenly system. We are not disconnected. That is called Fiqh al-Akbar.

That leads us to having a particular worldview. The lens through which we perceive the world is a tawheedic lens — not a materialistic Marxist lens, not an atheistic Darwinistic lens. It is a tawheedic lens. That is the way we perceive our environment.

And so everyone — no matter their profession, whether they are a government employee, a physician, an engineer, a teacher, a taxi driver — everybody must be drenched and bathed in that teaching. Every single member of the society must go through it. That is the mechanism that produces the Muslim mind, the Muslim awareness. The absence of that teaching means that Muslim is deficient in their worldview. That is Fiqh al-Akbar.

Second Level: Fiqh Zahir — External Fiqh

The second is Fiqh Zahir — external fiqh. This is the fiqh that governs human interaction with each other. At this level, we are talking about our way of life — the Muslim way. How do Muslims marry? Muslims marry the Muslim way. How do Muslims buy and sell? We buy and sell the Muslim way — the shari'a way. How do we solve our problems? The Muslim way — the shari'a way.

An outsider looking in sees human behavior — buying and selling, marriage and divorce, education and parenting, child care, parks and bridges, Muslim art and architecture, Muslim history. They see those things, but they see it the Muslim way, the shari'a way. They see a way of life — leisure, comfort, striving and hard work — but they see it the Muslim way. They see hospitals, but the shari'a way. That is Fiqh Zahir.

That external fiqh — which influences our ways of living — is born from and sprouts out of Fiqh al-Akbar, from that tawhid and aqidah worldview. The foundation is our Fiqh al-Akbar. What comes from the foundation is Fiqh Zahir. And it is through that Fiqh Zahir that all of our economics, our politics, our education, our sciences, our art — everything goes through that lens. (Ibn Khaldun, by the way, was also a specialist in calligraphy — not only a faqih, but an artist as well.)

Third Level: Fiqh Batin — Inner Fiqh

The third is Fiqh Batin — inner fiqh. Let us now summarize the three together: Fiqh al-Akbar is our foundation — our tawhid and our i'tiqad, otherwise known as iman. Fiqh Zahir, our external fiqh, is our shari'a — our islam. And Fiqh Batin is our ihsan. Iman, Islam, and Ihsan.

Our Fiqh Zahir, our external fiqh, governs and advises how we live on the outside. Our Fiqh Batin governs and guides the type of beauty in that way of living. We can live well, but we can live beautifully well. We can do business with each other, but we can do beautiful business with each other. We can have justice, but we can have beautiful justice. We can have hospitals and healing, but we can do it beautifully as well.

It is the beauty that is added to those acts. And that beauty comes from the fact that all of those actions are guided by our desire to act as though we see Allah ta'ala in all of our interactions. That is where the beauty comes from. It is the ruh — the soul — of Fiqh Zahir. Every external form needs a soul; every container needs content.

The Distinguishing Factor of Muslim Society

So when we talk about fiqh, what Ibn Khaldun says is that the core distinguishing factor between Muslim society and non-Muslim society is fiqh — meaning these three things. The system of Muslim society is built on a particular foundation. It has edifices and structures done in a particular fashion and form. And then it is decorated and adorned in a different way. Therefore our presentation is different.

When he was writing these things, Islamic legal development was at its height. The system and structure of legal reasoning in Islamic law — the way the courts worked, the way the muftis worked — everything was running like a smooth engine. What he did was take this engine and say: this is how we now produce further sciences and arts to enhance our society. He presented it, wrote about it — and it eventually reached the European world.

A Call to Rethink and Revive

Brothers and sisters, I mention all of this to encourage us to rethink the way that we think. We live in a society that dominates us with a particular worldview, a particular cultural worldview, a particular way of deciding, a way of life. And we have to go back to writings like this that remind us: we have our own tradition, our own gym. Everything that we do is informed by our fiqh tradition. We have to go back to that thinking — that fiqh shar'i mindset — in all of our decision-making, in all of our reasoning, in all of our building of institutions, our mediation, anything and everything that we do.

We must return to and incorporate this fiqh shar'i reasoning. That is who we are at our core. It is not enough to say "Muslim" and then not understand the fiqh thinking — not understand that we need to be grounded in a tawhid and aqidah worldview. It is not enough to say "Islamic school" or "Islamic institution" if the way that we make decisions and operate is completely absent of fiqh reasoning and fiqh content. If the way that we interact in our homes, with our children, in our leisure time — if all of that is absent of fiqh norms, then we have lost something that we have to regain.

And so part of this discussion, part of Shaykh Muqtar's presentation, and later inshAllah a special seminar — part of all of this is a revival that we are trying to build. A revival in teaching our Islamic tradition as it was and as it should be. Raising the awareness of what our tradition has to offer at all three of these levels. Changing mindsets and inspiring you and others like you to go into Islamic studies — the studies of fiqh — to continue, contribute, and pass on this legacy.

Pick up where Ibn Khaldun left off. Analyze this society and other societies — Islamic institutions and other institutions, Islamic professions and other professions — with fiqh reasoning. So that we may begin the long-needed work of providing alternative fiqh and shari'a solutions to the daily problems that occur in our society — problems that our current batch of leaders, thinkers, academics, and journalists have yet to figure out. It is because something is missing. And as Muslims — what are we doing here? We have to provide a fiqhi solution to these things.

I hope this is the beginning of a preparation for all of you to think about the study of fiqh. What does all of this mean? Intentionally, we could not cover everything, but we wanted to start a conversation. Shaykh Muqtar will continue it. After that, I will continue it inshAllah. And we will grow together inshAllah in this awareness and in this teaching.