January 1997: Page 1, 2, 3, 4

Submitters Perspective

Page 3

Hadith

Continued from page 3

when, in fact, it was Islam that introduced this methodology to the West. The words of the English historian Robert Briffault deserve to be quoted in full:

“... It was under their successors at the Oxford school that Roger Bacon learned Arabic and Arabic science. Neither Roger Bacon nor his later namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the experimental method. Roger Bacon was no more than one of the apostles of Muslim science and method to Christian Europe; and he never wearied of declaring that knowledge of Arabic and Arabic science was for his contemporaries the only way to true knowledge. Discussions as to who was the originator of the experimental method ... are part of the colossal misrepresentation of the origins of European civilization. The experimental method of [the] Arabs

was by Bacon's time widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe...”(The Making of Humanity, pp. 200-01).

However, the scientific methodology of Europe sought to bar supra-rational and supra-sensory knowledge from science..It is now admitted that this is inadequate to conform to the truly Islamic scientific methodology of combining sensory, rational and supra-rational knowledge to produce true integrated knowledge. Using this methodology, we take the Quran as our basis and starting point and subject all the evidence of the hadith, i.e. the hadith itself, the major classical writings on them and modern European and Muslim criticisms, to Quranic and rational judgments. We may, of course, take ten years to do this and produce five volumes that few will have the time and the stamina to read. Our purpose is different. Ours is to write a readable book for the general reader with

enough matter for him to think and draw conclusions.

It is hardly necessary to state that this is a view offered to the reader for his consideration. God Almighty Himself has ordered us to read in His name, for doing that we cannot fail to develop our mind and increase our knowledge. A good book will do that positively; a bad one, negatively. Reading in His name, therefore, cannot but produce good results. Yet, the Muslims today are very bad readers. Centuries of subservience to bigoted religious authorities have shackled their minds. This subservience plus their deplorable ignorance of the contents of the Quran combine to make what they are today?a weak, backward and humiliated people. The time has come for us to break out of this prison. It is for this purpose that this study is undertaken.

Kassim Ahmad

A Reader’s View From West Africa

Dear Sir/Madam

I thank the Almighty Allah for giving me health and strength to correspond with you. I and my family were receiving the Islamic perspective but now it seems not to be coming any more. I am therefore pleading with you to send us a copy of the Submitters Perspective every month as you had been doing sometime ago. The Submitters Perspective always puts me in good condition when I’m lonely, unhappy or sad. It makes me remember Almighty Allah and His attributes.

In fact, I really do like it. Please, I repeat, please send us a copy every month for I ask for the sake of Allah, our only God. I wish you start sending us copies.

May Allah grant you the opportunity to be publishing this and sharing it to Muslims all around the world. This is really a great work you’re doing. Keep it up. May Allah help you.