pleasantly surprised

Remember this conversation?

Me: Taufiq, here's my story: I have my essay here. I'm ready to hand it in and accept whatever mark you give me. BUT, I'm not happy with it. I've only done two pages and it's not great but if you want me to hand it in, I will. If you give me some extra time, I'd really appreciate it though.
Taufiq: How much time do you need?
Me: uh... Friday?
Taufiq: Sure, just email it to me. Don't forget.

So, we got our essays returned to us today after the Islamic Civilization exam. It went pretty ok... I totally bombed the first half of the exam, but think I did really good on the second, essay section. I chose the question about Islamic mysticism, since I did my essay on it a short while ago... and it was basically the same thing.

Back to the essay: We received it back today and I was expecting a very low mark for the following reasons:
1) I didn't have the required number of pages. We were supposed to have 6 to 8 and I think I had 4.5
2) I was already late, since I didn't hand it in during class (see above) and on top of that, I was late even more, since I still didn't finish on Friday and instead emailed it in on Sunday.
3) By Saturday night, I still hadn't finished reading the book. I only finished it Sunday evening and quickly wrote my essay while it was still fresh in my mind.
4) Despite being fresh in my mind, I still had very little to talk about, since I didn't know exactly what to write about.
5) The last essay I did for this class, I thought I did really well. When the marks came, I only received a B (75%) (...if I remember correctly)

So you can imagine my surprise when I turned the pages and saw a

BIG
FAT
A

Turns out I received a B+, but taking "my good performance during the course" into consideration, the T.A. bumped it up to an A. Like I said, I have the best luck with T.As. Oh yeah.

If you're interested in the somewhat-sense-making stuff I wrote about, click [+] Expand. There are a bunch of endnotes, so if you see a number in bold at the end of a word, it's not a typo, it's an endnote.

Historians have had a difficult time analyzing ibn Tufayl’s story Hayy ibn Yaqzan. Some have argued that it is essentially a mystical tale while others hold that its main argument is the need to abide by revealed scripture. What, in your view, is the proper relationship between this story and the Islamic Sharia?

Hayy ibn Yaqzan is a very interesting story about the intellectual and spiritual journey of a man reaching enlightenment despite living in isolation for much of his life. It is also a story that sparks discussion and conflicts between two sides; one arguing that it is a mystical story while the other condemns it as innovative and contradictory to Islamic beliefs. Upon reading the story, it seems to me that it is written as a comparison of life bound by materialism and one that is free because of mysticism. There are also a few other ideas that are covered, such as the notion of Man’s basic instinct, or nature, to recognize a Higher Power, as well as the ability of Man to develop a firm intellect even though he has nothing to assist him but his own senses.

It should first be borne in mind that this is a fictional work by Ibn Tufayl, written as a method of commenting about the society that he saw around himself. The argument about whether this story contradicts or conforms to the Sharia is irrelevant, as that is not required of an imaginary tale.

However, despite the fictional nature of the events, some are still hard to comprehend such as the method of Hayy’s arrival on the island 1 . Another difficult concept to grasp is the apparent ease with which Hayy explained the world around him. In addition, his recognition of the Necessarily Existent Being also seems to be heavily based on ideas revealed through various Scriptures. Perhaps it is a result of confusing the narrator with the narration, but the results of Hayy’s deductions bear more resemblance to that of a person who has received formal education. However, I may be wrong and the Hadith of the Prophet may explain Hayy’s intelligence:

“Every child is born with a true faith of Islam (to worship none but God Alone) but his parents convert him to Judaism, Christianity or Magainism, as an animal delivers a perfect baby animal. Do you find it mutilated?” 2

Therefore, it may be that Hayy is an example of this child, born with a true faith. Living in isolation has kept him free from various other thoughts and allowed him to grow with recognition of God.

Still troublesome, however, is the idea that simple reasoning—as seen in the case of Hayy—is enough for a person to reach the highest state of enlightenment. I feel this is an incorrect approach and one that is somewhat contradictory to the Sharia. Although we are able to provide an explanation for many things, at some point reasoning reaches it’s limit and we are strained to say that we believe something simply because we have faith in it. Contradictory to al-Kindi’s belief 3, Revelation is necessary for without it, certain types of knowledge would be unknown.

Those who reject our revelations are deaf, dumb, and in total darkness.
God leaves whoever He will to stray, and sets whoever He will on a straight path. 4

Assuming Hayy was an actual person and his story a true one, then the question is raised about why he did not accept and live with the new society after having encountered it. Surely, he agreed with the religion that the people followed and even bore witness to the truthfulness of the messenger of God 5. Was his rejection of the people’s method of following the religion and his subsequent withdrawal from their society a form of apostasy? This is an important part of the story and probably the one that causes the most conflict. The comparison of Hayy to the society is similar to that of a Sufi and the regular mass of Muslims. The former prefer to reach God through isolation, meditation and perfect obedience to the Will of God. The latter, as a whole, follow a more relaxed form of Islam and in most cases, do not even adhere to it properly. Hayy felt that he was capable of bringing the Truth to these people and that they would accept and follow it. What he found instead was that people were hesitant to adopt his teachings, although they still showed respect to him. To say that he became an apostate by retracting back to his place of origin is incorrect. He still agreed with the same concepts with regards to God, but the manner he adopted to gain nearness to him was different. Besides, while it is strongly suggested that the religion of the mass was Islam, it is not stated explicitly and Islam’s definition of an apostate may differ greatly from another faith.

What may have appalled Hayy is that more emphasis was placed on the Law—that is to say, people cared more about following the “dos and don’ts” rather than strengthening their spiritual connection with God and finding Him the way that he had found Him. The result is that the sole benefit most people could derive from religion was for this world, in that it helped them lead decent lives without others encroaching on what belonged to them. 6


It is unfair, however, to expect the general mass of people to attain the same spiritual level as Hayy. While they should all aspire to the same goal, each person is different in their approach of getting there. The “Law” that the people adhere to is necessary for a society, because without it the society cannot function. Because of the very nature of society (interaction between people, need for punishment and reward) it is necessary for a written Law to be followed.

In the case of Absal and Salaman, the former prefers following the Law that favors isolation and the latter prefers that part which favors societal living. In the same way, Islam also consists of these two parts-—an individual’s personal relationship with God, as well as his relationship with God through the service of His creation (i.e. the society). Both are necessary in attaining the pleasure of God. Therefore, Hayy’s practices and those of the society’s can—and must—exist together and one cannot extremely outweigh the other. The written Law is meaningless if it does not help an individual attain nearness to God. Likewise, exceeding in spiritual exercises is also detrimental if it transgresses the limits set out by God. As al-Ghazali said, the two concepts are intertwined from the beginning and we cannot understand one without the other. 7


Hayy ibn Yaqzan is a difficult story to deal with, as certain parts are in contradiction with Sharia, while other parts are not. It is understandable why it receives criticism, since notions of becoming “one with God” 8 and every creation having a part of God in them border on disbelief. Clearly, the Islamic concept of worshipping God is outlined through the Prophet’s example of prayer, fasting, meditation and so on. Therefore, when Hayy chooses to return to his previous way of life and thereby also his previous methods of prayer and meditation, it does conflict with the method that the Sharia has outlined. It was interesting, however, to observe the parallel between Hayy’s spinning and circulations and those of modern Sufis and their Whirling Dervishes. Also, Hayy’s meditations in the cave bear resemblance to those the Prophet undertook prior to his prophethood.

Another point of conflict with the Sharia is also when Hayy undertakes meditation in his cave. At that point, he begins to neglect his body and deprive it of nourishment to the point where it becomes “wasted away”. The Sharia’s view on this is explained through the Hadith of the Prophet:

“[…] Fast (for some days) and give up fasting (for some days); pray and sleep, for your eyes have a right on you, and your body and your family have a right on you. […]” 9

There is no easy answer as to whether or not the story of Hayy ibn Yaqzan is contradictory or consistent with Islamic beliefs; parts of the story agree while other parts disagree. The entire purpose of Sharia Law is to assist an individual on their path to becoming a better individual with their personal relationship with God and through their interaction with society. Through these codified Laws, a person can then hope to achieve nearness to God. In the case of Hayy ibn Yaqzan, it appears that he prefers finding God on his own.
____________________________
1 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p13-14
2 Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 441
3 Prof. Abdullah, Lecture: Philosophy & Science, March 28th
4 The Quran, 6:39
5 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p68
6 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p71
7 Prof. Abdullah, Lecture: Sufism, March 21st
8 Hayy ibn Yaqzan, p57
9 Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 31, Number 198