Engaging with Nietzsche

Mubashir Hassan

This is in response to article, Why Read Nietzsche?, by Maroof Shah (Gk

12-08-15.) The author asserts that Nietzsche poses a challenge to faith

and he needs to be engaged with and rebutted. He begins with disdain

for those who do not know Nietzsche and have not heard of his

(in)famous statement “God is dead”. Let me at the outset admit that I

have not read this Nietzsche and I have no regrets for that nor do I

intend to read him.

The author uses the term “secular reason” by which he means,

Perhaps, Reasoning based on one’s own whims, divorced from

revelation and God. An ideology opposed to religion, which does not

take Creator into account, the hallmark of so called modern thought. It is

a delusion of the modern age where one is conditioned to think that

scientific progress is not possible without being secular and maintaining

distance from religion. But it is not so. The progress of science started

with those who believed in God. Contributions of Muslim scientists

apart, we have the examples of other scientists who believed in God, like

Kepler, Pascal, Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Gregor Mendel, Max

Planck, Michael Faraday, the list is endless. It was W. Heisenberg who

said: “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into

an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”

It is only the fools who say that rationality and religion can’t go

together. Religion is the highest stage of rationality and it is irreligious

people who have lost the sense of rationality. Rationality demands a

Creator. Rationality can’t accept chance formation of universe and life. It

is absurdity. Those advocating chance formation of universe rely on Big

bang, but are unable to explain as to why should a big bang occur at the

first instance? The western standards make us think otherwise. We are

not so stupid to weigh everything by western standards and regard

rationality what they regard so, even if it is absurdity.

The author regards reading Nietzsche mandatory for doing

Da’wah to modern educated youth and contends that it is difficult to get

rid of Nietzsche’s influence upon them “Those who consider themselves

God’s advocates have a mighty adversary to contend with.” His

concerns are genuine, but he is mistaken in his estimation of Nietzsche

and of a believer’s mind. A true believer’s faith can’t be shaken by

philosophical discourses or assertions. The believer has a vision that lets

him perceive futility of these discourses and is not taken away by the

delusive arguments of philosophers. He has a Baseerat (insight) that lets

him sail through safely. The magic of words does not attract or detract

him. Nietzsche is not his first trial. Al Gazzali and Ibn Tymiyah had to

counter Greek Philosophies long ago.

There are other challenges before a believer in today’s world but a

believer’s heart never quivers or flutters. He faced the challenge of

communism, of Capitalism, of crusades and other ideologies and so

many trials in History, yet he withstood and conquered all challenges.

Why should he be scared with Nietzsche? Regarding those who have

gone with the tide of atheism or Nietzschean Philosophy or other

perverted and deviant philosophies, let them go where they want to.

Our Lord is not in need of them. The job of a Da’yee is just to call, to put

forth his Lord’s message and move on. He is not responsible for the

results.

Anyway the concepts and prepositions put forth by Nietzsche or

any other philosopher can’t be a substitute to revealed knowledge which

has certitude while as philosophy doesn’t. Philosophy is just an

imagination and you wander in unknown territories, without an idea as

to where you have reached. When the believers have sure and certain

knowledge, why should they listen to fantasies?

The author is too much overwhelmed by Nietzsche and contends,

“We can’t import from past thinkers, scholars and commentaries to

bulldoze the Nietzschean world. Willy nilly it is the world shaped by

Nietzsche.” These are misplaced fears. He has overestimated Nietzsche

and underestimated our own literary treasure. Our tradition is our

treasure, how can we break free from that. Should we ignore our own

treasure of knowledge and go after this trash, we are sure to go astray.

The author hopelessly presumes that the present world is shaped by

Nietzsche. Perhaps he forget that Nietzsche is just one and half century

old but the civilization is thousands of years old and that science is not a

product of the post Nietzsche age, but made progress over long period

of time.

Philosophy is the quest for truth, but does it lead us to it? Has it

ever unveiled the truth and are its results conclusive? No, not at all.

Philosophy is the products of the human thinking and is based on the

imagination of the philosopher, his conjectures, assumptions and

presumptions. It relies on conceptual analysis, critical examination, new

ideas, but time and again fails to produce positive results. We can never

be sure of its conclusions. When were the ideas of Nietzsche or of any

other philosopher tested in laboratory? Never. Even Russell admits that

philosophy is not very much successful in providing "definite answers"

to its questions but explains the apparent inconclusiveness of

philosophic answers partly as deceptive, partly as inevitable: Philosophy

studies the questions that in principle are not answerable. Philosophy

has no practical value. Hair splitting discussions with no outcome. It

gives a sense of wisdom, not real wisdom.

When Philosophy doesn’t provide definite answers, why should

we take it seriously even at the cost of our faith. Why should we

confound and engage our new generation with a bottomless enterprise.

Philosophy deals with value question, but our values have already been

laid down by Him who knows the secrets of life so what need we have

to follow the conjectures of these mortals who can’t see beyond their

own realm. When we ignore Quran and hold on to philosophy, the

outcome is certainly deviation and mental depression. Philosophy is not

such a big deal as we are made to understand. However, unfortunately

our promising and talented youth are devouting their precious time to

this branch of knowledge when it is not going to help them in anyway

nor is it the demand of present times. May be our youth are searching

for answers to some intriguing questions, let them turn to the book of

Allah, there they would find definite answers to their quests.

That our youth are unable to come to terms with the modern ideas,

are unwilling believers, want to believe but find it hard, is the author’s

misconception. If really such a problem exists, it is because we have

severed relationship with Quran. If we cling on to Quran, the modern

ideologies can never get over us. These ideologies melt before the

grandeur, sublimity, substance and divinity of the Quran. Faithful

Muslims have no confusions; it is confused and perverted minds who

get things messed up. Our faith is based on rationality and no deluded

philosopher like Nietzsche can cause any ripples therein. Worldwide

statistics show that the highest number of those who practice religion

are Muslims and even those in the developed countries are discovering

its truth and turning towards it. Are they unaware of Nietzsche?

Nietzsche’s nihilism is because of his utter depression and

despondency which probably was a factor of his mental imbalance in his

later years. He has no hopes and that is the natural consequence of not

believing in the hereafter, without which life is empty and meaningless.

Certainly Nietzsche wanted a Master whom he would obey but is

unable to find one (“I need a Master. How sweet it is to obey.” It is not

his problem only but of whole lot of philosophers who, because of their

arrogance, are unable to find one and go astray, lose their way and

follow their own imagination or of others like them.

The author ends with Iqbal’s couplet, “Teray zameer pay Jeb tak na ho

nazooli kitab/girah kusha ha na razi na sahibi kashaf” certainly when the

Quranic Ayat are reveled unto the heart, no philosophy can delude you,

but I am reminded of the couplet preceding it:

Tarap Raha Hai Falatoon Miyan-e-Ghaib-o-Huzoor/Azal Se Ahl-e-Khirad Ka

Maqam Hai Aaraaf

(Men, like Plato, still roam about betwixt belief and utter doubt/Men endowed

with reason, aye, ever on the heights do stay.)

Mail: mubashir_07@rediffmail.com