Islam and Pessimism

In my texts, I have made a few references to the Islamic Philosophy of History.

Today I will explain what I mean.

From the Islamic perspective, the correct worldview (which is monotheism) has been repeatedly revealed to people through the medium of prophets. That happened many, and many times, each prophet delivering the message of pure, strict monotheism. There is God, one and only, with no partners, nor associates.

Now what happens later. Originally, the message has been delivered in its true, pure form. Which means, in the form of pure monotheism. Over the time, however, it gets corrupted. People start doing exactly what has been strictly prohibited. That is: giving the God associates, sharing His glory with lesser beings. Developing the idolatrous practices. All of these innovations disturb the purity of the original message.

How many times did that happen? Again, many and many. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and tons of others, unnamed, received the message of God in its true, pure form, and shared it with people. Their followers, however, spoiled it. Implying that Christianity and Judaism (and possibly others) started from the correct, purely monotheistic stance, but got degraded over the time, accumulating too many wrong innovations.

Following this logic, one can imply that the same fate will fall upon Islam. Originally true and pure, the Islamic teaching will degrade, just as Christianity and Judaism have degraded. This implication gives the Islamic philosophy of history somewhat pessimistic character. Even inheriting the pure message of God, we will corrupt it one day.

Or may be we already have

What if the corruption of faith has already happened?

What are we going to do? The most logical decision would be: return to our beginning. Indeed, if modern religion is degraded, idolatrous, that is because it has accumulated too many novelties, over the time. Reject the novelties, reject the arbitrary decisions of men and return to the original, pure, message of God.

Now that is what religious fundamentalism is about. Return to the roots, return to the foundations, rejecting all the evil nonsense produced by the sinful men over the centuries. If we are indeed degrading (and we are), then we need to purify ourselves dumping the weight of the centuries off our shoulders, off our minds.

That explains why every wave of religious purification included rejection of the existing religious tradition, of the existing religious institutions, and of the existing religious establishment. All of them being compromised, all must be dumped.

The argument above provides necessary context for understanding the internal logic of religious purification, and not only in Islam. Indeed, the logic of Christian purification with its crusade against the Popish idolatry, Popish superstition, and, most of all, against the Popish innovation (= the root of all the evils), could be shockingly similar.

Astonishingly similar, I would say.

It may be hard to escape the feeling this was exactly the same logic

Modern Anglophone audience finds this scene from the 1970 “Cromwell” funny and bizarre. Modern Salafis, however, would find that it makes perfect sense.