Jordan Peterson recently told Humza Yusuf that he wanted a religion that captured the best parts of the Old and New Testament – Humza Yusuf interjected, “become Muslim.”
Though Islam does away with what is fundamental to Christianity and Judaism, it’s a fair remark. It is arguably the Abrahamic religion closest to pure theism. Christianity contains the puzzles of the trinity and incarnation, while Judaism has always had problems with universalism.
The challenge with pure theism is that the vision of God alone doesn’t make a religion. One needs a comprehensive worldview and social structure with prophets, commandments, and rites.
Vision of Islam aims to describe the complete religious picture while remaining focused on theism. It is a philosophical book from the perspective of two knowledgable non-muslim scholars.
The authors, William Chittick and Sachiko Murata studied at the University of Tehran with scholars like Seyyed Hossein Nasr. All three of them left Iran after the revolution.
Most scholars give descriptive accounts of religions, but Vision of Islam takes an aspirational approach. Chittick and Murata describe what Islam aims to be, not necessarily how it’s practiced.
The authors derive the religion from a single Hadith, the Hadith of Gabriel:
One day while the Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, "What is faith?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, 'Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection." Then he further asked, "What is Islam?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "To worship Allah Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." Then he further asked, "What is Ihsan (perfection)?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you."
The questions reveal and their answers express the fundamental tenets of the faith: Islam, Iman, and Ihsan.
Islam is submission to God. It concerns the correct action. Following the five pillars and shariah.
Iman is faith in God. Its focus is on belief and trust. One must believe in the six items of faith and have faith in God. It is not enough to simply perform the right actions – one must submit in body, mind, and soul.
Ihsan is beauty or perfection. It is about “worshiping God as if he were present in front of you.”
These three items map onto the ethics of action, thought, and intention. Islam concerns what you ought to do, Iman is about what ought to think, and Ihsan is about what you intend.
The believer must build a foundation of Islam, commit with Iman, and aim to attain Ihsan. A prophet is able to worship God with every act.
Who is God? The Koran gives many names. Each of these captures an aspect. His fundamental attribute is oneness, tawhid, for there is no God but God. In this way, God is like the God of Anselm – that which no greater can be conceived. God is what is real and everything else depends on him. God is reality and everything else is derivative. Hence, all praise belongs to God.
Unique, perhaps, to Islam is the ideas of tashbih and tanzeh. God has aspects that are familiar and near, tashbih, and those that are like nothing else and far, tanzeh. God is merciful, yet the lord of worlds. God has a dual aspect of familiar human goodness matched with distant celestial wrath:
Islam begins with the perception of difference. We are different from God and far from him. God is utterly other, and created things are totally helpless because of their lack of any positive qualities. But the purpose of Islamic teachings is not to leave people in wrath (distance), but rather to take them to mercy (nearness).
The authors return to this dualism again and again. The contrast arises between servanthood (tanzeh) and viceregency (tashbih) and reason (tanzeh) and intuition (tashbeh). The distinction is reminiscent of Construal Level Theory. However, Construal Level Theory is perceptual, while tashbih and tanzeh are perceptual and metaphysical.
In mystical terms, one could say that Islam is about approaching the unity of reality through the opposing perspectives of nearness and distance. This is done through submission, faith, and excellence. When one conceals the truth or turns one’s attention toward an idol, one moves away from reality.
Consider this in terms of Robert Nozick's view of reality in The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations. Reality is composed of a number of dimensions and things become more real when they realize those dimensions (Example dimensions are: “value, meaning, importance, weight, depth, amplitude, intensity, height, vividness, richness, wholeness, beauty”). The names given to God may serve as other dimensions here: forgiveness (“The Great Forgiver”), wisdom (“The Wise One”), holiness (“The Absolutely Pure"), mercy (“The Most Merciful”), majesty (“The Lord of Majesty”), light (“The Light”).
God is maximally real in virtue of maximally manifesting every dimension or reality. Some of these dimensions appear obviously beautiful and good to us. Others may initially seem cruel. In maximal instantiation, all dimensions are realized in one perfect being. This makes some sense of the beautiful hadith:
Whoever draws near to Me by a handsbreadth, I will draw near to him by an armslength. Whoever draws near to Me by an armslength, I will draw near to him by a fathom. Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running.
God is the most beautiful, so one should hope that there’s a God. But one should also be afraid. From the Hadith of Gabriel, Gabriel’s last question is:
"When will the Hour be established?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "The answerer has no better knowledge than the questioner.
The title derives from the following:
One could say that God has two faces — a merciful face and a wrathful face, or a gentle face and a severe face, or a near face and a far face. People must fear the wrathful face and love the merciful face.