Quran, Hadith, And Hikayat Excerpt #1

 Qur’an, Hadith, And Hikayat:  Exercises In Critical Thinking

M. Bakri Musa (2021)

 

Berfikir Teliti, Pahlawan Sejati

(The Critical Thinker, A Fearless Fighter)

 

Minda Hamba

 

                   Berpusing roda beralih masa  /  Pelbagai neka hidup di bumi.

                   Selagi hidup berminda hamba  /  Pasti tetap terjajah abadi.

                   Kalau hidup ingin Merdeka  /  Tiada tercapai hanya berkata.

                   Ke muka maju sekata, maju kita.  /  Melemparkan jauh minda hamba.

 

With apologies to Usman Awang’s (1929–2001) Jiwa Hamba

[My translation:

 

       The Enslaved Mind

         The wheel turns, and so the seasons.  /  With it, life’s endless variety.

         An enslaved mind spared this concern  /  Tyranny the only certainty.

         Yearning for life of liberty  /  Words alone are no certainty.

         March with determined unity  /  And trample our slave mentality.]

 

Excerpt #1:  Mistaking A Village Idiot For An Einstein

 

Preface

The most visible manifestation of our current digital age is the explosion, instantaneity, and ease of access to facts, news, data, information, and commentaries. While the accessibility and quantity are there and obvious, less so is the quality, both with respect to reliability as well as utility.

 

         In the digital universe, the village idiot could with ease have the same presence as an Einstein. With slick graphics and other tested techniques, the former could be made to appear smarter and even more credible if not profound. With today’s quantum leap in Artificial Intelligence, some claim that one could crank out an essay on Malaysiana with the elegance of a Joseph Conrad. 

 

         While mistaking Einstein for the village idiot would carry little consequences for the most part, that is not so the other way around. God knows how many people fell for the advice of the idiot in the White House in 2020 who suggested ingesting disinfectant to prevent Covid-19 infection!

 

         In days of yore there were reliable gatekeepers as with ethical editors, credible journalists, and true professionals to guide us. We could be assured of their credibility and reputation. They in turn were scrupulous in maintaining and protecting their status. Today they are being drowned out and becoming endangered species.

 

         Without the instantaneity, time remains the best and objective judge. Rotten advice and information would be exposed with time for what they are. Meanwhile despite reliable and near instantaneous “fact checking,” it remains for us as individuals to exercise our critical faculties before accepting and making judgement.

 

         That should be a given. Yet there are those who belittle critical thinking, equating it with being judgmental, as with questioning or disbelieving. Many Muslims feel that we should dispense all together with our intellect and rational reasoning on matters of faith as well as with everything else. Faith supersedes all, and should be enough, they claim.

 

         There is also the associated widespread belief among our fellow believers that if we were to follow the teachings of an alim or leader, then that should suffice. If they were to be wrong, we would be absolved of the sins. Instead, they would bear the burden. As such we could dispense with thinking for ourselves.

 

         Those ulama and leaders may bear the sins for us and be answerable to the Almighty in the Hereafter. Meanwhile we, their followers, would bear and suffer the consequences of our decisions right here and now in this temporal world.

 

         Our Qur’an is clear on this:  On the Day of Judgement, we will be responsible for our own deeds on earth. Islam does not have the concept of a super savior a la Jesus Christ who had died earlier in order to expiate the sins of his followers. There is however, a strain of thinking among some Muslims that Prophet Muhammad, (May the blessings of Allah be upon him!), has this Christ-like authority to intervene on our behalf on Judgement Day. That may well be but we would still have to bear the consequences of our deeds in this world.

 

         There are many who had and are still being “suckered in” by the snake oil salesman’s pitch for lack of critical thinking. Those snake oil peddlers may masquerade as pandering politicians to censorious clergies, and from slick salesmen to pushy professionals. Social media amplify by a quantum leap their potential universe and thus gullible prey, thus expanding almost limitless their prospective hunting grounds.

 

         Heed the sage advice of President Reagan on his principles when working and dealing with the Russians (and others), “Trust but verify.” I would go further. Don’t trust till you verify! 

 

         Trust we must; it is the foundation of our civilized world. To verify however, would require us to have some critical thinking skills. Only with a critical mind could we become intelligent followers of our leaders, both religious and secular. We decide who should deserve our support and whom we should follow. Blindly following a leader without applying our critical faculties would be akin to a buffalo being led by a string tied to the ring in its nose, a familiar imagery of my youth. At that point it matters not who the leader is, for even a toddler could lead you.

 

         Critical thinking helps us understand the Qur’an and hadith better, as well as appreciate our hikayat (ancient literature), folklores, novels, and ideas in contemporary commentaries. That in essence describes and summarizes the purpose of my book.

 

Next:  Excerpt #2:  Minnows In A Pampered Hatchery