Remembering Dr M. Rafi-ud-Din

After the industrial revolution, the way we experience the world completely shifted. Before, we experienced the world through art and dreams; we experienced the world through stories and fiction. When the mechanical world focussed on production, function and efficiency, we too became cold and hard machines. We no longer circled in groups, told stories and shared ideas, but lined up — faced forward, for that was what efficiency demanded. We were at the will of scientists and engineers who decided our purpose before we were even born. Everything had to have a purpose, a function, for the “collective”, for the “greater good” and for the “prosperity of the future”. Simple ideas of how the world should be managed, disguised as science or philosophy, were offered by academics, socialists and scientists, in order to achieve some Utopian ideal.

Ideas such as Marxism (and its 20th-century partner Nazism), often branded as “scientific”, would refute thousands of years of religious traditions and community structures. In this cold and micro-manged world, there was no time to dream or have personal goals, there was no time to pray to a God which didn’t exist, and there was no time to have hope. The world was a terrible and dark place, for God or anything better didn’t exist — “science” had already proved that.

What’s unique about Dr Muhammad Rafi-ud-Din, tucked away in the corner of Pakistan-India, is that he was one of the first figures to prominently oppose the destruction of religion in the West. Namely the Marxists and Reductionists, during a time where, for more than four decades, the West had appeased Russia and Stalin’s so-called ‘Great Experiment’ [1]. Coupled with lies from British and American journalists living in Russia, as well as the military support Stalin could muster, this appeasement came from a lack of philosophical edge from the West to combat the Communist ideals.

“Unfortunately, although Marx gave his challenge to the intellectual world more than a century ago, no such Philosophy has yet emerged. It is this fact alone, that has allowed Marxism to flourish and grow to such proportions.”

Rafi-ud-Din, Ideology of the Future (1946), XIV

I first found Rafi-ud-Din in Blackhall Mosque in Edinburgh. This turquoise book stood out to me on the shelf, simply titled ‘Ideology of the Future’ [2]. At this point, I had been reading ideologies for a while now, and I tried to read many of the Islamic contemporaries, but I struggled to understand their style, their language and their explanations, many of whom make cheap attacks on Christianity and Judaism.

Rafi-ud-Din was different. He was commenting on the State of Man as an individual in the 1930s. He understood the clear philosophical dilemmas of the West and where they came from. At 25, he completed his Masters in Persian and Arabic, and for 15 years he took up teaching positions in various schools in (what was then) British India. It was only when he reached his forties did he publicise his book ‘Ideology of the Future’, where he lays out a clear explanation of The Self, Ethics, Education and Art whilst refuting ideas by Marx, Freud, Adler and McDougall. (The Chapter which interested me most was the Evolution and Prophethood where he describes the emergence of prophets by the same process which naturally evolves species) Afterwards, his academic career took flight in universities and schools across what would become Pakistan.

Little is known about Rafi-ud-Din. There is no Wikipedia page. There are a few blog posts about his life, with small details of where he worked, yet little is known about who he was most influenced by and where it was he found information. However, from reading ‘Ideology of the Future’, it seemed strange that this Pakistani teacher was most concerned with the catastrophe of Western philosophy, far more than philosophers in the West were at the time.

In the West, Rafi-ud-Din explains, we have had scientist after scientist, philosopher after philosopher, undermine the core religious values, to such an extent that it is impossible to revive without explaining the scientific basis of religion and make it rationally powerful enough to withstand the intellectual challenge of neo-Marxists. In other words, there has to be a philosophy which considers scientific findings to justify our religious traditions.

However, there was a philosophy of reviving the West, though a very silent and implicit movement. It was captured in stories and fictional tales of the utopian fallacy: stories such as 1984, Fahrenheit 451, The Handmaid’s Tale, Crime and Punishment and Animal Farm. The West expressed the tragedy in a deep and implicit way for the art to flourish —though very few people would understand it, very few people would appreciate it, and your average Humanities lecturer in today’s universities would dismiss it. The West experienced and preserved this art but had radical neo-Marxists explain its meaning — or how it doesn’t mean anything.

Today, as Rafi-ud-Din reverberated almost 80 years ago, many academics and public figures have come forward to offer a justification for religion. The likes of Dr Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh (documentary What is a Woman? (2022)) and Dennis Prager have come to the public’s eye, offering insight, stories, scientific justifications, and research for the intellectual man on finding meaning.

Jordan Peterson, Biblical Series, The Psychological Significance of Genesis

I particularly admire the work of Dr Jordan Peterson. He unites areas of biology, neuroscience, theology, physics and psychology without offering some cheap mysticism but provides a deep understanding. This is the philosophy, I believe, Rafi-ud-Din predicted would be the only counter to neo-Marxism and the scientific reductionists.

Rafi-ud-Din, uninterested in the mainstream scientific marvels, did not relate any Quranic verses to The Big Bang, The Atmosphere, Embryo, Water or Orbits of the Sun, unlike his later and foolish contemporaries [3]. Rather than offer some cheap illusion for lay-minded Muslims to marvel at, he offered the Quran as a guide on how to pursue scientific enquiry, express the truth, and furthermore, how science and religion are deeply inseparable as theology was once the core of science [4].

It’s also been very difficult for me to understand the meaning of “prophethood”. How can someone, historically speaking, become a prophet? What is it about their biology which elevates them from the wider community? Is there a biological framework which describes the emergence of prophethood from an evolutionary perspective?

Prophethood is prescribed to those with a high level of self-consciousness. If life is to continue the process of evolving, especially amongst human beings, Rafi-ud-Din explains, continuous moral action must be needed based on moral judgements. Those with a special favour of nature become inspired teachers of Nature. Prophethood is a continuation of the biological phenomenon of mutations or sudden variations of species. As a result of these efforts, highly self-conscious individuals known as prophets emerged in the human world. These prophets have appeared at various times in history and have been instrumental in creating highly advanced and cultured societies, that include advanced cultures as developed in the West.

I do admit, however, through reading Rafi-ud-Din’s later books, there is a sense of resentment towards the West. Namely, he describes “Orientalist” and “Islamic” thinking as separate as water and oil; that “Islamic history” and an orientalist commentary on Islamic history are completely different. Consequently, some Muslims today will ignore vast corridors of rich and wealthy knowledge on the grounds that it is not — so-called —Islamic. Meanwhile, he also makes the point that anything created or observed by a Muslim does not make it automatically Islamic. For example, a skilled Muslim carpenter who makes tables does not make “Islamic tables”.

Nonetheless, I’m inspired by his intuition, and I’m curious about how he combined his religious viewpoint to justify the biggest aspects of Islamic thought. Ideology of the Future, something to aim at and pursue for the better of tomorrow. No doubt, we will stumble uphill. While some may dismiss these efforts, claiming that they don't believe in religion or its justifications, Rafi-ud-Din's message is clear: the destruction of religious values in the West has far-reaching consequences that go beyond just religious beliefs. It impacts our understanding of marriage, individualism, tradition, and the principle aspects of our culture. Rafi-ud-Din's work serves as a reminder that thoughtful reflection and philosophical discourse are necessary to navigate the complexities of the modern world and find meaning in our lives. As we continue to grapple with questions of faith, reason, and the human experience, Rafi-ud-Din's insights and the efforts of modern-day thinkers can offer valuable perspectives and contribute to the ongoing Western revival.

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