Summary of the Article:

Editorial Note: Who was Lord Lothian?

Lord Lothian [Lord Lothian (1882–1940), whose full name was Philip Henry Kerr, was born in London and educated at Birmingham School and Oxford College. He was appointed Assistant Secretary in Africa. The journal Round Table, which supported imperial federation, achieved considerable fame under his editorship. He served as secretary to Lloyd George. In 1932 he was appointed chairman of the Indian Franchise Committee and participated in the Second and Third Round Table Conferences. He visited India in 1938. Lothian admired Allama Iqbal, and it was upon his recommendation that Iqbal was invited to deliver the Rhodes Lectures. He died in 1940.]. End of note.

Section 1: Why This Speech Demands the Attention of Both Modern and Traditional Muslims

The address delivered by Lord Lothian during the last week of January 1938 at the convocation ceremony of Aligarh University is, in truth, worthy of deep reflection by the educated people of India—both modern and traditional alike. In this speech, a man opens before us the curtains of his heart and mind: a man who has not observed modern sciences and the civilization produced by them from afar, but who was himself born in the lap of that civilization and spent fifty-six years of his life diving into that very ocean.

He is European by birth and family background, highly educated at Oxford, formerly editor of the famous journal Round Table, and for nearly twenty-one years has participated responsibly in the major affairs of the British Empire. He is not an external observer, but rather a man from within the very household of Western civilization itself, and he explains to us what the fundamental defects within that household are, why they exist, and what the people of that civilization are truly thirsting for today.

From one perspective, this speech is highly instructive for our modern educated class, because it reveals that Western sciences and the civilization produced by them are not pure antidote alone; a great deal of poison is mixed within them as well. The very people who prepared this compound and consumed it for centuries are today themselves warning us: "Beware! Do not consume the full dose of this mixture. It has brought us to the brink of destruction and will destroy you as well. We ourselves are now in desperate need of a pure antidote. Though we do not know with certainty, we strongly suspect that you possess it. Beware lest you throw your antidote into the dust and instead become enamored with the taste of our poisoned compound."

From another perspective, this speech contains abundant insight for our scholars and religious classes as well. Through it they may understand which aspects of Islamic teachings need to be brought into the light before the modern world. For several centuries the world has been experimenting with a materialistic civilization, and now it has become weary of it.

Centuries ago, the spirit of inquiry and intellectual freedom that we provided to Europe was itself transformed by them—unknowingly perhaps—into something contaminated with irreligion and materialism. By mixing the two together they produced a new civilizational compound. The antidotal element within this mixture elevated them to the heights of progress, but its poison continued to work alongside it until now the poison has completely overpowered the antidote.

After fully suffering the bitter consequences, they now search once again in every direction for another dose of the antidote. They know what poisonous ingredients exist within their mixture. They understand the effects those ingredients have produced in their lives. They even clearly perceive what sort of antidote is now required to remove those effects. What they do not realize, however, is that the antidote they seek exists nowhere in the world except in Islam, and that this final remedy can only be obtained from the same dispensary from which the first dose originally came.

Even after reaching this stage, if they continue wandering in search of the antidote and, failing to find it, continue poisoning the whole world with their toxins, then the scholars of Islam will share equally in that immense sin. This is not the time for scholars to remain occupied with debates in theology, metaphysics, and minute juristic disputes.

Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing be upon him) possess knowledge of the unseen or not? Can God speak falsehood or not? Is there another being comparable to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) or not? What is the legal status of conveying rewards to the dead or visiting graves? Should "Āmīn" be recited aloud or silently? Should hands be raised in prayer or not? How much distance should there be between the pulpit and the prayer niche in a mosque?

These and dozens of similar issues upon which our religious leaders today waste all their energies hold no importance for the world, and settling them cannot resolve the tremendous struggle between guidance and misguidance that currently engulfs the globe.

Today the real need is to understand those problems that have arisen from centuries of knowledge and civilization developing upon the foundation of godlessness and secularism. The true task of the age is to diagnose those problems thoroughly and present practical solutions for them in accordance with Islamic principles.

If the scholars of Islam fail to equip themselves for this task and make no effort to fulfill it, then whatever fate awaits Europe and America, the Muslim world itself will also be destroyed. For the very same problems confronting Western countries have emerged with full intensity in all Muslim lands and in India as well, and in the absence of any sound solution, Muslims and non-Muslims alike continue applying the confused remedies prescribed by those who are themselves diseased.

This is no longer merely a matter concerning Europe and America; it concerns our own homes and our future generations.

For these reasons we wish both our modern educated class and our scholars to study Lord Lothian's speech carefully. Wherever necessary we shall explain the meanings in order to make access to the essence of his argument easier.

Section 2: Lord Lothian's Diagnosis — Science Without Morality and the Collapse of Religion in the West

Lord Lothian begins his discussion as follows:

"There is another matter requiring clarification to which I wish today to direct your attention: Can India avoid the grave damage caused by modern scientific and rational education from which Europe and America are presently suffering?

Modern philosophy in the West has produced two major consequences. On the one hand, it greatly expanded humanity's control over nature and its forces. On the other hand, it weakened the authority of inherited religion among university-educated people and eventually throughout much of the world. At least half the evils of the modern world have arisen from these two causes.

Civilized man has become intoxicated with the powers science has placed at his disposal, but alongside the advancement of knowledge and civilization he has not progressed equally in sincerity and moral integrity—the very qualities that could have guaranteed that these powers would be used for human welfare rather than human destruction."

In this introduction, the distinguished speaker has in fact pointed toward the fundamental problem of human civilization. Science, as pure science, is nothing more than a passion for investigation, inquiry, and exploration through which humanity discovers the hidden forces of the physical world and acquires the means to utilize them.

When the new powers gained through scientific progress begin entering human daily life, this is called the advancement of civilization. Yet neither science nor civilization by themselves guarantee human welfare. They may become a source of prosperity, but they may equally become a source of destruction.

If human beings cease working with their hands and instead use machines; if they travel by railways, automobiles, ships, and airplanes instead of animals; if telegraphy and wireless communication replace old postal systems—this does not necessarily mean humanity has become happier.

These things may increase prosperity, but they may equally increase suffering and destruction. A civilization possessing machine guns, poisonous gases, airplanes, and submarines may become vastly more destructive than one possessing only bows and swords.

Whether scientific and civilizational advancement becomes a source of welfare or destruction depends entirely upon the civilization under whose influence knowledge, arts, culture, and social order evolve.

It is civilization that determines the direction of progress, the purpose of human striving, and the use to which acquired powers are put. It determines the nature of human relationships, establishes the principles of collective life and the moral laws governing personal, national, and international affairs, and ultimately prepares the human mind to decide how the powers gained through science are to be integrated into civilization, for what purposes they should be used, and which uses should be adopted or rejected.

The observations of the physical world and the laws of nature cannot themselves form the basis of a lofty civilization, because from their perspective human beings are nothing more than rational animals. From them one can derive only the worldview of materialism: namely, that human life consists solely of this worldly existence, that fulfilling animal desires to the greatest extent is humanity's ultimate goal, and that the laws of struggle for survival, natural selection, and survival of the fittest should govern life.

Europe adopted a civilization built upon precisely this worldview, and the result was that the powers generated through the advancement of knowledge and civilization came to be spent not for the welfare of humanity but for its destruction.

Now Europeans themselves have begun to realize that they need a civilization higher than an animal civilization—a truly human civilization—and that nothing except religion can provide the foundation for such a civilization.

Lord Lothian continues:

"The scientific spirit certainly succeeded in gradually eliminating old superstitions. It expanded the domain of knowledge and thereby freed men and women from many constraints that had previously bound them. But at the same time it left humanity desperately in need of spiritual and religious truth while providing no path by which to attain that truth.

Most people in the West today are like children absorbed in speed, novelty, and sensory pleasures. They have lost the ability to live simply, and in practice they retain no connection with the infinite, eternal reality that religion presents.

Religion—which is humanity's indispensable guide and the sole source through which human life acquires moral purpose, dignity, and meaning—has declined in authority. As a result, the Western world has become devoted to political ideologies founded upon race or class and has embraced a form of science that regards material progress alone as the ultimate objective while making life increasingly complicated and burdensome.

This too is why Europe today finds it difficult to create within its soul and life the unity that alone could rescue it from the greatest affliction of our age: nationalism."

After this, Lord Lothian presents the following question before India's modern educated class:

"Can the two great religions of India—Hinduism and Islam—confront the critical and investigative spirit of the modern age more successfully than Western religious orthodoxy was able to do? This is the most important question, and if India is to be saved from the calamities that have already descended upon the West, then the intellectual and religious leaders of this country must focus all their attention upon it.

There is no doubt that the spirit of inquiry will gradually eliminate the elements of superstition and ignorance still widespread among the Indian masses, and that is a good thing. But will it also remove the ethical principles and spirituality of these religions from the hearts and minds of those men and women who are destined to become the future political, social, and industrial leaders of India?

I do not claim intimate familiarity with the inner life of Hinduism and Islam, but I believe both contain elements capable of maintaining authority over university-educated men and women. Christianity has failed in this regard because of certain false doctrinal restrictions that concealed the truths presented by the noble founder of that religion."

Section 3: Islam as the Only Answer — Why Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism Fall Short

As Lord Lothian himself admits, he does not in reality possess deep knowledge of either Hinduism or Islam. From a distance he has merely observed certain features within both religions which, in his view, might enable them to preserve educated people upon higher ethical and spiritual principles in the face of modern critical inquiry.

However, those who possess true inner knowledge of these religions—and indeed of all Indian religions—know well that if any religion can withstand the spirit of criticism and inquiry, or more accurately, if any religion can move forward together with this spirit and become the religion of all humanity in an age of progress and enlightenment, it is none other than Islam.

Why did Christianity fail? Simply because it is not a social system at all; rather, it is fundamentally opposed to social organization. It concerns itself only with individual salvation and proposes that salvation be attained by turning away from worldly life toward a heavenly kingdom. This is why, when European nations advanced upon the path of progress, Christianity became not their helper but their obstacle, forcing them to break its restraints in order to move forward.

A similar condition applies to Hinduism. It too lacks a philosophy that promotes progress, a rational ethical law, and an expansive social system. The greatest force that has thus far held Hindus together in a social order and protected them from outside influences has been the caste system. Yet before the modern spirit of criticism and inquiry, this structure is destined to collapse.

Once it breaks, nothing will prevent Hindu society itself from disintegrating, and its locked gates will stand wide open before external influences. Moreover, we are already witnessing that ancient Hindu social laws, idol-worshipping superstitions, and irrational philosophical speculations cannot survive the intellectual and social awakening of the modern age.

Day by day Hindus are approaching a decisive crossroads where the destiny of both themselves and, to a great extent, all of India will be determined. Either they will remain trapped in the same prejudice against Islam that gripped Christian Europe during the Renaissance and thereby reject Islam in favor of a materialistic civilization just as Europe did—or else they will enter Islam in large numbers.

The outcome of this decision depends to a great extent upon Muslims themselves, especially their traditionally and modernly educated classes.

Islam cannot produce miracles merely by its name alone. Nor can its principles work miracles if they remain only words written in books. In the state of disunity and inactivity into which Muslims have presently fallen, with the stagnation that has overtaken their scholars and the weak, imitative mentality displayed by their modern educated youth, one cannot expect them to conquer the soul of India; indeed, one can scarcely hope they will even remain steadfast themselves.

In the rushing flood of revolution, no community can remain standing motionless. Either it must be swept away by the current or rise with full courage and redirect the flood itself.

The latter possibility can emerge only if, first, the moral condition of ordinary Muslims is corrected and the spirit of Islamic life is revived within them. Second, the scholars of Islam and modern educated Muslims must together understand the contemporary problems of life according to Islamic principles and demonstrate their solutions both intellectually and practically in such a compelling way that every reasonable person—except blind fanatics—must acknowledge that no foundation for a progressive civilization can be as sound and flawless as Islamic civilization.

In India [this article was written in 1938, before the partition of India and Pakistan; the problems discussed in relation to India at that time later confronted both countries that emerged after partition], the conception of conflict between religion and science that still prevails is the same one Europe held fifty or sixty years ago.

But the picture in Europe has already changed, and the same change will soon reach India, which survives intellectually upon Europe's leftovers. Thus the time is approaching when at least intellectually and rationally, prejudice against religion will no longer remain—provided we prepare ourselves in advance to take advantage of that moment.

Lord Lothian briefly alludes to this reality in the following words:

"Sixty years ago there was a conflict between science and religion that seemed unlikely ever to end. A war raged between the spiritual conception of life and the mechanical conception, and it appeared that the struggle would cease only with the death of one side or the other.

But today both sides have laid down their arms. Neither the scientist nor the religious believer now claims with certainty to have solved the mystery of the universe. Indeed, both increasingly suspect that they know almost nothing about it. Therefore the possibility now exists for a synthesis that once appeared impossible amidst the earlier fervor of scientific inquiry."

Lord Lothian nevertheless remains bound to the Christian conception of religion and has not encountered the rational conception presented by Islam. Therefore, at most he can imagine some kind of synthesis between religion and science.

We, however, regard the notion of a "compromise" between religion and science as meaningless. In our view, true religion is that which itself becomes the spirit and guiding force of science.

Islam is precisely such a religion. If today anything prevents Islam from becoming the soul of science, it is not any internal defect within Islam itself, but rather the negligence of its own adherents and the ignorance and irrational prejudice of those who currently dominate modern science.

Remove these two obstacles, and Islam will inevitably become the life-force within the body of science.

Section 4: What the Modern World is Thirsting For — and That Islam Alone Can Provide It

Lord Lothian then proceeds to discuss what type of religion can survive before the intellectual awakening and rational criticism of the modern age. What characteristics must the religion desired by modern humanity possess? What are the real needs for which humanity now seeks religious guidance?

This is perhaps the most important section of the speech:

"If I am not mistaken in my assessment, religion can only pass successfully through the test now confronting it if the younger generation thoroughly examines its internal order and becomes fully convinced that the best solutions to the practical problems, anxieties, and complexities of life are contained within it.

The age of purely personal religion has passed. The world no longer needs a merely emotional religion either. Nor is there any future for a religion that can offer individuals only moral comfort and hope of salvation after death.

The scientific man of the present age wishes to test everything—even truth itself—by the criterion of practical results. If he is to follow religion, he demands that religion show him what solutions it possesses for the practical problems of life.

The promise of Nirvana after countless rebirths, or hope of entering a heavenly kingdom only after passing through death, is not enough for him to accept religion.

Religion must first provide him with a key capable of giving a satisfactory solution to the mystery of the universe. Then, in a properly scientific manner, it must clearly demonstrate the relationship between cause and effect and show humanity how to control those forces which have now become uncontrollable and threaten to destroy rather than benefit mankind.

It must explain how unemployment, irrational inequality, oppression, economic exploitation, war, and other social evils can be prevented, and how the mutual conflicts between individuals and the breakdown of family life—which have destroyed human happiness—can be restrained.

Humanity now turns toward religion only because science has increased its problems instead of solving them. Therefore mankind is more desperate than ever before for religion to resolve its doubts and difficulties.

If religion now wishes to preserve its position and reclaim its lost ground, it must provide spiritual yet scientific answers to these questions—answers whose truth can be tested and verified through results in this world itself, not deferred to another world after death.

We in the West know that this is the greatest question confronting our age. Can you in India answer it?"

Reading this part of Lord Lothian's speech gives the impression of listening to a thirsty man who may not know what water is, yet fully feels the nature of his thirst and keeps describing the qualities of the thing that alone can extinguish the fire within him.

If water were placed before him, his very nature would immediately cry out that this is precisely the thing he has long desired, and he would seize it eagerly.

This condition is not unique to Lord Lothian alone. Throughout Europe, America, and indeed the entire world, all those who have been scorched by the heat of modern civilization and have journeyed from the pleasant outskirts of philosophy and science into the barren deserts at their center feel the same thirst today.

All are searching for something possessing precisely the qualities Lord Lothian described. Yet none know the name of the thing they seek. Nor do they know where it may be found. They continue crying out:

"Bring quickly that thing which can extinguish the fire of the heart!"

They have indeed heard the name "water," but they recoil from it because they have never truly seen the thing itself. From their ignorant and prejudiced forefathers they have inherited only warnings: "Beware! Do not approach water—it is the name of a deadly poison!"

But now they have reached such a stage that if the thing itself is presented before them without its name, they will spontaneously declare: "Yes! This is exactly what we have been thirsting for."

And when they are finally told, "Sir, this is the very 'water' whose name once frightened you," they will stand astonished and exclaim, "What a deception we had been trapped in!"

The "scientific man" of the modern age has already thoroughly tested Christianity and discovered beyond doubt that it cannot cure his disease. Occasionally he becomes enchanted by the imaginative philosophies and ancient traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, but at the very first test of scientific criticism and analysis, their inadequacy becomes clear.

Buddhism is in many ways merely an Indian edition of Christianity. As for Hinduism, it itself generates many of the very difficulties and complexities from which the modern scientific man seeks deliverance through religion.

The most irrational inequalities between human beings are found within its own social order. The ugliest form of economic exploitation—moneylending and usury—has become an inseparable part of its system. The root cause of war, namely racial division and racial hostility, lies embedded in its very foundation.

The social system it has established does not unite humanity but divides it into countless castes and clans. Its social laws are so obsolete that even traditional Hindus are increasingly compelled to abandon them in the present age of intellectual and practical awakening, because they are founded not upon reason and knowledge but upon prejudice and superstition.

Beyond these worldly matters, Hinduism proves even more deficient in ethics and theology. It possesses no key capable of providing a satisfactory solution to the mystery of the universe. Its beliefs are matters of inherited acceptance rather than rational or scientific proof.

In ethics it may produce enchanting ideals—as Mahatma Gandhi, for example, attempted—but it lacks sound rationality and practical wisdom. If its failure has not yet become fully evident in the present age of awakening, it soon will.

Thereafter only Islam remains in the field, and it alone fulfills every criterion that the modern "scientific man" demands from religion.

The idea that religion is merely a private matter concerning only individual conscience has now become obsolete. It was one of the immature notions of the nineteenth century—yet even today certain so-called progressives in our country continue repeating it, despite always remaining fifty years behind the world.

It is now almost universally recognized that the individual cannot be separated from society. Every person is bound to others through countless relationships, and society as a whole resembles a living body of which individuals are merely limbs.

If religion is necessary, it is necessary not merely for individual peace of conscience or salvation after death, but for organizing and governing the collective life of society itself.

And if religion is unnecessary for society, then it is unnecessary for individuals as well.

It is utterly childish to imagine that the collective system of life should operate according to one set of principles while individuals privately hold separate religious beliefs and practices disconnected from social reality.

If religious beliefs and practices possess no relationship to collective life, then they become useless. Indeed, not merely useless—they are destined to decay and vanish within a social order whose other elements do not interact with them.

Thus only one of two possibilities can ultimately exist:

Either society must become entirely secular, excluding religion altogether from human life—as communism proposes;

Or the entire social order must become religious, accepting religion as the guide for both knowledge and civilization—as Islam requires.

The world has already experimented extensively with the first option. It could produce only the bitter fruits described by Lord Lothian, and indeed those are precisely the fruits it produced and will continue to produce.

Humanity's salvation now lies only in the second path, and opportunities for realizing it are increasing day by day. But as I have already said, whether these opportunities are seized or permanently lost depends upon Muslims themselves.

Section 5: The Responsibility Upon Muslims — Rise or Be Swept Away

The movement of events has brought the world—and our own country as part of that world—to a point where its future direction may turn either toward Islam or toward the lowest depths of materialism and moral corruption.

Naturally, the world still inclines toward the latter path because it has traveled along it for a very long time. Yet as it witnesses the disasters lying upon that road, it grows increasingly fearful and anxiously searches in every direction for a way of escape.

The tragedy is that the path of salvation remains hidden even from its own sight.

What humanity truly needs at this moment are leaders who rise with strength and remove the veil from its eyes, demonstrating conclusively that the straight path of Islam alone offers deliverance.

If such a striving and intellectually creative community were to emerge among Muslims, then Muslims could once again become the leaders of all humanity. They could regain that same position of honor they once possessed and which today they envy when they see Western nations occupying it.

But if the masses of this community continue sitting in weakness and discouragement; if its youth continue considering imitation of foreigners and consumption of their leftovers the highest ideal; if its scholars remain trapped within obsolete theological and juristic disputes; if its political and intellectual leaders continue imagining that following behind foreign armies represents the highest form of courage and that plunging their nation into the greatest deception of the twentieth century constitutes wisdom—if in short the hands, feet, hearts, and minds of this nation remain paralyzed or misguided, and if from among these millions not even a few men of God rise to undertake jihad and ijtihad in the path of Allah—then this community too will ultimately be dragged into the same lowest depths toward which the world itself is heading.

And once again the Divine proclamation will be heard:

 فَبُعْدًا لِّلْقَوْمِ الظّٰلِــمِيْنَ 

"So away with the wrongdoing people!" (Al‑Mu'minūn 23:41)

(Tarjumān al‑Qur'ān, Muḥarram 1357 AH – March 1938 CE)