On The Common Eternal Principles, And That Islam Reigns
by Omar K Neusser

The question was posed what is in fact perennialism and if it is relevant for Islam. The site * LivingIslam - IslamicTradition * has nothing to do with perennialism [4b]. If it is claimed that the world-religions or traditions are all equally valid roads to God, then this is not the case and contradicts the teachings of Islam [4b]. But there ARE common principles of world-religions or traditions, because these principles are eternal [4b], and the diversity of religions must not lead to separation or hostility. The term 'tradition' is explained in chapter [5a]. Why is it Islam that reigns, see [6a], and what did Ibn `Arabi write about the different religions' legal systems - see [7]. These issues will be clarified below.
And:
O Lord! - let us grow in knowledge (`ilm) !

1a.
Today's underlying mentality is the one of postmodernism which is being spread globally by the elites of West and ever more by those of the East. This one-dimensional mentality, which has become a sort-of-ideology, does not not only deny the validity of any spiritual tradition for the purpose of human life, but also any absolute and eternal values as expressions of a reality which is beyond that of sensual perception [lk6].
René Guénon expressed this already in about 1940: “Modern civilization appears in history as a real anomaly: Among all those we know, it is the only one which developed in a purely materialistic direction and the only one which does not rely on any principle of higher order.” [lk22]
lk6: Modernism And Postmodern Thought
lk22: Symbole der heiligen Wissenschaft

1b.
We are of the opion that F. Schuon, a rather famous representative of perennialism, together with his group – deviated from traditional Islam in their neglect of the Shari`ah.
R Guénon could not do much about it, but those who came after him broke off relations with Schuon. They took it on themselves to preserve Guénon's spiritual heritage, foremost regarding the Islamic tradition. [5a]
lk25: Book review: Sufism: The Essentials, Mark J Sedgwick

1c.
Furthermore R Guénon's name has been abused in the most problematic and non-traditional contexts and even some anti-traditional circles are trying to instrumentalize RG for their aims, so what is at stake here is really to sift critically. [fn1] There is certainly much intentional desinformation, just as in the case of Islam itself.
fn1: M Sedgwicks homepage on RG is problematic

1d.
Compromising with truth and blurring the traditional doctrine was not a characteristic trait of R Guénon. On the contrary, when the sense of the sacred (and most of all the knowledge of the sacred) had been widely lost in the West, he rediscovered the sacred knowledge of Tradition, described it clearly and and defended it decisively.
His last 30 years he lived as Muslim and well-respected Shaykh in Egypt. Many are those who found their way to Islam through his texts and books, therefore we also recommend some of them.[lk13] And knowledge is vast and the quest for it a life-long commitment.
5a: the significance of Tradition
lk13: Some of his most important works

1e.
At the *livingIslam* homepage we follow the word of truth wherever it is. They - in [1b] mentioned - were all people of good faith with their shortcomings and faults. “Many are more interested today in Guénon’s individuality than in his intellectual works” (M A Tamas), whereas we don't think that it is important “to know a lot of authors or to judge them, but [what is important is] to study deeply the traditional teachings in order to apply them.” (G Ponte) [fn16]
So we take from the learned and the scholars what we find true and what corresponds to the teachings of Islam and we leave what does not, applying to the rule “take what you are sure of and leave what causes doubt.” When it comes to following someone entirely and striving as much as possible in this while remembering his noble mission (rahmah - a mercy to the worlds), then this is the beloved and revered guide of men and women [fn14], the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad blessings and greetings of Allah upon him.
fn14: a healer of humanity
lk4: From The Life Of Prophet Mohammed

2a.
For a muslim who wishes to preserve his dîn (religion) in today's world of profanity and confusion and even wants to strengthen it intellectually, and who wishes to be able to invite others to the fold of Islam, it is important to understand the prevalent mentality of the (global) West, its contradictions and different currents and also where and how one-dimensional West went wrong, when they gave up their own spiritual tradition. [fn13] [lk23]

This as a warning example for people of religion, including Muslims, to know how the (post - ) modern mentality of the West emerged, how it functions when it casts into doubt any absolute, metaphysical truth, how it influences the public at large and which are the forces producing it. How do the proponents of this post-modern 'ideology' look at religion (in general and at Islam specifically) and how do they numb people's genuine yearning for God?
fn7: Christianity of the 11th century
fn10: Descartes, 'father of rationalism'
fn13: What Muslims Also Have To Do
lk8: Notes On The New Age Movement
lk17: Descartes limited intelligence to reason
lk23: Protestant Islam by Mohammed Al-Abbasi

2b.
Had God - Allah willed, He could have made the whole world – each and every one of its inhabitants – muslim, but He - in His infinite knowledge - did not.
One should therefore take pains to also understand Islam in its wider – universal meaning, for the message of Islam aims at the same eternal kernel: to worship the One True God and to surrender to His Will with heart and soul.
“God gave the same revelation in quality and topic: thus, all prophets draw from one main spring or source; moreover, it is evident that the Quran orders the Muslims to believe in all God's prophets and to obey their commandments.”
(see The Holy Quran, Sura 2, The Cow, verse 136) [fn17]
Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro [lk21]
fn17: "We make no distinction between any ..."
fn2: The essential content of earlier religions
lk21: Islam and Christianity: Two Religions, One God; Sh. Ahmad Kuftaro

2c.
The classical imams of Islam deserve all our respect, and many of today's scholars do have the requisite knowledge to solve the problems of Muslims in the West and are mostly able to respond to today's postmodern challenges. [fn18]
In traditional societies it was almost unimaginable for someone to call himself an atheist and to comport himself as some of them do, even if we have Quranic verses and hadith referring to that state of affairs of the Last Times.

Sometimes it is necessary to search for new answers within the scope of the Shari`ah concerning those issues touching on life in our (post-) modern era which is of course very different from that of traditional societies.
This has to happen by “extension and development of the fiqh in response to modern conditions (ijtihad).” A. H. Murad [lk19]
Islam is not rigid, but ease - not difficult - but good tidings:
The Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad
said in a sound hadith:

“yassirû wa lâ tu`assirû
wa bashshirû wa la tunaffirû”
Make things easy for people,
Don't make things difficult for them and give them good tidings, and don't chase them away (from Islam).
Al-Bukhari B1-69
lk19: Al-Tahawî's `Aqîdah

3.
At * LivingIslam - IslamicTradition * we are addressing ourselves to two groups of readers:
Muslims and those non-muslims who have an inner tendency toward monotheism (m~ is the worship of One God).[lk16]
Regarding non-muslims we try to examine and warn against misguided syncretic sects, such as today's New Age-movements. In his days, this was done by R Guénon when he analysed thoroughly non-traditional 'spiritual' movements of old, [fn3] and disclosed their errors and deceit. They seduced (then and today even more) many of our fellow-beings – especially the youth, who yearn for God – a calling with devastating consequences.

By his untiring work, René Guénon (Shaykh 'Abd al-Wâhid Yahya) gave us the intellectual tools to see through the true being and methods of those anti-traditional movements. He “disclosed as no-one else the mechanisms of counter-initiation and those psychic conditions which are a part of it” (M.S.). This way as muslim one will be able to respond to them in the best possible way, without being confined to takfir (i.e. calling others "kafir").
fn3: RG analysed the Spiritists (forerunners of New Age)
lk16: Tolerant Monoteismen
lk8: Notes On The New Age Movement
lk11: Eleven False New Age Principles

4a.
Many traditional terms and concepts from the great world-religions are now-a-days being used by New Age-movements. They wish to become seemingly respectable and to be able to attract those clueless searchers (for truth). They concoct a soup where they mix 'the higher' with 'the lower', spirituality with psychology and eventually truth with falsehood [lk15]. Or they use eminent concepts such as 'the Self', 'the Soul' and 'Sufism', etc. to mislead our fellow-beings. But with those steadfast believers they will never succeed!
fn6: De vill skapa nya religioner eller "icke-religioner".
lk11: Eleven False New Age Principles
lk15: Difference Between Spirit And Soul
lk12: see: Charles Upton; The System Of Antichrist

4b.
We are of the opinion, that the world-religions comprise common [fn12] metaphysical principles;

such as faith (Arabic: îmân) in God, the Absolute, Highest Power or Ultimate Reality; faith in life in the Hereafter, in holy scriptures; in a process where divine knowledge is given to man,

but only what is correct according to the message of Islam will be accepted,
as it was brought by Prophet Muhammad , and further developed by Islam's schools of law, spirituality, saintity, etc.
A definition of perennialism would be that it describes the false idea that all world-religions are valid ways to God.

But to see similarities with the eternal principles of other religions, which have to be there because the divine message is universal (see Quran: God sent prophets to all nations [fn11] ), does NOT imply that one sees all religions as being equally valid and that it would not matter which one to follow!
This means that we recognize that there is a unity of principles -- because these principles are eternal -- ,
but we emphasize at the same time, that the • final, authentic way to God is described by the example of Prophet Muhammad may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in the religion of Islam [6c].
fn2: Islam - summit of the earlier messages
fn8: Instinctive knowledge of the Supreme Being in each human soul.
fn12: Islamic principles are clearer and based on an authentic sources.
lk3: World-religions have common core principles, bec. they are eternal.
[6c]
lk10: Why it matters which religion to follow!
3a: anti-traditional designs

5a.
The term Tradition refers to the eternal divine message [fn5] which has been sent or revealed since the time of Adam. As people and nations are prone to forget, it was necessary to confirm and actualise the divine guidance again and again by those different prophets throughout the course of history, some of which came with new legal systems. [7]

This is the case of the Islamic tradition, which was conveyed to mankind by the final Messenger of Allah . Therefore it is *Islam* that reigns today until the end of time [6a].

What does make Islam ”traditional” or that Islam is an authentic ”Tradition” is not peoples' usages or customs, nor their culture or civilisation, but these two conditions:
(1) the fact that the truth of Islam was revealed from a non-human, Divine origin!
(2) that this truth was formed in the way it was by Prophet Muhammad's message and pattern (sunnah) (and the whole religion of Islam, its schools of law, spirituality, saintity).
— Therefore what is not meant here is what is usually called 'traditions', or usages and customs, or (Islamic) civilisation.
[6a]
lk14: Tradition Islamique - Islamic Tradition
lk24: In the Spirit of Tradition, Sidi Nazim Baksh
fn5: human reason cannot alone lead man to Truth.

5b.
Shaykh Abdu-l Wahîd Yahya (René Guénon) restored the correct ethymological and above all traditional [5a] meaning of different terms [fn19], especially those of 'Tradition', because they constitute the kernal of Islam and of every authentic religion.
Tradition is derived from Latin 'tradere', i.e. to hand over, deliver, entrust something from God - Allah via His prophets. What is handed over is the Quranic revelation, the âyah (Quranic verses) and - through those - the barakah (Divine blessings) and therefore sacred knowledge. This is one of the wonders of Islam.
fn4: Tradition is not customs and usages, or civilisation
fn9: a primeval time when harmony existed
lk6: Postmodernist Mentality

6a.
There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is His Prophet!
 It is only Islam which has all possibilies left to guide man and woman) on a truly spiritual path, for Islam absorbes the messages and spiritual power (barakah) of earlier, antique religions, while responding to all levels of human nature, which explains why today - until the last day - it is Islam that reigns. [lk1]
Also because Islam is based on authentic traditions with known chains of transmissions, preserved and taught to the present day.
Previous religions have lost their 'salt' and 'strength', they have no validity or actuality left.

{ inna - ddîna `inda-LLahi-l islâm }
Truly! The religion with God is Islam, so that His dîn will surpass and replace all the others, ever more evident as we approach the last times.
lk1: The reason why Islam was revealed
lk5: Earlier revelations came to certain peoples only

6b.
What does a godfearing believer (al-muttaqû ) believe in?
(NB: among other elements of faith [lk18])
Allah says in the Quran in the beginng of sura al-Baqara:

{ wa-lladhîna yuminûna bimâ unzila ilayka wa mâ unzila min qablika ... }

The meaning of this verse according to Ibn Kathir och At-Tabari is:
“They believe in what Allah sent you with (O Muhammad) and in what the previous Messengers were sent with, they do not distinguish between (believing) them, nor do they reject what they brought from their Lord.”
This also means according to Muhammed K Bernström: “This refers to one of the main themes of the Quran, namely that the divine revelation is a phenomena of historical continuity.”
Koranens budskap, p. 4, not. 5
[7.]
lk18: Items of belief & the fundamentals of faith

6c.
How should therefore the godfearing believer (al-muttaqu ) act? Which is the best of deeds?

The answer is: He acts righteous (s.âlih ).
But this will be just hypocracy IF it is not done solely for Gods face, ie. for Allah's good pleasure.
Therefore he will only choose such acts which are done for Gods face, ie. for Allah's good pleasure.
But then it will still be inadequate, and Allah will not accept those acts, IF they are not done according to the prophetic Sunna!
(hadith about the man who prayed in the mosque but who had to repeat his prayers twice because the Prophet rejected them.)

7.
Concerning other religions' validity or non-validity, we are pleased to follow the definition by Ibn `Arabi:

"The religious laws (shara'i' ) are all lights, and the law of Muhammad Allah bless him and give him peace -
among these lights is as the sun's light among the lights of the stars:
When the sun comes out, the lights of the stars are no longer seen and their lights are absorbed into the light of the sun ..."

lk2: Ibn `Arabi on the religious laws

8.
When Islam is attacked from so many sides
– the fortress has to be fortified,
when its outer walls of defence have fallen (the Ottoman kalifat),
– its inner walls of defence (of haqiqah, tasawwuf & the defense and illustration of Prophet Muhammad and his lofty attributes [lk4]) have to be manned. [fn15]

For Islam will exist until the end of times,
which is also the time of the Dajjâls (Anti-Christs), of Al-Mahdi and Jesus (peace be with them both).

But Allah knows most and best!

---

---

---