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How different do our various
religions, philosophies and traditions of thought make us? And can
we see past what divides us to discover what we have in common?
In The Quest for Meaning, Tariq Ramadan, philosopher and scholar
sets out on a journey to answer these questions and find the
universal truths we hold in common, no matter how we arrive at
them. Attempting to diffuse flashpoints between societies, Ramadan
attempts a bold synthesis of religion, from Christianity to
Buddhism, between secularists and believers and argues that we
urgently need a new philosophy of pluralism in order to coexist
peacefully.
Exploring themes of love, respect, tolerance and reason, alongside
fundamental issues such as relationships between men and women and
the use of the term ‘civilization’, Ramadan argues that there are
universally shared beliefs that are arrived at in many traditions
of thought.
After having read and reviewed Tariq Ramadan’s The Messenger, A
Spiritual Biography of Muhammad, which was simple in language and
style, The Quest for Meaning took me quite a long time to read and
understand. In this book, the author has set out travelling the
paths of the heart, mind and the imaginary.
There has never been more talk of diversity and plurarity than in
this era of globalization and modernization and yet, more so than
ever before, we seem to be trapped into our identities and
differences. The global world is a village, they say… a village of
villagers who know nothing of each other. In more senses than one,
they do not know who they are and they do not know who they are
living with. This situation can only lead to half-hearted, fearful
and dormant conflicts rather than a confident celebration of our
riches. Edward Said suggested it would lead to ‘the clash of
ignorance.’ Tariq Ramadan says it will lead to a ‘conflict of
perceptions’.
The quest for meaning is a journey through time and across the
world, but it always ends by bringing us back to ourselves. All
paths lead us back to ourselves. In his Muqaddimah, which is aptly
subtitled An Introduction to History, the mystic and philosopher
Ibn Khaldun concludes from his study of history that the evolution
and demise of civilizations are cyclical. Human beings, be they
believers or atheists, idealists or rationalists, philosophers or
scientists are on what Ibn Qayyim called ‘the seekers’ way and it
leads us back to ourselves.
Very aptly, Tariq Ramadan says that our emotions imprison us, but
spirituality is both an inspiration and a quest for freedom. The
lived experience of spirituality demands of the human subject
three things that are implicit in all the traditions: the autonomy
of the subject (as opposed to dependency on that which affects the
subject), the conscious acceptance of responsibility (as opposed
to the victim mentality) and a hopeful and constructive attitude
(as opposed to despair or defeatism that does not believe in the
possibility of change). Spirituality liberates and gives things
meaning. It is based upon an initiation into and education in
self-awareness, maturation, the acceptance of responsibility and
gradual transformations. Jewish, Christian and Muslim mysticisms
constantly remind us of the arche-typal stages of this spiritual
awakening.
In the quest for meaning, the author has not left out the
importance of education. According to the traditional distribution
of roles, parents transmit meaning, values and good behaviour,
whilst schools and teachers transmit learning and skills. The same
disaffection can be observed in the realm of teaching and
parenting: school teachers and educationalists seem to have lost
their former prestige. He makes a thoughtful point that obsession
with reforming educational methods and structures must be resisted
as a matter of urgency. Modern times challenge us to redefine the
content of what is taught in our schools and the priorities of
what children learn within the family. Education “under pressure”
and “ efficient” teaching will
“produce” money making machines and not human beings with a
propensity to share.
Going on to tradition and modernity, Ramadan discusses the meaning
of modernity and says that it does no more to set us free than
tradition, whilst mass culture traps individuals into a
relationship of stimulus and response that is anything, but
rational. The culture of mass consumerism is killing cultures and
their diversity: the former caters to the instincts while the
latter cultivates tastes. Both the excesses of modernity and the
prisons of tradition are bringing about a crisis in the quest for
a balance.
Ramadan suggests that the “universal man” can no longer be a
single individual or a single mind with a global vision. Groups of
intellectuals, scholars and scientists should pool their
knowledge, resist the majority trend to divide and fragment
knowledge and establish critical, but profound links between
different domains of human activity.
All the chapters in this book require intense concentration while
reading, as Tariq Ramadan himself always writes with deep
intensity and emotion. But the last two chapters on Love and
Forgiveness are extremely light to read and seems like a grand
finale to his idea of developing a philosophy of pluralism.
The sacred texts, the ancient traditions and all philosophies of
all ages tell us to look at and learn from nature, its beauty and
its cycles. We know that we love naturally, but they still teach
us to love better, to love consciously and spiritually and to
learn to apprehend meaning in detachment. The author’s classic
statement is something we all have to ponder upon at all times…”
to love is to receive and to learn to let beings go. To love is to
give and to learn to go. And vice versa”!
Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at
Oxford University. He also teaches at Oxford’s Faculty of Theology
and is a Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University in Kyoto,
Japan.
Written in a direct and meditative style, with resonance for all,
this important and timely book will direct and shape debate around
the important questions of our time.
Name of the book: The Quest
for Meaning
Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism
Author: Tariq Ramadan
Published by: Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London, England
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11,Community Centre, Panchsheel Park
New Delhi-110017
Price: Rs 499
Reviewed by: Nigar Ataulla
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