The Cultural Side of Islam

by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall

Originally Published in 1927 By The Committee of Madras Lectures on Islam. Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, the great British Muslim convert and gives a graphic picture of Islamic culture, causes of its rise and decline, science, art and letters, the relation of sexes and the concept of the city of Islam, etc. This is the outcome of an unbiased deep study of Quran and sunna. He has brought out the underlying laws those play actively in human individual life as well as social life shaping their destiny success or failure. CONTENTS First Lecture - Islamic Culture Second Lecture - Causes of Rise and Decline Third Lecture - Brotherhood Fourth Lecture - Science, Art and Letters Fifth Lecture - Tolerance Sixth Lecture - The Change of Fatalism Seventh Lecture - The Relation of the Sexes Eighth Lecture - The City of Islam

202 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (born Marmaduke William Pickthall, 7 April 1875 – 19 May 1936) was a Western Islamic scholar noted for his English translation of the Qur'an. A convert from Christianity, Pickthall was a novelist, esteemed by D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and E. M. Forster, as well as a journalist, headmaster, and political and religious leader. He declared his conversion to Islam in dramatic fashion after delivering a talk on ‘Islam and Progress' on 29 November 1917, to the Muslim Literary Society in Notting Hill, West London. He was also involved with the services of the Woking Muslim Mission in the absence of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, its founder.

Reviews

[Julia Simpson-Urrutia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this book on my bookshelf. It is a collection of Marmaduke Pickthall's brilliant lectures. The book was very popular when it first came out in India, which seems to have been in 1927. I completely understand why some people, feeling anger at Islam, Muslims and all converts, rate this book as low as they can because they do not want to encourage others to understand Islam from any other than an attitude of blame. There are others--born Muslims--who feel anger that Pickthall could criticize Muslim culture. I have seen, on the Internet, damning statements about Pickthall, may God bring him to Paradise, ameen.

But history is long and the people who have practiced various creeds and traditions have done so with a wide variety of perspectives. For me, a woman raised in Southern California, the draw of Marmaduke Pickthall since I was in my early 20s has been the clarity of his writing, his adept descriptiveness, his profound critical thinking skills, his humility, and his appreciation of good qualities in others. As a convert to Islam, he frustrated many--particularly white British men who were drawn to the exotic Middle East without any desire to convert to Islam and who could not figure out why Pickthall would want to "go native." He also frustrated the Arab scholars who, in a paroxysm of rage at a convert learning their language so well and being Muslim and exceptionally intelligent, tried to prevent his translation of the meaning of the holy Qur'an.

The book deals with aspects of Islamic culture, starting with the causes of rise and decline of Islamic culture (utterly fascinating and eminently sensible), and Islamic brotherhood as both an ideal and an institution. He uses the holy Qur'an as well as hadith to first define and explain these topics. For instance, he cites the prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) saying, "He is not of us who sides with his tribe in aggression, and he is not of us who calls others to help him in tyranny, and he is not of us who dies while assisting his tribe in injustice."

Substitute political party/nationality/ethnic group/gender/etc. for "tribe," and you start to get an idea that mankind is a brotherhood and we divide ourselves.

The chapter on Science, Art and Letters demonstrates the scope of understanding Muslim culture once demonstrated, and his examples include the points that "Muslim physicians were the first to inculcate the virtues of fresh air and perfect cleanliness." One of my personal favorites is the chapter on Tolerance. Pickthall writes, "It was not until the Western nations broke away from their religious law that they became more tolerant; and it was only when the Muslims fell away from their religious law that they declined in tolerance and other evidence of the highest culture." This is an interesting statement because the reader may interpret Muslim law as that which has no mercy and which condemns people to the lash and stoning.

In fact, Pickthall emphasizes the spirit of Islam, which is (should be) pure tolerance, because it includes everyone. Everyone is a brother and a sister to everyone else. He cites multiple lines from the Qur'an in support of that contention and talks about how the Prophet Muhammad's reception of Christian and Zoroastrian visitors is on record, without the slightest trace of religious intolerance in it. Pickthall writes, "And it should be remembered--Muslims are rather apt to forget it, and it is of great importance to our outlook--that our Prophet did not ask the people of the Scripture to become his followers. He asked them only to accept the Kingdom of Allah (God), to abolish priesthood and restore their own religions to their original purity. The question which, in effect, he put to everyone was this: 'Are you for the Kingdom of God, which includes all of us, or are you for your own community against the rest of mankind?'"

Pickthall did not ignore important conversations. He addresses the charge of fatalism and the relation of the sexes. He takes Muslims to task for corrupted attitudes. This collection of lectures explains, Pickthall writes, "the reasons, as I understand them, for the downfall of the Muslim Empire and the decay of Muslim civilization."

The reader may not agree with everything, but it would be hard to not wish that Pickthall were with us now, so we could hear how he might interpret the events of the past two decades. He was a treasure.

[Shaik Mohamed Badhusha · Rating 5 out of 5]

To my understanding, culture is like an habit which is taught, followed, expressed and passed over generations. This book adressess what culture aspects or what was followed as culture in the Islamic faith. This book is a small introduction to Islamic History, giving us the opportunity to analyse what was right, what went wrong and what could also leave a catastrophe in the future if we do not correct ourselves. Mainly, this book which was initially given as a speech was aimed at Muslims Students who during the colonial time had superior notion of western principles and belief. Though, the speech was delivered more than 100 years ago, it still remains relevant as if it was addressing the present generation of youth. Mr.Jamal Mohamed Sahib arranged this meeting under his hard effort and enormous contribution of fund. He called various scholars in India at that time for the development of modern taught and principle under Islamic teachings among Indian Muslims and am happy to say that I belong to the same place where it happened i.e Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

[Ghazal Farooqi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems to me that I'm not the same person that I was before reading this book. I'm a relatively different kind of Muslim now after having read it. My understanding of Islam and of the manner of practicing Islam has changed, for the better. However, I would say that Pickthall's understanding of the place of literary works in the Islamic tradition is not correct. Nor is his understanding of the purpose of art, specifically art in words. The same goes for his take on the face-veil, plus usury when dealing with non-Muslim nations. But, hey, nobody's perfect. Highly recommend this book.