Ibn Tufayl's Hayy Ibn Yaqzan: A Philosophical Tale

by Ibn Tufail

Now mass religion, like rational religion, claims universality; and doesn’t the claim seem more justified, for mass religion preaches to high and low, rich and poor, wise and foolish? There is no intellectual élite here, no ignoring of the needs and passions of the people. The evangelist brings his tidings to all men of good will. Yet because allowing choice among revelations will only restore rational religion, tradition has been introduced, and precisely because the “needs” and passions of the people are not ignored but fed by the emotional appeals of the evangelist that tradition will be particular, not universal. Through a sense of ethnic identity, through common bonds of history, through common needs and common passions, and even through the religious tradition itself, the people will become this people, the Chosen People, God’s children, the People of the Only true Way, the Children of Light. If a prophet discovers the force behind the drive to peoplehood, how can he avoid calling that force to the service of God? Just as traditions help single-out peoples, evangelists have a way of particularizing traditions, popularizing them. It seems hardly necessary to cite Gerald L. K. Smith, Stokeley Carmichael, or Adolf Hitler to demonstrate the tremendous forces particularism can unleash in behalf of its Cause.