By HOGGAR — 4 janvier، 2018

Saturday, November 7 ‫اﻟﺮﺋﻴﺴﻴﺔ‬

‫ | ﻋﻦ اﻟﻬﭭﺎر‬Sur Hoggar | Accueil
‫ﻣﻨﺸﻮرات‬ | Publications‫ﻣﻨﺒﺮ ﺣﺮ‬ | ‫ﻛ‬Tribune
‫ﺘﺎب ﻫﻘﺎر‬ libre ‫اﻟﺪﻳﻮانإﺗﺼﺎل‬
ُ | Contributeurs | Contact| Diwan ‫ | وﺳﺎﺋﻂ‬Multimédia ! " # $ %

‫ | أﻧﺸﻄﺔ‬Evènements (
« Non-violence en islam, le
djihad du cœur »
By ‫ — آﻣﻮد أغ اﻟﻤﺨﺘﺎر‬5 décembre، 2017

Le Miroir des Gnostiques

By ABBAS AROUA — 8 décembre،
2015

YOU ARE AT: Home » ‫ | ﻣﻨﺒﺮ ﺣﺮ‬Tribune libre » Hoggar » Malik Bennabi on Civilization, Alwi Alatas

‫ | ﺗﻌﻠﻴﻘﺎت‬COMMENTAIRES
HOGGAR

Malik Bennabi on Civilization, Alwi Alatas ) al Moghraby on

‫اﺣﺬروا اﻟﺪﻳﻦ اﻟﺠﺪﻳﺪ‬

By HOGGAR — 28 April، 2010 ' No Comments
) ‫ ﺑﺸﻴﺮ‬on

ّ ‫“ َٔاﻻ ِٕا َّن َﻧ ْﺼ َﺮ‬

ٌ ‫اﻟﻠ ِﻪ َﻗ ِﺮ‬
” ‫ﻳﺐ‬
" Share # Tweet & Pinterest +
) ‫ ﺑﺸﻴﺮ‬on

ّ ‫“ َٔاﻻ ِٕا َّن َﻧ ْﺼ َﺮ‬

ٌ ‫اﻟﻠ ِﻪ َﻗ ِﺮ‬
” ‫ﻳﺐ‬

) ‫ ﺑﺸﻴﺮ‬on

ّ ‫“ َٔاﻻ ِٕا َّن َﻧ ْﺼ َﺮ‬

ٌ ‫اﻟﻠ ِﻪ َﻗ ِﺮ‬
” ‫ﻳﺐ‬

) ‫ ﺑﺸﻴﺮ‬on

ّ ‫“ َٔاﻻ ِٕا َّن َﻧ ْﺼ َﺮ‬

ٌ ‫اﻟﻠ ِﻪ َﻗ ِﺮ‬
” ‫ﻳﺐ‬

) ‫ ﺑﺸﻴﺮ‬on

‫زﻣﻦ اﻻﻧﻘﻴﺎد‬

) ‫ ﺑﺸﻴﺮ‬on
Introduction ‫ﺷﺒﺢ ﻳﺨﺎﻃﺐ أﺷﺒﺎﺣﺎ! ؟‬

Malik Bennabi (1905-1973 CE/ 1325-1393 IE) is one of

the most important Muslim thinkers in the modern
world. Even, regarding the concept of history and
civilization, he is considered the greatest Muslim
thinker since the time of Ibn Khaldun. Muhammad Tahir al-Mesawi regards
him as one of the few original thinkers the Muslim umma has produced in
the twentieth century.[1]

Throughout his life, Bennabi had tried to search for the root of problem and
backwardness faced by the Muslim umma. He observed and analyzed
history to understand the law behind the rise and fall of civilizations. The
failure of some leading figures in the contemporary Islamic world to solve
the Muslim’s problems motivated him to hold the task and offer his own
solution. Through this paper we will discuss his thought and concept on
history and civilization.

Life of Bennabi

Algeria had been occupied by French since 1830. It was begun by the
landing of 3.700 French troops in the bay of Sidi-Ferruch on 14 June 1830.[2]
The French occupation in Algeria was not cover the whole area in the
beginning of its coming to this region. The French occupied the entire part
of Algeria at least through four stages.[3] It had completed the conquest in
1907, when Bennabi was still in his early stage of his childhood.

Malik Bennabi was born in Constantine, Algeria, in 1st November 1905. He

has three sisters and was the only son in the family. He was adopted by his
uncle during his childhood, but later brought back to his family in Tibissa
after the death of the uncle. His father was an educated man. Later, he
strongly encouraged Malik to study in France and sponsored him for this.

Bennabi was closed to his grandmother who was a beloved narrator to her
grandchildren. He used to listen fable stories from her. Fable played
important role in transferring values, ideas and beliefs in the North Africa
at that time. That was the first school, which had influenced, formed and
developed his personality.

Under French colonization, many Algerian families, including Bennabi’s

family, lived in poverty. His father could not get job after he moved to his
wife’s family in Tibissa and his wife had to work for the family. However
difficult, they still paid attention to Bennabi’s education. They sent
Bennabi to a Qur’anic school (Kuttab) in the town. Once, his mother had no
money to paid his educational fees and he gave up her own wooden bed for
a month’s payment of his tuition fee.

The situation was worsened when the First World War happened. Because
of this, Bennabi was taken to Constantine to live with his great uncle’s wife
and to continue his study. In this town, Bennabi had an opportunity to
communicate with his grandfather, who had returned from Tripoli after the
Italian invasion. He used to hear his grandfather’s complain about the
social and economical problem in Algeria. This might be his first
interaction with the idea, which expressed the reality faced by the umma.
Later, Bennabi’s recalled this memory while reflecting the contemporary
problem of his people.

During his elementary school, Bennabi achieved high scores on the final
examination and also on the other tests held by the school, but he had
never received the highest grade in his class. He believed this was a result of
racial discrimination practiced by the French at that school and also in
many other cases. This unfair treatment had motivated Bennabi to
challenge the West intellectually and he planned to continue his education.

In 1921, Bennabi was transferred to the Madrasa of Constantine. This

madrasa was found to build up a class of bureaucrats and used French and
Arabic as medium. He enjoyed the class of French language and literature
and read novels of Jules Verne and other French writers. There were two
books, which deeply influenced him during this period. Those were John
Dewey’s How We Think? in French translation and Courtellemont’s
L’Histoire sociale de l’humanite’. Bennabi also studied from Shaikh Maulud
Ben Mawhub in this school. Ben Mawhub was a former mufti of
Constantine and at the same time was an advocate for progress, modern
science, and European ideas.

While studying at school, Bennabi used his time to learn Arabic in the Great
Mosque of Constantine. He joined the teaching circle in this mosque, which
taught by Shaikh Abdul Majid who was very critical to the sufi order and
the abusive policies of the colonial government. This was another figure
that influenced Bennabi in developing a critical approach to reality. By
learning Arabic, Bennabi found himself attracted into the world of Arabic
poetry. He became acquainted to classical poetry of the Jahiliyya, Umayyad,
and ‘Abbasid period, as well as the modern one which written by Jibran,
Hafiz Ibrahim, Rusafi and al-Manfaluti.

Among his first references about Islam were Ahmad Riza’s La Faillite morale
de la politique occidentale en Orient, al-Kawakibi’s Umm al-Qura, Isabella
Eberhardt’s L’Ambre Chaude de l-Islam and Muhammad ‘Abduh’s Risalat al-
Tawhid. He interacted with Benbadi’s disciple in Ben Yamina’s coffeehouse
and became more and more acquainted with the Islamic reformist ideas.

This period was a very rich juncture in Bennabi’s life. He studied directly
from some reformist scholars or independently through books. He attended
formal studies in the classroom and in the mosque as well as informal
discussion in the coffeehouse. These all shaped his intellectual
development and he became aware about the social and cultural changes
occurred in his country.

Bennabi was twenty years old in 1925 when he graduated from high school
and he still did not have clear plan about his future. He went to French,
worked from one company to another until finally ended up in a beer
company where he gave up and decided to go back to his homeland. He
disgusted with the situation he observed directly where Algerian workers
were exploited by French companies. In Algeria, he worked for court as an
assistant and then as an official member. During this time, he also tried to
spread the reformist ideas in the region.

In 1930, Bennabi decided to go to French again, this time to continue his

study.[4] He was financially supported by his modest family for this. He
tried to join the School of Oriental Language (L’Ecole des Langues
Orientales) in Paris, since it would serve his area of interest. He felt that the
test was not difficult, but he failed. Then he realized that, since he was an
Algerian Muslim, the reason behind this was more political, rather than
intellectual. Having no opportunity to continue in this field, Bennabi
enrolled in an institute of Engineering, which, of course, change his
academic plan. However, that change had benefited him very much.
Through the study of science, Bennabi received a good training of scientific
reasoning. Through this study also, he became aware of the key role
position of science in advancing Western civilization and it was effected his
concern toward the backwardness of the Muslim umma. Then, he
apparently inspired by the idea to be a savior of the umma.

Soon after his coming to Paris, he joined the Parisian Chapter of the
Christian Youth Organization for the cheap meal offered to its members. In
fact, what he got in this Chapter was more than a cheap meal. Being a
Muslim in a Christian organization was the first moral test for him.
However, this environment enabled him to develop his spirituality and his
ability in social analysis.

Bennabi was against sufism and tended to the Wahhabism and the Islah
movement. He enthusiastically propagated the idea of Islah and
Wahhabism in Paris. However, his writings show that he is more to be an
Islahi, in the same line with al-Afghani and ‘Abduh, rather than a Wahhabi.
He was very active concerning and discussing the problem of Algeria and
the Muslim world with other North Africans. He joined the Maghrib
Student Association. His first lecture in the association, which titled “Why
We are Muslims?” and his other activities led him to many difficulties in
France and his own country. He was suspiciously supervised by the
authority since then. But, he kept maintaining his concern and developing
his systematic thinking to search for the reason behind the backwardness of
the umma and then to provide integrated and effective solution for it.

In 1931, Bennabi married a French woman, Khadijah. She was an intelligent

woman and help Bennabi to manage his moderate financial income and to
feel comfort at home. She motivated her husband to understand and to
study about French civilization. Bennabi didn’t get any children from her
until she died in the early seventies.

Bennabi, and his Arab student fellows were aware and influenced by
Shakeeb Arslan’s idea of Pan-Arabism, through the later’s newspaper
published from Geneva. It seems that for him Arabism was not more than
Islamism. He joined a secret association of Arab students, which, according
to Bennabi, was a precursor of the Arab League. He himself acted as
Algerian’s representative in that secret organization, though not continued
his involvement later when some of its members found and engaged in the
League.

He sympathized with the ideas and activities of Benbadis and his Jam’iyat
al-Ulama. But he became disappointed with him for his strategy in 1936 to
join the secular politicians in their trip to Paris as Algerian’s representative.
Bennabi condemned the visit and he met directly Benbadis and some
others ulama. He criticized them about their lodging in an expensive hotel
to negotiate with the French and about their inferiority to the secular
politicians in joining them to Paris.

This event had affected Bennabi a lot and he lost his mood to study and
writing for sometimes. Bennabi hoped to be, with his friend, Hammuda
Ben Essai, the inheritors of Jam’iyat al-Ulama because of their ability to
undertake political battle and maintain the Islahi tendency at the same
time. He always wondered, why the ulama and those who were formed by
traditional education unable to perform great tasks?

Bennabi continued his study and activities in Paris. His study had
familiarized him with Nietzsche’s idea and Einstein’s discovery. He was
excited by some contemporary discoveries, such as the first experiment of
TV broadcasting and the scientific experiment by George Claude who used
sea’s heat to produce energy. He asked himself then, “If they used the sea’s
heat, why do we not use the dessert’s heat?”

In 1938, he worked as a teacher for the illiterate Algerian workers in

Marseilles. He enjoyed it and learned the impact of his teaching on those
workers. He observed some changes in the appearance of the workers
during nine months of his teaching. Their wild looks became more human
and their tendency to leave their mouths open diminished.[5] This would
help him to develop his concept about the relation between ideas and
culture. However, he was soon forbidden to teach by the authority. He was
frustrated and decided returning to Tibissa, but also found difficulties. He
felt that he lost every hope, except that for a world war to break out and
change everything.

Desperately, he decided to go back to French in 1939 and not to return to his

country until it gets its freedom. As the ship departed from the Algerian’s
shore, he spoke to his land, “Oh undutiful land: you feed the foreigners and
leave your children to hunger. I will never return to you if you do not
become free.”

One may be questions his attitude to leave his country and wait for its
independence, not to fight together with his people for the freedom of his
land. However, it does not seem that he was an irresponsible person. He
might be disappointed with the attitude of his people for not using
systematic strategy in their struggle and to change their society and culture
from within. For Bennabi, independence is not a solution for the Algerians,
if they still in the condition of “colonizability”. Thus, he decided to make
what he can do within his capacity as an intellectual.

We do not know his activity during the First World War. But after the war,
Bennabi began to record his thought in books. He published Le Phenomene
Coranique in 1946, Labbaik (novel) in 1947, Les Conditions de la
Renaissance in 1948 and La Vocation de l’Islam in 1954. Through those
books, he tried to state some theoretical rules for reviving the Islah
movement. Unfortunately, for his writings, Bennabi received a blow of
critics and accusation as a pro colonist by the ulama, the nationalist and the
communist. He had been misunderstood by his fellow Algerians. He was
frustrated, but also became more determined to express his views. He went
to Algeria in 1948 and delivered two lectures, each in Arabic and French, to
explain his equation of civilization.

In 1956, 2 years after the beginning of the Algerian war,[6] Bennabi

immigrated to Egypt as a way for him to be as close as possible to his
country. He got support from Egyptian authorities and some of his books
were published here. He never gave up his attachment to this country.
Though, previously in his book he admired Hasan al-Banna and his al-
Ikhwan al-Muslimin (Muslim Brotherhood), he did not show his sympathy
to the suppressed Ikhwan under the regime of Jamal Abd an-Naser. His
financial support came from the Egyptian authority and his close
relationship with Hasan Ahmad Baquri, an expelled member of al-Ikhwan,
and with Mahmoud Shakir, a Muslim scholar who hated al-Ikhwan, were
apparently the reason for his silent on Naser’s suppression on the
organization.

Algeria achieved its independence in 1962. Bennabi returned to his country

in the following year. He was appointed Director of High Studies in 1965,
but expelled from his position two years after that. Bennabi was not
allowed to travel out of the country by the authority. But, he continued his
intellectual activities in Algeria.

In 1971, he was allowed to go for pilgrimage to Mecca with his wife and his
three daughters. He traveled about seven months and visited his friends in
Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and Tunisia. He might be felt that it was his
last opportunity to meet his fellows during his life. In Lebanon, through
the Court of Tripoli, he registered a legal document in which he gave his
friend, Omar Masqawi, total authority over his books in the event of his
death. In Saudi Arabia, during the reception with King Faisal, he spoke
about the lack of freedom in Algeria. He died in October 1973 at his home in
Algiers only two years after coming back from his pilgrimage.

Bennabi’s Thought on Civilization

Although his academic background was engineering, all of his books are
relate to social science, culture, history or civilization. Therefore, it is more
appropriate to consider him as a sociologist and a social scientist rather
than as a natural scientist. He exercised his intellectual efforts during his
life to search and to understand the rules that govern the social phenomena
of civilization.

In writing, he rarely uses quotations. He interacted with many thoughts,

but produced his own original one. However, he was greatly influenced by
Ibn Khaldun and Arnold Toynbee on the idea of civilization. We can see
many similarities in their thoughts, but Bennabi got advantages from many
scientific inventions in his era and he could develop the ideas into his own
scheme.

Regarding the social condition of his people and the “superiority” of the
West during his lifetime, Bennabi chooses his own independent attitude
towards it. He criticizes the Muslims who tended to examine Western
culture and civilization from two extreme viewpoints: either holy and pure,
or profane and corrupt.[7] He himself neither feels superior nor inferior to
the West. The rise of Western civilization and the decline of Muslims
society are seen by him in their normal historical context. He is optimistic
for the possibility of Muslims renaissance and tries to find the systematic
way and means to achieve it.

To explain his theory, Bennabi has created his own terms: such as post-
Almohads man, rajul al-fitra, rajul kharij al-hadara, colinizability, and etc.
These words or terms were not other than names he created to explain
certain ideas. For him, the use of names is necessary to make clear
conceptual explanations within their cultural context. Bennabi has his own
explanation about the process of how a word or name emerges into its
existence in the realm of human knowledge.

“The name […] is the first definition of an object as it enters the sphere of
our consciousness,” he explains. Our consciousness is like a lighthouse
which light covers an area surrounding it. The dark area outside the scope
of the light is our unconsciousness. Whatever object falls within the sphere
of that light, it becomes an idea, which enters the sphere of our knowledge.
When it enters this area of light, its presence becomes a real existence. Then
its character is defined, and a name is ultimately given to that object.
“Thus, the name is considered the first step towards knowledge. When you
name an ‘object’, you extract a certain idea out of it.” It is within this
context we need to understand the “superiority” of Adam over the angels
when Allah requires him to call the objects by their names, as describes in
the Qur’an (al-Baqara 31-32).[8] Here, we can see how Bennabi tried to
exercise his capacity as human being by catching important “objects” which
fall into the sphere of his consciousness in his examination of the
civilizational problem of his society.

For Bennabi, “the problem of any people is that of its civilization.”

Therefore, any attempt to solve people’s problems should focus on its
civilization. All current problems that burden the Muslim Umma had
developed an historical contingency that caused a severe deficiency in their
culture. It is not a mere chance, that snake charmers existed and
surrounded themselves with children in Marrakich (Marocco) as well as
Samarkan. It is an indication that the problem, in its social essence, is one,
and that the common denominator in what was called the “Algerian
problem” or “Javanese problem” is in fact an Islamic problem.[9]

Abdul Hamid Ahmad Abu Sulayman divides the contemporary approaches

to deal with the Muslim problems into three categories, which are
“imitative historical solution”, “imitative foreign solution”, and
“contemporary Islamic aÎÉlah”.[10] Relatively similar to this, though
Bennabi does not make clear categorization, we can see that Bennabi also
mentions three approaches, including his own approach. He criticizes the
first two approaches that are ‘reformist’ and ‘modernist’ and offered his
own approach as a solution for the Muslim’s problems. He does not give
name for his own solution, but from his explanation in several parts of his
books, in my opinion it could be named as ‘analytical civilizational
approach’.

Bennabi admires his reformist predecessors, such as al-Afghani and

‘Abduh, but they were failed, as well as the modernist, since they had never
designated civilization as the target. The reformist and modernist
movement are lack methodological and scientific thinking. Its intellectuals
frequently criticize external enemies, but ignore the internal causes of
disintegration. Their efforts are directed towards various political issues
instead of examining the overall historical situation.

Bennabi considers Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani as the true pioneer who awoke
the Muslim community, since he had announced Islam, and not the tribe,
as the starting point. Al-Afghani was the first to take risk of talking about
the social function of the prophets in the fallen world of post-Almohads.
However, al-Afghani’s idea had not developed from a sound methodological
plan. He had been more political activist who aimed to cure his community
through legal and institutional reform, without intent to change or reform
the post-Almohads individuals.

For Bennabi, Muhammad ‘Abduh is more appropriate to be considered as a

reformist, rather than al-Afghani. However, he does not agree with his
theological attempt to reform the umma through his lectures and book,
Risala al-Tauhid. For Bennabi, even the post-Almohads Muslims has never
abandoned their beliefs despite the fact that they have lost the power to be
inspired by it. The real problem, then, is not in “how to teach the Muslim
his faith”, but rather in “how to restore the effectiveness and the social
impulse of that faith.” In other words, “the problem was not how to prove
God’s existence to the Muslim, but rather how to make him sense that His
existence fills up his soul as a source of energy.” Bennabi argues that
theological argumentation developed by ‘Abduh only replaces the
“psychological problem” with a “theological problem”, which not help to
encounter the urgent issue of religion’s social function.

The reform movement in general, which supported also by intellectual

leaders like Arslan, al-Kawakibi and Ahmad Riza, is mainly concerned with
providing the Muslims with means of self-defense and self-justification,
instead of merely transforming the immediate social condition of the
umma. They fail to cure themselves of the negative characteristics of the
post-Almohads and they never look inward intellectually, culturally and
psychologically to investigate the real causes of their community’s decay.
Moreover, they are also more interest in theories than practices, more in
words than in actions. However, this last criticism should also be addressed
to Bennabi himself.

In dealing with the crisis of society, the reformers had spent decades
treating the various symptoms instead of the real sickness. Then, to heal
their problem, the Muslims had taken a pill for ignorance, a drug for
poverty, and a medicine for colonization. They built a school here,
demanded independence there, and established a factory in a third place.
The result was indeed, far from curing the illness or establishing
civilization.[11]

Regarding the modernist movement, Bennabi analyzes it in general

without discussing its leaders’ views one by one. However, he puts the
name of Taha Husein and Sayyid Ahmad Khan into this category.[12]
Bennabi criticizes the modernist as wanting the Muslims to be imitators or
customers of a civilization that open the doors of stores more than of its
schools. He also criticizes their tendency to follow the West and
unselectively borrow its inventions to modernize the society.

For Bennabi, the Europeans do not come to the East as modernizers, but
rather as colonizers. Western imperialism never intends to disperse
elements of European culture, but rather to export its own material
“discards” in order to make the colonized a slave of the European economy.
Thus, he rejects the idea of westernization. Acquiring civilization never
means a blind imitation of the Western model, or sacrificing the unique
identity, legacy and history of the Muslim umma.

Indeed, he admits that proper development can well be inspired and

encouraged by proper borrowing from the West. He believes that
civilization could not be created in isolation from other human
experiences. Christian civilization has benefited from Islamic civilization
which itself had been nourished from interaction with other cultures such
as those of the Greeks and Indians. However, this is not the starting point
to cure the Muslim problems.

Ones should remember that the social problems have historical aspects.
What may suit a given society in a given stage of its history may prove
unsuitable for it in another. Therefore, it is risky to adopt an American or a
Marxist solution, for example, to solve the problem in the Muslim world,
because the societies are at different stages of development and of different
attitudes and objectives.[13] The effectiveness of a solution cannot be
separated from the historical and cultural context of a given society. It is
dependent upon psychological and social conditions, which vary with time
and place.[14] Thus, simply borrowing the means and views of the
developed countries to improve the backwardness of Muslim society is a
careless policy and will not be able to work properly.

Another problem observed by Bennabi is Muslim interaction with the West.

The Muslim should have used this interaction to find out the spirit of
Western civilization. Unfortunately, Muslim student has not experienced
Europe, but has been content to read it, in other words, to learn rather than
to understand. He sees the peak stage of Western society, but does not
aware of its evolution. He thus remains ignorant of the history of its
civilization. He goes to Europe only to obtain a university degree or to
satisfy a superficial curiosity, not to discover the Western spirit.[15]

So far, we have discussed Bennabi’s critics to some approaches in improving

the umma’s condition. What is his own solution? As we know, civilization
has a very significant place in Bennabi’s system of thinking. It is important
to know first his definition of civilization. Civilization, according to
Bennabi, is a result of a living dynamic idea, which mobilizes a pre-civilized
society to enter history and construct a system of ideas according to its
archetypes. So the society thereafter, develops an authentic cultural milieu,
which in return controls all the characteristics that distinguished that
society from other cultures and civilization.

In other place he explains that, in its simple definition, civilization is not a

pile of different kinds of objects. Rather, it is a harmonious whole of things
and ideas in their various relationships, uses, peculiar means, and
circumscribed places. He also defines civilization as “the sum-total of the
moral as well as material conditions which allow a given society to provide
each one of its members with all the social guarantees necessary for his
development.”[16]

From this crucial position of civilization, it is vital that Muslims define

their position according to their own historical cycle and relate their
problems to the sequence of their particular history and that of the world to
be able to move in the right direction. Mentioning about the cycle of
history, as Ibn Khaldun and Toynbee, Bennabi also believes in the lifespan
of civilization. Human societies, like the human individuals, have a certain
lifespan and they are subjected to the same law of birth, growth and decay.
[17] Not only repeating this idea, Bennabi also developed his own concept of
three stages schematization. He believes that every civilization has three
stages to be undergone, which are Spiritual Stage, Rational Stage and
Instinctive Stage.

The spiritual stage occurs when a spiritual idea or religion emerges, and
then it subjugates and suppresses human instinct. This instinct will be
disciplined into a relationship functional to the religion. As a result, the
spiritual potency control individual’s life. Bennabi considers that the
spiritual stage of Islamic history have started from the massage of the
Prophet Muhammad (saw) to the battle of Siffin. During this period, the
society’s frame of mind and attitude toward life was mainly spiritual. He
maintains that only the spirit gives humanity the opportunity to rise and
progress, to form civilization. When the spirit loses, the civilization falls.

As the society continues to practice its religious principles and integrated

its internal bonds, the religion will spread globally. Islamic civilization
departed, as a driving force, from the depth of souls, to spread horizontally
on earth, from the Atlantic shore to the Chinese borders. However, at this
point, newly created needs and challenges stimulated a society’s capacity
and creativity. As science and art flourish, reason became the controlling
force, and society ascended toward the peak of its cycle of civilization. But,
reason would not be able to discipline the instinct as effectively as the spirit
did in the first stage. Therefore, instinct started gradually to gain freedom
and the society’s influence over the individual decreased.

The third stage is the instinctive stage. This stage is marked by weakness
and corruption. This is inevitable because the instinct is released. Reason
has lost its social function as the human beings lose the tension of their
faith. Thus, society enters the darkness of history as the cycle of its
civilization ends. For Bennabi, the time of Ibn Khaldun was a turning point
from the rational stage to the instinctive stage of the Islamic history.
Muslim society has been declining from that time until now. Bennabi
names the Muslim who lives in this period as the post-Almohads man
(insan ma ba’da al-Muwahhidin).[18]

Bennabi’s Cycle of Islamic Civilization

 The Muslim of Bennabi’s era, and also now, lives in the third stage. They
are the post-Amohads man whose society has been declining and decaying.
However, Bennabi believes that Muslims can repeat their historical cycle
and rise again. For this, the decayed characteristic of the post-Almohads
man should be studied scientifically and then to be avoided. To focus on
external factors is not a solution for him. In explaining the problem of
colonization in the Muslim world, for example, Bennabi believes that
independence is not the answer of it, as long as the “colonizability” in the
Muslim world is still exists. Moreover, to solve the problem of the umma,
the Islamic spirit should be utilized again to discipline and to control the
instinct of the individuals in the Muslim society. In implementing this,
ones should always be aware to direct their efforts to civilization.

Civilization has a central position in Bennabi’s system of thought. He

creates his own equation for civilization:

Man (Insan) + Soil (Turab) + Time (Waqt) = Civilization (Hadarah)

Bennabi is quite careful in choosing terminology. For example, he chooses

the term soil (turab) rather than substance or matter (madda). He avoids
the term matter (madda) because in ethics it opposes the spirit; in science it
contrasts with energy; and in philosophy it is against idealism. Besides
that, it has materialistic tendency.[19] However, what is the meaning of soil
here?

The word soil (turab) could be interpreted from an Islamic point of view as
the earth, the globe or the universe that God has created for mankind to
discover, utilize and develop. It emphasizes the concept of vicegerency
(istikhlaf) that involves man’s responsibility to utilize this world and
develop it within the limitation of his lifetime.[20]

The word soil means in its broader sense all raw materials. It includes land,
the main resource of man’s food and nourishment. All human civilization
started with agriculture and utilization of natural resources is essential to
human existence. It also has socio-political meaning, which implies
ownership, requires technical control and provides social guarantees and
security (al-damanat al-ijtima’iyya). It means also love of homeland and
hope for its prosperity.

The element of time is inevitable, since every civilization grows in a certain

period of time. According to Bennabi, we should not use time only to
perform a task, but we should perform the task in the shortest possible
time to enhance the progress. Then, the only absolute currency that never
loses its value would be “hours for work” (sa‘at ‘amal), not the meaningless
“hours that pass” (sa‘at tamur) (178-179).[21]

Among the tree elements, man is the most significant one. He is the major
factor of civilization, the primary society device. If he moves, society and
history move, but if he pauses, society and history pause. Man has a
reciprocal relationship with his civilization. Man is the constructor of
civilization, but man is also a product of civilization, since he is indebted to
it for the ideas and objects at its disposal.[22] Thus, the great challenge faces
by the Muslims now is to create people who would be capable of utilizing
soil, time and their own creativity to reach their great goals in history.[23]

Individual and society develop its history through the interaction of three
social categories: the realm of things or objects (‘alam al-ashya‘), the realm
of persons (‘alam al-ashkhas) and the realm of ideas (‘alam al-afkar).[24] To
develop culture and civilization, we need to move from realm of things to
the realm of ideas. Ideas are the most important aspect in creating culture
and civilization. The post-Almohads Muslim society has been failed
because it has the tendency to control people’s life to a “thingness” or
materialism.

Bennabi notices that the dilemma of the underdeveloped countries is not

their lack of things, but their poverty of ideas. They promote a “thingness
civilization” (hadara shahiyya) based on accumulation (takdis) of products
and material things. This will not be able to raise their civilization, since
products can never create a civilization. In fact, Bennabi maintains, it is the
civilization that gives birth to its products,[25] and idea has a central
position in developing civilization.

He gives an example about the destruction of Germany during the Second

World War and how it lost “the realm of things” for a while. But, Germany
could develop its “realm of things” soon after that, because its civilization
develops in the realm of ideas.[26] This is one of the evidences how ideas
help in developing civilization and creating products.

The absence and stagnation of ideas seriously affects the realm of things,
but if the material realm is for any reason destroyed, the ideas, the real
national wealth, will not suffer destruction. Any attempt for the
reconstruction of Muslim culture must, then, begin with examining and
filtering the Muslim’s stock of ideas. This process will lead to rediscovering
Islamic civilization.

Bennabi detects two types of Muslim’s stock of ideas: “natural ideas” (al-
afkar al-matbu‘a) and “invented ideas” (al-afkar al-maudu‘a). The first
represents the culture’s authenticity and its original moral system. In
Muslim historical development, it stemmed from Islam in the early Islamic
era. The second were apparently emerged after Siffin, during the cultural
and material flourishing of Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo. They
represented ideas intentionally borrowed by the culture. Both types of ideas
are assimilated by the culture and integrated into it.

At one time, these “invented ideas” could have been ‘deadly ideas” (afkar
qatila), which damaging because they are separated from their cultural and
historical context. These ideas are randomly copied from other culture
without consideration of their contradiction with the “natural ideas”. The
“dead ideas” are those inherited from the era of decadence and are never
purified or oriented. Thus, as each society has a graveyard for its dead
people, Bennabi explains, so too it has another for its dead ideas – the
ideas that no longer have a social role. Ideas as such are not a source of
culture, that is to say, an element capable of specifying certain behavior and
a way of life.[27]

Bennabi also believes that ideas could be sound and true but ineffective,
such as Islam as a true religion in the contemporary Muslim world.
Contemporary Muslims become less affected and inspired by its message.
On the other side, ideas could be greatly effective but false. Some ideas are
proved wrong by history, such as the legend that earth is supported by two
horns of a bull, but have a great influence on people’s mind.

One may be objects the equation made by Bennabi that Man plus Soil plus
Time equals to civilization. Every man and its society must live in a certain
place and time, but they are not always produce civilization. Man always
interacts with its soil and time, but this not always results in a civilization,
why?

According to Bennabi, Man, Soil and Time cannot by themselves creating

civilization. They need religion, or spiritual ideas, as a catalyst to make the
equation functions properly. Religion stimulates the spirit to elevate
society above its stagnant condition. Religion was a prerequisite for all
civilizations, an element assimilated by society before any civilizational
cycle could begin.[28] And again, in addressing the decline world of post-
Almohads man, he maintains that the situation will remain unless a total
and profound change occurred in the spirit of Muslims. Such a change,
which will focus mainly in the realm of ideas, was the only way to restore
the individual’s ability to create civilization.

Alwi Alatas
15 April 2009

Bibliography

Books

Ageron, Charles-Robert. Modern Algeria: A History from 1830- to the

Present. LondonL

Husrts and Company. 1991.

Bariun, Dr. Fawzia. Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization.
Kuala Lumpur:

Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia. 1993.

Bennabi, Malik. Islam dalam Sejarah dan Masyarakat (originally Vocation

de l’Islam).

Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementerian Pendidikan

Malaysia. 1991.

Bennabi, Malik. On the Origin of Human Society. London: The Open Press.
1998.

Bennabi, Malik. The Problem of Ideas in the Muslim World. Selangor Darul
Ehsan:

Budaya Ilmu Sdn. Bhd. 1994.

Bennabi, Malik. The Question of Culture. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book

Trust. 2003.

Joly, Daniele. The French Communist Party and the Algerian War.
Hampshire:

Macmillan Press ltd. 1991.

Al-Quraisyiy, Dr. Ali. Malik Binnabi dan Pergolakan Sosial, vol. 1. Kuala
Lumpur:

Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia. 1996.

Ruedy, John. Modern Algeria: The Origin and Development of a Nation.

Indianapolis:

Indiana University Press. 1992.

Sulayman, Abdul Hamid Ahmad Abu. Crisis in the Muslim Mind. Virginia:
International

Institute of Islamic Thought. 1993.

Internet

http://www.niknazmi.com/ulasan/archives/000094.html

References

[1] In the introduction of Malik Bennabi, The Problem of Ideas in the

Muslim World, Selangor Darul Ehsan: Budaya Ilmu Sdn. Bhd., 1994, p. xiii.

[2] Daniele Joly, The French Communist Party and the Algerian War,
Hampshire: Macmillan Press ltd., 1991, p.1.

[3] To see the stages and the region occupied by the French please refer to
the map in John Ruedy, Modern Algeria: The Origin and Development of a
Nation, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992, p. 56.

[4] Dr. Ali al-Quraisyiy divides Bennabi’s biography from this time up till
the end of his life into three period: Period of Paris (1930-1956), Period of
Cairo (1956-1963), and Period of Algeria (1963-1973). For this please see Dr.
Ali al-Quraisyiy, Malik Binnabi dan Pergolakan Sosial, vol. 1, Kuala
Lumpur: Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia, 1996, pp. 18-28.

[5] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
Kuala Lumpur: Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, 1993, p. 123-124.

[6] The outbreak of the Algerian War happened for the first time on 1
November 1954. Charles-Robert Ageron, Modern Algeria: A History from
1830- to the Present, LondonL Husrts and Company, 1991, p. 108.

[7] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 156.

[8] Malik Bennabi, the Question of Culture, Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book
Trust, 2003, pp. 10-11.

[9] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 166.

[10] Abdul Hamid Ahmad Abu Sulayman, Crisis in the Muslim Mind,
Virginia: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1993, pp. 4-22.

[11] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., pp. 151-153.

[12] Malik Bennabi, Islam dalam Sejarah dan Masyarakat, (originally

Vocation de l’Islam), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 1991, p. 74.

[13] Malik Bennabi, the Question of Culture, op.cit. p. 23.

[14] Ibid. p. 31.

[15] Malik Bennabi, Islam dalam Sejarah dan Masyarakat, op.cit. p. 88-89.

[16] Malik Bennabi, The Problem of Ideas in the Muslim World, op.cit.,
1994, p. 26.

[17] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 122.

[18] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 116-118.

[19] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 162.

[20] Ibid., p. 178.

[21] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 178-179.

[22] Malik Bennabi, On the Origin of Human Society, London: The Open
Press, 1998, p. 31

[23] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 167.

[24] Malik Bennabi, On the Origin of Human Society, op.cit., p. 27.

[25] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 165.

[26] Malik Bennabi, The Question of Culture, op.cit., p. 29.

[27] Malik Bennabi, the Question of Culture, op.cit., p. 31.

[28] Dr. Fawzia Bariun, Malik Bennabi: His Life and Theory of Civilization,
op.cit., p. 130.

Source :
http://alwialatas.multiply.com/journal/item/74/Malik_Bennabi_on_Civilization

SHARE. # " & , - .

* PREVIOUS ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE +

‫ﺣﺬار ﻣﻦ اﻻﺳﺘﻔﺰاز! اﻟﺠﺰاﺋﺮ ﻓﻲ ﻗﻠﺐ ﻣﺆاﻣﺮة ﺗﻬﺪف‬ Libérons l’ENTV !

‫إﻟﻰ ﺗﻔﺘﻴﺘﻬﺎ‬

HOGGAR

RELATED POSTS

La République séparatiste et ses ‫ أوﻟﻮﻳﺔ ﻟﻀﻤﺎن اﻷﻣﻦ‬:‫اﻟﺪﻳﻤﻘﺮاﻃﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﻋﻦ ﺣﻴﺎة وﻋﻬﺪ اﻟﺰﻋﻴﻢ اﻟﺘﺮﻛﻲ اﻟﺜﻮري‬
musulmans: vers un projet néo- ‫اﻟﻘﻮﻣﻲ‬ ‫ﺗﻮرﻏﻮت أوزال‬
colonial? By HOGGAR — 26 August، 2020 By HOGGAR — 13 May، 2020

By HOGGAR — 16 October، 2020

Comments are closed.

‫ | اﻟﻬﭭﺎر‬HOGGAR ‫ – اﻷﺷﻬﺮ‬POPULAIRES ‫ – ﻣﻘﺎﻻت ﺣﺪﻳﺜﺔ‬ARTICLES RECENTS

‫ ﻣﻬﻤﺘﻪ‬،‫ﻣﻌﻬﺪ اﻟﻬﻘﺎر ﻣﺘﺨﺼﺺ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﺤﻮث ﺣﻮل اﻟﺒﻠﺪان اﻟﻤﻐﺎرﺑﻴﺔ‬ Confusion dans votre raisonnement Algérie, l’heure décisive
‫اﻟﻤﺴﺎﻫﻤﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻌﻤﻴﻖ اﻟﻔﻬﻢ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺎﻛﻞ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﺪدة اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻮاﺟﻬﻬﺎ‬ By ABU ALATAHIYA — 1 September، 2013 By MAHMOUD SENADJI — 31
octobre، 2020
‫اﻟﺸﻌﻮب اﻟﻤﻐﺎرﺑﻴﺔ وﻛﺬا اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ ﺑﺠﻬﻮدﻫﻢ وأﻓﻜﺎرﻫﻢ ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ‬
‫ﺗﺤﺴﻴﻦ أوﺿﺎﻋﻬﻢ‬.
‫ﻛﻤﺎ ﻳﻘﻮم ﻣﻌﻬﺪ اﻟﻬﻘﺎر ﺑﻨﺸﺮ وﺗﻮزﻳﻊ ﻛﺘﺐ ذات ﻧﻮﻋﻴﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﻴﺔ وﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ L’anti-Arabisme ou les effets collatéraux d’un butin ‫اﻟﺪﻛﺘﺎﺗﻮرﻳﺎت ﻻ ﺗﻨﻈﻢ اﻧﺘﺨﺎﺑﺎت‬
‫ إﺿﺎﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ ذﻟﻚ ﻳﻨﻈﻢ ﻣﻌﻬﺪ اﻟﻬﻘﺎر دورات‬.‫وﻓﻲ ﻣﺘﻨﺎول اﻟﺠﻤﻴﻊ‬ en absence de prémunitions ‫ﻟﺘﺨﺴﺮﻫﺎ‬
‫دراﺳﻴﺔ وﻣﻨﺘﺪﻳﺎت ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ ﺗﻨﻘﻞ وﺗﺒﺎدل اﻷﻓﻜﺎر‬ By ABDELHAMID CHARIF — 14 January، 2016 By ‫ رﺷﻴﺪ زﻳﺎﻧﻲ ﺷﺮﻳﻒ‬RACHID ZIANI
CHERIF
— 21 octobre، 2020
Hoggar est un institut de recherche sur le Maghreb. Non à la francisation de l’enseignement !
Hoggar se donne pour mission de contribuer à By ABBAS AROUA — 21 March، 2016
En défense du hirak
approfondir la compréhension des problèmes multi-
By HOGGAR — 20 octobre، 2020
dimensionnels des peuples du Maghreb et à faire
entendre leurs luttes et leurs idées novatrices pour
‫ ﻋﺜﻤﺎن ﺳﻌﺪي‬،‫ﺣﻘﺎﺋﻖ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻜﺎﻫﻨﺔ‬
améliorer leurs conditions.
By HOGGAR — 14 August، 2009
Le 17 octobre 1961 : Les
Hoggar publie et distribue des livres de haute qualité,
Leçons de l’histoire
attrayants et abordables.
By MAHMOUD SENADJI — 17
Hoggar organise des sessions de formation et des octobre، 2020
Réponse aux terroristes de la plume et autres
forums pour la circulation et l’échange des idées. islamophobes et mercenaires au service des
! " # $ % généraux putschistes au pouvoir à Alger La République séparatiste et ses
By ABBAS AROUA — 19 February، 2012 musulmans: vers un projet néo-
colonial?
By HOGGAR — 16 octobre، 2020

Copyright © 1994 - 2018 Hoggar Institute All Rights Reserved. Privacy - Terms