Islamset - The Sources of Arab Culture, its components and characteristics

The sources of Arab culture, its components and characteristics

The Arab-Islamic culture has two main characteristics: constancy with regard to the conclusive sources and all the beliefs, legislations, values and programs which these sources brought along with them, and change with regard to the Moslems' judgements and their innovations, which can be right or wrong, hence the difference in opinion. The conclusive aspect in the Arab-Islamic culture shares the same characteristics with Islam as a religion and as a program of life. These characteristics are:

universality, inclusiveness, moderation, realism, objectivity, and diversity in unity(3).

The Sources of the Arab-Islamic culture are the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna of the Prophet. The Holy Qur'an is the principal source of Islamic sciences and the Arabic language. It is the reference in which the Moslem seeks guidance in his quest for truths in the fields of knowledge,existence, values, thought, reality, philosophical speculation, and behavior.

The Holy Qur'an is the principal source of the Arab-Islamic culture owing to its religious, moral and social teachings, and to the fact that it is valid for every age and place, and can keep pace with the requirements and the new

developments of every age.

The Sunna is the second fundamental source of the Arab-Islamic culture. Just as they relied on the Qur'an and its call in their intellectual, scientific and civilizational renaissance. Moslems also relied on their Prophet's Sunna, after they had compiled, recorded, and divided it up into chapters, and after they had jnvested it in their scientific efforts and in their way of life. The Arab-Islamic culture, which originally stems from the Qur'an and the Sunna, is a broad-minded culture which preaches coexistence, dialogue and understanding(4).

We can conclude from all this that the Arab-Islamic culture differs from other cultures in terms of components. The Arab-Islamic culture has an Islamic source and owes its existence to Islam, the Qur'an, the Arabic language and to the independent judgements of the Ulama. Western culture, on the other hand, draws on Greek thought, Roman law, the Latin language, and on the Christian explications(5) which have reached it.

The Arab-Islamic culture has struck a balance between mind and emotion, rejecting the Mu'tazila's elevation of the mind and the Sufi exaltation of feeling, thus preserving the whole, integral meaning of the concept. Likewise, the Arab-Islamic culture has always been intent on preserving a strong link with the first and second sources -the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna -throughout its stages(6). Cleavage between mind and feeling in the Arab-Islamic culture took place only in this age. This cleavage is one of the factors of its present-day weakness.

The language of the Arab-Islamic culture is Arabic. The roots of this culture strike deep into Islam, and it has humane objectives. Like any other culture, it is made up of fundamental components: intellectual, spiritual -the most important of which is faith, that is Islam -the Arabic language and literature, history, sameness of mentality and temperament. It has been established that no culture can develop unless it is related to a religion, because it is religion that gives meaning to social life and provides it with the framework in which it can chart its Course and mold its hopes(7).

One fundamental component of the Arab-Islamic culture is the Arabic language. The latter is not only a vehicle, it is primarily a language of thought and intellect. Even though they have preserved their national languages, the peoples and nations which embraced Islam have adopted the Arabic language as a means for cultural and intellectual advancement, and have used Arabic alphabet to write their languages.

One potent component of the Arab-Islamic culture is the belief and trust in the Umma. This belief must draw its strength from the belief in Allah, because belief in Allah is the basis upon which faith should rest. One of the aspects of this faith is that one should believe in one's Umma, that the Arab and Moslem should believe that their Umma is "the best of peoples, evolved for mankind." As is the case with divine religions, faith in Islam preaches love and brotherhood. Particularly in Islam, faith teaches equality among people, and before taking. This is why religious education must be the basis of the Arab-Islamic culture(8).

The Arab- Islamic culture is not an abstract culture, for it is not enough for us to examine in it the origin of things or their true state of affairs; nor do we carry out abstract research in it, because culture is an integral part of the human. If the mind nourishes culture, the latter does not sprout from the mind alone. It germinates in the human soul, in the heart, taste, and more so in the feelings. Indeed, culture is also intimately linked to conscience, one of the human's most important aspects that distinguishes him from the animal. Conscience is more profound and more marvelous than the mind(9). Islamic conscience is the source of the Arab-Islamic culture; that is why it is the culture of the human feeling.

The Arab culture is the culture of the Arab nation which is the Umma of Islam. It is from Islam that the Umma acquired its character, its peculiarities, and its nature. Before the advent of Islam, this Umma did not exist; it was many tribes and clans disunited in faith and without a shared divine message. However, when Allah sent His messenger, Muhammad -peace be on him -with the message of Islam, this religion became the eternal message of the Arabs.

If the spirit of the Arab culture is Islamic and its message divine, it has nonetheless, embraced all nations and peoples that have flocked under the banner of the Arab-Islamic Umma, and encompassed all the cultures with which it coexisted. In this way, the Arab-Islamic culture became the culture of the Arabs and the Moslems, the culture of Arab Christians and Jews, and that of the people of other denominations and creeds, who incorporated themselves into the Arab-Islamic entity, and lived in the Arab-Islamic state throughout the ages.

The spread of the Arab-Islamic culture in the various lands which embraced Islam helped many of the characteristic traits of the existing local cultures to adjust to the components of the Arab-Islamic culture. Thus the rites, traditions and customs were most of the time compatible with the constants of the Arab-Islamic culture, even if they differed in terms of practice and application. Nevertheless, this difference never extended to beliefs, values and objectives as was the case with ancient and modem non-Islamic cultures(10).

Therefore, one main characteristic of the Arab culture is its blending with other cultures which were prevalent in the early days of Islam, and its acceptance of the contributions of other races, peoples, and followers of other religions and faiths which coexisted with the Arab- Islamic society. This has made it a rich culture with many feeder reservoirs and varied sources, but with one soul and one unique identity.

Another characteristic of the Arab-Islamic culture is its Openness on cultures of the East and the West while jealously preserving its immutable origins. In its long history, the Arab-Islamic culture confronted many challenges: those of philosophical orientations, those of denominations and those of the various religious calls. During the advent of Islam. the world abounded in such. calls: Buddhism, Mazdaism, paganism, Hellenism, Zoroastrianism. These religions and philosophies turned into forces of invasion. They all tried to cast doubt distort the fundamental values, and disserve the Arab- Islamic Umma and state, and its intellect (II ). However, the Arab-Islamic culture triumphed over all these challenges in the past thanks to its solid components and its unique characteristics.

As a result of this intermixing and mutual enrichment, the Arab-Islamic culture acquired tremendous resources and sophistication, and strength and immunity; such a characteristic is unique in the human cultural history. The main source of this diversity that marks the Arab- Islamic culture is the nature of the principles upon which it is based, and which stem principally from the essence of the Islamic message, the main characteristics of which are: to awaken in its members the desire to seek knowledge, to probe and reflect; to exhort them to acquire wisdom from any vessel or source; to urge the peoples and nations that have embraced the Islamic message to get to know one another; and to refrain from applying compulsion in religion. The latter is a Qur'anic principle which can serve as a basis for cultural and intellectual coexistence within the framework of the oneness of the human origin. This original principle sums up all the meanings of the freedom of thought which is the opposite of intellectual chaos. The latter spontaneously leads to a distressed mind which, in turn, leads to a distressed culture.