Dogmatic Degeneration, Thoughtful Flexibility - Part 1

Seeing the Issues of Our Time as the Issues of All Prophets / What is the Meaning of Dogmatism (Tahajjur)?

Information:

• Date: July 7, 2023
• Location: Imam Sadiq University (a), Misaq ba Shohada Congregation
• Subject: Dogmatic Degeneration, Thoughtful Flexibility
• Audio: Here

Seeing the Issues of Our Time as the Issues of All Prophets

Let us view the issues of our time as the issues of all the prophets, so that the book of our understanding expands and we gain a deeper insight into religion. If we adopt this perspective, the spectrum of references and sources through which we can understand this precious religion, take delight in it, and avoid misunderstanding it will become immensely broader.

What is the Meaning of Dogmatism (Tahajjur)?

In light of the noble verse of the Holy Quran: «ثُمَّ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُکُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَلِکَ فَهِیَ کَالْحِجَارَةِ أَوْ أَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً وَإِنَّ مِنَ الْحِجَارَةِ لَمَا یَتَفَجَّرُ مِنْهُ الْأَنْهَارُ» (“Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers gush forth...” Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:74), the heart of a believer who has witnessed miracles, the heart of a believer tempered in the storms of events, and the heart of a believer who has beheld divine signs can still turn to stone. This is what we call Tahajjur (ossification / petrification). It is remarkable that believers, even after witnessing divine miracles, can become hard-hearted and dogmatic.

Dogmatic rigidity can be intellectual or it can be of the heart. Of course, intellectual rigidity is fundamentally rooted in the petrification of the heart. When someone presents a completely rational argument and the other adamantly insists, “No! I don't want to! I will not accept it!”—this is intellectual rigidity. But look at what is happening within their heart! Intellectual dogmatism stems from a petrified heart.

The Importance of Staying Away from Dogmatism

In another verse, God says: «فَمَنْ یُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ یَهْدِیَهُ» (“Whoever Allah wants to guide...”) «یَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ» (“...He expands his chest to embrace Islam”); «وَمَنْ یُرِدْ أَنْ یُضِلَّهُ» (“and whoever He intends to let go astray...”)—meaning He is displeased with him, leaves him to wander astray, having seen something corrupt in him, and lets him ruin himself—«یَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَیِّقًا حَرَجًا» (“He makes his breast tight and constricted...”), God makes his chest narrow, hard, and stony, «کَأَنَّمَا یَصَّعَّدُ فِی السَّمَاءِ» (“...as though he were climbing into the sky”), as if under such intense pressure that he is about to explode and ascend into the heavens.
Then He states: «کَذَلِکَ یَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِینَ لَا یُؤْمِنُونَ» (“Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe.” Surah Al-An'am, 6:125). Do not assume “those who do not believe” refers only to those who never believed at all! No, these were people who once had faith, just like us. Where lies the importance of this discussion? In the very next verse, He says: «وَهَذَا صِرَاطُ رَبِّکَ مُسْتَقِیمًا» (“And this is the path of your Lord, leading straight.” Surah Al-An'am, 6:126)—this open, expansive heart is the very straight path.

Religion is a Flexible and Fluid Stream

Religion is not merely receiving a checklist of commands and blindly rushing to carry them out. You must be discerning: at any given moment, which religious rule must you step back from, and which priority must you favor over another? Which instance of irreligion should you deal with strictly, and which one should you overlook? Religion is flexible. Religion is a living, fluid current; if you fail to grasp its dynamic fluidity, you will develop a hard-heartedness toward religion itself—you will become as hard as stone.

Dogmatism: The Primary Cause of Religious Alienation in Society

Truly, certain perceptions of religion are profoundly mistaken, and the greatest factor driving people away from faith and causing resentment toward religion in our society is this very dogmatism! No one repulses others from religion as much as dogmatists do. The religion of God is beautiful, attractive, deeply endearing, filled with love, effortless, and truly magnificent.