Philosophy - Inductive Islamic Existentialism

Inductive Islamic Existentialism

This text does not claim to be an authoritative interpretation of Islamic theology. It is a philosophical inquiry that originates from the existentialism and absurdism of Sartre and Camus, reinterpreted through an Islamic lens.

Reality (The Will of Allah) Precedes Essence

1. What Sartre called "Nausea" is the confusion arising from humans complicating things because they cannot find the answers Allah has already created (the price of human licentiousness).

2. What Camus called "The Absurd" is the moment when human arrogance, which arbitrarily attempted to define the Will of Allah, is shattered.

3. Humans should cherish the happiness felt in the very process of journeying toward the Quran. One must not arbitrarily conclude that the peak of Sisyphus's rock is the ultimate truth.

[Scientific Method and Faith]

1. Scholarship must begin with induction.

2. Uncovering Reality is more important than deductive reasoning. (If a phenomenon is explained by Reality, it should be judged of higher value than an explanation based solely on deductive reasoning, even if not yet proven. However, such explanations must be continuously tested through repeatable observation and verification, and discarded if they fail.)

3. Fearing failure is also human arrogance. To arbitrarily define success and absolute truth is arrogance and a cause of the Absurd.

4. In other words, the steady pursuit of scientific methods to reach the Quran is Islam itself; there is no reason to abandon faith because a method is proven wrong. Claiming the Quran is wrong because a specific method failed is not believing in Allah, but worshipping science as an idol.

5. Once a fact is confirmed to be wrong, that method must be discarded, and inquiry must restart with a new approach. Faith means the responsibility to continue the inquiry, not to fix the conclusion.

6. The reason the Islamic world fell behind is that it forgot and lost the will to endlessly uncover scientific methods journeying toward the Quran.

[Confession, Solidarity, and Justice]

1. If one sincerely confesses to experiencing "wrongful happiness," they should not be condemned or punished. Instead, they should be helped to experience a variety of other joys to pursue their own morally right happiness.

2. Falsehood is punished because it damages the community's signal system.

- Why do we practice solidarity? → To save those whose signals have been cut off.

- How do we practice solidarity? → By embracing confession and providing diverse experiences of joy.

- What is the criterion? → Sincerity is embraced; falsehood is punished.

3. Refusing to attempt change after a confession is a form of falsehood. It is an insistence on a wrong path despite admitting it is not an effort toward the Quran.

4. Change only has meaning through voluntary choice; if forced or pressured by others, that change cannot be considered sincere.

5. Punishment cannot be carried out based on individual emotions or religious beliefs; it must be executed through the law and the just procedures of the community.

[The Sanctity of Life and Signals of Reality]

1. No interpretation can justify actions that harm life; the protection of life takes precedence over all religious and philosophical interpretations.

2. The instinct for survival is the "Basic Signal" implanted by Allah, and the failure of a suicide attempt is a "post-hoc confirmation" that the signal is functioning.

3. Suicidal ideation is not a disconnection of the signal, but a "Warning Siren" indicating that the current life is severely out of alignment with Reality (The Will of Allah).

4. An individual in the Absurd should receive this warning siren as a "signal for course correction" rather than despair, and must immediately let go of their arrogance and return to the "happiness of the process."

5. Solidarity should remain on standby in the form of providing a "recovery environment" when the person sends a signal or requests help.

6. The act of "experimenting" to prove Allah's signal (e.g., deliberate suicide attempts) is the ultimate arrogance of trying to place Reality under human control; it is a dangerous gamble that enters a state of voluntary abandonment that cuts off the signal. Simultaneously, the attitude of "If God exists, let Him save me" is forbidden as it is a deductive test, not an inductive inquiry.

[Individual and Social Responsibility]

1. On an individual level, suicidal ideation is a warning signal that the disconnection from Reality has become severe; responding to this is the duty of both the individual and the community.

2. On a social level, the destruction of human dignity, environmental destruction, and community collapse are evidence of "collective suicide."

[The Ultimate Fear]

1. The most terrifying thing is not the void that comes after realizing one was wrong, but truly being met with silence and abandonment by Allah.

2. This is because Allah guides us toward the Quran (the actual answer) by making us feel what is right and wrong; cutting off this signal itself means being lost.

[Action and Scientific Practice]

1. Because Reality precedes all else, one must challenge and act scientifically with volume and immediacy, even if the results are not yet sophisticated academic achievements.

- e.g., Collecting cosmic data with massive capital.

- e.g., Researching human behavioral science based on big data with massive manpower.

2. The inductive attempt to uncover Reality is valuable in itself.

3. However, such attempts must be conducted within a scope that does not harm human dignity, the environment, or the sustainability of the community.

4. If results appear that destroy human dignity, the environment, or the community, that action becomes decisive evidence that it was contrary to Reality.

[Sincerity as a Criterion]

1. Apathy (loss of sensation) is not evidence of being abandoned, but a state where the signal has weakened; it is the moment the duty of solidarity is activated.

2. The attempt to experience diverse joys after confession is evidence of sincerity; refusing or hiding the change after confession is the criterion for falsehood.

3. Inductive inquiry must start with a question. Action without a question is another form of arrogance, not a process.

[Limits of Intervention]

1. Confession only has meaning when it is voluntary; the act of forcing a confession is arrogance that disrupts another's signal.

2. Solidarity is a provision, not a compulsion. Forcing solidarity is also human arrogance in arbitrarily interpreting and fixing the Will of Allah, which can collapse through the same mechanism as the individual Absurd.

3. A state of apathy can only be primarily recognized by the individual themselves; defining it from the outside is arrogance.

4. There are two criteria for falsehood: First, refusing to change despite recognizing it oneself. Second, a behavioral pattern of refusing to attempt change after confession; this is a structure revealed by actions, not judged by people.

5. Whether an attempt at change has been made can only be evaluated after sufficient time and conditions have been provided.