Man and the Universe: An Islamic Perspective

by Mostafa al-Badawi

It is now obvious that something has gone very wrong in the West, and that psychological and social alternatives have become pressing issues. In this timely book, Dr Badawi reminds us that Islam has a historically verifiable track record for healing social chaos and individual tragedy. Sadly, the principles of Islam have all too often been suppressed by the deluge of educational materials, media and socio-economic strangulation from the West. Dr Badawi provides a powerful overview of Islamic metaphysics and unearths its spiritual, social and ethnic values as well as a diagnosis of modern man. This is an urgent piece of writing about what we are and where we are.

"...a modern classisc..." - ISLAMICA

"In this work Dr. Badawi elucidates the islamic world-view, its timeless values and its psychological insights into the nature of man and contrasts it with the modernistic western world view. In the light of the recent events in New York and Washington, it has never been more important to seek for means of understanding." - Joel Ibrahim Kreps, M.D., Pyschiatrist

"This brilliant little book will answer all your questions about Islam and, if you are willing open the door to a lifetime of illumination" - Fatma Maryam Sinclar, Author

Many thinking people now have an inward sense that twenty-first century humanity faces stark and urgent challenges that demand wise and decisive responses. Profound illnesses call for profound remedies, and when nothing less than radical change will do, courage is essential to survival. Authentic traditional Islam provides a holistic and historically proven alternative.

In this timely book, Dr. Mostafa Badawi shows that the revealed knowledge is the source of traditional wisdom, and that the Islamic faith and civilization has a verifiable 'track record' of healing individual and social disintegration.

The author presents a penetrating diagnosis of the illnesses of humanity today. Together with a fascination overview of Islamic Metaphysics, unearthing its spiritual and moral values and its timeless relevance and applicability. Man and the Universe is a compelling and urgently needed piece of writing about what we can do about it.

Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi is a consultant Psychiatrist and member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He studied under many shaykhs, foremost among whom is the late Habib Ahmad Mashur al-Haddad. Dr. Badawi is also one of the leading contemporary translators of Islamic books from Arabic to English, and his work includes Book of Assistance, The Lives of Man, Key to the Garden, and Degrees of the Soul

Genres: Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, Philosophy, Spirituality, Psychology

162 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 1999

About the author

Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi is a scholar of Islamic sciences as well as a consultant Psychiatrist and member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Badawi is one of the leading contemporary translators of Islamic books from Arabic to English. He has translated the 10 treatises that constitute the complete prose works of Imām al-Ḥaddād, Key to the Garden by Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, The Degrees of the Soul by Shaykh al-Shabrāwī, and a collection of Bā-Alawī treatises recently published under the title Spiritual Insights.

الدكتور / مصطفى حسن البدوي ، ولد بالقاهرة عام 1948م ونشأ بها. تخرج من كلية الطب جامعة القاهرة تخرج الدكتور مصطفى حسن البدوي بكلية الطب، جامعة القاهرة، عام 1971، ثم سافر إلى بريطانيا حيث حصل على زمالة الكلية الملكية للأطباء النفسيين بلندن سنة 1983. ويعمل منذ ذلك الحين استشاريا في الطب النفسي. أخذ عن كثير من العلماء من من الأزهر الشريف وفي الحجاز، وله إهتمام خاص بالسيرة النبوية، وعلم النفس الإسلامي، ومظاهر الحضارة الإسلامية في مختلف بقاع الأرض، وعلامات آخر الزمان ومدى تطابقها مع تطورات العصر الحديث...

من مؤلفاته:
-كتاب ( الإمام الحداد: مجدد القرن الثاني عشر ) عام 1414 هـ.
-كتاب ( يوم الفرقان أسرار غزوة بدر )
-كتاب ( علامات آخر الزمان بين العولمة والإرهاب )
-كتاب ( لطائف الإشارات في أسرار المآذن والمنارات )
-كتاب ( هل اقتربت الساعة؟ )
-كتاب ( علم النفس الإسلامي ) باللغة الإنجليزية، تحت الطبع.
-قام بترجمة عدة كتب دينية إلي اللغة الإنجليزية ونشرت بلندن.

Reviews

[Rashid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for any conscious and believing Muslim. The only gripe I have with it is its use of the outdated binary of "The Western" and "The Islamic" - I feel that it's much more accurate to speak of a global monoculture that isn't confined to just one region of the world. The monoculture has become the West's Frankenstein - it is no longer under any one cultural jurisdiction.

[Moinuddin.95 · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Man and the Universe, Mostafa al-Badawi explicates the need for man to return to his primordial nature. This book is composed of seven chapters featuring traditional Muslim prespective on God, the universe, man, spritiuality and human values and, while other furnish commentary and appraisal of modern society. The author discusses the downfall of humanity today and contemporary issues faced by Muslims and emphasises the urgent need of spritiual development (tasawwuf) which is inextricable for any intellectual endeavour.

I found the text to be particularly well written and the author has taken due care in presenting his arguments perfectly which makes it easy to read and follow but it can be sometimes somewhat difficult  to grasp due to unfamiliarity of the content. 

Overall, I would recommend this book. It is a good eludication to normative Islamic values.

[Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second reading of this text and it's thesis is even more prescient now. As I strive to live up to the highest that I know, this book is an invaluable companion. It describes an approach to contemporary issues with an equal eye to matters of cosmological import and the lived reality of a Muslim life. Mostafa Al-Badawi's voice is clear and erudite.

[Wayfarer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent text that introduces many key themes and highlights issues facing us today in the modern world; the text is an eye opener and holds the potential to inspire positive change in the discerning reader. The text is very well-written and the author has skilfully avoided the undue abstraction that come with texts that engage such topics as: man and the universe - by in large the text is easy to read and allows one to easily follow the arguments being presented, but at times can be slightly difficult due to the nature of the contents and our lack of familiarity with traditional wisdom as it relates to our modern context; this is preciously the gap this book aims to fill, by no means is it meant to be an all-comprehensive coverage but an introduction and leaves, nay rather encourages the reader to pursue their own journey of discovery. The text is invariably rooted in the Islamic world-view and elucidates the Islamic perspective on such key-themes; after having defined the modern Western civilisation and its ills, the author goes on to explain and highlight normative Islamic values both at the individual and social levels. Clearly one of the strengths of this text is the way in which the author handles such topics making them clearly accessible for the modern mindset. An all-round enjoyable read and highly recommended; a must read for any seeker of the Truth.

[Ajwad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such A masterpiece was needed. Very satisfying. In the quest of finding an Islamic view of the Man and the Universe, I found this book, and I am not disappointed. Faith and Knowledge, faith compose the man, while Knowledge helps him lead in the world. A must read for Intellectual Muslims.

[Nadia Alesana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given the vastness of the subject, it's a pleasant surprise that this was such an easy read. Dr al-Badawi describes the realms of the seen and unseen in perfectly comprehensible terms and he takes particular care in clarifying terms that have been misunderstood and skewed by modern perspectives on islamic traditions. That said, I think this is a book I'd have to return to time and again, just because its definitions - or re-definitions - will take time to sink into my own worldview, so influenced it is by years and years of secular education. It's a great springboard for me to start questioning ways of understanding the 'self', the world, and the Divine Absolute.

Excited to be diving into his other book The Lives of Man next!

[I saw a comment criticizing the binary he sets up between Islam and the West and I thought this approach was necessary in this case as he is after all setting up an Islamic framework of understanding the universe, consciousness and the mind-body-soul, life and death, that stands in contrast to the ideas propagated by Western discourses in psychology, science, technology and so on. Besides, binaries, as he has shown, underpin all of creation. I think any skepticism towards 'binaries' is an understandable aversion to any form of divisiveness but I don't think the way it is used here is meant to contribute to that anyway..]

[Adamleee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for someone wanting Introduction to Islam.

[Hassan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. al-Badawi offers readers an Islamic framework for understanding their place in the modern world. This cosmological framework is one that is based on understanding the world through Divine revelation and the holy book. The books seven chapters discuss topics from the traditional perspective on God, humanity, the spiritual heart, the soul, values, and much needed social commentary on modern society.

The author, a scholar classically trained in Islamic jurisprudence and Sufism under the late Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, has demonstrated his the ability to apply traditional Islamic wisdom towards understanding the ills and troubles of the modern world. Therefore, Dr. al-Badawi offers an informed diagnosis of the problems of modern society, especially in the West; such as the breakdown of the traditional family and feminism, industrialization and the ravaging of traditional communities, materialism and the denial of the next world, and moral relativism. By analyzing the root causes of these problems we arrive at the conclusion that they are caused by the shift of societies from theocentrism to anthropocentrism, and the only solution would be to reorient our lives towards God-consciousness, while emphasizing the importance spiritual exercise (riyadah), spiritual development and remembrance (dhikr). The author states that Westernization is like a tidal wave, it cannot be stopped, what muslims can and must do is take stock of the situation and understanding the problems of the age without drowning in it. And what a difference it is between someone aware of the direction society is heading yet lives in it anyway and a person who lives completely oblivious to the spiritual ills of modern society and follows blindly whatever trends or norms that are in vogue in his day.

The book then presents a chapter on normative Islamic values, as being based on the Sunnah of the Prophet and the Quran, as opposed to what he calls the "inverted civilization" of the West. The "inverted civilization" here means that every traditional normative value of Islam is subverted and inverted in such a way as to have become the direct opposite of it. Such as how jealousy, which in correct amounts was traditionally seen in every society on earth as a positive virtue for a man to have towards his family with which he offers protection ot the family, is inverted in the west to a negative pathology of insecure men. Another example is the treatment of elderly parents by their childern, Islam is clear that muslims should serve their parents as they age just as their parents had served them when they were young and they lived together in large units of extended family members so they can offer this form of support. However, in the West, the idea of the nuclear family has no place for the elderly who are routinely placed in homes where they may or may not receive the occiasonal visit or phone call from their busy children. When one understands this one can begin to understand that the source of these inverted values can only be to prepare humanity for the coming of the Dajjal, and if one is not aware of the troubles of the end of days our Prophet warned us about then we are liable to fall into the trap of believing in the Dajjal.

I highly recommend this book as it offers something for everyone, it is useful for muslims and non-muslims alike as its social commentary is on point and offers remedies for living in our age.

[Roohe]

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