Why Research?
My personal research manifesto
Why research? It’s a command. It’s an orientation. It’s an outlook. It’s discipline.
A command?
Read, O Prophet, in the Name of your Lord Who created—created humans from clinging clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who taught by the pen—taught humanity what they knew not.
The first words given to the Prophet involved two commands—the first saying to read, the second compounding(!) the sincerity of that first command, just in case he didn’t get it the first go around. It’s even been passed down that it took the Prophet being shaken a couple of times to grasp the necessity, the depth, the gravity of this command. When I research, when you read, your world is supposed to be shaken. Mine is, constantly. The pen continues to teach humanity. The pen of history continues to teach humanity. History is an account of human development, therefore we learn how to proceed by reading from and researching that account; I learn where to go from embracing the pen of history. When I read, when you research, the shaking should be so violent that any space where ignorance remains inside of me is sifted out.
An Orientation?
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
Do they? My dad once preached a sermon about people who listened to a prophet’s teachings, but only because they enjoyed how it sounded, and not because it caused any stirrings within them—they enjoyed the way it tickled their ears, was how he phrased it. If I’m lost, if I don’t know where to look, but I have read, then I at least know where not to look. I can chart my path because my compass points due east; the thorns don’t touch me because not only do I not expect grapes to grow from them, but because I know where grapes are supposed to be growing from. The danger of enjoying ear tickles is that you may find yourself left behind or lured away, only to be ravished by the wolves who appear in sheep’s clothing. When I research, when you read, a brick wall is erected around you as defence from the ravenous wolf of ignorance. When I read, when you research, my eye develops the ability to alert me to the presence of the thorn bush, and to the sight of the grapevine.
An Outlook?
No investigation, no right to speak. Unless you have investigated a problem, you will be deprived of the right to speak on it. Isn't that too harsh? Not in the least. When you have not probed into a problem, into the present facts and its past history, and know nothing of its essentials, whatever you say about it will undoubtedly be nonsense. Talking nonsense solves no problems, as everyone knows, so why is it unjust to deprive you of the right to speak? Quite a few comrades always keep their eyes shut and talk nonsense, and for a Communist that is disgraceful. How can a Communist keep his eyes shut and talk nonsense? It won't do! It won't do! You must investigate! You must not talk nonsense!
I once was enrolled in an AP Lit or Lang class my senior year of high school, and I was called upon to answer who was being kept in the attic all along. I didn’t do the reading, so I answered, embarrassed but bluntly, “I cannot recall.” I switched into the honors course the next semester. No investigation, no right to speak. Why lie? Was it too harsh? Not in the least. What problem would’ve been solved with a futile guess? My eyes were shut, yet the truth came out. When I research, when you read, the cataract of ignorance is cut away, allowing for the avoidance of ignorance—ignorance in speech, behavior, or thought. Avoiding ingesting ignorance, avoiding falling into its trappings. When I read, when you research, investigation becomes the stabiliser that keeps the jet from veering whichever way it wants.
Discipline?
What must the ulama continue?…They must distinguish the religion of multitheism under the deceitful mask of monotheism and remove this covering of hypocrisy—in whatever form it has taken—throughout the world, tear it apart so that the people must attain a religion which is neither born of ignorance—as the materialists say and what they say is correct—nor born of fear.
Religion has always fought against itself—monotheism vs multitheism—in the sense that, those in power, because of class status and their relation to wealth, have used the cloak of monotheism, or true religion, to hide their teeth, creating this religion called multitheism, a distortion of monotheism. Religion vs religion. And this distortion has won throughout history, casting a sinister shadow in the name of true religion. The materialists were entirely correct in calling attention to this shadow, but the materialists fell short in their inability to see the inverse of this shadow, that is, a religion that fights to overturn the imposed status quo; a religion of rebellion, a religion of revolution. The mission of the muslim intellectual then, is to call attention back to true religion, a religion that calls for action when the wolves and foxes seem to be full. The attacks won’t stop until there is a victor, and I have no plan for losing because I see what lies beyond the horizon. When I research, when you read, the weapons of revolution are crafted. When I read, when you research, the call of revolution becomes clearer; the enemy placed in sight.
Why research? Without it, we are sheep, stuck looking up at the rain, destined to drown because we realise not that the rain is in fact choking us. With it, looking straight ahead, our eyes fixed on the enemy, an enemy standing in between us and our destiny, we creep along. The rain as our cover, we strike when the time is right, a moment that only research can show us.
Surah Al-’Alaq 1-5
Matthew 7:15-20
Mao Zedong “Oppose Book Workshop”
Ali Shariati “Religion vs Religion”
Song of the day:
Film rec of the day: