# How did the Golden Age backlash and the clergy contribute to Muslim hostility to reason?

*The backlash against the Golden Age and the institutionalisation of religion*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/s/11/
- Date: 2018-04-09 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: The Role Of Reason In Religion - Mufti Abu Layth (56:08–58:44)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuLDZkLvxvo&t=3368s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/

**Topics:** Reason and revelation; Orthodoxy and how Islam spread; Umayyads and Abbasids

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The philosophy and reason promoted in the Golden Age provoked a reaction that dumbed reason down, and institutionalised clergy found 'who said the deen is supposed to make sense' a useful tool of control.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the backlash against the philosophy of the Golden Age and the institutionalisation of religion among the clergy produced a culture in which the idea that the deen need not make sense became a tool of control.

**Evidence, his words at 58:04:** “this concept of well who said the Deen is supposed to make sense to you this culture is a powerful tool to control people” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuLDZkLvxvo&t=3484s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says the Islamic Golden Age refers not to prosperity but to an intellectual boom: the house of wisdom was set up, Greek manuscripts and philosophy were translated, and Muslim philosophers such as Ibn Sina, al-Kindi and al-Farabi [?] emerged, not always correct but thinkers, while Muslims began to make discoveries in medicine. Because the Golden Age so promoted philosophy and reason, he says, there was a reaction against it and a dumbing down of reason. A third factor is institutionalisation: every religion over the centuries became about power held by clergy and institutions. In Christianity the church became the state, whereas in Islam there was never a central mosque or a theocracy and the clergy never ran the kingdoms, yet the clergy were a powerful institution, and the notion that the deen is not supposed to make sense to you became a powerful tool for keeping people down when they disagreed with a fatwa.

## Sources and names cited

- the house of wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma), which he calls Dar al-Hikmah
- Ibn Sina [?]
- al-Kindi [?]
- al-Farabi [?]

## Transcript (machine tier, 56:08–58:44)

[55:32] sound problematic they would then just diss them back for saying oh but you're trying to rationalize everything or reasoning this was a key thing that led to I think the this culture of hating reason because this mata Zilla walla lasted for a few centuries but all this stuff got put into books the other thing is you guys have probably all heard of the Golden Age of Islam with the whole philosophy and haroon rasheed and after him in baghdad the darl hikmah that gets set up you guys probably all have heard of heard of this kind of stuff muslims kind of got all of this you know there's

[56:10] a huge mmm in like what is not referred to as the Islamic Golden Age which was when there was prosperity but it's not actually referring to prosperity it's referring to the fact they had a huge intellectual boom and they set up this place called the house of wisdom and they translated all these Greek manuscripts and and all this philosophy and you got people like Ovid you know even a Cena and kindy and all these great kind of philosophers Muslim kind of philosophers emerge far RB and all these kind of people I'm not saying they had to always be correct but I'm just saying they were thinkers and emerge and

[56:48] all of a sudden Muslims start to look at things like medicine because it was in the Greek logs and they started to discover things in medicine this is all referred to as the Islamic kind of Golden Age in reaction to this as well because the Islamic Golden Age massively promoted philosophy and promoted resorting to reason so as a reaction to this there was like a dumbing down of reason so I think these things and we can't forget the fact that there was institutionalization you see this is something which people - I think we're

[57:24] too easily over see in Islam not just Islam every religion core religion has been institutionalized by today over the centuries it went through a process whereby it did become about things like power among certain people where the power was in institutions amongst clergy amongst people hold obviously Christianity was really bad because they turned it into the state so the Pope and the state and the church you know the church was too powerful in the Muslim world it wasn't quite like that because there was never a central

[58:04] mosque that everybody kind of all affiliated and and the maulvi so to speak never ever ran the kingdom's ever in generally speaking as a rule in the Islamic history that it was never run by there was never a so cool kind of theocracy but the clergy were a powerful institution they were a powerful institution and how do you control people like when I give you a fatwa and you disagree with me he said but that doesn't make sense so this concept of well who said the Deen is supposed to make sense to you this culture is a powerful tool to control people to kind

[58:43] of like keep them down so these are the kind of things there is fear with using reason and I mentioned before people fear that if you start using reason you might end up leaving Islam you see that is an insecurity because then my question is that they themselves don't actually believe it to be true they believe that would rather just cover up these things because if I say to you oh by using reason you're gonna end up leaving Islam well that just translates as okay so by trying to uncover truths you think I'll find certain truths which show that Islam isn't true which to me

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment UuLDZkLvxvo/s/11. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/s/11/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.