Statistical Islam, Part 1 of 9
One of the great questions of the 21st century is: What is the true nature
of Islam? There are two distinct answers to this question from the media and
leaders. The popular message is that Islam is one of the great world religions,
a peaceful religion, a foundation of world civilization, its Golden Age was
the highpoint of history, and it preserved Western thought while we were in
the Dark Ages. The alternative message is that Islam is a brutal, backward,
woman abusing, violent, intellectually narrow ideology that is out to annihilate
civilization.
Which side is right? How do we resolve this issue? Can it even be resolved?
If we turn to the “experts” of any of the opinions, they will tell
you that their view is correct. What then is the ultimate authority that will
give us a firm foundation for reasoning and judgment about Islam? Is it possible
to use critical thought or must we just accept the authority of experts?
There is way to achieve consensus about ideas that goes beyond expert opinion.
The use of facts along with logic is the basis of critical thought. The ultimate
form of critical thought uses measurements and numbers to resolve questions.
This paper will use the foundational texts of Islam and measure the importance
of ideas by how many words are given to concepts. The assumption is that the
more content that is devoted to a subject, the greater the importance of the
subject is. As an example: the Koran devotes 64% of its text to the subject
of the unbeliever. This is assumed to imply that the unbeliever is important
in Islamic doctrine.
The use of critical thought may seem counter-intuitive since many people view
Islam as a religion that does not have a rational basis. Actually, Islam is
not only rational; it is hyper-rational, but it uses another form of logic than
the one we take for granted.
If we are to use critical thought, we must have a firm foundation. All Muslims
agree that:
“There is no god, but Allah and Mohammed is His messenger.”
When this is repeated as a public testimony, you become a Muslim. However,
this statement is not only the beginning of Islam, it is also the foundation
and totality of Islam. It is not enough to worship Allah; you must worship as
Mohammed worshipped.
Who is Allah and where do we learn about Him? This question points directly
to the Koran.
Then the Koran, in turn, points directly to Mohammed. It says 91 times that
Mohammed is the perfect Muslim. He is the divine human prototype, the only pattern
acceptable to Allah. The actions and words of Mohammed are so important that
they have a special name—Sunna. We find the Sunna in two texts. The Sira
is the biography of Mohammed and the Hadith is the collection of hadiths (small
stories, traditions) about Mohammed.
Islam is based on Koran and Sunna. Since the Sunna is found in the Sira and
the Hadith, this means that three books contain all the doctrine of Islam—the
Trilogy. If it is in the Trilogy (Koran, Sira, Hadith), then it is Islam. If
something is not in the Trilogy, then it is not Islam. All of the Islamic doctrine
is found in the Trilogy. Now, we have the complete information with no missing
pieces.
We have established our first criteria of knowledge. All authoritative statements
about Islam must include a reference to the Trilogy to be authenticated. It
does not matter what a scholar, imam, media guru, or anyone else says, if what
they say cannot be supported by the doctrine in the Trilogy, then it is not
Islam. If it is supported by the Trilogy, then it is Islam.
We have been taught that the Koran is the source of Islamic doctrine. However,
the Koran is only 14% of the total sacred texts . Actually, the Sira and the
Hadith are 86% of the total textual doctrine . Islam is 14% Allah and 86% Mohammed.
This is very good news. The Koran is obscure, but anyone can understand the
life and sayings of Mohammed. These statistics point to the easy way to know
Islam—know Mohammed. Anyone, absolutely anyone, can understand Mohammed
and hence, Islam.
Islam is a text-based doctrine, so the nature of these texts must be made clear.
A Muslim believes that the Koran is perfect, complete, universal and eternal.
It does not contain the slightest error and it is the exact words of the only
god of the universe. Mohammed is the perfect example of how to live the sacred
life. This idea of complete, final, universal, and perfect textual truth is
very hard for non-Muslims to comprehend. Most people read the Koran with the
attitude of: “Oh, they don’t really believe this.” When Muslims
read the Koran, their attitude is: “These are the perfect words of Allah.”
Muslims call themselves the “believers” and by that they mean that
they believe the Koran is perfect and Mohammed is the perfect pattern of life.
Remember, we started with the question: Can we evaluate what the media commentators,
politicians, imams and other “experts” say about the true nature of
Islam? Yes, we can know the true nature of Islam—it is found in the Trilogy.
If what the expert has to say can be supported by the doctrine found in the
Trilogy, then it is valid, since the Trilogy is the final arbiter of all opinions
and statements about Islam.
Critical thought provides a powerful first step. Now, let us measure the doctrine
of Islam. The following cases show how the technique of counting the number
of words that are devoted to a topic can be used to discover the dominant themes
of Islamic texts and, hence, Islamic doctrine.
For the statistics go to: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=8420195&msgid=325598&act=9SO1&c=162528&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fcspipublishing.com%2Fstatistical%2Findex.html
Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam
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