An Anthology of Essays by Ashraf

Mirza Iqbal Ashraf

Description

An erudite and remarkable anthology of essays on the subjects of philosophy, science, humanities, and about the world of Islam’s philosophical, scientific and socio-political studies.
An Anthology of Essays by Ashraf, is a rich and Intelligent tapestry of thoughts, which are woven in the dimension of time depicting the unity of human experience that every person has within himself/herself the entire human condition. Even if every thought appears as an afterthought, Ashraf has viewed and judged them in the present. It stays in the mind and as a collection of treatises it shares with others the knowledge argued in this work of landmark discerning and entertaining writing.
This book is a work of vibrant literary form of essay writing representing the robust tradition of essay writing beginning from Classical Greek period, Ancient Rome, and the Golden Age of the Arabs of Baghdad, Cordova, and Cairo, right up to the modern age of artificial intelligence. In its Part -1, there are essays on the subjects of philosophy, science, human consciousness, artificial intelligence, humanities, origin of democracy, on war and peace. Part-2 contains essays about the world of Islam’s golden age when the knowledge of scientific researches and discoveries by the Muslims was transmitted to the Europeans laying the foundation of progression of knowledge in the Western world.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Philosophy
• Technocapitalism

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 31 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781663247070
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
(Shakespeare, Hamlet 4.5.43)
 
An Anthology Of Essays by Ashraf
 
 
A Window into the Robust Tradition of Rich and Vibrant Art of Essays on Philosophical, Religious, Cultural, and Current Affairs
 
 
 
MIRZA IQBAL ASHRAF
 
 
 
 

 
AN ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS BY ASHRAF
 
 
Copyright © 2022 Mirza Iqbal Ashraf.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
 
 
iUniverse
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.iuniverse.com
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6632-4706-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-4708-7 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-4707-0 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022919646
 
 
iUniverse rev. date: 10/25/2022
 
Warmly dedicated to my younger brother
Dr. Mirza Maqbool Ashraf
And his wife
Abida Maqbool Ashraf
 
A Book of
Essays is a rich and
Intelligent tapestry of thoughts,
Which are woven in the dimension of time.
Even if every thought is an afterthought, it’s viewed
And judged in the present. It stays in the mind
And as a collection of treatises it shares
With others the knowledge
Argued in the book.
(Ashraf)
CONTENTS
Foreword
Prologue
PART 1
Essays on the Subjects of Philosophy, Science, and Humanities
Chapter 1       What Is Philosophy?
Chapter 2       The Present Nature and the Future of Philosophy
Chapter 3       Introduction to the Philosophy of Holism
Chapter 4       On Human Consciousness
Chapter 5       Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence
Chapter 6       Wisdom and Artificial Intelligence
Chapter 7       Science, Wisdom, and Consciousness
Chapter 8       The Quest for Techno-Power
Chapter 9       The Rise of Technocapitalism
Chapter 10     The Human Situation
Chapter 11     Human Passion for Power
Chapter 12     Peace: A Natural State of Human Mind
Chapter 13     Why Only Man Is Addicted to War?
Chapter 14     The Origin of Democracy
Chapter 15     The Progression of Knowledge in Western Civilization
PART 2
Essays About The World Of Islam
Chapter 16     Ninth-Century Renaissance ln Islamic World And Philosophical Tradition of Muslim Thinkers
Chapter 17     Scientific Research and Discoveries of the Muslims
Chapter 18     Ibn Khaldun: The First Muslim Social Scientist
Chapter 19     Islamic Political Philosophy
Chapter 20     Liberal Democracy and Islam
Chapter 21     Islam: A Faith of Peace
Chapter 22     The Islamic Philosophy of Jihad
Chapter 23     Diversity and Unity in Islamic Civilization
Chapter 24     What Went Wrong that the Muslims Abandoned Rationalism
Chapter 25     Globalization and the World of Islam
Chapter 26     The Islamic World’s Religious, Political, Cultural, and Modern Aspects
Chapter 27     Western Muslims and Impact of Conflicts in the Muslim World
Chapter 28     The Western World, Racial Intolerance And Islamophobia
Chapter 29     Islam and Modernity: Muslims in Search of Modern Ummah
Chapter 30     Rumi the Philosopher
 
About the Author
Books Cited and Recommended
FOREWORD
After the success of my landmark work, Introduction to World Philosophies: A Chronological Progression , followed by Islamic Philosophy of War and Peace , Rumi’s Holistic Humanism : The Timeless Appeal of the Great Mystic Poet , Diversity and Unity in Islamic Civilization , and Human Existence and Identity in the Modern Age: A Socio-Philosophical Reflection . I kept writing essays from a philosophical perspective, covering a vast range of knowledge. I have now collected those essays in An Anthology of Essays by Ashraf comprising two parts. Part 1 contains fifteen essays on the subjects of philosophy, science, and humanities, while Part 2 has another fifteen essays revealing the underpinning of philosophical thought of the world of Islam.
Whereas this work celebrates the rich and vibrant tradition of writing essays on philosophical, scientific, humanitarian, and socio-religious matters, it is also a window into the robust and vibrant art of essay writing by one author. An Anthology of Essays by Ashraf is a rich and intelligent tapestry of thoughts, woven in the dimension of time, depicting the unity of human experience that every person has within oneself. Even if every thought appears as an afterthought, I have viewed and judged them in the present. It stays in the mind, and as a collection of treatises it shares with others the knowledge argued in this work of distinctive discerning and entertaining writing.
An Anthology of Essays by Ashraf is a work of dynamic literary genre representing the everlasting tradition of essay writing beginning, from Classical Greek period, Ancient Rome, and the Golden Age of the Arabs, up to the modern age of artificial intelligence and cybernetic technology. I have presented this anthology in an easy-to-read style, which offers a feast of knowledge for the readers of every age and profession.
Mirza Iqbal Ashraf August 11, 2022
PROLOGUE
What I Have Lived For
I have existed as I am and have lived as I look.
(Ashraf)
Having been taught at home from nursery to my B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) by my father and missing the sociable atmosphere of school and college or experiencing an outlook of the world beyond the boundaries of my house, a complex of shyness developed in me. In order get rid of shyness I started seeking awareness of life through fine art. Though the secret of fine art “to know how to see” revealed to me when I was grown up, painting had become my first medium to express myself. From the age of nine to fourteen years, I painted everything from flowers to fauna, portraits to landscapes, and sketched geometrical patterns.
By the age of ten, having set my heart upon learning, I started my education by reading most of the subjects such as, history, geography, mathematics, and books on general knowledge in English language, I also started learning Urdu, Arabic, and Persian languages. During the second decade of my life I benefited from my grandfather’s coherent commentary on Rumi’s six volumes of Masnavi comprising twenty-five thousand verses written in Persian. I read most of the Muslim philosophers of the golden era of knowledge in the Islamic World during my academic study of Honors in Persian Language and Literature. In my twenties, I immersed myself in English literature with special interest in the works of William Shakespeare. After getting my Master’s degree in English language and literature, I got deeply engrossed in the study of philosophy with greater interest in the writings of Bertrand Russell.
Overall, in my pursuit of learning, three great intellectuals and icons of knowledge, Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1272), William Shakespeare (1564-1616), and Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) have overwhelmingly impacted my life. Benefitting from the intellectualism of these three great geniuses, I found within myself impressions of a spiritual Rumi who could view, listen to, and communicate with the Absolute’s invisible intelligence; impacts of humanistic reason from an intellectual Shakespeare, who was capable of comprehending and expressing the intelligence of Nature through the medium of dialogue; and the epistemological magnetism of Russell, a philosopher whose love of wisdom through logical and rational arguments became the best subject of education and instruction in my life. Thus my encounter with these remarkable geniuses helped my life’s spiritual, literary, and moral upbringing in becoming an author.
But in my quest for knowledge, I, influenced by the teachings of Rumi, Shakespeare, and Russell, I no longer suffered from perplexity, knew the order of Heaven, and heard it receptively. I could muse on the dictates of my heart and no longer in fragment I prepared myself for the best of life ‘to become what I have lived for!’
1. Jalaluddin Rumi: the spiritual connects with the invisible Intelligence, with love and reason, through his heart and mind.
Gamble everything for love
If you’re a true human being
If not leave this gathering.
Half –heartedness
Never reaches into Majesty. 1
From Rumi I learnt life is a charisma of poetry to be composed, a song to be sung, and a dance to be danced. It is the creative eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, glancing from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven that exposes the “meaning of life.” Charisma is a word, like a thunderstorm that sits flat on the page compared with the actual experience it tries to name, which I thought I understood. But when I met Rumi, who exuded a spiritual charisma like a wave of the sea, I realized his charisma made me an odd fit for the mystical business, most of which is more mundane than heroic. Day after day reading unforgettable stories about real life, I glided through his Masnavi, who