Author: M. Farahi Tojegi
The Evolution of Nihilism and Its Opposition to Religious Faith (the 23rd and final part)
Strategies for Confronting Nihilism
Those who have lofty ideals in life, maintain a connection with God, and are always eager to meet and live with Him—just as Allah says in the Qur’an: (كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ). Translation: “(They used to) sleep but little of the night, and in the hours before dawn they would seek forgiveness.” [1]
Such people find no true rest even at night; even in silence and solitude they search for pure truth. This is what gives meaning to their lives, because through this meaning they develop love for God. The most meaningful reality that can be pointed out in human life today is precisely these sacred experiences and connections with the divine.
Conclusion
Nihilism—called in Dari na-garayi (denialism), hich-garayi (nothingness philosophy), or bi-garayeshi (lack of orientation)—is an approach that rejects imposed frameworks upon human thought.
In its technical meaning, it refers to “the negation of everything,” or the refusal to accept any of the solutions previously offered in response to the question “What should be done?” It represents a state of despair, silence in the face of this question, and the devaluation of all values. It is a critique of all intellectual systems that have attempted to provide answers about human existence.
Nihilism is more of a feeling than a complete philosophical system. It is not a fully structured philosophy. The denial of philosophy and even the possibility of knowledge ultimately becomes a denial of all value. If everything is denied, even denial itself is negated. Thus, denying everything—knowledge, ethics, beauty, and reality—leads to the conclusion that nothing has meaning.
For those who have not fallen into despair, it may be difficult to understand nihilism as a worldview; yet it represents a specific mode of human existence.
Since nihilism is based on the belief in the groundlessness and disconnectedness of things, it is often accompanied by deep pessimism and an inherent tendency to condemn existence itself. Pessimism is another expression of meaninglessness and futility. Schopenhauer says, “We are meaningless beings. At best, we are even self-destructive beings.”
In nihilism, there first arises disappointment and alienation from the existing order. Then comes a mental inability to accept existing values and finally resentment and hostility toward reality itself.
Nihilism, or “nothing-ism,” involves the absence of social purpose, lack of standards, and rejection of any measuring criteria for evaluating things.
The roots of nihilism can be found in early societies, where forms of world-renunciation, self-forgetting, indifference, and disbelief in the purposefulness of the universe emerged, along with a sense of intellectual helplessness.
Excessive skepticism toward everything and hatred toward social, political, economic, cultural, and educational life are among the formative roots of nihilism.
As discussed earlier, nihilism is a tendency toward the meaninglessness of life. In philosophy, it refers to the denial of meaning and value in the existence of the world.
The disconnection from God and spiritual matters, despair, and excessive reliance on reason in Western Enlightenment thought are among the causes of its emergence and spread.
Nihilistic thinking leads to world-renunciation, self-forgetting, indifference, disbelief in the meaningfulness of the universe, and extreme skepticism toward everything. One of the conceptual solutions for life and for confronting nihilism is sacred experience and connection with divine truth.
In summary, nihilism is essentially a void and meaningless ideology that, in the view of its followers, attempts to prove life as purposeless. It is based on mistaken and illusory interpretations.
Indeed, for nihilists, life without Islam has no true value or meaning. What they consider “nothing” is not due to recognition of the truth of Islam or their deprivation of its light, but rather due to an inability to comprehend the evident truths of life in the light of Islam—truths that guide humanity toward higher knowledge and realities and that define life not as nothing, but as an opportunity to attain everything.
To be continued…
Previous Part
- Surah Adh-Dhariyat (51): Verses 17–18
Sources
- The Holy Qur’an
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