Holocaust Denial Undermines Islam (By Shaykh Hamza Yusuf)
Published by Haseeb June 28th, 2007 in Islam, Current NewsSource: Tikkun Magazine
Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature and basis of knowledge. How do we know things? It also studies the veracity of “truth.” How do we know the difference between belief, knowledge, opinion, fact, reality and fantasy? The Greek philosopher, Carneades, believed that knowledge of reality, of what is true or false, is impossible, that nothing can be known with certainty; his philosophy is known as skepticism. It does not reject belief altogether; Carneades felt that our belief about any given matter should be subjected to intense scrutiny and then, using a scale of probability, we should accept or reject the likelihood of its truth or falsehood. But we must make no absolute claims to it. Another Greek skeptic, Cratylus, however, was more radical in his approach and believed that nothing could be known at all, and thus no statements could convey anything true or meaningful. He finally gave up talking altogether.
Most of us are neither moderate nor extreme skeptics; we believe what our teachers told us. Although some of us learned later that perhaps a little skepticism was indeed warranted, we survived with our grasp of reality reasonably intact. We live in a world where facts are meaningful and opinions can be assessed, at least to the degree that we deem them sound or unsound. When it comes to religion, those of us who are raised in traditions often reject such assessments and simply believe what we were taught. For many religious people, skepticism is anathema, the work of the devil. However, our Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have always been concerned with and seriously interested in epistemology, because each of these faiths have profound truth claims that need substantiation or “believability.”
Islam, at its advent, developed a sophisticated methodology for the validation of truth claims. One of the greatest achievements of the Islamic scholastic tradition is ‘ilm ar-rijaal, the science of narrators. It is the study of reports of events in the life of the Prophet, especially of his sayings and deeds. Its formulators established a rigid set of criteria to validate the truth claims of those who asserted they saw or heard the Prophet do or say such-and-such. Reports were grouped into two categories: ahad, or solitary reports in which one or a few people claimed to have heard or seen something, and mutawatir, or multiply-transmitted reports narrated in numbers large enough to preclude collusive fabrication. The solitary reports must meet many criteria before being accepted as sound statements that nonetheless contain, depending upon the degree to which the criteria were met, a certain probability of error. On the other hand, firmly established multiply-transmitted reports, in numbers that rule out collusion, are taken as uncontestable fact.
The Quran, the seventh century book narrated by Muhammad, is considered mutawatir, and thus epistemologically undeniable. Whether one believes it is from God or not is another matter, but the Quran in its current form is the same Quran the Prophet taught to his companions more than 1,400 years ago; untold numbers in each generation of Muslims have transmitted the same recitation, making it infallible in its historicity and accuracy. Is-lamic scholars accepted multiply-transmitted reports from Muslims and people of other faiths. Upon this epistemological foundation rests the Muslim faith. Creedal matters are deemed valid only if they are buttressed by multiply-transmitted traditions that can be traced back to the Prophet. Although Islamic jurisprudence is largely based upon solitary evidence (hence the differences of opinion in the various schools), the Quran and the creed of Islam are both founded upon multiple narratives that achieve an undeniable status. Early Muslim scholars would certainly consider much of our current knowledge of history to have achieved such status. For instance, there is consensus among historians that the Normans invaded England in 1066; too many accounts of this momentous event exist and have been recounted in each generation through multiple sources. In the case of any solitary original source, healthy skepticism is warranted. When Lee Harvey Oswald claimed to be a patsy, it led to an entire field of conspiracy studies among Kennedy assassination buffs. Did he act alone or didn’t he? That aspect of the event is debatable. But was John F. Kennedy shot on November, 22, 1963 in a motorcade at Dealey Plaza in Dallas? Far too many accounts of that tragic event exist; to deny it is simply to deny reality and have one’s sanity questioned.
Much of what we know about the world and what we accept as truth comes from multiply-transmitted accounts. Let’s say I claim that Australia doesn’t exist and is merely a figment of our imagination, that its origins lie in a whimsical cartographer in the Middle Ages who decided that such a large ocean needed a land mass. And, when confronted with people who claim to be from Australia and can prove it, I dismiss them as part of a conspiracy of cartographers who wish to perpetuate the myth of their forbearer. I would be laughed at, or ignored, or deemed “certifiable.” While this example seems absurd, many people actually believe things just as fatuous and far-fetched.
Holocaust denial is one such example. As one who has read some Holocaust denial literature, with the poorly reproduced pictures and claims of the orchestration of these scenes in collusion with the U.S. government, I can attest to the tragic gullibility of people who take such literature as historical truth. To return to the Kennedy assassination, if one reads Mark Lane’s version that a rogue element within the CIA killed Kennedy, the “facts” seem overwhelming. But if one reads another version that the Mafia killed Kennedy because of his failure to return Cuba to the gambling lords of Italian America, the “facts” also seem overwhelming. Finally, one can read the version that Mossad killed Kennedy because he wanted to force nuclear inspections in Israel, and again the “facts” seem conclusive. Each of these accounts is presented with utter certainty by the “researchers.” In the end, reality is manipulated to meet the needs of the mythologist.
Indeed, we are each entitled to our own opinions, but not to our own facts. And those who present alternative versions of “reality” tend to reject everything that does not suit their theory, and cherry-pick and interpret everything—facts, innuendos or “coincidences”—that does.
In the case of the Holocaust, the facts are clear and transmitted from multiple sources. Tens of thousands of Jewish and other individuals who survived the death camps and other horrors of Nazi Germany lived to tell of it. Nazis were brought to trial, evidence was presented in court, and they were convicted. Mass graves were found, and gas chambers were discovered, which were clearly not delicing rooms as some callously claimed. The ovens exist and cannot be reduced to an efficient way of preventing cholera outbreaks or disposing of victims of starvation. I have personally met many Holocaust survivors and their children. I have seen tattoos. I have also heard firsthand accounts of the horrific events. The numbers and details of such events may be legitimate areas of research and inquiry for scholars, but questioning whether the events took place at all undermines the epistemological basis of our collective knowledge. Muslims, of all people, should be conscious of this as their religion is predicated on the same epistemological premises as many major events in history, such as the Holocaust. To deny such things is to undermine Islam as
an historical event. That a “conference” examining the historicity of the Holocaust should take place in a Muslim country hosted by a Muslim head of state is particularly tragic and, in my estimation, undermines the historicity of the faith of the people of that state.
In our inherent contradictions as humans, and in order to validate our own pain, we deny the pain of others. But it is in acknowledging the pain of others that we achieve fully our humanity. A close friend of mine, a professor of religion in a Muslim country for many years, recently told me that his wife, an English teacher in that country, had wanted to use Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl as a text for her Muslim pupils. But the school administrators repeatedly denied her request because they deemed it inappropriate reading for young Muslims. It is sad that the current political morass in the Middle East has led to this intolerable refusal to confront a people’s collective suffering. Perhaps in acknowledging that immense past of Jewish suffering, in which the Holocaust is only the most heinous chapter, Muslims can better help the Jewish community to understand the current Muslim pain in Palestine, Iraq and other places. In finding out about others, we encourage others to find out about us. It would greatly help our Jewish brethren to know the historical facts of Jewish experience in the Muslim world, which are often heartening and humanizing and very different from their European experience. In our mutual edification, we grow together.
Hamza Yusuf is a Muslim scholar, lecturer and author, and the co-founder of the Zaytuna Institute in California, which is dedicated to reviving the traditions of classical Islamic scholarship.
11 Responses to “Holocaust Denial Undermines Islam (By Shaykh Hamza Yusuf)”
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Pingback on Jul 18th, 2007 at 3:41 am
That was an amazing article. Thank God Shaykh Yusuf addressed this issue because it really annoys the crap out of me the childish way some Muslims act when dealing wiht this issue.
Excellent! Thanks for the post
finally!!
someone echoing my very own thoughts.
I dont think anybody denies the holocaust … in the sense that jews (and others) were killed.
What the “holocaust deniers”, muslim (and non muslim) really say (imply) … is that 6 millions jews did not get killed … may be 100,000 … maybe a 1 million … ok … lets give them 2 million … but not 6 million …!!
There was barely 6 millions jews in Europe!
Please people … stop being so naive … people deny God … so … ??
What are the europeans/zoinists hiding … why are they so tough on “holocaust deniers” ??? Please think!?!?!?
I used to admire Hamza Yusuf …
it’s funny, he never mentions that figure of six million that you are mentioning, and the only context that i have ever heard six million in is as a figure representing the total number of people killed in the holocaust (jews, dissidents, communists, etc.)
as for how relevant the numbers are, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the accepted figures out there are somewhat inflated, what does that really change anyways? something pretty awful happened, whether it was 2 million or 10 million. awful things are happening all over the globe and by denying or minimizing what happened to others why do you expect them to care about other people’s suffering. is the holocaust a sacred cow in some parts of europe, protected by law in ways that other things aren’t … yes, but aside from presenting some very troublesome questions about freedom of expression, in what way does it hinder people getting the truth out about other issues. furthermore, how should we feel about these types of laws? would they be better or worse laws if they were applied to some official story of the jenin massacre?
While we are on the topic of things that undermine islam… I also think when leaders say “israel should be wiped off the map” it is really doing us a diservice.
It’s getting to the point where most of Israel’s citizens were born in Israel. It’s pretty unreasonable to call the destruction of a nation because of something their parents/grandparents did.
Obviously there are issues with occupation and not confining to any real borders, but ‘wiping it off the map’ is an extreme statement that is out of touch with reality. You can’t just kill or displace 6 million people.
Go ahead and boil with hatred.
saadiq…u have clearly shown what happens when muslims speak with emotion and not logic. what the heck is the strategic benefit of proving that 1 million people and not 6 million people were killed…what a stupid endevour. and how silly to say “europeans” and “zionists” hiding as if they are working together in a game of hide and seek, many europeans are strongly against zionist actions. as far as not admiring hamza yusuf anymore, you are clearly a passionate political activist that has led your justified love for palestine clog your mind…
and why are they so tough on holocaust deniers… um… does that even merit a response. a strong percentage of your religion/race’s population is eradicated from the earth and it is then denied by insensitive people and they should not be “hard” on those people. oh, Lord, why is the Muslim community so dumb sometimes… thank God for Shaykh Hamza…
In trying to downplay the significance of the Shoah by minimizing the numbers killed, Saadiq completely misses the unique and unprecedented character of the Holocaust. There was an entire industry whose purpose was killing people. Machinery was designed and built for the death factories. Running the death camps required a lot of logistics and planning (consider, for example, just scheduling the many, many transport trains) and involved lots of people. There’s no point in quibbling with him about the numbers. The mass exterminations and other atrocities are too well documented — much of the documentation by the Nazis themselves — and there were too many eyewitnesses. Library shelves groan under the weight of survivors’ memoirs. Archives at major universities are filled with videos of survivors giving their oral history.
The generally accepted figures are that about 6,000,000 Jews — 2/3 of Europe’s Jewish pre-war population — were killed in the Holocaust, along with another 5,000,000 others, for a total of about 11,000,000. The other 5,000,000 comprise peoples the Nazis regarded as subhuman (untermenschen), including Roma (Gypsies) and Poles along with Jehovah’s witnesses, priests, nuns and political prisoners. Counted among the 6,000,000 are the tens of thousands of Jews who died of starvation and disease in the ghettos.
The 11,000,000 toll of the genocides do not include the war dead or the tens of thousands of Russian POWs who were executed at Dachau. For anyone who doubts the magnitude or extent of the Shoah or who wants to trivialize it for political purposes, the concentration camps are there to visit. Over one million were killed just in the iconic death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
As with John Kennedy’s assassination, you have on the one hand an overwhelming body of evidence, including Nazi records, personal accounts, film of the liberation of the camps in 1945, proceedings of the Nuremburg court, the record of the Eichman trial, etc., etc. and on the other hand, there some crackpots and their conspiracy theories.
By the way, my parents were both survivors, my father the only one from his immediate family who was not killed in the camps. In my extended family, there is one remaining relative still with us who has a slave ID tattoo on his arm.
I believe some Muslims like deny or minimize the Holocaust out of the erroneous belief that the State of Israel was created as compensation for the Holocaust. In that view, if the Holocaust didn’t happen or wasn’t such a big deal, then the Jews don’t deserve to have their own state in their homeland.
Nothing could be further from the truth. For one, Jews were a majority in Jerusalem from the mid-1840s and in the center of the country. The Arabs rejected both the Peele Commission’s 1937 plan and the UN’s 1947 partition plan, both of which would have divided the 22% of the Palestine Mandate territory remaining after the East Bank (Transjordan) was granted independence. Both plans would have established a Jewish state in areas where Jews were the majority and an Arab state where the Arabs were more numerous.
Zionism, as a political idea, is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people; it originated in Europe around the turn of the 19th Century. More generally, Zionism as the desire of Jews to return their ancient homeland has always been a central, animating part of Jewish thought and desires. When times were difficult for them in their exile in the Diaspora, they sometimes turned not just their hearts but also their feet toward home. The 1800s saw Jews settling in Israel. They came from Europe and Russia as well as from Arab countries like Yemen, in both cases to escape persecution.
Between 1948 and 1949, Israel absorbed between 850,000 and 1,000,000 Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim lands. These Jews had been dispossessed of their property and driven out. One doesn’t hear much about these “forgotten refugees” — even though there were more of them than Palestinian Arab refugees — because, their brethren didn’t abandon them. Unlike the Palestinian Arab refugees, they were not forced to stay in squalid refugee camps and were not denied employment, citizenship and rights so they could be used as pawns in a geopolitical battle.
Thank you for your comment “Fred Calm”. I cant even imagine what your parents went through - and it is very unfortunate that you even have to explain the significance of the holocaust to people like saadiq.
God is indeed the Most Just and all oppressors - whether they be Nazi, Muslim, or Jewish will have whats coming to them in the afterlife.
To deny the Holocaust,is to deny History and most importantly Justice .I think muslims should do what is expected from them-i.e. speak the truth.The Quraan says “Let not your hatred for a people prevent you from justice…Be just that is closer to piety.”The fact that unarmed and totally innocent people were brutally killed should affect the humanity of anybody,if it does not then there is something seriously wrong with us! I personally think that if a people were or are unjustifiably killed,it is not the number that matters but the injustice that has/is being perpertrated that has to be called to account.Allah most certainly will call on you to account to set the record straight.It really does not matter what religious persuasion people follow. Allah
will excercise His justice with Truth.Shukran(thank you). 