Boundary Situation and Religious Faith

Abdul Bashir Fekrat, Professor at Kabul University

Date: May 17, 2019

Abstract

There are two different senses of boundary situations: the actual and the conceptual (mental) one. When you are in agony of death, it is named actual boundary situation. The mental or imaginative boundary situation is just conceiving of death event, although it is not happened and happening yet. Existentialism is normally focusing on the second one. In one hand, the mental boundary situation is closely connected with the questioning ability of individuals, on the other hand, question of someone who is in the boundary situation totally different than who is not herein. In this case, existentialism differentiates among the questions that may apparently seem the same. For example, questioning of God existence for a man who is in boundary situation is essentially different than a philosopher who is just empirically asking about. For an existentialist, asking about God is asking about an ultimate reality which is existentially related to him, but for a philosopher, it is only a theoretical question, so different. When someone is in boundary situation, any event in the world and man's life is directed by God's will. In this situation, the horizontal cause-effects principle is substituted with a vertical cause-effect principle, a principle that God's will is at the top of every event and affects. In this case, situating in the boundary would automatically lead to Goddess. In this thought, God is not just a superior existence separated of us, but also as a transcendence which is existentially connected to our being. This is something that Quran asserts in some verses (Ayat) and Rumi is insisting on in different stories.

Preface

The present written topic is about Boundary Situation and Religious Faith. This topic is written in view of Existentialism philosophical school, specifically Christian Existentialism, comparing to Islam. Whereas, the two mentioned filed is so multi-entendre and large, the topic is only a glance over boundary situations in to two perspectives of Existentialism and Islam. It starts from the boundary situation's sense to the conclusion and references. As I know, there is no academic background in this field, although we have dire need to such comparing academic topics. Thus, it doubles significance of the topic through our country.

Mostly in Afghanistan, the topics are written in our own Persian language that in one hand is an effort to enrich our national scientific literature, but its' side effect is that the writers wouldn't be known and read other than Persian countries' realm. I -as the other writers- have been writing in Persian since the first moments that I used to start. Lately, I decided to put some of my ideas in foreign linguistic sentences such as: English and Arabic to be disseminated through different audiences. The present topic is my first work in this field that expectedly would not be free from any mistake or false. One of the problems in writing of this topic was lack of English references in Afghanistan. There for, the writer is using some references other than English language.

Boundary Situation

The life boat of mankind slowly moves on an endless ocean where there is not any actual or imminent danger. The connection of life boat with the ocean is called normal condition. In some unprecedented poses, the life boat would fell down in a huge fluctuating waves or gulf that may cause terminate to man's existence in any moment. This situation might be called Boundary Situation which is subject of studying in Existentialism Philosophical School. In this school of thought, boundary situation plays so important and determinative rule in the life of individuals. It could be either an actual situation or a conceptual one. Actual Boundary Situation in favor of Existentialism is the condition where a body of human fills in a last moments of his life by death, a Boundary Situations that approximately all Existentialism branches are agreed on. Positioning in agony of death is a tangible instance of Actual Boundary Situations. Besides this, there is another boundary situation that I can name it Conceptual Boundary Situation. This feature of situation is just understanding or feeling of a situation that stops and changes the normality of life progress. For instance, for anyone it is quite possible to imagine death situation, even though at the moment of thinking he isn't actually in death. Imagining of death is something happening just in our self-consciousness. Thus, it has deeply epistemological feature; whiles the actual boundary situation has radically ontological exist.

Everyone can imagine a boundary situation like: death, deep despair, oldness, and incurable diseases that some of them aren't in agreement of all existentialists. Most of the above things could be repeatedly happened for anyone anywhere. In addition, some of them such as: oldness and death shelly nelly would happen for any individual at the moment or future. Mostly, in a while that we are in the normal conditions, suddenly we burst in to a deep death conception as an inevitable ending event of our life. In some other cases, usually the actual conditions throw us in a conceptual boundary situation. For example, when someone hears about his execution decision by the court, mentally goes in a death conception. Thus, on one hand, conceptual boundary situation is not necessarily irrelative to what actually happens in our life, but in some other cases, the two above situations could be separated of each other.

Existential Questions:

Question is a continual part of our daily thinking process. Any individual is usually asking about things and reality. There wouldn't be a wise-man who doesn't ask about any things. It indicates that there is no other way to scape of the questions. Questions have surrounded us in different aspects. When you are a man, questions is a part of your thinking behavior, even if you are thinking that you are not questioning. Why do we ask? Responding this question plays a determinative rule in Philosophy, Psychology and …etc. One possible response is that we are wise creatures among the other creatures of God. See below:

Out of the numerous species of life in the universe, humans are the only species that ask pertinent questions bothering on the meaning, values and goal of life. What do we live for? What is the ultimate sense in continuing to exist on earth? Even when philosophy analyses statements, questions knowledge and seeks ontology of being, it makes no sense if it does not add value of life by providing answers to these and other existential questions.[1]

Thus, animals have a low range of consciousness, but humans are totally different. One of the proved differences is that man's knowledge has passed an ascending arc, whiles the animals' awareness isn't s and improved. For example, the house made by a cutter pillar thousands year ago isn't different than what it makes at the present. The man's housing at the moment is totally different and developed than what has been at even 100 years ago. Thus, the wisdom of humans evolves in course of history, but the animal's consciousness hasn't passed any evolutionary ascending course within thousands of years. Besides this, it is only human being that is able to leap on him/herself and set a self-evaluation. No other creature is possible to go out of its being and do self-evaluation. There for, humans as a questioning being are able to ask him/her being too. In this case, the human being is deeply scrambled with the questioning.

For a concisely response to the questions, differentiation among miscellaneous categories of question is so important and definitive. Before responding the questions, questions entity grasping is preferable. For example, the question "what constitutes molecule of water?" is essentially a question in the range of experiential sciences, so we are not allowed to render a rational response to it. Like this, the question "does God exist?" is not experimental, but it is radically a metaphysical question that could not followed by an experiential sciences. In addition, the above question for a scientist is totally different than a Philosopher. As well as, the question "Does God exist?" for a philosopher differs from a man who is experiencing a boundary situation. Because it is only a theoretical question for a philosopher, while it is an existential asking for who has fallen down in a boundary situation. The God proved for philosopher is not worthy of worshiping, but when God is proved for a man in boundary situation, is deeply worthy of worshiping and existentially related to his self being. In this case, although there is apparently one question, but the questions are totally different from one individual to another.[2]

Boundary Situation and Existential Experiences

In existentialism, there is not any correct and comprehensive definition of human beings in the previous essentialist philosophical schools. For examples, Plato tried to define human beings as a formative essence. Aristotle defines him as: wise specie. Rene Descartes diminished human beings in a "Cogito ergo sum" that means "I think so I am". In some late scientific views, human being is limited to some exact neuroscience mechanical state. All the above definitions are essentialist and are not able to show human's being, because all of them look at the being from outside. In existentialism, Man's existence is preceded to his/her essence.[3] There for, "it is opposed to any doctrine that sees in man some given and complete reality that must be resolved into its elements in order to be known or contemplated[4]." The essentialist definitions are relying on a metaphysical presumption that man's reality is given and completed, while existentialism believes in precedence of existence to essence, and insists on free will in creations of our own reality.

Usually when you are in a normal situation, you don't approach to any existential experience. In other word, we don't find ourselves as a self-conscious individual in the normality other than boundary situations. By approaching to just boundary situations, a man would be able to approach an existential experience. In such condition, an individual comes into boundary of his/her self-existence. It is called negative existence against the positive one. There for, existence is problem of existence. In the boundary situation, we inter in a new condition that gives us the possibility of self-existential experience that we deeply feel and touch our existence as a tangible. It is radically opposite of the previous theoretical visions to existence in Greek and Islamic philosophy. Existential as Kierkegaard said: tries to understand the existence as a tangible phenomenon. In this case, it is similar to what called intuition in the Sufism. Tangible experience of existence could be called existential experiences that Sartre in The Wall has perfectly showed it out. All the roman is revolving around the three characters that are sentenced to execution by the court. The Wall exhibits situation of characters within the night that they would be executed in the tomorrow. No one of them had thought about the death before, but when they sentenced to execution, they were used to continually thinking about it. One of them said that he has held his execution scene for over twenty times.[5] Such situation is called boundary situation in existentialism. Someone who is in this situation would approach a new existential experience, an experience that man directly face with his own existence and feel it tangibly. It is not just an experience, but it is kind of self-awareness too. An individual obtains a new awareness by the existential experience that could be called self-consciousness in favor of existentialism.

Over and above, in self-consciousness, individual would approach a new understanding of time. Time, in boundary situation would be so short and limited. As in the The Wall, the characters hadn't felt length of time. Few hours were just few minutes for the sentenced prisoner. In addition, something that was so important in the normality had lost its importance when they embrace existential self-experiences. Desk, room, clothes and so on are attentive in the normal situation, but for someone who approaches an existential experience, aren't as important to be cared. Even a man situating in boundary wouldn't care them at all. More ever, the weather sensation would be changed too. For instance, the characters in The Wall don't feel coldness. In a circumstance that the doctor feels cold, the sentenced prisoners were sweating. As a result, boundary situation directs a man into existential experience that creates self-consciousness. When someone approaches self-consciousness, his perspective to time, things and climate would be inverted. This is a meaning that has been widespread in easte mysticism since past away.

On the basis of abovementioned points, existentialism is the most humanistic thought in the philosophical course of west history, the idea that gives subjectivity to human being in understanding of existence. So that, man's existential experience is at the center of his self-awareness. Awareness is apparently different than what we name it cognition or as a usual, knowledge, because it is obtained within bare man's confrontation with the existence. Cognition and knowledge in a common sense is mostly obtained by leaing. On the contrary, awareness is not being leat, but it is knowledge by the presence. In this case, awareness could be just a specific kind of knowledge.

Existential Theology

Existentialism is not only atheistic branch, but it has theistic (=Goddess) branch too. Heidegger –If we assume him a theistic philosopher- could be at the top of the first, but Jaspers and Kierkegaard are on the top of its second branch. It is said by some Heidegger researchers that Heidegger's philosophy is neutral against God's existence and the other world[6]. Anyway, Refer to below:

Heidegger has come more and more to insist on the massive presence of Being in the face of human existence, by attributing to Being all initiative and to man only the possibility of abandoning himself to Being and to the things that are the modes of language Being. For Heidegger, Being is interpreted better through the etymology of those words that designate the most common things of daily life that through the analysis of existential possibilities.[7]

When Heidegger asks about the being, it is not just an abstract questioning, but is about something very direct and immediate[8]. The being interpretation throw etymology makes a way into linguistic phases to understand the being. Thus, being is interpreted by the etymology of language, So that, language is deeply cohered with understanding of being through interpretation. Whereas the words have been since far away, etymology makes entrance in to historical analysis of them.

Karl Jaspers could be revelation of transcendence cipher in existentialism. Existentialism by Jaspers makes entrance into psychopathology (psychiatry). In this view, all ciphers including: in persons, doctrine, or poem could be interpreted as symbols of existential situations, and over all limited situations, in provoking the total human possibilities' annihilation, are feeling of a present absolute transcendence.[9] Here Jaspers leaps from the existential finite situation on infinitude and transcendence. In Kierkegaard's vision, self is prior to God. Neither in aesthetic nor in ethical stages a man might be succeeded to becoming a self. Just in religious stage, it is possible to finally go in becoming a self. The aesthetic state privileges feeling while the ethical stage is privileging the reason. Among them, the religious stage privileges faith. See below:

Consistent with the basic tenets of existentialism, Kierkegaard thinks that in this stage a person truly embraces all the aspects of what she truly is and thus lives an authentic life. That means embracing, through a leap of faith, the fundamental absurdity of existence. For Kierkegaard, embracing this fundamental absurdity can be truly accomplished only through a leap of faith into the religious life.[10]

Here is the question, what is the faith, and why Abraham is called father of faith? Abraham did what he has been ordered, and it was anti-feeling and reason. Feeling expects not to kill the son, and reason argues for inadmissibility of such act. Thus, it can be occurred just in the religious stage that is characterized by faith. Abraham went over of ethics and aesthete by starting cut the throat of Isaac. He embraced the God who's beyond ethics. If God transcends the world, why should he be constrained by ethics? If God is constrained by the ethics, God is subordinate and we would create a second idol to worship: the ethical.[11] In addition, whereas God is infinite, his requires couldn't be limited by the ethical principles.

Kierkegaard differentiates between faith and scientific beliefs. Faith is kind of leaping in to a pool that is located in unilluminated place. In addition, it is not known does the pool is full of water or not? There is a congestion of passion inside a man who is about to leap on. If the other side, where the pool is located in is illumined and visible, it could be a scientific belief and there wouldn't be any huge passion, the base of faith. It resembles the Gambling Argument of Pascal in the seventeen century. Faith is kind of freely submission one's will to some absolute that is not visible and illustrated, but science is vice versa. Thus, here is a definitive difference between scientific beliefs and faith. Kierkegaard wants to draw a determinative partition between science and the faith. As well as, he argues that faith is not provable by reasoning.

Existential Experience and Occasional Causes

At the normality, one might conceive the world independent of Gad's will. In this view, world would be as a large vast machine that is continually running on. There are some natural rules and regulations that are all over exist, the same as a chronometer clock which is normally rotating around a specific center. Whenever you find and detect the natural rules, you would be able describe and forecast the natural events. For example, you would possibly understand why a natural event such as: earth quick, raining and so on… is happening. There would be no secret factors beyond the happening such events. More ever, the future events could be predicated too. For example, based on the natural rules, mans can predict the natural events in the future. For the time being, scientists usually forecast the weather of even few weeks ahead. This possibility happens on the basis of natural determinism. Thus, natural laws are, at least in part, statements that describe what will (or probably will) happen or not happen under specifiable conditions.[12] Determining of the circumstance is possible when there exists cause-effects principle in the world.

In boundary situations, the horizontal cause-effects principle is substituted with a different version of it, the version that could be called vertical cause-effect principle. For example, in boundary situation that causes an existential experience, all things and events would be closely dependent to a superior power's will that is named God. It is a new worldview version that horizontal cause-effects principle definitively replaced with a vertical cause-effect system that is named God in the revelation religions. God is on the top of everything and events. There is no happening in the nature without inclusion of God's will. Anything and any events in the nature could be manifestation of God's will effect. This view constitutes when you found yourselves in confrontation with death, oldness, disease, and sin feeling as negative being dimension or boundary situation's meaning.

Islam and Boundary Situations

While Islam is not a philosophical school, but it specifically hints on boundary situations in connection with the God. There are some incredible resemblance between theistic (=Goddess) existentialism and some specific verses of holy Quran. It is possible to imply the theistic existential points to philosophically interpret some Quran's verses. The sacred book of Muslims hints on some exceptional situations that affect over worldview and religious vision of someone who is situating in. When you are confronted with an inevitable existential event such as: death; it automatically makes you available to believing in God and surrender him/herself to His will. See the below:

And we let the children of Isrā’īl cross the sea. So, Pharaoh and his troops chased them in transgression and hostility, until when he was about to drown, he said, “I believe that there is no god but the One in whom the children of Isrā’īl believe, and I am among those who submit to Allah.” (Yunus: 90)

When Pharaoh was on the eve of drowning in the sea, showed his tendency to be faithful in God. Thus, drowning in the sea could be a boundary situation that led him to faith in God. Based on the other verse (Ayat), when they (mostly polytheists) are covered by the waves like cloud, sincerely call God for the help. It means that meeting a wave coming over as a boundary situation lead them to faith in God. When they retu to normative situation, forget the God and go back in their polytheistic faith. See below:

And when they are covered by waves like canopies, they pray to Allah, having faith exclusively in Him. Then, once He brings them safe of the land, some of them remain balanced, (while others tu ungrateful by denying Allah's signs.) and no one denies our signs except every ungrateful traitor.[13] (Lugman: 32)

Rumi as an example of Sufism in Islam has hinted on the boundary situations within few stories. In the Monarch and Bondmaid… narration of Mas'nawi, in a while that monarch is despaired from the treatment of his beloved bondmaid, bare footedly runs in to the masque in embarrassment and called God for the help. Whenever he felt that all the doctors' endeavor is failed, he referred God to help him. It was an absolute disappointment moment that tued his will to God.[14] Like this, Rumi in his another story about Pierre Changi and Caliph Omar denotes the correlation of boundary situations and Goddess. In this story, when Cheng's musician is getting old and older, his vocal is getting worse and worse too. In the 70 years old, his vocal organ was changed negatively like the voice of a donkey. There for, there wasn't any demand for his Cheng playing and he embraced a though poverty and desperation. Thus, Pierre Changi held the Chang and said: Oh God, there is no work today, so today I do Chang for you.[15] This shows that man refers God when his is at the deep of despair and oldness that are fully instance of boundary situations.

Conclusion:

The man's thought is alike anywhere, because it is originated of man's wisdom that is equally distributed –as Descartes says- among all the individuals. Besides this, it is possible to use any philosophical idea to explicit or interpret some specific related verses of holy Quran as in the topic. It shows that Quran is a miracle that would be interpreted by the course of time and in accordance with the evolutionary moving of man's thought. Quran shows some boundary situations in an example form, but there is no using of boundary situation's composition, although its meaning is existed in. The composition of boundary situation is made by Karl Jaspers. Its meaning and examples could be found through all existentialist thinkers. Astonishing compatibility betwixt Quran and Goddess Existentialistic idea –irrespective of the differences- could be an example of contemporary philosophical reading of Quran. It is not true if someone claims that existentialism is taken from Islamic thought, but it is true to claim that Quran as a first source of Islam has a huge unseen aspects for contemporary researches. Not only Quran, but also in Rumi's theosophical thought which is exclusively derived of Islam, is some incredible commons with the Goddess existentialist idea.

References

QURAN TRANSLATION: Mufti Taqi Usmani

1. Britannica, Existentialism: SIGNIFICANCE OF BEING AND TRANSCENDENCE
2. Christopher Panza and Gregory Gale, Existentialism For Dummies, Wiley Publishing
3. Collection of Authors: ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, Existentialism
4. Collection of Authors: THE PHILOSOPHY BOOK, London
5. Jean-Paul Sartre: THE WALL
6. Michael Peterson and others: REASON AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF, New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1991
7. Onyenuru Okechukwu. P. (OP). THE THEME OF EXISTENCE IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF KARL JASPERS, Domincan Institute, Samanda, Ibadan, Nigeria
8. براینمَگی: مردان اندیشه، ترجمه: عزتالله فولادوند، چاپ پنجم (ایران: تهران- طرح نو)
9. پرویز بابایی: ۱۳۸۹هـ، مکتبهای فلسفی، چاپ دوم (ایران: تهران- مؤسسۀ انتشارات نگاه)
10. جان مککواری: ۱۳۸۲هـ، الهیات اگزیستانسیالیستی، ترجمه: مهدی دشتبزرگی، چاپ اول( ایران- مؤسسه بوستان کتاب قم)
11. مولانا جلالالدین محمد بلخی، مثنوی معنوی، تحقیق: نیکلسون، دفتر اول،

---

[1] Onyenuru Okechukwu. P. (OP). The Theme of Existence in the Philosophy of Karl Jaspers, P1, Domincan Institute, Samanda, Ibadan, Nigeria

[2] See: جان مککواری: ۱۳۸۲هـ، الهیات اگزیستانسیالیستی، ترجمه: مهدی دشتبزرگی، ص۲۷، چاپ اول( ایران- مؤسسه بوستان کتاب قم)

[3] پرویز بابایی: ۱۳۸۹هـ، مکتبهای فلسفی، ص۶۵۳-۶۵۴، چاپ دوم(ایران: تهران- مؤسسۀ انتشارات نگاه)

[4] Encyclopedia Britannica, Existentialism

[5] Sartre: The Wall

[6] See: براینمَگی: مردان اندیشه، ترجمه: عزتالله فولادوند، ص۱۶۴، چاپ پنجم (ایران: تهران- طرح نو)

[7] Britannica, Existentialism: Significance of Being and Transcendence

[8] Collective authors: THE PHILOSOPHY BOOK, P254, London

[9] The prior

[10] Christopher Panza and Gregory Gale, Existentialism For Dummies, p232, Wiley Publishing

[11] See the prior: P223-231

[12] Michael Peterson and others: REASON AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF, P157, New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1991

[13] Translation: Mufti Taqi Usmani

[14] مولانا جلالالدین محمد بلخی، مثنوی معنوی، دفتر اول، ص

[15] The prior: P

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