Apologies to the Humanities

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ 

I don’t know how much this opinion piece would weigh, given the fact that front facing I am very much apart of the arts/ humanities, but nonetheless I still see some value in sharing this thought: I want to apologize to the humanities

Before I explain the reason for my apology, I want to provide a little context. I wasn’t always into the arts, in fact, majority of my current working life is the complete opposite. My education and career are rooted in science—I have a bachelor’s in Neuroscience and I currently work in a hospital & research institute. For much of my academic and professional life, I had echoed the same belief you might’ve heard from a lot of those in the STEM world when they come across the humanities: What is the point?

I am here to say, that is a very foolish statement to make and I am understanding the gravity of my ignorance. Now, looking at the way the world operates, and the systems at play, humanities is very much the bedrock of what is happening in the world, and can fill many of the gaps we see today in the ummah. Our lack of respect for it, I think, is the reason we are experiencing many of the issues we face today.

The Silent War

Allah(swt) makes it very clear in the Qu’ran: ٱلْفِتْنَةُ أَشَدُّ مِنَ ٱلْقَتْلِ

There is always a framework in which we operate, whether we are aware of it or not. And every day, you encounter things that adjust that framework, whether you are conscious of it or not. Even within our brains, we tend to use language like “the logical side of the brain” or “the emotional side of the brain,” but these distinctions don’t exist—they are not isolated processes. What we feel shapes our logic, and our logic, in turn, influences how we feel. STEM is merely a vehicle, the building blocks for developing a society. If science is the hand of man, crafting cures and building metropolitan cities, then humanities is the heart and mind. How do you know which direction you’re building in, and why are you going in that direction? What do you define as a successful society? What do you consider freedom? What do you view as moral and immoral development? (see: AI)

The arts provides the lens through which we can examine and understand our framework of thinking (as well as the different frameworks of thinking of humanity as a whole). Without the arts challenging and helping you reflect on your framework of thinking, you not only become blind to what is around you, but you become blind to how your actions are contributing to the global conversation. You become susceptible to propaganda, and even can become a very agent to the evil you wish to topple, if you are not well equipped enough with the tools to understand what is going on around you. Without proper understanding of how language, history, philosophy, and art(media) are are used to build a society, you will not understand how and when you are being used.

For example, history has been used to define groups of people, and if you abandon it, you allow others to tell your story. This, in turn, can (and has) become a weapon to guide your path and actions. If you’re told that you’ve always been violent, that you’ve never accomplished anything, and that you must join the “civilized” , what do you know about yourself to dispel that false narrative?

Moreover, if you aren’t equipped with the knowledge or language to understand The Self, you won’t be able to recognize the patterns, fears, and issues in your life, and this will spill into your actions. It may even affect how you view the events that have occurred in your life. It can affect how you hope, and your level of apathy.

These are the things the humanities teach us. Without them, and relying solely on the sciences, we are like lost sheep—building without direction. It’s a vehicle without a road. It’s ironic how some of those in the STEM environment can act as if they intellectually above all of this, but ironically, it’s that very hubris that leads to their ignorance.

All in all

When I reflect on the ummah today, I see so much khayr and many people racing towards good, but I also see an element of a lack of a communal framework and society-building. I think a large portion of that is rooted in the fact that we have abandoned the humanities and now, we don’t know. We don’t know who we are, what has happened to us in the past, and we do not reflect on our thinking. Majority of the output of media and art about us is not written by us. We don’t value the humanities the way it should be valued.

This makes me think: What can I do to better support the historians in our community? They are preserving parts of ourselves. How can we support our scholars? Our journalists? Our screen writers? Our philosophers? Our authors? For me, it starts with an apology.