Former Nixon advisor Dr. Robert Crane on Islam, Ibn Khaldun and the Natural Order
Writing by abuhatem on Monday, 26 of May , 2008 at 11:59 pm
Dr. Robert Crane, a Muslim convert and former foreign policy adviser to President Richard Nixon, gave a speech three days ago concerning the “Transcendent Law and a New Paradigm of Civilizations.” Crane looks favorably at Ibn Khaldun, and discusses his influence on Toynbee and others who studied civilizations and the natural order. Crane affirms the need of society to conserve the natural order saying:
The balance to be maintained in every civilization as embodied in every world religion is among order, justice, and freedom. This paradigm of balance teaches that order, justice, and freedom are interdependent. When freedom is construed to be independent of justice, there can be no justice and the result will be anarchy. When order is thought to be possible without justice, there will be no order, because injustice is the principal cause of disorder. When justice is thought to be possible without order and freedom, then the pursuit or order, justice, and freedom are snares of the ignorant.
Without consensus on the proper nature of order, and of justice and freedom as essential parts of a single whole, rather than as independent pursuits, no civilization can continue to exist. The twin roles of religion in all of its traditionalist manifestations, including the monotheistic and “revealed religions”, and especially Islam, are the spiritual well-being or happiness of every person and the maintenance of consensus on the responsibilities and rights necessary to live in an ordered society.
Crane is good at merging the ecumenic and universal concept of the natural order from all angles, whether in the Muslim mystic Rumi, Ibn Khaldun, or Toynbee. Since the issue of the natural law, natural order, liberty, and tradition are dear to me, Crane’s exposition within an Islamic context finds in this blogger a highly receptive audience.
Category: Political philosophy
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