Milestones on the way
For the last month or so I have been reading Milestones by Sayyid Qutb, which is considered by many to be the most influential Islamist tract ever written.
I have never read anything like it. I am afraid that my theological education and training and formation for Christian ministry did not at any point include a sustained effort to listen to Islamic apologetics. For many years we lived in a village with only a few Muslim neighbours.
I have been provoked into reading more broadly by Graham Cole who usually teaches by contrasting the Christian position on an issue with Islam or secularism or some other worldview,1 and I have found that this is a valuable way to learn.
At the same time I have been working out to have a conversation with ChatGPT and Claude AI about Islam without triggering an algorithm that reports me to the Prevent programme.
Claude initially refused to answer a question about sharia law, although it was willing to assess somebody else’s summary of the history and scope of sharia law across Islam. Claude didn’t know that the summary came from ChatGPT. When I pushed back and protested, Claude acknowledged its own inconsistency in refusing to answer the question I was asking, while being willing to critique (quite sensibly) an answer from a different source. For the moment we’re best mates.
I was astonished by Claude’s capacity to respond to my questions, and to answer questions about its own conduct. I asked Claude to tell me how to write a prompt that would avoid triggering ’this is a nutter’ warnings. We designed a prompt that would reveal me as an open minded, rational person, who would like to engage in a scholarly and charitable conversation about aspects of Islam. Obviously.
It has been an education. If you want to learn the differences between the various AI systems, ask each of them in turn how you can have a rational, neutral and nuanced conversation about the history, the scope and the application of the doctrine of ‘taqiyya’ within Islam. This is the doctrine that enables Muslims to lie to non-Muslims in certain circumstances. You could try asking for historic and recent examples of the illegitimate use and the abuse of the doctrine of taqiyya within Islam. Your computer might shut down if you do.
Milestones: I asked Claude to analyse the vision of the future in Milestones, and the means for achieving it.
Violence: And then a question about the role of violence in Qutb’s vision
Role of violence within Qutb’s vision…
What groups are for the use of violence:
When I asked a question about which groups are for and against the use of violence, one group (notorious for the use of violence) was always left out the list of groups supporting violence (by all the LLMs) for some unknown reason. Guess which one.
Groups for and against the use of violence
Claude writing in the voice of Qutb: I invited Claude to write a persuasive piece summarising Qutb’s vision in 1000 words for a twenty five year old. I have flagged who writes what.
Qutb's vision in a 1000 words
Claude responds to Qutb, writing as Thomas: I asked Claude to write a letter from a young Christian, Thomas, responding charitably to Qutb.
Claude responds to Qutb's letter, writing as Thomas.
See what you think of the letter.
ChatGPT critiques the letter from Thomas that Claude wrote:
I asked ChatGPT to critique the letter that Claude wrote.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Thomas’s Approach.
See what you think of the resulting analysis.
Imagine writing to Claude in the voice of ChatGPT.
Chat GPT writes to Qutb:
I asked ChatGPT to write to Qutb in the voice of Bavinck.
ChatGPT writes to Qutb in the voice of Bavinck
Claude assesses Bavinck’s approach:
I asked Claude to show me the strengths of Bavinck’s approach.
Claude describes the value of Bavinck’s approach
Where does all this leave us?
I am finding that reading Qutb has triggered a whole series of new questions and at least some of them are genuinely helpful, here are some examples.
As I read Qutb’s description of the glorious power of Shariah law to transform individuals, societies and the world as a whole, I am thinking: “In what countries through centuries and around the world today has this actually happened? Where is Exhibit A, and where are B and all the others on the way to Z, showing off the glorious fruits of Shariah law?” I haven’t asked Claude about it.
When I discover that ‘shariah’ means ‘the clear, well-trodden path to water’ I think about Psalm 23, and the Good Shepherd who feeds and waters his flock, who provides and protects them, who lays down his life for them.
I compare and contrast the path that Jesus walks, where his flock follows, and the path that Shariah law maps.
I ask how I can honour the Lord Jesus, and be fair and accurate and as charitable as possible to Shariah law, as I set the two paths alongside each other.
I have found it helpful to compare and contrast the visions of the future in scripture, and in Milestones, and to compare and contrast the means towards the ends, within scripture and within the writings of Sayyid Qutb.
I again show Claude how rational and charitable I am, and I ask for detail about who gets punished for what when Shariah law is imposed across the world, and through the centuries. Who is punished by the loss of one hand and the other foot for what crimes in what countries across the world today? And it turns out that we’re not best mates any more, although ChatGPT is less squeamish.
You can think of what I have written as a gentle encouragement to pray for Muslims around the world, especially for members of Islamic groups who are inspired by Qutb’s vision.
You could ask ChatGPT or Groq or ChatGPT this question, and if you do you will want to pray when you read the answer: What is the origin and the history and the scope of shariah law within different groups across Islam? Where in the world today does shariah law apply?
You could pray for Christians around the world seeking to engage with their neighbours who are captivated by the purity of Qutb’s vision, to pray for Christian ministers across our country, and for ministers in training to learn to engage constructively with Islam, reading charitably, articulating clearly the differences between the path to water that Shariah law offers and the path to water that the Good Shepherd provides.
You could also talk to Claude
When Cole writes on the doctrine of angels, Satan and demons, in his book Against the darkness (Crossway, 2019) he includes an appendix on Angels, Iblis, and Jinn in Islam.↩︎