Contextualizing Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” from an Islamic Perspective
As students of English literature, we must read literary pieces with a wondering and searching mind and not just for pleasure and entertainment to elicit genuine and pertinent ideas from them. Therefore, this article aims to analyze Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad from an Islamic perspective.
Heart of Darkness revolves around Marlow and his journey through the Congo River to meet Kurtz, a man with ‘remarkable’ abilities. Marlow works as a riverboat captain with the Company, a Belgian outfit conducting trades in Congo. He journeys to Africa and then up the Congo, where he discovers widespread inadequacy and brutality in the Company’s station. The natives of the province have been coerced into the Company’s service and they suffer horribly from excessive labour and ill treatment from the Company’s agents.
We can see in the story that Marlow could not believe he is of the same species as the Africans. This is because he believes that the whites or the Europeans are the superior beings and no other creatures can be equal to them.
Two palpable fundamental issues from the novella are Social Darwinism and racism. Social Darwinism promotes inequality among human beings. It claims that “some human beings are biologically superior to others.” Apart from that, it explains that the strongest and the fittest deserve to live and succeed in society while the weak and poor deserve to die. Social Darwinism is very dangerous, as it evolved into another ideology: racism. Ali Mazrui mentions in his lecture that the theory “was based on the ancient idea that God had so organised the world that the universe and creation were arranged in a ‘Great Chain of Being’—that all creatures could be classified and fitted into a hierarchy extending from man down to the smallest organism.” Therefore, according to this idea, the Africans have no place in the chain. However, it is a good thing because if we believe in this idea, we believe that the Africans came from apes as well, which is a false claim. In Islam, Allah does not judge humans by the colour of their skin. Instead, He judges us by our deeds in this world. Abu Hurairah reported Allah’s Messenger (May peace be upon him) as saying: Verily Allah does not look to your faces and your wealth but He looks to your heart and to your deeds. There is also a wisdom behind the diversified creation of human beings. Allah says in Surah Al-Rum: 22, “And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the difference of your languages and colours. Lo! Herein indeed are portents for men of knowledge.” He later clarifies in Surah Al-Hujurat: 13, “O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! The noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware.” In Surah At-Tin: 4, Allah says, “We have certainly created man in the best of stature.” The word man in the verse is a synecdoche which covers all races that are considered to be man. This includes the whites, Africans, Asians and all others in this world. This verse also proves that no man is superior over the other.
The belief in Social Darwinism has led to a bigger problem that is highlighted in the novella, which is colonialism.
The Congo River and its inhabitants are exploited by the Company under the instruction of the Belgian King. The natives are forced to perform heavy labour and they are treated like slaves. The Europeans use the excuse ‘white men’s burden’ and the mission to civilize the brutes to colonize Africa and squeeze everything from it for their own benefit. The concept of colonialism is against the Islamic concept of khalifah. A khalifah is “a vicegerent who improves the world for and on behalf of Allah, applies the orders and recommendations of Allah among people, animals and non-living things.” However, colonialism deteriorates this concept as it is based on a master-slave relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. The only master-slave relationship that we must focus on is between men and Allah. As khalifah of this world, we should govern it together on the same level without discrimination or segregation. Everyone from every race should be on equal terms when it comes to managing Allah’s earth. The concept of khalifah is mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah: 30, “… I will make upon the earth a successive authority ….”
In the novella, there is a mention of British history with the Romans. Britain was once conquered by the Romans and due to that, they think it is acceptable to colonize other regions. This is against the Islamic legal maxim ‘Harm shall not be inflicted nor reciprocated.’ The first part indicates that harm that causes damage must not be inflicted to anyone intentionally. The second part indicates that harm or damage done must not be retaliated. The Prophet S.A.W. says “Harm shall not be inflicted nor reciprocated.” In Surah Al-Baqarah: 195, Allah says “… make not your own hands contribute to your destruction ….”
In this text, Marlow meets an African who imitates European dressing and he thinks that the African could never be on par with him in terms of status. He is unable to associate himself with the native. However, the African hopes that his status can be elevated and someday be accepted by the Europeans. The culture of mimicry is a dangerous thing as it can affect one’s identity. Islam does not allow mimicry that could endanger the religion. The Prophet (S.A.W.) says “He who imitates a people will be regarded as one of them.” In another hadith, the Prophet says “The one who imitates people other than us is not from us. Do not imitate the Jews or the Christians.” Mimicry puts our religion at risk because these foreign ideologies might get mixed up with our practices, making us unable to differentiate them from pristine Islamic teachings.
In the novella, the author compares two rivers, one from London and one from Africa. He describes the Thames River from London as “after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth.” As for the Congo River, Marlow says that it is “a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land.” He is obviously glorifying and praising the Thames while in turn, demeaning and belittling the Congo. This can never be true because in reality both rivers are beautiful. They are the creation of Allah (S.W.T.), and if we condemn Allah’s creation, we condemn Allah. Even if the Congo River has not contributed to men, it has surely contributed to animals and aquatic plants. It also helps with the ecosystem of the environment. As Muslims, when we see Allah’s creation we should not merely see it. We should utter subhanallah or mashaAllah from amazement and appreciation of Allah’s wisdom and sovereignty through His creation. This is called sunnatullah which can be seen from anything in between “the seven heavens and earth within the essence of man.” Allah says in the Surah Al-Mulk: 3 “And who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return your vision to the sky, do you see any breaks?”
Marlow also condescends African women and their quotidian activities. He describes them negatively with words such as “somnambulist,” “hens,” and “plain as an umbrella-cover.” Nothing that we do, especially daily activities in life, is useless if we intend it for the sake of Allah. If we think that what women do is useless and insignificant, then we are insulting what mothers do. Raising children is also part of what women and mothers do, so if one thinks that this is useless and insignificant then one would be a product of uselessness and insignificance. The next time when one wants to insult women, one should think of one’s mother and other important women figures in their life like sisters and aunts. Allah says in Ali-Imran: 195 “And their Lord responded to them, ‘Never will I allow to be lost the work of any worker among you, whether male or female ….”
In a nutshell, Heart of Darkness contains a lot of significant issues that can be discussed thoroughly and among them are Social Darwinism, racism, colonialism, mimicry, feminism and sunnatullah. A person who reads Joseph Conrad may take one of the two stands: either Conrad is a racist writer or a sympathetic writer who wishes to expose his horrible marine experience to the readers.
