Carl Jung on Islam

So a friend of mine knows how much I enjoy reading the works of Carl Jung. I not only want to be a Psychologist, and am currently majoring in the subject, but I also own most of his published works and have read a vast majority of books on his theories and by current top Jungian Psychologist, and Jung's students. Suffice to say I am obsessed with the topic, in a good way of course. My friend knows this, this is why he told me he read something that took him by surprise and assumed would do the same for me. It was a quote from Wikipedia, doubts begin right there, which seemed to depict Carl Jung equating Islam with Nazi ideology. I was stunned, considering how much I know about Jung's views on religion, and the multitude of people he has inspired, such as Joseph Campbell, it just seemed this quotation could not be authentic in the least bit. Upon investigating the said quote I found it had been footnoted as coming from the the 18th volume of the Collected Works of Carl Jung series. I personally do not own this volume, although I own many in this series, so I will have to take the quote as is. This is how the quote reads:

"We do not know whether Hitler is going to found a new Islam. He is already on the way; he is like Mohammed. The emotion in Germany is Islamic; warlike and Islamic. They are all drunk with wild god. That can be the historic future.^[45]"

Now taking this quote into consideration one has to think two things. The first being, what is the context of this quotation, in other words what is Jung ACTUALLY SAYING in this quote, as opposed to what haters have been doing all over the internet by simply reproducing this quote on their blogs and/or websites without caring to go into deeper investigation. The second thing to consider is Jung's OTHER QUOTES regarding Islam and religion in general, and his various attitudes with regards to the topic. I guarantee not a single one of the haters and critics of Islam who have abused this quote have dared to do the above. Why? Because of course they would find quotes that they would not like, and thus shatter their agenda and abuse. However this quote is indeed voided of context, but thanks to all of us I have the book entitled "C.G. Jung Speaking" which includes and interview where Jung stated the following:

QUESTION: Do you consider it possible that Hitlerism might become for Germany a permanent religion for the future like Mohammedanism for the Moslems?

ANSWER: I think it highly possible. Hitler's "religion" is the nearest to Mohammedanism, realistic, earthy, promising the maximum of rewards in this life, but with a Moslem-like Valhalla into which worthy Germans may enter and continue to enjoy themselves. Like Mohammedanism, it teaches the virtue of the sword. Hitler's first idea is to make his people powerful because the spirit of the Aryan German deserves to be supported by might, by muscle and steel.

Of course, it is not a spiritual religion in the sense in which we ordinarily use the term. But remember that in the early days of Christianity it was the church which made the claim to total power, both spiritual and temporal! Today the church no longer makes this claim, but the claim has been taken by the totalitarian states which demand not only temporal but spiritual power.

Incidentally, it occurs to me that the "religious" character of Hitlerism is also emphasized by the fact that German communities throughout the world, far from the political power of Berlin, have adopted Hitlerism. Look at the South American German communities, notably in Chile" (From page. 124)

We should now examine what Jung is saying in both quotes. If one looks at them closely we find that he is actually NOT saying Islam is the same thing as Nazism. He does say there are similar concepts between the two, which we should think about closely and not put words in the mouth of Jung. If one knows his real attitude towards the religion of Islam, which we shall see plenty of evidence for in a moment, then what must he be talking about here. Was this a slip of judgment? A contradiction? Or was Jung speaking about Islam in a sense that was not religious but rather political? As in when religion is used in a political fashion? I would argue yes.

For example, in the first quote Jung says "we do not know if Hitler will found a new Islam". Found a new Islam? Surely Jung knew that Islam on a theological level from the point of view of Muslims has ALWAY BEEN AROUND, and further to the point Islam is a religion which was still around during the time of Hitler, in other words there were Muslims during the time of Hitler. So what does he mean by "found a new Islam"? He then compares Hitler to Muhammad, but does so in the context of a political figure. Jung was knowledgeable in Islamic theology and owned and read the Quran. He was familiar with the Hadiths as well, having quoted Sahih Bukhari on several occasions in his essay on Islam. I do not think Jung viewed Hitler as a person being inspired by God, such as the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) was. So what does Islam and Hitler have in common? They are both beliefs which many people follow and believe. They are inspired by a man, who is a leader of the said communities.

In the second quotation he again talks about Islam and Hitlerism. However it should be noted to further prove my point that in the interview response Jung speaks about early Christianity not only demanding spiritual obedience but TEMPORAL as well. In other words, Christianity was not just a religion on the level of spirituality but a religion that had its hands in the daily mundane world as well. However he is not saying Christianity is a problem, not currently and not even then. He does not say the same about Islam, and this is where we find his reason for drawing a parallel. The Nazi ideology has two things in common with Christianity and Islam, they are centered around either a single person or some sort of hierarchy, and the second is that the beliefs not only cover the spiritual aspects of the human condition but also the mundane as well.

Perhaps my reasoning can be seen as biased, but I very much feel this is what Jung was saying in these two quotes. I based this not only on the other quotations we have from Jung's published works, but also from the noted Jungian Psychologist and author J. Marvin Spiegelman in his article entitled "C. G. Jung’s Answer To Job:A Half Century Later" published by JOURNAL OF JUNGIAN THEORY AND PRACTICE VOL. 8 NO. 1 2006. It should be noted that Spieglman is the author a whole series of books that examines each major world religion in the context of Jungian Psychology. Needless to say, he is an authority on this subject. In the above mentioned article he writes his commentary on the statement made by Jung regarding Hitlerism and Islam and this is what he concludes:

"Jung had mentioned, in passing,that he felt the spirit of Islam in the military passion of the Nazis, without casting any aspersion on the religion of Islam itself. Rather, he sensed that passion, armed with divine mission, something missing from the West for some time, was a primitive invasion of soulless Europe."

This quote is just a piece of the puzzle used by Spiegelman to use Jung's "Answer to Job" as it relates to the 21st century issue of terrorism and religious extremism. It should also be noted that in his expert opinion regarding Jung's remarks, Jung was not saying anything negative about the religion of Islam, but rather was drawing very specific parallels. We will now see what Jung REALLY thought of the religion of Islam as seen in his works below.

In Jung's book "Psychology and the East"(volume two of Psychology of Religion), Jung recounts his journey to India. One of the essays which can be found on page 87 entitled "The Dreamlike world of India" show Jung expressing his utter positive attitude and amazement at the Indian subcontinent and their religious and ethnic culture. In a second essay entitled "What India can Teach Us" he concludes that the psychological and religious claimant is something that we in the West should take a page from. To be more specific on page 91 Jung discusses Islam in detail. He not only talks about the religion but the history and architecture, all subjects he greatly respects and admires. He even calls the Taj Mahal "the secret of Islam" and begins the entire discourse by saying "...Islam seems to be superior, more spiritual, and more advanced religion." Nothing negative is mentioned, nothing but awe inspiring and complete respect.

"Symbols of Transformation" formally known as "Psychology of the Unconscious" was considered by Jung to be one of his greatest achievements and indeed was the book that signaled his break from Sigmund Freud. He continued to edit and expand upon the text even later in his life, thus allowing himself room to change or adapt it based on his new found attitudes and thoughts. It should be noted that this is the text where Jung places the Quran on equal footing with the other religious and spiritual text that shape mankind's psyche. On page 193 he covers his discussion the Quran and two of the stories mentioned therein. The figure of Khidr was so important to Jung that he identified the Wise Old Man Archetype with the person of Khidr. Again there is no mention of negativity but complete respect and admiration for the religion of Islam and its text the Holy Quran.

In a book entitled "Jung and the Monotheisms-Judaism, Christianity and Islam" edited Joel Ryce-Menuhin, there contains several quotations by Jung and a Jungian analyses of the three Abrahamic faiths. One particular quotation I feel sums up Jung's views on Islam specifically and was a reaction he had when he was in East Africa. Jung was analyzing the dream of a patient living in Africa, and these are his comments:

"He was born among the Moslems. That is a very showy religion, and in Cairo and the coast towns one still sees very impressive sights, the afternoon prayer, for instance, when traffic stops, and the long rows of kneeling people bow low to Mecca. Whole streets are filled with them...The mosques are far more impressive then Christian churches, they are marvelous, as fine as the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in the West. This religion has been misrepresented by prejudice teachers; we have a funny idea about Islam through bad education. It is represented by our theologians as dry and empty, but there is tremendous life in it, particularly in Islamic mysticism, which is the secret backbone of Islam."

When Jung wrote his famous autobiography "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" he discussed his travels to Africa and the Muslim lands he visited. He mentions meeting Muslims, and yet what is missing is any comment of negativity regarding them and the religion of Islam. This book was published right before the end of his days, certainly the right time for him to warn us of potential negative thought process regarding Islam. And yet we find nothing of the sort from his published works nor his personal journals and thoughts. This should be no surprise given the famous Jungian scholars and psychologist who he inspired. Spiegelmen has already been noted and mentioned, who wrote the book "Sufism, Islam and Jungian Psychology". Also Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, noted Jungian psychologist and Islamic Mysticism scholar who wrote the book "Catching the Thread". Lastly Joseph Campbell who's third volume of the series "The Masks of God" discuss Islam on equal importance and footing with the other Western Religions. What do these men have in common? They speak of Islam in a positive light and even more importantly in the light of Depth Analytical Psychology, which was inspired by Jung and of course by the Collective Unconscious that is inside each and every member of our species and perhaps even nature as well.

I hope this article cleared up any misconceptions regarding this topic. It is sad that people have to stoop to the level of bigotry and anger towards any faith, and take a very important person like Carl Jung and abuse a statement he made, totally voided of the context it rightfully deserves. Jung felt that ALL RELIGIONS were important to the human psyche and condition. That they were avenues for humans to achieve a sense of inner peace and external peace with the entire world. It was only when religion fell into a strict, force-fed hierarchal form, that he felt it infringed on the individual and thus hindered the Individualization process which we all must go through in this journey called life. But one thing is for certain, he did not HATE the religion of Islam, nor did he view it has anything negative, but rather, like other Eastern based faiths, felt that the West should learn, accept and be tolerant of such belief systems. That way we as a species could know one another and live together in harmony. I would like to end with a quotation from the Quran which I think sums up nicely Jung's hopes for us as a global community:

"O mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other not that ye may despise each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well-acquainted with all things." Chapter 49, verse 13.