Bertrand Russell, Karl Marx, and the Islamic Refutation of a Philosophy Built on Resentment

 

By: Salim Mohamed Badat

Introduction: Two Philosophers, Two Moral Universes

Bertrand Russell, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, viewed Karl Marx with a wary, critical eye. While he acknowledged Marx’s intellectual power, Russell believed that Marx’s philosophy was animated not by benevolence or compassion but by resentment and hostility.

In his 1952 BBC interview Wisdom, Russell famously remarked:
“If a philosophy is to bring happiness it should be inspired by kindly feeling. Now Marx is not inspired by kindly feeling. Marx pretended that he wanted the happiness of the proletariat, but what he really wanted was the unhappiness of the bourgeois. And it was because of that negative element, because of that hate element that his philosophy produced disaster.”

Russell argued that any philosophical project grounded in hatred, division, and hostility would inevitably create tyranny rather than liberation. Marxism, to Russell, represented the triumph of anger over ethics.

Strikingly, this criticism resonates deeply with Islamic intellectual and sociological traditions. Long before Marx, Muslim thinkers had identified the spiritual and civilizational dangers of ideologies built upon class hatred, materialism, and the reduction of human beings to economic functions.

This article explores how Russell’s critique aligns with classical Islamic thought, and why leading Muslim sociologists, political thinkers, and theologians saw Marx’s ideas as spiritually corrosive, intellectually incomplete, and socially disastrous.

Bertrand Russell’s Moral Critique of Marx

Russell’s central claim is simple yet profound: A philosophy motivated by kindness can uplift society. A philosophy motivated by hate can only destroy it. Russell believed Marx harbored deep resentment toward the wealthy, using moral language as a cover for emotional vengeance.

In Russell’s reading, Marx cared less about building a just society than about the defeat and humiliation of a particular class.

Russell’s moral psychology aligns with Islamic teachings, which teach that: Justice must never arise from anger or vengeance. Reform must be driven by mercy, compassion, and wisdom. Hatred corrupts intentions and leads to tyranny, regardless of ideological labels.

Islamic Perspective: Justice Without Hatred, Reform Without Class War.

Islam does not deny class inequality, exploitation, or the suffering of the poor.
The Quran repeatedly condemns:
Concentration of wealth (Al-Hashr 59:7)
Oppression of laborers (Al-Mutaffifin 83:1–3) Arrogance of the elites (Al-Qasas 28:76–82)

However, Islam rejects class warfare, violent revolution, and most importantly the notion that society is nothing but an economic battlefield.

Ibn Khaldun: The First Sociologist and a Critic of Materialist Explanations.

Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), often called the father of sociology, rejected any worldview that reduced history to economics alone. He observed that: Civilisations rise not through material equality but through moral unity (ʿasabiyyah). Civilisations fall when this unity is replaced with envy, resentment, and internal hostility.

Ibn Khaldun warned that political movements driven by anger, class revenge, or hatred ultimately become tyrannies once they gain power, a criticism perfectly aligned with Russell’s point.
In al-Muqaddimah, he writes:
“Group feeling based on injustice cannot last, for oppression sows the seeds of its own destruction.”

Thus, both Russell and Ibn Khaldun argue that revolutions born of resentment end not in liberation but in new forms of oppression.

Imam Ali (RA.): A Philosophy of Justice Without Malice.

Imam Ali, whose political sermons remain a cornerstone of Islamic political ethics, warned against ideologies built upon hatred of particular groups. In Nahj al-Balāghah, he states: “Do not be the enemy of humanity.” “Your enemy is injustice, not the people.”

Imam Ali’s governance model combined compassion with firmness. He fought oppression, but he refused to encourage hatred of the wealthy or privileged simply because of their status.

His letters to Malik al-Ashtar establish:
The role of the state is to protect the poor,
without demonising the rich, and without collapsing society into hostile classes.This is the antithesis of Marxist ideology.

Muhammad Iqbal: A Poetic Refutation of Marxian Materialism.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), philosopher-poet of the East, studied Marx deeply. While he admired Marx’s critique of capitalism’s excesses, he warned that Marxism was “a tree planted in a soil barren of God.” He wrote: “Marx is not wholly in error, but his fire lacks the light of the heart.”

Iqbal argued that Marxism destroys spiritual freedom by reducing humans to economic animals. Without God, moral transcendence, and compassion, a Marxist society becomes mechanistic and authoritarian.

Iqbal saw Marxist revolution as: materialist, spiritually empty, fueled by class hatred rather than a vision of human flourishing.

Malik Bennabi: Marxism as Civilizational Decline.

Algerian philosopher Malik Bennabi (1905–1973) saw Marxism as a symptom of civilizations that have lost their spiritual center. Bennabi argued: “Materialist ideologies rise when societies lose moral purpose.”

He believed Marxism mutilated the human being by denying the soul and reducing all social problems to economics, a belief incompatible with Islam’s holistic anthropology.

Sayyid Qutb: Marxism as Jahiliyyah (Ignorance).

Qutb’s writings analyze Marxism as a worldview built upon hostility, inequality of moral worth, and denial of God. He argued that Marxism’s root problem is its hatred driven ontology: “It sees conflict where God created harmony.”

This mirrors Russell’s claim that Marxism is driven not by love for the oppressed but by hatred for the privileged.

Islam’s Middle Path: Reform Without Resentment

Islam balances social justice with spiritual ethics: Zakat (obligatory charity)
Prohibition of hoarding wealth, worker rights , anti-usury laws, state obligations to protect the poor, encouragement of charity, community, and cooperation

But none of these require: class warfare, violent revolution,abolition of private property, or resentment of the wealthy.
Instead, Islam cultivates a society where moral transformation precedes structural reform.

Conclusion: Russell and the Islamic Tradition Converge.

Bertrand Russell criticized Marxism because its emotional foundation was poisoned. A philosophy built upon hostility cannot heal society, it can only replicate violence in new forms.

Islamic sociologists and political thinkers from Ibn Khaldun and Imam Ali (RA) to Iqbal, Bennabi, and Qutb, reached the same conclusion centuries earlier:
Justice built on mercy leads to flourishing.
Justice built on hatred leads to tyranny.

Marx sought revolution through resentment; Islam seeks reform through compassion, justice, and spiritual uplift.

In the end, both Bertrand Russell and Islamic civilization warn us of an enduring truth: Any philosophy that begins with hatred, will end with oppression. And Marxism, tragically, is one of history’s clearest examples.

** Salim Mohamed Badat:
Writer exploring the intersection of faith, politics and justice
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