Quran Journey Series – My Bit for Change

Quran Journey series – Reflections on Quranic verses – X

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

“Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.

Allah only forbids you, with regard to those who fight you for (your) faith, and drive you out of your homes, and support (others) in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and protection).” (60:8-9)

Islam is about submission to the Divine Will in order to attain peace, and this works both at the individual level as well as for the community. Muslims are supposed to seek to acquire peace within and strive to establish it in society. However, the establishment of peace at the communal level is only possible through the provision of justice. The central principle around which the socio-politico-economic system of Islam is built is Justice.

Islamic Justice is all-embracing and universal, to be extended to all mankind, regardless of any distinction of race, creed, nationality and even faith/religion. It is a fundamental human right. Islam asserts justice in dealing with those belonging to other faiths, whether they be citizens of the Islamic state or members of other communities and nations. The rights of non Muslims in a Muslim state have been clearly outlined by the Shariah_ they are entitled to all rights of citizenship and complete freedom of belief:

Non-Muslims are to be protected by the Muslims, as the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself said:

“Whoever harasses a dhimmi I shall be his adversary, and of whomever I become the adversary, I shall prosecute him in the Doomsday” (At Tabrani, 65).

Again: “He who harms a non-Muslim who keeps a peace treaty with Muslims has harmed me, and he who harms me has harmed Allah” (At-Tabarani in Al-Awsat).

In support of the Prophet’s view, an orthodox caliph stated that the blood of the dhimmi is “like our blood and his religion is like our religion” so that “they are entitled to what we are entitled to…”

As is made clear by the verse, all non Muslims be they citizens of the Islamic state or not, must be dealt with justly: this justice is to be waged universally and unconditionally, even in case of hostility. The Quran says:

“O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah , witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do.” (5:8)

In fact, the Quran takes it a step further by adding to it the element of kindness. Muslims must deal with non Muslims who possess no explicit aggressive designs with kindness, forbearance, gentleness. This is built on the Islamic concept of the entire creation of God being His ‘family,’ all being the ‘sons and daughters of Adam (A.S).’ It is this kindliness of demeanour in dealing with those not yet Muslim that earns us the Love and pleasure of Allah.

However, it is a demand of justice that wrong be redressed, that evil be confronted, oppression be resisted and defended against. Muslims must be active agents of justice and peace on earth. In order to attain justice and root out injustice, Muslims have to exert themselves, through force if need be. Only through the readiness to establish justice with might and main can peace prevail, and History is a witness to this_ the might of Goliath was shattered through the courage, valour and strength of David (Daud A.S). Those who are unwilling to strive with physical strength and force for the establishment of a just order will be trodden on and vanquished by the forces of evil as it pervades, unresisted. Hence, the Quran instructs, Muslims must act with firmness against those who have evil designs against Islam; who oppress human beings, who spread evil (fitnah) in the land and assist the forces of injustice and evil. That too is the example provided by the seerah of Muhammad (SAW) who exerted himself in the Way of Allah through waging military struggle against the enemies who had persecuted believers for their faith, and who had taken away the freedom of belief that is a God-given right of all human beings.

The verse above is a radiant example of the middle position of Islam and its great emphasis on the principles of justice and peace, its firm insistence on the rights of human beings; it highlights Islam’s rejection of all forms of discrimination and its insistence on absolute justice for all. Islam, in the light of this and other verses of the Quran and statements of the Prophet (SAW), stands tall as an egalitarian system of life with a universal vision of justice and peace.

Muslims must be just and kind towards fellow human beings regardless of faith-based (or other) distinctions. However, those who violate the rights of others, oppress and persecute are to be defended against with firmness, strength and might. Only thus can a just order be established that facilitates the attainment of a peaceful society.

Quran Journey Series- Reflections on Quranic verses: IX

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

(Say: “O ‘Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) [Surah Al-Zumar, verse 53]

One of the greatest blessings bestowed upon errant fumbling slaves like us all is Allah’s promise of forgiveness which comes from His all-encompassing, inexhaustible mercy. In the very first verse of the Quran at the beginning of Surah Fateha, we are told of two of the primary attributes of Allah: Ar Rahman and Ar Raheem. Although both have the same root of ‘rahm’ that bears the connotation of the mother’s womb and hence signifies tenderness, care, protection, nourishment, gentleness and ‘the love of seventy mothers and more…’ ; yet there are some important distinctions . ‘Ar Rahman’ means the One with the Highest, the most Extreme, Intense and Infinite Mercy. ‘Ar Raheem’ on the other hand, means the One whose Mercy is constant, endless, undimmed, ceaseless and eternal. Allah alone combines both these attributes to the degree of perfection_ He is Extremely Merciful, consistently.

For us_ too prone to sinning and forgetfulness_ this is good news. It gives hope, it lifts the spirits up, it promises us deliverance and salvation through His Mercy, it reassures us we can still start afresh, and that

`He who comes closer to Me one span, I come closer to him a cubit; and he who comes closer to Me a cubit, I come closer to him a fathom; and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running”. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Forgiveness is the most beautiful aspect of Allah’s Mercy, and we all stand in greatest need of it. The promise of His Mercy even as we sin repeatedly comes as a cool draught in a day of heat and thirst; a healing, comfort and a soft balm on a wounded, sinned-against soul; a beacon of light at the end of a long dark tunnel. Alhamdulillah. For, where would we be without it?

“And if Allah had destroyed men for their inequity, He would not leave on the earth a single creature, but He respites them…” (Surah an-Nahl 16:61)

The Quran demonstrates a deep and insightful understanding and appreciation of psychology with all its vicissitudes. Allah knows our innate propensity for sin . Allah knows we are forgetful by our very natures. He knows we are liable to err and fall into sin, as was illustrated by the first sin of Adam (A.S). Just as Adam (A.S) was given hope of forgiveness through Allah’s Grace and Mercy, so are we blessed and delivered out of darkness and sin through His Mercy that lies in wait for us, and welcomes us with open arms, only if we relent, feel the twinge of guilt and remorse, realize our mistake and regret it.

The verse and its themes of Mercy and Forgiveness are particularly relevant with the commencement of the last ten days of Ramadan, when the Mercy of Allah is at its highest, its most intense, ready to be showered on those who seek it through worship, remembrance and repentance. Ramadan is a yearly season of forgiveness, a yearly flowering of faith, a yearly opportunity to reflect, to purify ourselves, to cleanse our spirits from too much of the temporal and worldly that smothered it the rest of the year; and a yearly high-tide of Allah’s forgiveness that we must make the best of. It is recommended to spend the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan in intense prayer, seeking Allah’s forgiveness, with the following recommended prayer:

Aisha (RA) said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (PBUH): ‘O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I say during it?’ He said: ‘Say: O Allah, You are pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.’ “
(Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi). “Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘annee”

Those who miss the opportunity to make the best of it are unfortunate indeed:

Kaab Ibn Ujrah (RA) relates that Rasulullah (SAW) climbed the first step of the pulpit, He (SAW) said “Aameen”, When He (SAW) ascended the second step, He (SAW) said “Aameen”, When He (SAW) climbed the third step, He (SAW) said “Aameen” When He (SAW) came down, We said “O Rasool of Allah (SAW), we have heard from you today something which we never heard before” He (SAW) said When I climbed the first step, the angel Jibraeel (A.S.) appeared before me and said “Destruction to him who found the blessed month of Ramdhan and let it pass by without gaining forgiveness.” Upon that I said ‘Aameen’. (Haakim, Baihaqi)

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Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Allah says: `I am just as My slave thinks of Me when he remembers Me.’ By Allah! Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than one of you who unexpectedly finds in the desert his lost camel. `He who comes closer to Me one span, I come closer to him a cubit; and he who comes closer to Me a cubit, I come closer to him a fathom; and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running”.
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Quran Journey Series: Quranic Reflections- VIII

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

‘Whoever should hope for the meeting with Allah – indeed, the term decreed by Allah is coming. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.’ (29:5)

The concept of the Hereafter ought not to arouse fear alone, but also, as said in this verse, a promise and a hope in the ‘Meeting’ with the Lord of the Universe; a hope to attain the object of all your love, adoration, worship, devotion, obedience through the Pleasure of Allah; to reach the Sought, and to witness the coming true of the Greatest Promise. The Hereafter is a comforting promise of hope for the sinned against, the oppressed, the victimized_ a promise of Perfect, Absolute Justice:

“So whosoever does an atom’s weight of good shall behold it.” (Surah Zilzal)

No good deed shall go unrewarded, no iota of pain suffered shall go unhealed but that Allah shall recompense it with the Best Recompense.

Narrated ‘Aisha: Allah’s Apostle (SAW) said, “No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn.” (Sahih Bukhari, 544).

Were it not for the Promise of His Mercy and the redressing of all wrong, the establishment of the Balance that men transgressed, where would we be?

The word ‘Meeting’ implies intimacy, love, closeness, personal confidential exchange, sharing, pouring forth in a special and private one-on-one with Allah. Allah privileges and honours His slaves with the promise of a meeting with Him, the Majestic, Glorified Lord of all existence. It beckons us with hope- the hope of coming to rest and satiety in the ‘Home of Peace.’

The concept of the establishment of perfect justice in the after-life is immensely hope-giving to those who strive to do good. In a world where acts of kindness often goes unrewarded, where rights are trampled upon, where true sincerity and goodness goes unrecognized, where the innocent suffer unjustly and the oppressors rule the roost, the hope of Divine Justice comes as glad tidings, as a healing for the wounded heart, as a promise of deliverance. Allah also tells us that with Divine Justice also comes Mercy, without which we stand no chance. It is by His Mercy alone that our tainted souls are salvaged. His reward is never deserved, it is bestowed out of His Benevolence to the unworthy slaves who in their humanness always fall short. But Allah forgives, loves, blesses the sincere ones, even as they fumble. This makes the believers take heart, hoping in the Meeting with the Lord. It gives enormous strength and patience in bearing the calamities of this world_ a privilege of the Faithful ones:

“How wonderful is the situation of the believer, for all his affairs are good. If something good happens to him, he gives thanks for it and that is good for him; if something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience, and that is good for him. This does not apply to anyone but the believer.” (Sahih Muslim #2999)

The tone of the verse is reassuring, solicitous, uplifting. It lifts one above the mire of the injustices of this world, on the wings of Hope in Allah’s Justice and Mercy, and most of all, in the Meeting with the Eternal Beloved, Who rewards more than what human imagination is capable of, Who is the True Valuer, the Subtle and All-Aware.

Quran Journey series: Reflections on Quranic verses- VII

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

‘They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him.’ (39:67)

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The man whispered ‘God, speak to me!’
And a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.
So the man yelled ‘God speak to me!’
And the thunder rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said ‘God let me see you’
And a star shone brightly.
But the man did not notice.
And the man shouted ‘God show me a miracle’
And a life was born.
But the man did not know.
So, the man cried out in despair.

‘Touch me God and let me know that you are here!’
Whereupon a butterfly brushed past him.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

This very often quoted anonymous piece of writing illustrates how man turns away from the ayat (signs) of Allah in the universe, is ungrateful for the innumerable blessings that encompass us, unmindful of the grace, bounty and glory of Allah that pervade and animate the universe.

The verse hits home hard- the Lord of the universe laments over how man has debased himself by not giving to his Creator what he owes Him: the exclusive devotion, adoration, self-surrender that was due only to Him, and through which man discovers and lives out his own true potential.

In surah Yasin in a similar vein Allah says,

‘Ya hasratan ilal ibaad!’ (Alas for mankind),

that they wronged themselves by refusing to acknowledge the One they owe their existence to, who calls to Sakeenah (restful Peace, Godliness) through His love; who calls to the Truth that sets us free from bondage to falsehood, deception and evil.

Man has been ennobled by Allah through the ‘Ruh’ He breathed into the human nafs from His own spirit. Humanity is a gift bestowed by Allah through the crowning glory of divinely inspired Ilm and the nobility of the ‘fitrah’ on which man has been created.

‘Verily, We have honoured the sons of Adam…’ (17:70)

‘Verily, We did offer the trust to the heavens, and the earth, and the mountains: but they refused to bear it because they were afraid of it. Yet man took it up – verily, he has been prone to be most wicked, most foolish.’ (33:72)

Faith in God is a transforming force that makes one transcend above and beyond the confines of the here and now; it raises above the personal, selfish, temporal, material and physical that holds us down to an ephemeral level of existence, caged in the id, embroiled in the pursuit of short-term self-gratifying goals.

Faith makes selflessness possible. It makes forbearance, patience, forgiveness and undaunted courage possible. It makes a deep inner tranquility possible regardless of external circumstance. This inward peace enables the faithful individual to radiate peace around him. It enables one to

‘find the best in others. To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived…’ (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Faith makes possible deeds larger than life, motivated by that mysterious magical thing called love for God which has over millennia driven people to live meaningfully, act nobly and altruistically with an incredible spiritual largesse; which has over history made human beings capable of the most superhumanly heroic deeds for no selfish, worldly, material purpose. It has made faith-driven human beings live meaningful, beautiful lives that have left ‘footsteps in the sands of time…’

*Lives of great men all remind us*
*We can make our lives sublime,*
*And, departing, leave behind us*
*Footprints on the sands of time;*

*Footprints, that perhaps another,*
*Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,*
*A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,*
*Seeing, shall take heart again.*

*Let us, then, be up and doing,*
*With a heart for any fate;*
*Still achieving, still pursuing,*
Learn to labor and to wait. (Henry Longfellow)

Faith in God has made immortality attainable to the mortal being of man; has made permanence possible through evanescence; it has healed and purged and elevated and delivered. Yet so many, as the verse says, have failed to recognize the sublime beauty and power of faith in God, recklessly turning away from it, bedazzled by the pomp and show of the transient life of this world.

Very broadly, there are two ways in which man fails to make a just estimate of faith in Allah. Man either carelessly disregards the meaning and value of the Divine in his life out of forgetfulness and the lure of the material world; or he distorts, abuses and exploits the faith he verbally professes in the most vile and heinous ways for his own ends.

Crime, war, racism, slavery, conquest, imperialism, colonialism, nationalism, capitalistic exploitation, environmental degradation have all been impelled by lust for worldly benefit, temporal power and material gain- all of which are corollaries of faithlessness and distancing from the Divine.Great crimes and injustices have also been committed in the Name of God, out of an odious sense of being holier than thou by the self-righteous who wittingly or unwittingly sin against God when they use His name for ignoble, unworthy ends. This is contemporary Islam’s greatest challenge. Khalid Abou El Fadl writes,‘the worst injustice, and the one most worthy of Muslim outrage, is that committed by Muslims in the name of Islam, because that is more deprecating to God than any supposed heresy or legal infraction.’

Man disparages the meaning of the Divine by his own heedlessness and misdeeds. He sells off his faith for paltry gains and sins against his Loving Maker from Whom he came and to Whom he is bound to return. But in so doing, the greatest harm comes to his own self, against his own God-given nafs… only that he does not recognize it. And the undimmed everlasting Glory of Allah abides and endures forevermore:

‘God will requite them for their mockery, and will leave them for a while in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro.’ (2:15)

‘They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.’ (61:8)

Quran Journey Series: Quranic Reflections- VI

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful

“Have you seen the one who takes as his god his own desire? Then would you be responsible for him? Or think you that most of them listen or understand? They are only like cattle;- nay, they are worse astray in their Path.” (25:43)
One of the most heinous and discreet forms of ‘shirk’ (polytheism) is self-worship, when one begins to deify his own desires, that is one follows the command of his desires to such an extent that he ignores and trespasses every moral restraint that stands in his way. He becomes so obsessed with his self that it turns him blind towards the rights of others, his duties to His Lord and his fellow-beings. He indulges in self-serving pursuits; he seeks power, luxury, wealth, fame, importance, comfort, convenience for himself. ‘God’ is the deity to be obeyed, submitted to, adored, worshipped, loved, venerated etc. When something other than God begins to claim all this and becomes the object of our devotion, attention, worship, it becomes a false deity, a partner in the worship of God. Very often we give this quasi-divine status to our own selves and our desires when we blindly pursue them and forget all limits.

According to philosophers and psychologists, the human personality consists of the ‘id,’ which is the reservoir of animal desires, carnal instincts and physical drives like those of hunger and sex. The id creates strong impulses rooted in desire, which are only held in check by higher human consciousness, the ‘superego’ that internalizes values, morals and norms of behaviour. This control of the id impulses makes us human, and the more we are in command of our id desires, the higher we are on the scale of humanity. The strongest imperative of the superego is Faith that comes through religion. It keeps the animal self (nafs e ammara) in check, allowing it limited permissible means of expression. Animals are entirely id, lacking in the higher spiritual consciousness. This is why animals express and pursue their natural physical impulses freely. Their lives revolve entirely around hunting for food, and procreation. When human beings let the id dominate and give it free rein, they descend to the animal level, a primitive level of existence. However, in sophisticated societies, this is called ‘the libertarian culture’ that celebrates ‘individual liberty.’ However, when individual liberty enslaves one to carnal instincts whose imperious command one blindly follows, it is not true liberty and freedom any more.

Such a self-obsessed person will reflect utterly irresponsible behaviour. He will lose all restraint that comes from higher consciousness and will act with recklessness and irresponsibility. According to Abdullah bin Masood (R.A) the Prophet (SAW) said,

‘If you have no shame, then do what you wish.’ (Bukhari)

Allah says that such lovers of the Self must be left to their own, to be consumed by the fire of their own vain lusts and bestial passions, as they have reached the very depths of degeneracy_ fallen from the glory of ‘Ahsan i taqween’ (the best of all creation) to the level of ‘asfalasafileen’ (lowest of the low).’ (reference from Surah Tin)

In their state of intense self-absorption and self-indulgence, their heart and soul becomes deadened, till they can no longer respond to the Call to Faith. The Power of the Revelation goes undetected by them, and does not make any echo in their soul. Their existence becomes comparable to vile beasts who live only through the five external senses. They become what the Quran says

‘ deaf, dumb and blind, so they return not.’ (2:18)

This is because

‘their hearts have a disease’ (2:10)

_the disease of self-love. The God-given heart with its capacity for adoration, benevolence, love, gentleness, sacrifice and nobility becomes a piece of flesh.

“And their hearts are sealed, so that they apprehend not.” (9:87)

Elsewhere in the Quran Allah has compared their hearts to stones:

‘Then, after that, your hearts were hardened and became as stones or even worse in hardness. And indeed, there are stones out of which rivers gush forth, and indeed, there are of them (stones) which split asunder so that water flows from them, and indeed, there are of them (stones) which fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.’ (2:74)

Their eyes can no longer see the Signs of God in the universe, and hence they become blind while in possession of physical sight; their ears can no longer register the Call of Allah, and hence they become deaf.

“Such are they whose hearts and ears and eyes God hath sealed. And such are the heedless.” (16:108).

Their God-given faculties are used only for the lower animal functions of receiving external stimuli; they become caged in the material universe, and make for themselves a paradise out of it_ but it is a temporary paradise of unrestrained exercise of base impulse and desire, destined to eternal perdition.

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (ra) that Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said

“The world is the prison of the believer and paradise of the disbeliever.” (Muslim)

Quran Journey Series: Reflections on the Quran Verses – V

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Woe to every slanderer and backbiter. Who has gathered wealth and counted it. He thinks that his wealth will make him last forever! Nay! Verily, he will be thrown into the crushing Fire. And what will make you know what the crushing Fire is? The fire of Allah, kindled, Which leaps up over the hearts. Verily, it shall be closed in on them. In pillars stretched forth (i.e. they will be punished in the Fire with pillars, etc.). (Chapter 104)

The Surah is a powerful point-blank condemnation of all forms of greed and lust for material objects that human beings desire. While Islam recognizes the existence and importance of the material universe and acknowledges human dependency on material things of this world, yet it also delineates limits which should not be trespassed and stresses on balance and moderation, reminding us at the same time that

“Truly, the life of this world is nothing but a (quick passing) enjoyment, and verily, the Hereafter that is the home that will remain forever.” (Quran 40:39)

When this lesson is forgotten, the balance is lost, and one begins to consider the luxuries and comforts of this life as the be-all and end-all. One begins to hanker after these losing all sense of proportion that this life is a mere droplet in the ocean of eternity. And in this mad rat-race for more and more of this world, one loses his sense of reality as he chases vain dreams, selfish desires impelled by the egotistical impulse. Little does he know that he chases all but shadows.

In this endless breathless wild-goose chase, he becomes a slave to his physical desires and baser instincts, acting on their imperious command, and his soul is stifled and suffocated. he becomes obsessed with himself, self-absorbed and narcissistic. His single concern in life is his own material well-being which he uni-focally seeks to advance.

This has significant effects on his spiritual condition. The very basis of Muslim life is submission. However, relentlessly following the desires of his bloated Self, he becomes utterly incapable of submission, humility, surrender. He worships the god of his desires, the god of wealth, fame, power and can no longer uphold faith in ‘ no god but Allah.’ The altruistic impulses of his soul are snuffed out as a rugged narcissism and self-love takes over. The symptoms of this inner moral decay are as the surah mentions, that he becomes a slanderer and backbiter. He trespasses and flouts all limits to fulfill his greed, to the extent that he violates the rights of others and tramples over them in his relentless chase. He has no regard for others and sees them only as means to achieve his personal agenda, to be used and abused for convenience. Human connections are based on mutual respect, sharing, humbleness, inclusion, selflessness, sincerity. He has none of those, hence he is incapable of any sincere human connection and feels no shame in speaking ill of others behind their backs (backbiting) or to their face, blaming them, vilifying them (slander) and stripping them of all dignity, if that serves his own devious ends. ‘…and do not back-bite one another. Do any of you (who back-bite) love to eat the flesh of your dead brother? Rather, you detest this act, therefore have consciousness of Allah. Certainly Allah is the One who is Oft-Turning to you in repentance, the Merciful.’ (Surah Hujurat, verse 12)

The love of wealth and luxury gives such a person a false sense of permanence of these temporal, transient objects. He gradually forgets that all is fleeting, all a passing shadow, and that the dust of the grave awaits him in the end. It is only belief in the hereafter and a consciousness of accountability before a higher power that restrains man from blindly and madly pursuing material goal to the extent of losing all sense of balance and discrimination between good and evil. It is the absence of the certainty in the afterlife that is the seed of greed and lust in the human heart. Once this greed is allowed to take root, it becomes an all-consuming fire destroying the altruistic impulses and the seed of faith in a higher Power that owns all life. What takes over this inner vacuity and emptiness is a bloated self dominated by the carnal desires of the ‘id.’‘Have you seen the one who has taken his own desires as his god?’

Hence the punishment for such a life is the raging fire of Hell. The fire of greed that burns to ashes all restraints, all traces of goodness ends up in the Home of Fire that crushes just like this person crushed his soul. However, the stay in this Crushing Place is eternal and ever-lasting, just as he vainly thought his joyride, his heydays of revelling in physical pleasures were going to last forever. The flames shall mount and leap high over him like towers just like his own towering ambition to possess, acquire and hold on to what was not rightfully his. That is Divine Justice.

May Allah save us from His Wrath and make us recipients of His Mercy.

Quran Journey Series: Reflections on Quranic verses – IV

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

“And they will say: “Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the (Right) Way. Our Lord! give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse!” (33:66-67)

The verse illustrates the perils of blindly and unquestioningly following others because of the power and influence they wield. Islam emphatically and unequivocally rejects the notion of blind following. Even obedience to Allah and the Prophet (SAW) is based upon conscious and wilful acceptance of the faith through reason, among other things.

One of the primary functions of Islamic Tawhid is the liberation of man from bondage and slavery to other men who exploit, misuse, mislead and oppress to accentuate their own sense of power and superiority to gratify the ego.

That one bowing-down that you consider so hard

Liberates you from a thousand ignoble surrenders (Iqbal)

The Islamic position is that every human being has been endowed with consciousness and an innate moral criterion, a soul that can discern goodness and evil and the intellect (aql) that makes knowledge possible.

“And by the soul, and Him Who perfected it in proportion; Then He showed him what is wrong for him and what is right for him; Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself. And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself.” (91:7-10)

Most vitally, man has been given volition and the ability to make choices on the basis of his knowledge. He is therefore made responsible for his moral choices in life. If, however, man chooses to surrender all these remarkable God-given abilities to the blind obedience of other human beings, he commits a sin against his own self, which incurs the wrath of the One who bestowed these invaluable gifts on him. Such ignoble surrender expresses ingratitude by subjugating and debasing the God-given human essence to the unworthy. It is selling oneself short. As Ali (R.A) warned,

‘The price of your Ruh (spirit) is Paradise. Do not sell it for what is lesser.’

Unconditional obedience and surrender is the exclusive right of God alone, because He deserves it. Surrendering ourselves to powerful human beings and obeying them unconditionally is therefore a violation of the fundamental belief that Allah alone deserves our devotion, adoration and obedience. It is hence a form of rank ‘shirk’ to accord the exclusive privilege of God to the lesser and unworthier.

Obeying the powerful is a sign of weakness as one allows fear of consequences, external pressures or the incentive of short-term material benefits to take over, shutting off one’s rationality and strangling one’s free will, so that one spiritually degenerates into a mind-controlled sleepwalking zombie ready to take orders to mechanically and unquestioningly carry them out.

Such human beings harm not only themselves but become instruments of grave harm to society. They become the means for the powerful to carry out their exploitative and oppressive practices. Through their obedience they lend strength to the arrogant oppressor. They become cogs in the machine sustaining the unjust system consciously or unconsciously. These are the ‘careerists’- the numberless anonymous obedient and efficient clerks who execute the commands of the tyrants on high and work hard to keep in place the system that supports the oppressive status quo. Chris Hedges describes them as:

‘…armies of bureaucrats serving a corporate system that will quite literally kill us. They are as cold and disconnected… They carry out minute tasks. They are docile. Compliant. They obey. They find their self-worth in the prestige and power of the corporation, in the status of their positions and in their career promotions. It is moral schizophrenia. They erect walls to create an isolated consciousness. They destroy the ecosystem, the economy and the body politic… They feel nothing. And the system rolls forward. The polar ice caps melt. The droughts rage over cropland. The drones deliver death from the sky. The state moves inexorably forward to place us in chains. The sick die. The poor starve. The prisons fill. And the careerist, plodding forward, does his or her job.’

Over the history of Islam, it was the trend of blind following of rigid juristic schools (taqlid) in exclusion to all others that created fixity and stasis, and hence stunted the progress of Muslim society through the ongoing process of ijtihad sanctioned by Allah, to be made in the light of His revelations and the use of the aql bestowed by Him.

The warning is loud and clear: we cannot ward off responsibility of our actions by blindly following powerful clerics, rulers, chiefs, monarchs, dictators, tyrants and cult-figures. Our freedom to choose on the basis of the rules inspired and established by God is one of the greatest gifts we have been given. And when we exercise this freedom to make the right choices, we earn the love of Allah, and find our way back to Him. Allowing others to rob us off this freedom for petty short-term benefits is to sell away one’s soul in an unholy pact with the devil. It is our freedom as moral agents that makes us ‘the best of all creation’ (Ahsan i taqweem), and it is our rejection of the gift in order to mindlessly hero-worship anyone who owns power that debases us into ‘the lowest of the low’ (Asfalasaafileen).

As Muslims we must remember that we are all individually and directly accountable to Allah alone; answerable for every single choice we make- and in His court, the power of all others comes to naught as sham. It is not our association with a person of power and influence that can salvage us, but our own individual conduct based on our conscious moral choices. The delusions of worldly grandeur are transient and misleading. In the Glory, Greatness and Majesty of the Divine, all else fades away into nothingness:

‘And all that remains is the Grace and Majesty of your Lord’ (Surah Rahman)

———————————————–

`Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies; whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear —
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’ (Shelley: ‘Ozymandias’)

Quran Journey Series – Reflections on Quranic verses – III

In the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

‘What? Can there be a doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?’ (Surah Ibrahim chapter 14, verse 10)

Often the yardstick of logic and science is used to ‘prove’ the existence of God. That endeavour is somewhat misplaced because of its concession to the idea that God is a subject that depends on proof on the terms set by the dictates of human reason. It places human reason and logic above the Noumenal Absolute which in essence cannot be traversed by reason alone.

‘Go beyond Reason’s light! Reason is the lamp that shows the road but does not mark the destination.’ (Iqbal)

The Quran’s majesty does not depend on such proof. The above verse is an emphatic interjection that attests to the Haqq and asserts it to be beyond doubt and conjecture. It is beyond the reach of human reason for it is an altogether different realm with an altogether different set of rules not determined by or dependent upon the phenomenal world. To tread into this realm is to take flight on the wings of faith through making the leap over the giant intractable abyss that cannot be traversed by reason.

According to the Quran, anticipating a purpose of life and a need for guidance out of sheer humility are prerequisites for reaching faith. Seeing is not believing, hence ‘Eeman bil Ghayb‘ (belief in the unseen). God has decided that we will not see Him in this life. He sent signs and revelations and messengers, enjoining belief in the Unseen.

The belief He requires of us will come about by only His rules. In God’s judgement when the intuitive and intellectual capabilities He has endowed us with combine with circumstances in which we have acquired knowledge of His signs and revelations, He becomes justified in demanding from us belief in the unseen and obedience to His revealed guidance. Traversing the path to belief that God has laid down will always require good faith and noble conduct from us: God’s terms, the demands of His test do not need greater evidence.

The ‘argument’ for faith rests upon religious experience. Religious/mystical experience transcends and defies existing notions of reality and existence and leaves one in awe. Religious experience may not provide all the answers to all logical questions but leaves on the mind impressions of an expansive transcendent consciousness. However, while this kind of an experience helps us reach faith, it does not necessarily lead to Islamic Monotheism (Deen Al Haneef).

The notion of a personal God that communicates to humanity to let His will be known is essentially drawn from scriptures and not only inspired by intuitive human insight- works that are by definition attributed to a deity that is at the same time both transcendent and immanent.

It must be remembered, however, that the Quran does not accept an absurd faith from its believer lacking the capacity to discern fundamental differences among varying belief systems. We are enjoined to accept the best believable option, most likely to be revealed by a divine source, the message most befitting of an all-Knowing all-Powerful God.

The Quran uses logical reasoning where it works, and in fact celebrates the exercise of reasoning as a God-given gift (‘aql’):

‘Do you not think?’ (2:44)

It accords a vital role to reason as a means to raise vital existential questions which finally are resolved or fade into irrelevance through faith. It calls for reason to differentiate between the truth and the falsehood and reject the falsity of polytheistic belief. This is the lesson from Ibrahim (A.S)’s insightful journey to the Truth. It was his innate fitrah that led him to seek and wonder and created a revulsion to falsehood while instilling a fundamental recognition of the Truth through its essential attributes. He then used his reason to find out where the answers may lie and understand what specific attributes the Truth could be identified by.

So when the night outspread over Ibrahim, he saw a star; he said, “This is my Lord.” But when the star set [in the morning,] he said, ”[This cannot be my Lord because it has passed away,] I do not like the transitory [gods].” (6:75)

Reason took him a long way, but beyond a point where he realized that the attributes of the finite created world could not be extended to apply to the Creator of the world, it failed to suffice. That is when Ibrahim (A.S) exclaimed,

“If my Lord did not guide me, then I shall surely be of the people who have gone astray.”

And he soared on the wings of faith, reaching absolute certainty (yaqeen) and a profound conviction that translated into his selfless and resolute passion.

This yaqeen he was blessed with through honest submission was a force elevated above the confines of reason that had assisted the earlier part of his journey. In its intensity, this feeling in the heart defies the logic in the head- hence he readies himself to bear pain and torture beyond human endurance, out of ardent Love born out of an unshakable conviction and loving recognition of Divinity.

It is those who have tasted the sweetness of absolute, pure faith in the Divine that can exclaim with certainty:

‘What! Can there be a doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?

God’s acceptance of someone as a true believer and His weighing of factors that lead to true belief do not give evidence or logic precedence over humane conduct and good faith. The God of Muhammad SAW is keen to accept those as His believers who retain something of the noble nature on which He created them (fitrah). He rejects those that have wronged themselves through cruelty and arrogance.

Quran Journey Series – Reflections on Quranic verses – II

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

“See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? – A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high).

Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord and Allah sets forth parables for mankind in order that they may remember.” (14: 24-25)

One of the most powerful and profound metaphors in the Quran: the upstanding tree firmly rooted in faith. I have always imagined the goodly tree to be a date-palm, perhaps because of this Hadith narrated by Umar (R.A): The Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said,

“Amongst the trees, there is a tree, the leaves of which do not fall and it is like a Muslim. Tell me the name of that tree.” Everybody started thinking about the trees of the desert areas. And I thought of the date-palm tree but felt too shy to answer. The others then asked, “What is that tree, O Allah’s Apostle?” He replied, “It is the date-palm tree.”

Sahih Bukhari, Book of Knowledge, Hadith #58

The date palm reaches out to the sky, standing tall and erect with its single branch-less trunk that goes straight up- somewhat like the spiritual pursuit of the Muslim seeking the Majestic Face of his Lord. The trunk is wedged, as if to aid the feet of the climber, the seeker of the sweetness higher up. Climbing up the date-palm is like walking the Steep Path which Allah mentions in Surah Balad, verses 11-14.

“But he has made no effort to pass on the path that is steep. And what will make you know the path that is steep? (It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.) Or giving food in a day of hunger (famine)…” (90:11-14)

The ascent is laborious and arduous, but the end is the sweetness of Eeman.

As the Hadith as well as the original verse mention, the date-palm is evergreen: bearing fruit in all seasons. Like the Muslim (submitted one) who remains steadfast in faith and is a consistent doer of good whether the going is tough or whether the circumstances are in one’s favour: creating for himself a win-win situation out of everything. As the Prophet (SAW) said,

“How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2999).

Faith enables us to bear fruit no matter what ground we’re planted in, no matter what season it is: springtime or fall. For the energy comes from the inner treasure of faith, not from a salubrious external environment. The Muslim’s khayr (goodness) is not seasonal or conditional or time-bound.

The date-palm grows in the desert, in arid waterless lands. It promises nourishment, comfort and shade to the wearied desert dweller and the wayfarer. Its deep roots enable it to reach water that is not easily accessible. Its deep roots give it firmness, making it stand tall in the scorching barren desert under the blazing skies.

The date-palm grows in clumps, in community: life-giving oases in the wastelands. It marks the presence of water, beckoning the traveller and the seeker towards itself with hope and the glad tidings it exudes by its very existence. It is a place of refuge: energizing, revitalizing. In all this are traits of the believer. When Maryam (A.S) was in pain and distress, Allah gave her refuge, rest and comfort under the date-palm:

“And shake towards yourself the trunk of the date-palm it will let fall on you fresh, ripe dates.” (19:25)

It is the deep-rootedness that makes its branches reach higher up. Just like connection with your origin and essence, your history and genesis- that is, Allah who we come from- makes us mindful of our direction and purpose, fuels our journey onward and blesses us with spiritual elevation and moral uprightness. It is by looking back that we go forward. It is by being poised in the ethos of our existence (the fitrah) that we make the circle of life whole.

And at the apex of its journey, the highest point, the slender branchless trunk springs into a rich profusion and luxuriance of deep green leaves, at the core of which lies the hard-won prize, the fruit of labour: the date that is enriched with healthful, delectable sweetness: like the sweetness of eeman engendered over the long years of struggling in His way unifocally, with fear and with hope; and the sweetness of Allah’s Pleasure and reward that awaits us at the long journey’s end.

Quran Journey Series – Reflections on Quranic Verses: I

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

“And verily! This your religion (of Islamic Monotheism) is one religion, and I am your Lord, so keep your duty to Me. But they (men) have broken their religion among them into sects, each group rejoicing in its belief. So leave them in their error for a time.”

(Surah Mominoon, verses 52-54)

I was struck by these verses because Allah addresses the believers in a direct, intimate manner: ‘I am your Lord, so keep your duty to Me’, reminding us with extraordinary simplicity and stark clarity, of the truth writ large that we must acknowledge. The duty we owe to Him is to hold on to this Truth with steadfastness, and live it out in our lives by submitting ourselves to His will.

The verses present a link between Unity of the Creator which is the essence and pivot of Islam, and the unity of humankind. It presents the universality of the truth embodied in Islam. The vision here is of oneness, singleness, wholeness and harmony: that there is a single truth, not versions of it. The Truth has no plurality. It is universal, unchanging, unvarying, absolute. All else which is not the truth is a deviation, corruption, distortion.

It is this deviation from the truth that splinters us into sects, denominations, cults and groups. This splintering up is a distancing from the truth and an alienation from the source of the truth, i.e Allah. The healing and harmonizing comes from an acknowledgement of and submission to that truth with our hearts and souls. It is reaching this truth that liberates us from misguidance, doubt, falsehood, discord and conflict.
An important insight is that the call of Islam is addressed universally and the truth it presents is forever and for all. The vision of Islam and the ideal it presents is the unity of all mankind through faith.
The fact that there is only a single universal truth (not truths), helps us understand that all faiths carry that same essence and hence share common origins. It is the corruption and distortion over the ages that smothers the truth that lies undiscovered at the heart, and creates difference. It is by reaching for that pristine essence within that we reach Unity, and that is where we come to rest:

“Say O People of the Book! Come to that which is common between us and you: that we worship none but Allah and we associate no partners with Him.”

Islam preserves in itself the pristine truth. When by honest inquiry and sincere search one removes the theological trappings that gathered over the ages, one is left with the marrow of it, the very heart: the Truth, and nothing but… this is the truth succinctly echoing in ‘La ilaha il Allah’.

To me, these verses are a powerful condemnation of sectarian tendencies that use religious difference to divide and hate. They expose sectarianism as a grotesque travesty, a betrayal and a going astray. Theological and juristic debate which intensifies difference, highlights it and uses it to divide human beings must be rejected as it violates the core message of Islam: the unity of mankind through the Unity of God, to which the heart of man testifies, and which is engraved in the heart of the universe.

It also teaches tolerance and keeps us from judgement of others in matters of faith, as the best judgement lies with Allah. While we acknowledge and proclaim the message of Islam as a universal call, we do not impose or coerce or hurt or unfairly judge in case of denial; against the animosity of those who reject and hate the truth, we take comfort in the fact that all is within the all seeing Eye of Allah, and He is the Best Judge between us.