The Reward of Testing

Last week, I attended Jummah prayer at a different masjid. The khatib’s sermon was based on the premise “When God tests you, it doesn’t mean that He is punishing you.”  A ‘test’ is not equivalent to ‘punishment’. The iman then followed this up with examples from the lives of the Prophets, beloved by God, who were tested. I think this concept  (test does not equal punishment) is fairly self-evident to the audience here, but the khatib felt it needed to be said. Today, I would like to expand on some of the examples the khatib used last week to explore the value of testing. These examples are complicated, and I can understand why he chose not to ‘get into it’ last week. However, I think that all of you can handle it and we can certainly open this up for discussion afterwards.  The title of my khutbah today is “The Reward of Testing“.

In the sermon last weeks, the khatib talked about how testing is an opportunity to reveal someone’s “true character.” By this definition, when times are good, people attribute all kinds of virtues to themselves; kindness, generosity, telling the truth. But, when times are rough, people slip into their “true character” because only in bad times can these virtues truly be measured. If you say you are generous, How generous are you, really? Do you only give when you have a surplus? Do you give even when it means having to sacrifice for yourself? Do you give to everyone or only to family members or people you like? A test can provide the context and boundaries for your self-described virtue. While I agree that humans have a tendency to oversubscribe virtues in good times, I think a test can provide more than just character assessment.

Testing provides the possibility of hope for change. Perhaps we do fail a test the first time around. But sometimes, failing a test can teach us a lot more than passing it. If we are disappointed that our virtue live up to our expectations, then maybe the next time we are tested, we can resolve to do better, or resolve to do something different. We can strive to pass the test.  To illustrate the resolve to do better, I’m going to use and example within  story that the khatib chose, which was  the story of Joseph/Yusef, may God be pleased with him.

The khatib used a number of examples in Joseph’s life to show how Joseph was tested (abandoned by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of sexual harassment, time in prison), and in the end, he passed the tests because of the quality of his character and was successful.  Joseph even forgave his brothers who betrayed him.  But that was all the khatib said about Joseph’s brothers, “Joseph forgave them” and in the audience I said to myself “Wait a second! There’s a whole lot more to that story!!”-maybe because I can identify more easily with the jealous brothers and not so much with the saintly Joseph.  Josephy didn’t automatically forgive his brothers, he tested them first.  I know this because when my son attended his friend Reuben’s Bar Mitzvah, Reuben had to read the part of the Torah about Joseph. The rabbi gave him this passage because Reuben, in the Torah, was the oldest son of Jacob. According to the Torah, the other brothers wanted to outright kill Joseph, but Reuben convinced them to put Joseph in the well as a delay tactic. After the brothers put Joseph into the well, Reuben came back that night to rescue him. Only by that time, Joseph was gone, he’d been picked up by the slavers, and Reuben was distraught, he “rent his garments” (Genesis 37:29).

How did Joseph test his brothers? What did testing his brothers reveal ? What insights does testing give us about our character, the values of our culture, and our community? For the first part of my khutbah, I’ll use the example of Joseph and his brothers and the silver cup. In the second part, I’ll return briefly to the example of Prophet Muhammad and his appeal to the people of Ta’if.

In the Quran, the story of Joseph starts with his dream.

“Mention when Joseph said to his father: O my father! Truly I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon. I saw them as ones prostrating themselves to me. He said: O my son! Relate not your dream to your brothers so that they contrive cunning against you. Truly Satan is a clear enemy to the human being.”  Quran 12:4-5

This dream is a prophesy of the future and despite being betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, raised in Egypt, spending time in jail, Joseph eventually rises to a high position the court of the Pharaoh. Many years later when a famine comes to the region, Joseph’s brothers travel to Egypt to buy grain for their survival.  In Quran it states, “And Joseph’s brothers drew near and they entered before him. He recognized them but they were ones who did not know him.” Quran 12:58

In the Old Testament (story of Joseph is in Genesis 37-50), Joseph accuses his brother of being spies. They deny this and explain “We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land in Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.” (Genesis 42:13) In this statement, the “one is not” is Joseph. The brothers still count Joseph as being part of their family, they have not forgotten him.

Joseph agrees to give them grain but tells them that if they come again they will only get grain on the condition 

“Bring me a brother of yours from your father. Do you not see that I give full measure, and that I am the best of hosts? But if you bring him not unto me, you shall nave no measure from me, nor shall you come nigh unto me.” They said, “We shall seek to lure him from his father; that we shall surely do.” (Quran 12:59-61).

Joseph is testing his brothers. He’s given them grain, and he actually unknown to the brothers, puts their money back into the saddle bags, such that when the brothers open up the grain, they see their money. The grain is free.  The brothers are astounded by this, and don’t quite know how to interpret it. The famine continues, and they have to go back to Egypt again for food. They know they must bring their youngest brother, Benjamin- Joseph’s full brother, with them. And Jacob is very torn up about this, but their situation is dire.

“He said, ‘I will not send him forth with you till you give me a solemn pledge before God that you will surely bring him back to me unless you are surrounded.’ So when they gave their solemn pledge, he said, ‘God is Guardian over what we say.’” Quran 12:66

The brothers return to Joseph with Benjamin. Joseph draws Benjamin aside and tells him his identity, but continues to keep it secret from the other brothers. The saddlebags are filled with grain, again the money, and in the youngest brother’s pouch the silver drinking cup from Joseph’s table. The brothers are stopped by the chief steward who accuses them of being thieves. They deny it.  The steward asks them what will be the punishment if one of them is a thief?

“They said: Its recompense will be that he in whose saddlebag it is found-he himself shall be its recompense.” Quran 12:75

The cup is found in Benjamin’s bag. The brothers are astonished and dismayed. They plead with Joseph to have mercy, “They said: O viceroy! He has a venerable, aged father; so take one of us in his place. Truly we see you as being among the virtuous.” But Joseph would not be swayed. The brothers talk amongst themselves, in their own language which they assume Joseph (they still haven’t recognized him) cannot understand.

“The eldest of them said ‘Do you not know that your father has taken a solemn pledge from you before God, and earlier you neglected Joseph? Thus I shall not depart from this land till my father grants me leave, or God renders judgment on me. And He is the best of judges!” Quran 12:

The brothers return to Jacob, minus Reuben and Benjamin, and Jacob is, according to the Quran, “choked with anguish.” (12:83). Jacob tells them they must return to Egypt and get the brothers back and also inquire about Joseph.

The brothers return, desperate, begging. The eleven stars, the sun and the moon are prostrate before Joseph- prophesy fulfilled. Joseph says to his family,

“Do you know what you have done with Joseph and his brother, when you were ignorant?” 12:89

This is the summation of the test. Can the brothers see the effect that their jealousy and envy have had on the family, on their own integrity, on the pledges they have made to their father and to God? Has time and pain given them the gift of introspection?

At this moment, the brothers recognize Joseph. Some commentators say it is because he smiled at them, other s say because he removed his crown.  Joseph verifies that he is Joseph.

“By God!” they said, “God has preferred thee over us, and we were at fault.” (Quran 12:91) The brothers recognize Joseph’s character, and they take full responsibility for their actions.

Joseph’s reply is recorded in the Quran as “There is no reproach against you this day. God will forgive you. And He is the most Merciful of the merciful.”  (Quran 12:92).

The surah of Joseph was revealed in mid-Mecca period. But many years later, when the man they had scorned has conquered them, the Prophet addressed the Quraysh, “Verily I say to you as Joseph said to his brothers; there is no reproach against you. Go, for you are free.” (notes to 12:91-91 in The Study Quran edited by Seyyed Hossain Nasr)

PAUSE

In the khutbah last week, the khatib gave the example of the Prophet being tested when he went to the city of Ta’if and appealed to them for sanctuary for him and his followers. Prophet Muhammad was in desperate straits, and the people of Ta’if not only refused to give sanctuary, but humiliated him verbally and physically. The children were told to throw stones at him.

In the hadith tradition, Aisha asked the Prophet, “Have you encountered a day harder than the battle of Uhud?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Your tribes have given me a lot of trouble, and the worst was the day of Aqaba when I presented myself to Ibn Abd Yalail ibn Abd Kulal (chiefs of Taif) and he did not respond to what I intended. I departed, overwhelmed with excessive sorrow, and I could not relax until I found myself at a tree where I lifted my head towards the sky to see a cloud shading me. I looked up and saw Gabriel in it. He called me saying: Allah has heard your people’s saying to you and how they have replied, and Allah has sent the Angel of the Mountains to you that you may order him to do whatever you wish to these people. The Angel of the Mountains greeted me and he said: O Muhammad, order what you wish, and if you like, I will let the mountains fall on them.” The Prophet said, “No, rather I hope that Allah will bring from their descendants people who will worship Allah alone without associating partners with him.” (Bukhari vol 4 book 54 #454)

The prophet is telling us, worse than the battle wounds and friends he lost at Uhud, was the humiliation he suffered at Ta’if. And when given the opportunity for revenge, total destruction of the city, the Prophet does not answer their brutality with brutality. Why not?

I found one possible answer (there could be many more) in a mystery novel I am reading. Inspector Gamache says,

“Corruption and brutality are modeled and expected and rewarded. It becomes normal. And anyone who stands up to it, who tells them it’s wrong, is beaten down. Or worse.” (How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny, p 19)

Instead of modeling corruption and brutality, the Prophet chose to model mercy and forgiveness for the people of Ta’if.

God gives all of us many tests in life, and I would argue that tests are interwoven into the fabric that is the tapestry of life in this world. We may not pass every test, and that is ok, chances are we will probably face the same challenge again and maybe we will learn to do better. Whether we pass or fail the test, how we choose to cope with these tests has far reaching effects on our own souls, as well as on those around us; our family, our community, our nation. What kind of behavior are we modeling to others as we take these tests?  Do we model corruption and brutality? Or is it something else?

 It is very easy, when given a particularly difficult test, to become angry and sink into bitterness. All too often in our society you hear the refrain,  “I’m the victim here” and then the mantle of ‘victimhood’ is used to justify all kinds of corruption and brutality. There are times when we will find ourselves in extremely negative circumstances facing difficult challenges and the only way to navigate through these times is to be clear headed and ask God for help.  Ask Allah for guidance- He’s the one who brought you this test, and He is the one who can help you through it in a manner that is pleasing to Him. And what is pleasing to Allah is good for all of us.

In closing, I would like to say a dua from  18:59: Our Lord! Forgive us and our brothers who have preceded us in belief, and do not allow any grudges to remain in our hearts towards those who have believed. Our Lord! Truly You are Kind, Compassionate.

References:

Quran translations into English are from Layleh Bakhtiar "The Sublime Quran" 2009 (www.sublimequran.org) or  "The Study Quran" edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr 2015 (HarperOne, NY)

"Holy Bible, Standard American Version" 1929, (Thomas Nelson and Sons, NY).

"How the Light Gets In" by Louise Penny, 2013 (Minotaur Press, NY).

Spiritual Practice and Climate Justice

Last month I attended an environmental justice retreat led by a Chicago-area interfaith group. I expected the retreat would be depressing. I thought that because of the Trump administration decisions involving the environment- pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, removing all references to global warming from government websites, appointing a coal lobbyist to be head of the EPA, defunding the EPA- would have all the attendees in a rather glum mood. I was happily surprised. Everyone was actually quite upbeat and had a can-do attitude. This was largely because Illinois had passed a multi-million dollar clean energy/clean jobs bill and this group had a lot to do with its passage. More about that governmental bill later. 

At the end of the day, I was at a reception and talking to one of the pastors. I said something like, “Well, with all these big hurricanes and the warming climate, should anyone be that surprised?”  The minister said to me, “You know, we don’t feel comfortable any more preaching about how natural disasters are the result of bad behavior. For example, this earthquake is a result of gay marriage or legalized abortion. But with climate change and the amount of carbon we are contributing to the greenhouse effect, well, it is hard NOT  to preach that message!” And I admit, I feel like all these destructive hurricanes are just the chickens coming home to roost. As the surface water of the ocean heats up, storms get more intense and destructive. This hypothesis is not a liberal conspiracy: it is supported by empirical facts. We can measure the water temperature, we can measure the storm intensity. In the 21st  century, the activities we do as human beings, particularly in developed countries like the USA, produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide which affect our global climate. With more CO2 in the atmosphere, our climate has greater chance of producing droughts, intense storms, cooler summers, warmer winters, melting polar caps and rising ocean levels. The more energy we require from fossil fuels, the more we grow our economy with these fuels, the more we change our climate with often unpredictable and unwanted effects.

In the Quran there are many examples of communities whose behavior and spiritual practice led to unwanted effects, typically resulting in their own destruction. Noah told his people:

“O people, if you find my staying with you and warning through God’s signs unbearable to you, know that I have reposed my trust in God. So plan your move, and call your associates, and make certain of your plan: then do whatever you intend against me, allowing me no respite. If you turn away from me I do not ask any recompense from you. My reward is with God. I have been commanded to be one of those who submit to Him.' Even then they denied him: so We saved him and those with him, in the ark, and established them in the land, and drowned those who denied Our signs. So think of the fate of those who were warned.” 10: 71-73

Lot warned his community, 

“Would you commit this abomination with your eye open?Must you really approach men with lust instead of women? Nay, but you are people without any awareness!” But his people’s only answer was this: “Expel Lot’s followers from your township! Verily, they are a folk who make themselves out to be pure!” Thereupon We saved him and his housefolk- all but his wife, whom We willed to be among those that stayed behind- the while We rained a rain upon the others; and dire is such rain upon all who let themselves be warned.” 27:54-58

Salih preached to the people of the Thamud tribe unsuccessfully. The Thamud people said,

 “Are we to follow one single mortal, one from among ourselves? In that case, behold, we would certainly sink into error and folly! Why- on him alone from among all of us should a reminder have been bestowed? Nay but he is a boastful liar!”54:24-25. They asked Salih for proof of his divine warning, and God said, 

“On the morrow they will come to know who the boastful liar is! Behold, We are letting loose this she-camel as a test for them; and thou but watch them, and contain thyself in patience. And let them know that the water is to be divided between them, with each share of water equitably apportioned.” But they summoned their companion and he ventured and cruelly slaughtered (the camel) and how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded! Behold, We let loose upon them one single blast and they became like the dried-up, crumbling twigs of a sheepfold.” 54:26-31

The prophet Hud was sent to warn the people of ‘Ad: “Will you not be conscious of God? Behold, I am an apostle to you, worthy of your trust: be then conscious of God and pay heed unto me! And no reward whatever do I ask of you for it: my reward rests with none but the Sustainer of all the worlds. Will you, in your wanton folly, build altars on every height, and make for yourselves mighty castles, that you might become immortal? And will you whenever you lay hand (on others), lay hand (on them) cruelly, without any restraint? Be then conscious of God and pay heed unto me and be conscious of Him who has amply provided you with all that you might think of- amply provided you with flocks, and children, and gardens, and springs. For verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day!” They answered, “It is all one to us whether thou preaches or are not of those who preach. This is none other than that to which our forebears clung, and we are not going to be chastised. And so they gave him the lie; the thereupon We destroyed them. In this, behold, there is a message , even though most of them will not believe.” 26: 124-139

Before they were destroyed by an earthquake the people of Midian were warned by prophet Shu’ayb,

"O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer. Give, therefore, full measure and weight (in all your dealings) and do not deprive people of what is rightfully theirs, and do not spread corruption on the earth after it has been so well ordered: this is for your own good. If you would but believe. And do not lie in ambush by every road, threatening and trying to turn away from God’s path all who believe in Him, and trying to make it appear crooked. And remember when you were few and He made you  many: and behold what happened in the end to the spreaders of corruption. And if there be some among you who have come to believe in the message which I bear, the while the others do not believe, then have patience in adversity till God shall judge between us for He is the best of all judges.” 7:85-87

Now out of these many tales of destruction, there is one prophet whose community did listen to him and they averted disaster. This prophet was Yunus, Jonah. Intially, Jonah balked at warning his community, seeking to escape his responsibility by taking a sea voyage. This didn’t work out, he was swallowed by the whale.  Quran tells us: 

“And him of the great fish? When he went off in wrath thinking that We had no power over him! But then he cried out in the deep darkness, “There is no deity save Thee! Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Verily, I have done wrong!” And so We responded unto him and delivered him from distress; for thus do We deliver all who have faith.” 21:87-88

After that initial set back, Yunus resolved to warn his community, and they actually listened to him, changed their ways, and successfully avoided disaster.

“Why has there been no habitation that believed and profited by their faith, except the people of Jonah? When they came to believe, We removed from them the affliction of shame in the world, and made them prosperous for a time. “ 10:98

As Muslims we believe that Muhammad was the Seal of the Prophets, that prophesy ended with him. While we don’t have prophets and miracles, we do have scientists and empirical evidence which can warn us of imminent destruction and guide us to better behavior. The second half of my khutbah will be about what we can do, as khalifas of this world, to promote climate justice.

PAUSE

I spoke in the first part of my talk about climate change which can be defined by four parameters 1) changes in temperature ( extreme hot, extreme cold, seasonal) 2) changes in precipitation (floods, drought), 3) changes in sea level (rising levels, storm surges,  salt water intrusion) and 4) extreme weather ( storms, hurricanes, tornados). These changes can effect our health in many ways: asthma, dehydration, famine, water borne diseases, vector borne diseases. The problem we face is that negative impacts of climate change (heat waves, droughts, floods) are disproportionately felt by people and countries that did the least to cause the problem, and can least afford to respond.

Therefore, we define climate justice as a local, national, and global movement to protect at-risk populations who are disproportionately affected by climate change.

For instance, in Illinois, we lead the country in the number of fossil fuel burning plants located in communities of color. This is a big problem because in addition to producing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, fossil-fuel burning power plants emit pollutants that exacerbate asthma. Children of color are four times as likely to be admitted to the hospital for an asthma attack and ten times as likely to die from one as white children.

In 1987 the United Church of Christ's Commission of Racial Justice issued a "Report on Race and Toxic Wastes in the United States” which stated."... race was the best predictor of the location of hazardous waste facilities in the U.S."

We clearly have a lot of work to do in this country when it comes to establishing climate justice and

I would urge you to consider making climate justice part of your spiritual practice. Justice is a common theme in Islam, and our stewardship of the earth is explained to us in Quran 2:30 where God tells the angels “Behold, I am about to establish upon earth a khalifah.” Well, how would God judge our term as khalifahs if we did not strive to achieve justice? Fortunately, this concept of stewardship and justice is shared by many billions of people in world, Muslims as well as people of different religions, people who can be our interfaith partners.

I’d like to share with you some words from Pope Francis’ 2015 Encyclical Letter:

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods.”

“Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing and forestry. They have no other financial activities or resources which can enable them to adapt to climate change or to face natural disasters, and their access to social services and protection is very limited. “

“Our lack of response to these tragedies involving our brothers and sisters points to the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded.”

I said earlier we don’t have prophets anymore, and I don’t believe we need strong political leaders to tell us what to do. We need a grassroots movement of like minded people telling the leaders what to do. While revolutions have a lot of drama and energy, they can also sputter out or turn in on themselves. Grassroots movements, while slower growing and a little more boring, allow for deep roots and committed change. Although a lot of khatibs like to go over the battles and victories of the early Muslim community, Prophet Muhammad himself saw the treaties and cease-fires as real victories. Because it was during peacetime where people had time to discuss and reflect, where hearts and minds could be transformed.

To end I would like to explain to you why the people at the event I attended last month were not depressed. Last year, the Illinois legislature passed a law which would ensure clean, renewable energy for Illinois as well as clean jobs (solar panel installers, wind turbine engineers, etc). Furthermore, this group made sure that introduced into the legislation was the creation of 2000 jobs for graduates of the foster care system and returning citizens (ex-convicts). They are planting seeds of opportunity for people who our society often forgets.

What can you do? Look for opportunities to reduce, recycle and reuse. Ask your electricity provider to only use renewable energy sources. Make climate justice your spiritual practice and work together with partners of similar mind set.

There is a famous hadith of the prophet narrated by Anas ibn Malik which says:

 “If the Hour (of Judgment) starts to happen and in the hand of one of you is a palm shoot or seedling; then if he’s able to plant it before the Hour happens, then let him plant it”.

What is interesting about this hadith is not only the sense of impending doom and response to doom- plant a tree- but also the fact that a date palm takes at least ten years before it bears fruit. The people of the prophet’s time were keenly aware of the actions of their ancestors, they only had to walk past a ruined city or a palm grove or an olive orchard to the see the effect of past generations on their current prosperity. In keeping with the spirit of our role as khalifas of this planet, Let us work together to buck the trend of short-sighted decision making and aim for choices which will benefit our children and our grandchildren and the world in which they live.

Power of Divine Gifts

 The title of my khutbah today is “The Power of Divine Gifts“, this is a continuation of the exploration of the problem of evil and role of sin, suing the Iblis story in the Quran, hadith and Sufi literature i.e. Part 13 of The Worthy Adversary series.

In Quran, there are numerous passages which tell us that a true believer is protected from doing evil acts which might be commissioned by Satan.

“Truly as for My servants, you (Iblis) will have no authority over them, but ones who are in error followed you.” 15:42

“Truly My servants, over them there is no authority for you (Iblis). You your Lord has sufficed as a Trustee.” 17:65

“And certainly established as true about them was the opion of Iblis and they followed him, but a group of people of the ones you believe. There had not been for him any authority over them but that We might know these who believe in the world to come from theose who are in certainty of it.” 34: 20-21

“And remember Our servant Job when he cried out to his Lord: Truly Saatan has afflicted me with fatigue and punishment! (It was said) Stomp your foot. This is a place of washing that is cool and from which to drink. And We bestowed on him his people and the like of them along with them as a mercy from us, a reminder for those imbued with intuition.” 38:41-43

From hadith, we know that consistent spiritual practice, such as saying Allah’s name before eating, invoking du’a before important acts, and even the act of ablution and prayer- particularly prostration- banish Iblis and his satanic minions- at least for a bit.

From these primary sources, theological interpretations arouse about the “impeccability” or freedom from sin “mahsum” that all prophets were endowed with by the nature of their prophethood. Sufis extended this argument to say that any spiritually perfected person, particularly their shaykhs, had a partial impeccability or protection, called mahfuz. This doctrine of partial perfection or near perfection was also appropriated by political leaders, first the calipha rashideen and then later governments, which resulted in a culture of low tolerance for political criticism. I remember hearing a khutbah that civil disobedience, even peaceful protest, was considered ‘haram’ by some Muslims because they had been taught that their leaders were ‘impeccable’ and beyond criticism and judgment.

To our modern, Western sensibilities, this idea of ‘impeccability” clashes with our cultural understanding of political accountability, transparency, and what it means to be human. Everyone makes mistakes. Furthermore, given the tremendous social and technological changes we have seen in the modern era, we tend to look back at the actions of our ancestors and judge them negatively.  However, I would argue that our ancestors could do the same with us. For example, nowadays in our society, slavery is considered evil- particularly in the United States where Americans still wrestle with the repercussions of slavery and concubinage in the form of racism and misogyny. Slaveholders of the past are often considered of having questionable moral judgment or being hypocrites. When we hear of ISIS fighters making Christian women concubines, Muslims all over the world are horrified. Sexual trafficking, by world and Muslim majority consensus, is a crime. So when we look at the sirah of the Prophet and see that he owned at least two concubines- gifts from Egypt- what does this say about the impeccability doctrine? Just to be fair, what would our Muslim ancestors think of our modern attitude toward ‘collateral damage’- the killing of non-combatants during warfare? In pre-modern times, it was pretty clear who was a combatant when you were fighting one-on-one. But our arsenal of modern weapons does not discriminate between soldiers and civilians. Perhaps to make ourselves feel better we expand our definition of combatant to include villagers who “aid and abet” or citizens who “pay taxes”- but how many of these people have a real choice in this matter? In our time, armies and governments refuse to count the number of dead human beings that are considered “collateral damage”.

  What I’m trying to convey is that our modern notion of impeccability is at odds with the entrenched Muslim Tradition concept of “impeccability”. However, when I bring this up, that “impeccability” has a historical and cultural context, I am inevitably ‘mansplained’ by a traditional Muslim that I am a ‘post-modern relativist” and values in the Quran are Good For All Time. These arguments propel the Muslim Mansplainer into a corner, because he will soon find himself forced to defend the keeping of concubines, ethnic cleansing and the assassination of cartoonists. I do not know how to reconcile the traditional doctrine of impeccability with modern ethics, maybe you can solve that in the discussion afterwards.

Getting back to the main topic, let’s assume for the sake of argument that there are people who are highly resistant to the temptations of Satan. They have this resistance because of their disciplined spiritual practice, gifted it by God, or a mutation in their DNA. Whatever it is, they are immune to Iblis. What is interesting in the Muslim tradition is that even though these individuals have power over Iblis, making him tell how he leads people astray for example, there are a number of Sufi stories which relate that spiritual superiority is a gift and feelings of smugness or superiority are not tolerated. Iblis has been sunk to a very low station, but remember his former stature and, more importantly, but for the grace of God, there got I.  Rumi warns of this in his poetry:

“One day Adam looked on the wretched Iblis with contempt and disdain.

He mainftested arrogance and conceit; he laughed at the predicament of the accursed Iblis.

The jealousy of God thundered aloud, ‘O upright fellow,

Are you not aware  of the hidden secret?

Were He to turn the fur inside out,

He would rip the mountain from its root and base.

At that moment He would tear the veil off a hundred Adams

And bring forth a hundred Iblises newly converted to Islam.’

Adam cried, ‘I beg forgiveness for this look!

I will never again think such presumptuous thoughts.’ “ –Mathnawi Book1 3893-3898

Making fun of Iblis or showing contempt must be tempered with the knowledge that this is the kind of arrogance that led to Iblis’ downfall! Attar wrote, “Iblis is the sacrificed one of God. It is not manliness to hurl a stone at God’s sacrifice.”

The sirah of Ibn Khafif tells the story of the Sufi mystic Abu’d-Dahhak who had a discussion with Iblis during which Iblis recited an ayah. Abu’d-Dahhak was so angry at Iblis’ impudence that he beat him up. Some time later, Abu’d-Dahhak was returning from Mecca when he came to a fast flowing river. He stood on the bank, unsure of whether it was safe to cross. An old man came by and walked into the river and crossed it easily. Abu’d-Dahhak thought he could manage it if the old guy could, so he started across the river and when he got to the middle the water overcame him. God intervened and Abu’d-Dahhak was able to struggle safely to the other side. There he saw the old man waiting for him. “Have you repented” he asked the shaykh, “so that hereafter you never pass judgment against me?”

PAUSE

What is the final verdict on Iblis? Is his sentence irrevocable? There are different opinions in the Sufi tradition.

Most of the authors I have discussed thus far, Al-Makki, Rumi, Junayd and others, all agree that while Iblis had a novle character and place of stature before his fall, he has become so corrupted by his power on earth that he only plots to destroy man by any means possible (including good!). Iblis should be avoided at all cost. He must be constantly and unrelentingly repelled.

Rumi wrote Iblis’ sin is an innate part of his being, so there is no hope of forgiveness for him. Sari As-Sagari reaffirms this opinion and posits that ordinary sins of passion are readily forgiven but perhaps the sin of pride is different and not forgivable.

Not even the intervention of a perfected Sufi mystic can help Iblis. Al-Bistami asked God to show mercy to Iblis and was told,

“You have spoken arrogantly; be silent! For he is of fire and a fiery being deserves something fiery hot. Take care that you do not bring yourself to this end. For you become deserving of fire when you are disobedient!” – from Attar’s Tadhkirat al-awliya” p 187

Al-Junayd asserts that Iblis never attained true contemplation when he was at the peak of his obedience and guardian of the heavens. Adam did have this contemplation, and retained it even when he sinned. Therefore, Iblis’ worship was never the real thing- dross instead of gold. Al-Junayd then goes on to list all of Iblis’ victims, where no one is excluded, and from the fact that Iblis hated Adam just on the basis of his existence. Adam did nothing to antagonize Iblis. Al Junayd does not think Iblis has acquired the necessary traits in his life as minister of the Divine Throne that would allow for his rehabilitation.

There are clearly Sufi writers who do not think Iblis will ever be forgiven via his personal repentance or by his getting ‘divine credit’ for his former position. However, in my subsequent khutbahs we will discover other Sufis who had a different theological perspective.

It is important to remember that in the “no forgiveness” camp, there is usually an emphasis on the randomness of God’s benevolence: He bestows His love on whomever He pleases, be he good or evil, saint or devil. Rumi asserts that there is tremendous power in the divine gifts of faith, mercy, and love. Their power is so strong that they have the power to transform even an Iblis. The emphasis here is on the power of the gift, not on Iblis’ transformation.

Rumi wrote, “Iblis does not despair of Your benevolence/ every moment another ray of hope shines on him from You” (from Kulliyat i-Shamis-I Tabrizi #1028)

Rumi compares God’s mercy to a cypress tree: “When the cypress of mercy waves proudly in the garden, yes, Iblis the accursed one, discovers faith” (from Kulliyat i-Shamis-I Tabrizi #2896).

Let us thank Allah for the divine gifts He has chosen to grace us with in our lives. Let us thank Him for His mercy to us and to the power of hope.

Hierarchy

The title of my khutbah today is “Hierarchy”.

On our recent trip to Germany, the kids and I went on a bus trip to see two of the famous Ludwig II of Bavaria castles. As we entered the foyer of the Linderhof castle, the tour guide instructed us to look at the ceiling on which was inscribed “Nec Pluribus Impar”. I whispered to my son (who completed Latin 1), “What does that mean?” He didn’t know. All I could think of was “E pluribus unum”- from the many, one; the motto on American money, signifying the unification of many states into one country. Ludwig II’s message was much different. Nec pluribus impar translates to “Not equal to the masses.” Ludwig II’s message, and indeed his entire lifestyle, was built on the assumption of hierarchy, particularly of divine right (the belief that God appoints kings) and the absolute authority of monarchs. What makes Ludwig II’s belief system odd is that he lived in the mid 19th century when the many city-states of Germany were trying to form a democratic nation. Napoleon’s military strength across central Europe in the early part of the century had thrown many aristocratic regimes into disarray and the Corsican general’s military successes provided serious questions concerning  “divine right” of rule. During the mid-19th century, as central European states started to organize themselves post-Napoleon, the trend among many existing European monarchs was to negotiate with their democratically elected parliaments and legislatures. Ludwig II was not trending with his times. Indeed, he was eventually removed from his kingship by the Bavarian legislature.  They judged his excessive spending on luxury palaces proof of an unstable mental state. He was unfit for office. Nowadays, or at least on tours, they call him a “visionary” as he provided many tourist must-see sites in southern Germany.

I’ve known the Ludwig II story for many years, I’ve been to some of his palaces, but this year, I was struck by his unshakable belief in hierarchy. This vision of hierarchy was embedded in his Christian religious value system, and it made me think about the hierarchy that is embedded in the Muslim tradition. I’ve also been thinking a lot about hierarchy and equality in the United States because of the Trump election, the Black Lives Matter movement, gender wars and the debate over ‘fake news’. Americans love the myth of equality, but sometimes we are so in love with the myth that we refuse to examine how many of our institutions actually undermine equality and perpetuate privilege.

In the Islamic tradition, hierarchy is based on a person’s ability to recognize the Truth. There are plenty of examples in the Quran, but I’ll just start with the first, at Surah al-Baqarah:

“This divine writ without doubt- is a guidance for all the God-conscious who believe in that which is beyond the reach of human perception and are constant in prayer, and spend on out of what We provide for them as sustenance and who believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon thee, as well as in that which was bestowed before thy time; for it is they who in their innermost are certain of life to come! It is they who follow the guidance from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state.

      Behold, as for those who are bent on denying the Truth- it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or does not warn them; they will not believe. God has sealed their hearts and their hearing and over their eyes is a veil; and awesome suffering awaits them.” 2: 2-7

The surah goes on to describe hypocrites (also damned) , and then follows up with two parables about recognizing Truth- people around a fire and people during a thunderstorm. Here are a few more examples in the Quran:

“Say: There is no comparison between the bad things and the good things, even though very many of the bad things may please thee greatly. Be, then, conscious of God, O you who are endowed with insight so that you might attain to a happy state!” 5: 100

“God propounds the parable of (two men)- a man enslaved, unable to do anything of his own accord, and a (free) man upon whom We have bestowed goodly sustenance from Ourselves, so that he can spend thereof secretly and openly. Can these (two) be deemed equal? And God propounds the parable of two (other) men- one of them dumb, unable to do anything of his own accord and a sheer burden on his master; to whichever task the latter direct him, he accomplishes no good. Can such a one be considered the equal of (a wise man) who enjoins the doing of what is right and himself follows a straight way?” 16:75-76

“The blind man is not equal with the seer. Nor is darkness light, nor is the shadow equal with the sun’s full heat. Nor are the living equal with the dead. Lo! Allah maketh whom He will to hear. Thou canst not reach those who are in the graves.” 35: 19-23

In the Islamic tradition, the notion of different levels of truth-recognizing people resulted in a class hierarchy which was not necessarily characterized by wealth or political or tribal power, it was measured by the capacity to know Truth. What developed among the philosophers was the belief that most people, the masses, cannot understand higher truths.

The Persian philosopher Jalal-un Din Davvani (1422-1506 CE) wrote in Akhlaq-I Jalali a vivid description of this knowledge-based social hierarchy:

"The souls of men differ in degree according to their capacity for reason and discernment. The highest degree- which we call the celestial soul- is connected to the World of Rationals, while the lowest-which is extreme stupidity- is tied to the beast-pen. It, thus, follows that the perception of these groups in matters of ‘whence our origin and whereto our return”- which are the most subtle secrets of philosophy and shari’a- are not at one and the same level.

….The highest class…know the Real-Source with all its glorious qualities and beautiful features, and are aware of the issuing forth of the chain of existences from the Source in the actual order… This party comprises the great “Friends of God” and the great pillars of philosophy (hikma).

     Next this rank is the class of those who are incapable of understanding for themselves by pure reason. Their journey ends at conjectured meanings. But they know that the Real-Truths, as they actually are, are free of such restrictions. They acknowledge their own incapacity, and defer to the knowledge of the first class of people. This group is the people of faith (ahl-I iman).

     Following this rank is a group who are incapable even of conjectural reasoning. Their journey in “whence our origin and whereto our return” does not extend beyond imagined forms. But they defer to the first group and acknowledge their incapacity. This group is the people of acceptance (ahl-I taslim).

     And next to this group are the short-sighted ones who cannot even begin to imagine any other level beyond that which can be sensed, and who stop short at representations and images that are far (from the Real-Truth). These we call the ‘weak-minded’ (mutaza’ ‘afan).

     But so long as each of these exerts himself to the full extent of his ability, and reaches the full limit of his capacity, he will not be stigmatized with falling short, but rather will be regarded as having turned his face towards the qiblah of Real Truth.”

The knowledge order of society was a given for Muslim philosophers. The Sufis similarly divided people by their capacity to perceive Truth hidden in the realms of the Unseen:

Commoners = ‘awamm, can’t govern themselves, need prescription and supervision otherwise chaos

Elect = khawass, more capable of governing themselves, administrators of law

Elect of the Elect= khass al-khawass.

The Sufi Abu Talib al-Makki (d 996 CE) stated that every Quranic verse has seven meanings ranging from the external/exoteric (zahir) for the common people (‘awamm) up to the intricacies (daqa’iq) for the lovers of Truth (muhibbun) and the complete spiritual realities (haqa’iq) for the prophets (nabiyyun).

Not only philosophers and Sufis, but also kalam-theologians, such as al-Ghazzali, argued that common people should not be exposed to speculative questions that the elite debated. Commoners should only have unambiguous prescriptions. The basis of a society composed of people with different capacities to know was a general given in pre-modern Muslim societies. This concept is embodied in the principle “Speak to people according to the capacity of their intelligences” (kallimu al-nasa ‘ala qadr uquli-him).

Just as the higher truths of Revelation are sent down to a lower world, pre-modern era Muslims envisioned a society differentiated by the human capacity to acquire knowledge. The structure of society followed the structure of Revelation. Only a few select people, prophets, receive Revelation- most of us just listen.  Some people may pose questions and ask for further clarification, particularly those in leadership positions, but the masses are expected to accept the ethics and laws of revealed Truth. This does not mean that hierarchy is the only way to authentically express Islam, but rather this hierarchy in our Islamic tradition was derived from how our Muslim ancestors understood Revelation.

(PAUSE)

The second part of my khutbah is about our current, modern trends and how this affects our practice of Islam.

 Starting in the late 18th century and fueled by the technology of the industrial revolution, the modern appetite for human equality, abolition of slavery, universal enfranchisement  and the ability of reason to convince the general public of truth gained momentum and these values continue into the present. The global communication technologies of the world wide web, social media, and smart phones have further contributed to the grassroots and very public discourse in which we find ourselves. This egalitarianism has spread to our understanding of Islam. “Speak to the people according to the capacity of their intelligences (kallimu al-nasa ‘ala qadr ‘uquli him)” has been replaced with “The din is simple” al-din basit.

But is our din truly basit? What about those seven layers of meaning on every Quranic ayah? We don’t pretend that science and technology are simple. Simple to use, perhaps, but how many of us could re-build our cell phone or hard drive if called upon to do so? How many of us actually understand how the internet- or neurons actually work? So it seems that even though science and technology provide us with egalitarian access, we accept that deeper understanding of science and technology consist of a hierarchy of knowledge. Very few individuals are brilliant enough to create the reality of science and technology, some of us can ask good questions but most of us are consumers. But when it comes to modern public discourse about religion, most Muslims will stick to the ‘basit’ model or risk becoming engaged in a never-ending flame war consisting of internet trolling, stalking, accusations of blasphemy and death threats. In destroying the institutions of our private sphere- which yes were often elitist,-in making the public sphere the only “place” that counts, we have lost our ability to question and contradict prescriptive norms. We think of community Islam, as the only ‘authentic’ Islam, mistrusting our own individual capacity for reasoning, downplaying our own private Islam-even dismissing our individualized, private Islam as “un-Islamic”. We don’t question, we don’t explore, we accept and we hibernate.

How do we wake up? This is where we come to the question phase of my khutbah.

In the pre-modern era, knowledge was accessible via information, and this information was tightly regulated. In the modern era, with hacking, leaking and rapid, global distribution of information, it is difficult to imagine restricting information. Our Muslim ancestors restricted information because they thought the wrong information to wrong people- people who did not have the capacity to recognize truth- would create social chaos. Well, maybe that is what we are living in now, which would explain a lot. We accept that not all of us have the genetic capacity to become Olympic athletes or astronauts no matter how hard we train, or that some of us should not smoke because of a family history of lung cancer,  but we have a difficult time accepting that some people are just not capable of recognizing truth, no matter how many factoids we dump in their lap. It is that myth of equality which makes us wring our hands as we run around in circles mumbling, “If they could only listen to reason…”.

How can we, as Muslims, approach the knowledge gap?

I know there is a rich Muslim heritage of questioning and exploration. My questions have probably been addressed by numerous scholars through the centuries but it is worthwhile to again address this fundamental question of hierarchy in understanding and reasoning since each era and each questioner contributes a new perspective.

I like to interact with other people who can recognize the truth, even if they aren’t Muslims. We live in a multicultural city in a globalized world. There are many people who seek truth, but they are often disheartened by the institutions of religion. Can we communicate with them in mutually respectful way? Will this require a new definition of Revelation?

When I do take time to build institutions, am I creating spaces for questioning, exploring, and civilized debate? If not- then should I really be spending my time and energy in these projects?

Are we using our gifts and talents when we try to understand the Quran? To quote Davvani, to the “full extent of his ability, and reaches the full limit of his capacity, he will not be stigmatized with falling short, but rather will be regarded as having turned his face towards the qiblah of Real Truth.”  Most of us are not a khass al-khawass, but where do we belong? My job in this world is to figure this out with God’s help, to turn my face to the qiblah of Real Truth, to follow the Quranic injunction: 

“...We shall show them Our portents on the horizon and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that it is the Truth.” 41:53.

Accepting that there is a hierarchy of knowledge, intuition and reasoning have been instrumental in helping me understand the deeper meanings of science and art and teaching me humility. I hope that accepting this hierarchy in spirituality will also help me achieve my spiritual potential with the necessary humility.

 “Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? Aye, that He is! For He is the All Wise Creator, but His Command, when He intendeth a thing, is only that He saith unto it: Be! And it is. Therefore glory be to Him in Whose hand is the dominion over all things! Unto Him you will be brought back.” 36:81-83 Amen

References:

Quran translations from "The Message of the Qur'an" by Muhammad Asad

Jalal ud-Din Davvani quote excerpted from "What is Islam" by Shahab Ahmed (Princeton University Press:2016) pp 370-371

Consciousness and the Quran

Surat An Nur (24)

Ayah 39-40

Those who do not believe

Their deeds are like a mirage in a desert

The traveler in the desert who is thirsty will think it’s water

Until he comes to the mirage and realizes that it was nothing

And then he finds God

And sees his own destiny in the same instant.

Or, the person who denies the truth is as if in the darkness of a dark ocean,

Covered by high, dark waves,

Which are covered by clouds, depths of darkness, layer upon layer

and if he stretches his hand he can hardly see it.

And if he doesn’t find God’s light he will never have light.

When I was eleven years old, in the fifth grade, I had an experience that I remember as vividly today as when it happened.  I was standing in front of my class at school, reading a book out loud, and I fainted.  I left my body and hovered above my teacher and the other students as they scrambled to get water and revive me.  I had other out of body experiences as well.  I used to have flying dreams.  Except they didn’t feel like dreams, they felt real.  It was exhilarating.  I would fly out the window of my bedroom, sometimes over the Blue Ridge mountains toward my Grandma’s house, sometimes to places I didn’t know.  I could swoop and dive and change directions, but I could never get anywhere.  I never landed, I just flew.  I wanted to land, but I didn’t have that much control.  I stopped having those dreams many years ago, until I went to Medina.  I’ve shared this story with some of you before.  The day we arrived in Medina, at our hotel beside the prophet’s mosque, Osama went to pray and I lay down on the bed to rest.  The next thing I knew I was flying up a minaret, above the spiral staircase, and then out of the opening at the top, into a sky that sparkled with colors more beautiful than anything on earth, toward a brilliant light.  And there was child riding on my back, a boy child, laughing in sheer utter delight and joy in sharing the experience with me.  When I came out of it, I tried to place the child – he felt completely familiar, and yet he wasn’t anyone of my family or friends.  And then I thought of the Prophet, and it felt right.  Now, call this experience what you will – a dream, a hallucination, a vivid imagination.  All I can say is it felt real.  And it was, along with circling the Kaaba, the highlight of my Umrah.

I share these stories to let you know that these experiences, and others, are why I believe in what people write and say about Near-Death-Experiences – so-called NDEs.  These are experiences that people have had when their brain activity – that which is centered in the neo-cortex, the seat of our conscious awareness, has stopped for a period of time – they become brain dead - but they then come back to life.  Reports of these kinds of experiences have multiplied in recent years, possibly due to advancements in medical science that allow us to bring people back from cardiac arrest, drug overdose, severe bacterial infections, etc. 

Dr. Eben Alexander was a renowned academic neurosurgeon who had an NDE in 2008 when he contracted an extremely rare form of bacterial meningitis that shut down his neocortex and put him in a deep coma for a week.  His doctors had advised his family to remove life support – he should have died.  But he shocked them by coming back and regaining full mental capacity within a few weeks.  He came back, but was profoundly changed by his encounter with the hyper-reality of the spiritual realm.  He wrote a book about it, Proof of Heaven, published 2012.  A former atheist, Dr. Alexander has become an active advocate for a blending of science and spirituality.

In his writing, he now starts with this quote from Albert Einstein:

“Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.” 

– Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

Dr. Alexander writes, “Together, science and spirituality will thrive in a symbiosis offering the most profound insight into fundamental Truth, yielding unimaginable power. The keystone is in global progression of individual conscious awakening.  Many in both the scientific and religious (or spiritual) realms must denounce their addiction to prejudiced, divisive, dogmatic beliefs, in order to open our awareness to this synthesis of understanding Truth. By probing deeply into our own consciousness, we transcend the limitations of the human brain, and of the physical-material realm.  The spiritual realm is real. Seamless blending of science and spirituality will occur.”

Alexander is hardly the only one researching and publishing in the area of NDEs and paranormal phenomenon.  Bernardo Kastrup a computer engineer who specializes in artificial intelligence and reconfigurable computing, and has worked in some of the world's foremost research laboratories, including the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories, published an article this spring (Scientific American Blog, March 2017) on Transcending the Brain, in which he describes cases of damage to the brain that are associated with enriched consciousness or cognitive skill.  These include cases of choking, cardiac arrest, and physical damage to the brain.  “In a recent study, CT scans of more than one hundred Vietnam war veterans showed that damage to the frontal and parietal lobes increased the likelihood of “mystical experiences.”¹⁵ In an earlier study, patients were evaluated before and after brain surgery for the removal of tumors, which caused collateral damage to surrounding tissue. Statistically significant increases in “feelings of self-transcendence” were reported after the surgery.^16”

New brain mapping technologies have shown that enriched consciousness and heightened cognition happen when measurable brain activity stops.  In other words, the experiences are happening beyond the realm of the physical brain.

References

15. Cristofori, I. et al. 2016. “Neural correlates of mystical experience.” Neuropsychologia 80: 212-220.

16. Urgesi, C. et al. 2010. “The Spiritual Brain: Selective Cortical Lesions Modulate Human Self Transcendence.” Neuron 65: 309-319.

van Lommel, P. et al. 2001. “Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands.” The Lancet 358 (9298): 2039-2045.

 

In another new book, The Self Does Not Die, 2016, the authors, Titus Rivas, Anna Dirven and Rudolf H. Smit, analyze over 100 cases of NDEs.  These experiences included extrasensory perceptions beyond the patients’ immediate bodily environment, telepathy where either the NDEer had a telepathic experience in relation to someone else, or alternatively, where someone had a telepathic awareness of the NDEer, out-of-body experiences, healing in NDEers that is inexplicable by current medical science, paranormal psychic abilities, such as after-death communications (ADCs), extrasensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK) and precognitive dreams after NDEs. They conclude by pointing out that materialist explanations for such phenomena are illogical and inadequate. The Self Does Not Die offers significant empirical support to the emerging scientific view that consciousness is fundamental in the universe, and that the soul exists and does not depend on the physical brain for its conscious expression.

These empirical data refute the production model, which states that the brain produces consciousness out of physical matter. Rather, the filter model (i.e., that the brain serves as a receiver of primordial consciousness) is far more reasonable in accounting for all the available evidence. Sooner or later, the sheer frustration with the ongoing inadequacies of materialist pseudo-explanations will nudge the prevailing western paradigm towards the deeper truth, as it is objectively represented in this remarkable book.

Spirituality and Science strengthen each other.  But, as Dr. Alexander points out, they cannot be conceived of as complementing each other as long as we cling to either purely materialist, empirical, fact-based explanations, or pure religious dogma.

The filter model of the human brain as a receiver of primordial consciousness complements the schema in Shahab Ahmed’s book, “What Is Islam?”  (Princeton University Press, 2016)  Ahmed defines Islam as:

Meaning-making for the self in terms of hermeneutical engagement with Revelation to Muhammed as Pre-Text, Text, and Con-Text – that is, with the entire phenomenon and matrix of Revelation, rather than just the Text of Revelation (p. 405).

In other words, for Ahmed, Islam is not just the Revelation of the Quran (Text), it is also the greater Reality from which the Quran was revealed (the Pre-Text), and the human understanding and culture that has developed from understanding both the Quran and that Greater Reality (Con-Text). 

Ahmed describes Pre-text of Revelation as follows:

The Text of the Revelation requires as its premise an Unseen Reality or Truth that lies beyond and behind the Text of the Revelation-in-the-Seen and upon which the act, the Text and the Truth of Revelation are contingent.  This is Unseen Reality is ontologically prior to and … larger than the textual product of the Revelation:  it is the source of Revelation.  The act and text of the Muhammadan Revelation together represent a single historical instance and enactment of this lager and prior dimension of the reality of Revelation – which I will here term the Pre-text of Revelation. (pp346-7)

Ahmed goes on to define Text as follows:

The Truth of the Text of Revelation is only the Revelatory Product:  as such, it is but an expression in the here-and-now of this world of the Truth of the Pre-Text of Revelation.  That the Quran/Text of the Revelation is true but does not encompass all the Truth of the Unseen Pre-Text of Revelation is accepted by all Muslims.  Indeed, the Quran does not even claim to possess all the Truth of the Unseen made available in the Seen, saying for example, ‘On Earth are signs for the sure; just as there are within your own selves:  do you not see?’”  p 347

Ahmed’s concept of Pre-Text is strikingly similar to Dr. Alexander’s description of “Primordial Consciousness.”  Ahmed proposed that it is possible to access the Pretext without reference to the Text of Revelation.  By this definition, one could argue that Dr. Alexander and other NDEers experienced the Pretext directly through their NDEs.

What I see, what I am proposing, is that Ahmed’s new and compelling understanding of the phenomenon of Revelation can be seen as being validated by research now being conducted on the phenomenon of NDEs.  Eben Alexander and the many other people who have had Near Death Experiences might be understood as having somehow directly experienced the Pre-Text, the Primordial Consciousness.  This is the Reality confirmed in Quran as being more Real than the life of this Earth.  Quran refers to our earthly existence as but a mere reflection of the Greater Truth of Allah.  Quran also tells us that when we die, this life will seem to have been but an instant. 

If we accept that NDEers are experiencing the Pre-Text, or Primordial Consciousness directly in our time, and that they are sharing with us hints about the nature of Reality beyond death that we do well to consider, we are forced to ask ourselves, does the Text of Muhammed’s Revelation – the Quran – still have relevance for us today?  Of course, for Muslims who believe that the Revelation of Prophet Muhammed, pbuh, was a miracle in itself, the answer must be yes.  But how?  The Revelation of Prophet Muhammed was a very different phenomenon than the NDEs of today.  First of all, it resulted in language – a text, the Quran – that was and still is the vehicle through which the Prophet and his followers could gain insight into the broader Truth that is Allah.  But second, Quranic Revelation is in large part very different in tone than the experiences reported by those who have had NDEs.  The later talk about love and beauty beyond imagination – almost exclusively.  The Quran is filled with language of justice and punishment for those who do not accept the Truth of Revelation and commit evil deeds without remorse.

From Quran:

Surat Al-An’am [6]

Ayah 60

And Allah causes you to be as dead at night, and knows what you do in daytime; and brings you back to life each day so that your term will be fulfilled.  In the end, you return to Allah, and you will understand all that you were doing in life.

Ayah 70

And leave to themselves those who have been beguiled by the life of this world, and made play and passing delights their religion, but remind them that every human being is held by whatever wrong they have done, and shall have no protection from Allah, none to intercede, none to accept any ransom offered.  These are those who will be held by the wrong they have done; for them there is to come a draught of burning despair, and grievous suffering awaits them be cause of their refusal to acknowledge the truth. 

How can we understand this difference in tone, if we accept the premise – which I do – that both phenomenon are real?  Maybe the dire warnings in Quran were needed for that time and those people, and our time engages a different experience of PreText – Consciousness – Allah/God.  Or maybe the people who have negative Near Death Experiences don’t share them because they don’t want to believe they were true.  Or maybe those who destroyed their connection to Allah as Creator never did come back – never became NDEers. 

I have to admit that I struggle mightily with the idea of judgment from an All Loving God.  I know I’m not alone in this.  However, I have to admit that it is comforting to be reassured by Divine Text that evil does not go unpunished.  I can understand that denying the Truth of Divine Light would preclude a soul from access to it, condemning that soul to immersion in the energy of destruction rather than creation.  And I can understand that being stuck in destructive energy would feel as the sometimes graphic language of Quran describes it.    

This is all food for thought.  I conclude by saying simply that reading about NDEs and thinking about them in terms of Ahmed’s proposed definition of Islam has given me new ways to engage with the Text of Quran – and much to think about.

Oh Allah, inspire us always to new levels of understanding your Reality, and protect us from misunderstandings.  We pray that you guide us rightly, enlighten us and forgive us when we go astray.