The Dunya Blues

The title of my khutbah today is “Dunya Blues“.

When I volunteered to give the khutbah two weeks ago I thought to myself, “no problem.” But in the space of two weeks, just two weeks, I have to say that this dunya has really gotten me down. Watching our president and his behavior towards our immigrants, allies and bullies, has made me very upset. I don’t think I have been this down in the dumps since the George W Bush years. Because my children were too small to remember that time, they think something is really wrong with me. No dear, this is just a repeat, a remix if you will, of things that have happened before. This is the Dunya Blues.

One typical trigger for my Dunya Blues was something I saw on CNN. It said that 55% of the American people disapproved of the President’s handling of his recent trip abroad, but 68% of Republicans thought he did a great job. All I could think of was our recent trip to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Germany this summer. At the museum, it became clear that Hitler could do no wrong in the eyes of his supporters. It was only after their major cities were in ruins, their friends and family were killed, they were starving and four foreign armies occupied their country that these people thought “Maybe Hitler wasn’t such a good idea.” I feel like it would take these kinds of events to change people’s minds in our current political climate. If these events sound hellish, I would agree. The events of WW2 were hellish, but perhaps to change people’s minds, Hell is required.

The Quran does assert that some people will not change their erroneous beliefs while they live in this world. The first mention of this is in Surah Baqarah

“Behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth- it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or doest 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.” (2:7)

The metaphor of “sealed hearts”, which lead to sealed hearing and vision, is a common motif in Quran.

“Say: ‘What do you think? If God should take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts- what deity but God is there that could bring it all back to you? Behold how many facets We give to Our messages- and yet they turn away in disdain” (6:46)

“As for anyone who denies God after having once attained to faith- and this, to be sure, does not apply to one who does it under curess, the while his heart remains true to his faith, but only to him who willingly opens up his heart to a denial of the truth- upon all such falls God’s condemnation, and tremendous suffering awaits them; all this because they hold this world’s life in greater esteems than the life to come, and because God does not bestow this guidance upon people who deny the truth. They whose hearts and whose hearing and whose sight God has sealed- it is they, they who are heedless. Truly it is they, they who in the life to come shall be the losers.” (16:106-109)

“In this way God lets go astray such as waste their own selves by throwing suspicion (on His revelations)- such as would call God’s messengers into question without having any evidence therefor; (a sin_ exceedingly loathsome in the sight of God and of those who hath attained to faith. It is this way that God sets a seal on every arrogant, self-exalting heart.” (40:35)

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People with sealed hearts will never see the truth until they are forced to confront the truth on the Day of Judgment. However, the thing to remember is that for us humans it is difficult to distinguish between people whose hearts are completely sealed versus  those who can be ‘toggled’ into better behavior. Keep in mind that some of the Prophet’s fiercest opponents actually, by the grace of God, came around and were his biggest defenders.

How can people be nudged into better behavior? From the time of our Prophet until today, this question continues to be a major topic of interest and research. The Prophet’s primary tool was the Quran, but not everyone who listened to the Quran heeded those words.  I gave a few examples, but the ‘sealed heart  or ‘hardened heart’ phrase, “ is used more than twenty times throughout the Quran, a testimony to the stubbornness of the population.

We might like to think that facts and data can change people’s behavior, but in our modern age of spin, hyperbole and sophisticated propaganda, real world facts can be held under suspicion in the alternative reality created by these ‘spin machines’.

What makes the spin machines effective is they tap into the human code- our structure of beliefs.  I was reminded of this after  a recent “Westworld” binge, when one of the characters said, “You don’t think people can change?” and the robot replied, “I think the best they can do is live up to their code.” What does a human ‘code’ look like and does this code provide us with some insight as to how better behavior can be encouraged? If you will indulge me, this is my thought experiment: perhaps humans have a code of ethical and moral behavior which they get from an early age- a product of their personality and environment. Human beings act in accordance with this code, and reject ideas or behavior that seem to contradict this belief framework. Good behavior could result if the messaging can conform to the standards of the code. What are some of the codes that Islam teaches us?

In the Islamic Tradition, there is a code which tells humans about not getting too invested in this life, in this world, in this dunya. In this strand of traditional thought supported by sunna, Muslims are told that they should be focused on the next life, not this one. Muslims should prepare for the next life by fulfilling moral obligations in this world, for example by praying and giving charity, and not worry so much about the material aspirations (power, legacies) of this life. Well, after the past couple of weeks, I can really understand where that advice is coming from. Why invest yourself emotionally and spiritually in a world where you have little control and where people and circumstances are certain to thwart your plans and sense of logic?  In times like these, detachment feels , not so much like a philosophical stance, but, more like a survival choice.

Detachment is not the only code in our Islamic Tradition and there are many more options in the Quran itself. One example is in Surah Luqman.  This is considered a mid-Mecca surah, revealed at a time of uncertainty in the nascent Muslim community. I want to emphasize, this was a time of uncertainty, no one knew there was going to be a happy ending of a triumphant march through Mecca. At this time, the Muslim community was growing, but also finding itself under increasing tension with their pagan neighbors. At this time there may have been the beginnings of physical persecution and talk of migration to Abyssinia. The context of this time was turmoil, the rumble of thunderclouds on the horizon, great uncertainty.

In this time of transformation, the surah Luqman was revealed to the Prophet. The surah is named after Luqman, a wise man prone to counseling his son. We are also told Luqman is wise because he is “Grateful unto God” (31:12).

The beginning of Surah Luqman acknowledges the difficulty in changing human behavior:

“But among men there is many a one that prefers a mere play with words so as to lead (those) without knowledge astray from the path of God and to turn it to ridicule: for such there is a shameful suffering in store. For whenever Our messages are conveyed to such a one, he turns away in his arrogance as though he hd not heard them- as though there were deafness in his ears; givbe him then, the tiding of grievous suffering (in the life to come)” (31:6-7)

The surah goes on to say that for people who do listen, there is a great reward. As Osama told us a few weeks ago, much of the advice Luqman imparts to his son consists of the “Ten Commandments” which are repeated in numerous surahs throughout the Quran. These ten commandments are consistent with a code which allows all of us to do some good in this world. We do not have a presence on the world stage that would allow us to facilitate political changes, but we can all do small things which make the world a better place: worship one God, be respectful to our parents, pray, don’t be arrogant, be patient,  and one I needed to hear “But as for him who is bent on denying the truth- let not his denial grieve thee: unto Us they must return and then We shall make them understand all that they were doing. For verily, God has full knowledge of what is in the hearts.” (31:23)

(PAUSE)

Since it is summer and I did call this khutbah the Dunya Blues, I would like to close with a reflection derived from the biggest blues of all in this world- the ocean. Growing up along the California coast, I saw the ocean nearly every day in my youth. A deep royal blue on a sunny day, a cobalt blue dotted with white caps of foam on a windy day, or slate gray as the storm approached. The waves crashing along the shore, the extremes of low tide and high tide, the detritus after a storm- all these things served as a constant reminder of a creation which embodied beauty and strength, ferocity and tranquility. As the Danish author Isak Dineson once said, “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.”

Surah Luqman also makes mention of a parable in the context of the ocean and ships.  Just so we all understand some of the layers of this important metaphor, I turned to the “Penguin Dictionary of Symbols”. According to the dictionary, the ocean

“…is a symbol of the dynamism of life. Everything comes from the sea and everything returns to it. It is a place of birth, transformation, and rebirth. With its tides, the sea symbolizes a transitory condition between shapeless potentiality and formal reality, an ambivalent situation of uncertainty, doubt, and indecision which can end well or ill. Hence, the sea is an image of death and of life.”

With regards to ships, the dictionary states, “Ships conjure up ideas of strength and safety in the dangers of a voyage and the symbolism is as applicable to space-flight as to sea-travel. The ship is like a star which orbits about its pole, the Earth, but under human control. It is a picture of life in which the individual must choose a goal and steer a course.”

Now that you have some clues about the symbolism, this is the story as related in Surah Luqman:

 “Art thou not aware how ships speed through the sea by God’s favor, so that He might show you some of His wonders? Herein, behold, there are signs indeed for all who are wholly patient in adversity and deeply grateful to God. For when the waves engulf them like shadows, they call unto God, sincere in their faith in Him alone; but as soon as He has brought them safe ashore, some of them stop half-way. None reject Our signs but the ungrateful.” (31:31-32)

The parable of a storm at sea is symbolic to every danger that humans face in life- whether it is a physical danger, or just the passions within one’s own heart.  Just to convey how important this story is, this parable is repeated two more times in Quran.

“Your Sustainer is He who causes ships to move onward for you through the sea so that you might go about in quest of some of his bounty; verily, a dispenser of grace is He unto you. And whenever danger befalls you at sea, all those powers that you are wont to invoke forsake you, (and nothing remains for you) saw Him: but as soon as He has brought you safe ashore, you turn aside (and forget Him)- for indeed bereft of all gratitude is man!” (17:67)

“And so, when they embark on a ship (and find themselves in danger), they call unto God (at that moment) sincere in their faith in Him alone: but as soon as He has brought them safe ashore, they (begin to) ascribe to imaginary powers a share in His divinity and thus they show utter ingratitude for all that We have vouchsafed them, and go on enjoying this worldly life. But in time they will come to know.” (29:66)

Yes our times are uncertain and we may feel abandoned and ignored. But God does not ignore us. He is there for us in calm seas and in rough waters. Our code as Muslims is not to forget His connection to us. We live up to our code when we to keep our hearts open-unsealed- and to listen to His signs. Amen. 

References:

Quran translation  "The Message of the Quran" by Muhammad Asad

"Penguin Dictionary of Symbols" translated from the French by John Buchanan-Brown 1994 (Penguin Books: London)