The Beauty In and Of Creation

Surah 7, Al-A’raf, Ayat 31-32

Ya banil Adama khudhu zinatakum inda kulli masjidinw-wa kulu wash-rabu wa la tusrifu.  Innahu la yuhibbul-musrifin. [31]

Qul man harrama zinatal-lahi-latil akhraja li ibadihi wat-tayyibati minar-rizq.  Qul hiya lilladhina amanu fil-hayatid-dunya khalisatany-Yawmal-Qiyamah. 

Kadhalika nufassilul-Ayati liqawminy-ya lamun. [32]

O Children of Adam!  Beautify yourselves for every act of worship, and eat and drink freely, but do not waste:  verily, Allah does not love the wasteful. [31]

Say:  ‘Who is there to forbid the beauty which God has brought forth for His creatures, and the good things from among the means of sustenance?’

Say:  ‘they are lawful in the life of this world unto all who have attained to faith – to be theirs alone on Resurrection Day.’  Thus clearly do We spell out these messages unto people of innate knowledge! [32]

I want to focus today on the beauty – in and of creation…. the beauty that God has created around us, and the beauty we re-create as beings entrusted with consciousness, (or as Quran puts it, Allah’s Vice-Regents on earth).  Our first relationship with beauty lies in our capacity to appreciate it in its many forms in nature, God’s creation.  In fact, Quran  reminds us that appreciating beauty is a path to understanding the transcendence of Allah.

Surah 16, An-Nahl (The Bee), Ayat 5-17

And Allah creates cattle:  you derive warmth from them, and various uses; and from them you obtain food; [5] and you find beauty in them when you drive them home in the evenings and when you take them out to pasture in the mornings. [6]

And they carry your loads to many places you would not otherwise be able to reach without great hardship to yourselves.  Truly, your Sustainer is most compassionate, a dispenser of grace! [7]

And it is Allah who creates horses and mules and donkeys for you to ride, as well as for their beauty:  and He will yet create things of which today you have no knowledge. [8]

Think of the birds in all their glorious forms and patterns and colors – the phylogenetic descendants of the dinosaurs – and think of what life forms God will create in another 250 million years, or has already created on other planets.

And Allah made the night and the day and the sun and the moon subservient to laws, so that they may be of use to you; and all the stars are subservient to Allah’s command:  in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who use their reason! [16:12]

And all the beauty of many hues which Allah has created for you on earth:  in this, behold, there is a message for people who are willing to take it to heart!  [16:13]

And Allah made the sea subservient to laws, so that you might eat fresh meat from it, and take from it gems which you may wear.. [14]

Is then, the One who creates comparable to any being that cannot create?  Will you not, then, bethink yourselves?  [16:17]

The Quran references beautiful things in creation that the Prophet and his followers knew from their world.  We recognize them still today, but we can add so many more from the world we live in now, things that 7^th century Arabs could never have dreamed of. 

I heard an author interview recently, of a woman who had written a book about the oceans.  She is also a surfer, and she and others like her travel around the world in pursuit of the biggest waves they can find, waves as high as 40 to 60 feet tall.  I never really understood why people would try to ride 60 foot waves.  But when the interviewer asked her if she was afraid, she said, “Of course it is incredibly dangerous, and you know that.  Of course you have to fight fear going into it.  But once you catch that wave, you have to be so focused, you do not have room for fear.  When you are riding a 60 foot wave, every cell in your body is responding to the energy of that wave.  You lose your sense of self.  You become one with the universe.  That is why we do what we do.”  How beautiful is that!

What are some of your favorites?  What are some of the things that you have done or seen that made you feel close to God?  Some of mine:  the stars at night in the desert; the Grand Canyon; Bryce Canyon;  galloping on a horse at full speed in an open field; standing on a beach looking out at the ocean – any ocean.

The other way we connect to beauty is when we try to create something beautiful ourselves.  This includes creating beautiful things, but also doing beautiful deeds.  Abou El-Fadl reminds us that “In the Quranic usage, to do acts of ihsan – goodness – is to perform beautiful deeds or acts of grace and beauty.  It is as if ihsan  is at the very logic of creation, as natural as the rules of symmetry that define not just balance and beauty but reality.  Ihsan is not just kindness or generosity; it is life giving and life sustaining.   “Do good as Allah has been good to you.”  [Quran 28:77]

Creating art of any kind is also a form of ihsan, an act of grace and beauty.  Allah has given us all the ability to create something, be it delicious food, a painting, a poem, a song, an original design for a website, a flower garden, a beautiful building.  When we create, we are channeling, in our own finite way, a part of the energy of God’s creation.  And every once in awhile, we manage to achieve something that borders on the sublime… a Mozart concerto, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, De Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, a child’s drawing for her mother – what are some of your favorites?

But we can never forget that everything we create is only a finite and temporary reflection of the greater creative Truth that is Allah.  Quran reminds us of this.

Surah 10, Jonah, Ayah 24

The parable of the life of this world is but that of rain which We send down from the sky, and which is absorbed by the plants of the earth whereof people and animals draw nourishment, until – when the earth has assumed its artful adornment and has been embellished, and they who dwell on it believe that they have gained mastery over it – there comes down upon it Our judgment, by night or by day, and We cause it to become like a field mown down, as if there had been no yesterday.  Thus clearly do We spell out these messages unto people who think!  [24]

Created works of beauty are like that.  They fade, or are forgotten, or are misunderstood or unappreciated by subsequent generations.  One form of Buddhist  practice ritualizes the impermanent aspect of beauty.  Mandala paintings are created by Buddhist monks, who painstakingly place grains of sand to create exquisite works of intricate, multicolored design.  They can literally take weeks or months to create the most elaborate works of art.  And as soon as they finish, they carefully sweep up and collect all the sand, and lovingly release it into a moving stream or river.  In doing this, they symbolize the impermanence of the beauty of this world.  They have created a ritual around the idea that beauty is not static.  The real beauty is in the act of creation itself, an ongoing, dynamic process.  This is why we feel energized when we are inspired to create something – the process of creating is beautiful in itself, even if we are never satisfied with the result of our effort.  Creating makes us feel what it is to be alive.

In the second part of this khutbah, I would like to share an example of how our ability to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation, and our ability to create beauty ourselves have merged into one elegant process.  The progression of human creation to the age of computers led recently to the discovery of a way to simulate the act of creating through mathematics.  A mathematician named Benoit Mandelbrot in the 1980s revealed a new form of mathematics – fractile geometry – and gave us a tool to create visual images of the creative process itself.  Mandelbrot’s set of equations is based on adding and multiplying, but carries these operations millions and billions of times – not possible until humans had invented computers - in order to create a complete set, a set that creates a model of infinity.  It has been called “one of the most astonishing discoveries in the entire history of mathematics.”  [Find visual images of the Mandelbrot set on You Tube.]

The basic model looks rather like a feathery, seated Buddha, but no matter how much you magnify it, it continues to create new patterns, and the little Buddha image eventually reappears, over and over.  The image can be magnified indefinitely.  When color is added to the equations, they yield visually stunning images of infinite complexity.  One scientist has called it “the thumbprint of God.”

The Mandelbrot set creates patterns that mimic those in nature, not linear and finite, but infinitely varied and complex.  Living creatures are also complicated structures, created from simple rules, simple laws of physics and chemistry, repeated millions, billions of times following the map of their DNA.  Scientists have already begun to explore ways that fractile geometry could provide maps to natural selection, and even the workings of our brains.  Some have noted that geometric art forms - mandala paintings, stained glass windows, Islamic art – all creations of the human brain - exhibit echoes of the Mandelbrot set, created centuries before it was discovered.  So we see that laws – God’s natural laws – govern the creative process, not just in nature, but within our brains.  Our brains are hardwired, if you will, to create acts of goodness and beauty, if we only follow God’s natural laws.  The Mandelbrot set, in visual form, can be seen as a representation of ihsan. 

The set yields new patterns all the time, never exactly the same one twice, but always following the same mathematical formula.  One mathematician equated the set with life itself, commenting, “God created a system which gave us free will.  It’s the most brilliant manoeuver in the universe… to create something in which everything is free.  How could you do that?”  Another said, “The Mandelbrot set shows us that you can have chance and deterministic laws at the same time.  It’s not whether God plays dice with the universe that matters, it’s how God plays dice.”  Sir Arthur Clarke (who wrote 2001, A Space Odyssey) said this about the set, “We’ve all heard about maps that lead to hidden treasure.  In this case, the map IS the treasure. “

Albert Einstein believed that “the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious [the God we cannot know].  It is the source of all true art and science.”   I would add that experiencing the mysterious by engaging in the process of creating the good and the beautiful is an act of worship as powerful as prayer.  As with prayer, it is the process that links us to our Creator.   The result of our efforts is not the real point.  The point is that when we stop creating, we cut our link to God’s life giving creative energy, we become hardened and bitter and lost.

Surah 39, Az-Zumar (The Throngs), Ayat 22-23

Afaman-sharahal-lahu sadrahu lil ‘Islami fahuwa ala nurim-mir-Rabbih.  Fawalul-lilqasiyati qulubu-hum-min-dhijril-lah.  Ulaa ika fi dalalim-mubin. [22]

Allahu nazzala ahsanal-hadithi Kitabam-mutashabiham-mathaniya taqsha ‘irru minhu juludul-ladhina yakhshawna Rabbahum thumma talinu juluduhum wa qulubuhum ila dhikril-lah.

Dhalika hudal-lahi yahdi bihi many-yashaa.  Wa many-yudilil-lahu fama lahu min had. [23]

Could, then, one whose bosom God has opened wide with willingness towards self-surrender unto Allah, illumined by a light from our Sustainer, be likened to the blind and deaf of heart?

Woe, then, unto those whose hearts are hardened against all remembrance of God!  They are most certainly lost in error!  [22]

God bestows from on high the best of all teachings in the shape of a divine writ fully consistent within itself, repeating each statement [of the truth] in manifold forms – a divine writ whereat shiver the skins of all who of their Sustainer stand in awe:  [but] in the end their skins and their hearts do soften at the remembrance of the grace of God…

Such is God’s guidance:  guiding therewith those who will to be guided – whereas those who choose to go astray can never find any guide.  [23]

Ramadan Khutbah

I want to talk today about Ramadan and fasting.  I know you are thinking, “One more Khutbah about Ramadan?  Please…”  But my focus is a little different this time.  I’d like to talk more specifically about our practice of fasting here in America, and how we can look to the history of our faith for “clues” about how we understand its meaning.

I will begin with a story about the journey of fasting in my own family.  I am taking the liberty, with my wife’s permission, of sharing her experience with this pillar of the faith over the years.  She has struggled with fasting since adopting Islam over thirty years ago.  Every year she has tried to fast, and it has been almost impossible for her to abstain from eating and drinking all day, especially in summer, with its 17-18 hours days.  She always felt discouraged and frustrated.  She would be almost incapacitated by dehydration.  Her body physiology was not used to the practice of abstaining, especially from water.  The challenge was not just physical, but also psychological.  The concept of fasting ran counter to everything she had always been taught about the need stay hydrated, especially in summer, and that eating small amounts of food every few hours was the best way to maintain energy and productivity.  On days when she had to work full time, she could not fast.  In spite of all that I encouraged her to fast to the best of her ability – not fast all day, drink water once or twice during the day – whatever she needed to do to get through and function.  She tried different ways over the years, but she always tried to fast.  And Alhamdulillah, to her surprise, she is finally able to fast all day, even in the summer. 

This journey is not unique to her.  We have to think of others who probably struggle with fasting like she has – other converts to Islam in America, children growing up, especially when they see that other people around them do not have to suffer like they do.  We should even think about other Muslims who decided to leave the faith for a time, but then come back to it, and who might find Islamic rituals difficult to follow, especially fasting and praying regularly.  We can go further and say that even for those of us who are used to fasting all our lives, we might find it challenging to keep the tradition while maintaining regular working hours, with everyone expecting us to perform “business as usual,” Ramadan or not.  Muslims in Islamic countries deal with the challenges of Ramadan by changing their life style and work expectations.  In Egypt, for example, no one is expected to do much during Ramadan.  For them, everything is “Baad il Eid,” which means, “After Eid.”  I wish we could do that here, but we cannot, and honestly, we should not.  I remember when I fasted Ramadan for the first time in America, I felt that I had never fasted before in Egypt.  It was so easy in Egypt.  No struggle, it was fun.  But here, having to work long the same long hours every day, it was a challenge.

This leads to the second part of my Khutbah.  Is there anything in the experience of the first Muslims that we can refer to, to inspire us through our challenges with fasting in America?  The concept of fasting in Ramadan as we now know it developed over time in Madinah.  When Prophet Muhammad, pbuh came to Madinah, he found that the Jews were fasting the day of Passover to celebrate the exodus of Prophet Mousa and his followers from Egypt.  He said, “Mousa is our prophet too,” so he decided to fast that day and asked his followers to fast as well.  Sometime during the first year in Madinah, Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad Ayat 183-184 of Surat Al-Baqara, asking the Muslims to fast three specific days –the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th days of every month.  (This later became a tradition of the Prophet for fasting outside of Ramadan.)  Allah also mentioned in these ayat that those who find it difficult to fast do not have to fast, and they could provide a meal to a needy person in Madinah instead.  The rule was general, without any limitations.  It was left up to each Muslim to decide for himself or herself whether or not they could fast.  Allah also mentioned that if someone was sick or traveling, they should not fast, and make up those days later, after Ramadan, whenever possible.

Sometime later, within the first two years in Madinah, Ayah 185 was revealed, asking the Muslims to fast the entire month of Ramadan.  The ayah confirmed to everyone that those who find it difficult should not exhaust themselves by fasting.

It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was first bestowed from on high as a guidance unto man and a self-evident proof of that guidance, and as the standard by which to discern the true from the false.  Hence, whoever of you lives to see this month shall fast throughout it; but he that is ill, or on a journey, shall fast instead for the same number of other days.  God wills that you shall have ease, and does not will you to suffer hardship; but He desires that you complete the number of days required and that you extol God for His having guided you aright, and that you render your thanks unto Him. [2:185]

What a beautiful ayah – a beautiful concept.  Allah wants us to fast, but not to have hardship.  Why?  Because fasting, like all Islamic rituals, has a purpose.  The rituals are not just “Faraid,” - rules to be followed - they are pathways to Allah.  They are there to help us stay on that path.  Hardship might compromise that concept, making us focus more on getting through it at any price, with the risk of losing perspective.  It is worth pointing out here that “fasting” in Arabic - sawm - means literally “to abstain from something.”  For example, in Surat Maryam, God conveyed to Maryam that she should tell the people  

“Behold, abstinence from speech have I vowed to the Most Gracious; hence I may not speak today to any mortal.” [19:26]

When the Muslims began fasting in Madinah, they followed different rules from those we follow today – this was the third phase of fasting.  They ate at sunset.  They were allowed to eat and drink as long as they stayed awake, but if they went to sleep, they would not eat or drink until the next day at sunset.  Some of the commentators say that they believed that was the way the other people of the book, (Jews and Christians) fasted at that time, as Allah said in Ayah 183:

O You who have attained to faith!  Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God. [2:183]

Most of the Muslims went to sleep after they prayed Isha, especially when they prayed with the Prophet, in order to be able to get up early for Fajr prayer.  Some of the Muslims could not follow that rule, and were not strict in observing it (including, believe it or not, Omar ibn Khattab).  One day, one of the Prophet’s companions named Sarma ibn Malik, who was a farm worker, inspired another revelation regarding fasting.  He came home at the end of the day with some dates from the field where he worked.  He told his wife, “I do not want to eat dates tonight.  Dates have ‘burned my stomach.’   Take these dates and trade them for something warm to eat.”  He was too tired to stay awake, so he fell asleep.  When his wife came back she woke him up to eat, but he was afraid to, not wanting to violate the rule.  The next day he went to work.  At the end of the day, Prophet Muhammad saw him at the mosque and asked him “What happened to you, you look pale and sick.”  So Sarma ibn Malik told him what happened.  That night, Gibrael came to Prophet Muhammad with Ayah 187 from Surat Al-Baqara, revising the rule of fasting, telling the Muslims that they can eat and drink whenever they want from sunset to dawn.  What is more intriguing in this ayah (Al Baqara 187), is that Allah stated that He knew some of the Muslims were, literally, “cheating” (“takhtanouna anfusakum”).

Allah was not angry with them, but merciful.  He forgave them and lifted that hardship.  There is a wonderful story from the Seerah which illustrates this forgiveness as practiced by the Prophet.  A man came to Prophet Muhammad and said “I am burning in hellfire.  I intentionally broke my fast during the day yesterday.  What should I do?”  The Prophet waited for awhile, according to his companions, waiting for an answer from Allah (as was the case many times in Seerah).  Then he asked for the man to come back to him.  The Prophet had a good sense of humor as well.  He said, “Where is the man on fire?”  The man came back.  The Prophet then said, “Here is what you have to do.  Ask Allah for forgiveness, free a slave.”  The man answered, “I do not have any.”  The Prophet answered, “Then fast for two successive months.”  The man answered, “I cannot.”  The Prophet then said, “Then feed 60 needy people from Madinah.”  The man said, “I cannot.”  The Prophet waited a little bit.  Then a man came with a pot full of dates and gave them to the Prophet to give to the man as a Sadaqa (act of charity).  The Prophet gave it to him and said, “Find 60 needy people in Madinah and feed them these dates.”  The man finally said, “Prophet Muhammad, in this city I am poorer than anyone else.”  Prophet Muhammad laughed out loud and told him, “Go home and feed your family with these dates.”  Just like that.  No hardship, absolute forgiveness and mercy.  Prophet Muhammad understood this poor man’s good intention and solid faith, and never questioned it.

The last thing I want to mention is a fun and interesting fact.  If you think that fasting these past few years has been hard because Ramadan has been in the summer, I would say that it could have been worse.  Ramadan could have fallen during the summer every year.  Let me explain.  Ramadan, in Arabic, is from the root word “Ramada” which literally means “sizzling hot.”  Before Islam, in the time of Jahiliyya, Ramadan correlated with the middle of summer, when it was extremely hot in Makkah.  Before Islam, the Arabs used a lunisolar calendar, just like the Jewish calendar now.  They intercalated the calendar by adding three months every seven years (3, 6, 8) to make up the difference between the solar year and the lunar year.  They did that because it was to their advantage to correlate the months with the seasons.  The most important month for them was the season of Hajj, in the month of “Thor Al Hijja.”  They wanted Hajj to be in the fall season, after their summer trading journey to the north, which was the most important one. They wanted the trade season to precede the Hajj season so they would have goods to trade during Hajj, a big commercial event.  In the year 9 Hijra, Surah At-Tawba (#9) was revealed to Prophet Muhammad, especially Ayah 37, where Allah prohibited the Muslims from doing any future intercalation.  Since then, the months of the Hijjra calendar rotate through the different seasons.  Ramadan now falls in summer, spring, winter and fall. 

A Worthy Adversary, Part 1 Origins

The title of my khutbah, is “A Worthy Adversary, Part 1 Rationale and Hypothesis’. This khutbah will launch a series of lectures along the same topic: Satan.

There are a lot of  people and characters mentioned in the Quran and we are often told, particularly in the case of prophets, that these historic or mythic figures are people to be emulated with respect to their virtue, perserverance, piety, et cet. One of the characters who is often mentioned in the Quran is Iblis or Shaitan. Sometimes it is not clear if these two entities are the same person. But in any case, I want to examine the adversary which is described in the Quran 15:26-46

“And certainly We created the human being out of earth mud or soft wet earth. And We created ones who are the spirits before from the fire of a burning wind. And mention when your Lord said to the angels: Truly I am One Who is Creator of the mortals out of earth mud of soft wet earth. That is when I shaped him and breathed into him of My Spirit. So fall down before him as ones who prostrate themselves. The angels prostrated themselves, one and all but Iblis. Iblis refused to be with the ones who prostrated themselves.

He said: O Iblis! What is with you that you are not with the ones who prostrate themselves?

Iblis said: I will not prostrate myself before a mortal whom You have created out of earth mud or soft wet earth.

(It was said): Go you forth from here, for truly you are accursed! And truly a curse will be upon you until the Day of Judgment.

Iblis said: O my Lord! Give me respite until the Day they are raised up.

He said: Then truly you are among the ones who are given respite until the Day of the known time.

Iblis said: My Lord! Because You have led me into error, I will certainly make the earth appear pleasing to them and I will lead them one and all into error, except Your servants among them, the ones who are devoted.

 He said: This is the straight path to Me. Truly as for My servants you will have no authority over them, but ones who are in error followed you. And truly hell has been promised to them all. It has seven doors. Then for every door, a set part is designated for them. Truly the ones who are Godfearing will be amidst gardens and springs. Enter them in peace as ones who are safe!” 15:26-46

My motivation for studying Iblis initially stemmed from the khutbah that AR was preparing. As we talked about it, the question arose of whether Iblis also had free will- did he choose not to bow before Adam after God told him to? And if Iblis did have free will, then well, then things get complicated. So, AR and I agreed that it would be best just not to talk about this topic and gloss over it.  Well, I’m now here to remove to gloss. I’m going to talk a lot about Iblis over the next khutbahs that I give. I will be drawing upon Peter Awn’s book Satan’s Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology. I would have loved to have used Professor Awn’s book in a book club setting, but it is just not possible. This book is out of print and the copies which are available cost hundreds of dollars. With mortgage payments, college tuitions, and taxes, most of us are not going to spend that kind of money on a devil book. However, since I have university library privileges, I can share it with you here. So after the khutbah, if you want to talk more about anything, please let’s do that.  

I think it is important to have a good understanding of Iblis and Shaitan because although the Quran reassures us in 50:16 

“And certainly We have created the human being, We know what evil his soul whispers to him, We are nearer to him than the jugular vein.”, 
we are also told God has assigned every person-including prophets- their own personal shaitan; in 43:36-37

 “And whoever renders himself weak-sighted to the remembrance of The Merciful, We allot for him a satan so he is a comrade for him. And truly they bar them from the way, but they assume that they are ones who are truly guided. ” 

and 6:112 “And thus We have made an enemy for every Prophet, satans from among human kind and the jinn. Some of them reveal to some others ornamented sayings as a delusion. And if your Lord willed, they would not have accomplished it. So forsake them and what they devise.” 

So who is closer to you? How often do you listen to the quiet voice of your conscience? How often do you notice the blood pumping through your veins and arteries? How often are you tempted by whispers from the outside world? I’m guessing, you probably notice your blood pressure in times of extreme exercise or stress, and the whispers- probably, well, a lot. Even a walk through a shopping mall can be a trying.

Now one thing we tend to do as human beings, is even though we have parts of our personality that we do not like, instead of examining that in detail, we tend to push these ‘shadow aspects’ of ourselves into the corner and try to ignore them, convince ourselves they don’t exist. However, these shadows do exist, and we often, by not addressing them honestly, project these feelings of the shadow personality onto other people. As they saying goes, “He knows best the faults of another who has those own faults within himself.”

Iblis vows in Surah 15 to ‘lead them one and all into error except Your servants”  If we want to be of the servant of God, people who are not seduced by Iblis, then I think it would be prudent to understand some of the techniques employed by Shaitan so we don’t get led astray, so we are not seduced. I also feel that in studying the devil’s seduction tactics, we can discover a lot about our own soul (nafs) and personality. 

It is important to remember that some of the less desirable parts of our personality are helpful, even advantageous and good, in certain situations. And many times, these shadow parts of our selves arise to address specific needs in a particular environment.  For example, we may need the desire to flee in order to survive a tiger attack. Our desire to live and our fear of being killed is helping us survive in this situation. But what happens when there is no tiger, and we just keep imagining a tiger is there? We react as though there is a tiger, but the tiger is only in our imagination. The desire to flee and survive and the fear have now become a burden, maladaptive. Where once that desire helped us, now it has become a waste. If you are constantly trying to flee, then you can’t use your time and brains for other activities like gathering berries, storytelling, establishing science and culture. It is important to examine feelings and desires in order to make sure that we are making good choices and not simply following old patterns.

If we take a hard look at our own personalities, how much of our personality has been determined by our environment? How much of our personality have we deliberately chosen versus how much of it is left over from prior needs in an outdated or nor longer existing environment? When we react to something or someone, are we choosing to react that way or are we just letting past experience take over and run our response. And is that past experience appropriate to the current situation, or is it a reaction of extremes? A “Run from the tiger!!” – only there is no tiger before us, at best maybe a scrawny kitten.

With the Adam and Eve example, I believe the devil seduced them using Adam and Eve’s curiosity. Curiosity is useful, it helps us to explore our environment and gets us to take risks to learn new things. However, curiosity must be balanced with caution. This is just one of the laws of the universe. If you don’t balance your curiosity with caution, you will pay the consequences. Think of all those Jackass videos and reminders of “Kids, don’t try this at home.” Adam and Eve were curious- nothing wrong with that, but they did not balance their curiosity with caution.

Acquisition of knowledge and understanding is not an instant gratification scheme. It takes time, but if you are not willing to receive formal instruction to satisfy your curiosity, there are other ways to learn. As the Japanese proverb says, “Experience is an expensive school, but a fool will learn from no other.” Adam and Eve were too impatient to submit to God’s teaching, the devil offered them a ‘short-cut’, and our impatient ancestors were rewarded with the school of this world, the school of lived experience.

My working hypothesis in this khutbah series, is that Iblis seduces us by pushing our desires to extremes. Instead of keeping a balanced attitude, we are seduced into taking an extreme position. So I think its important to listen to the whispers of Shaitan, not shut them out, but listen to them and think about them and think about why they are so damnably seductive. What part of our personality finds the devil’s solution so comforting? I’m not saying do what Shaitan suggests, remember in everything you have a choice. You are the one who decides whether you want to cultivate your soul to become closer to God, or not. I’d like to use the analogy of a garden. In a garden, you have certain types of plants you want to enjoy- roses, petunias, daisies, phlox. But no matter how careful a gardener you are, there will always be weeds. You don’t want weeds to overwhelm your garden, then you won’t have the plants you want, and while many gardeners rip the weeds out instantly, those weeds can actually give you some valuable information about the quality of your garden soil that can help you grow your desired plants better. Depending on the kind of weed, you can tell whether your garden soil is impacted, or has too little calcium or too much potassium and so on. And let us not forget that the plant we call a ‘weed’ today, may once  have been a life-saving herbal remedy to our pioneer ancestors. Weeds have important information, but you need to be able to read them. Then you can rip out those weeds and wait for the next batch to come along, because believe me, there will always be another batch. So the same can be said for Shaitan’s whispers. Listen to them, analyze what they tell you about your desires, and then make the appropriate choices to cultivate your soul. The Quran says,

“and by the soul (nafs) and what shaped it and inspired it to its acting immorally and God-consciousness. He who makes it pure prospers. Surely is frustrated whoever seduced it.”  91: 8-10

PAUSE

Innal-laha  wa Malaaikatahu yussalloona Alan-Nabiy; yaa Aiyuhal latheena Aamanoo, Salloo alaihi, wa sallimoo tassleema.

 Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet; O you who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy greeting.

I want to expand on the origin stories of Iblis, some of which are mentioned in the Quran, and some which are not mentioned in the Quran but were very likely to have been heard in the Meccan and Medina communities, particularly among the Jewish and Christian tribes and traders. We know that people traded stories, bible tales, psalms, apocrypha (stories not found in the canonical texts, but which were preserved in the faith communities), tales of martyrs etc. For instance, the story of the sleepers in the cave discussed in Surah 18, is not mentioned in the New Testament at all. Different versions of this story, called the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, date to the late 5th century AD. The story was very popular among Syriac Christians, and spread to the West with Gregory of Tours late 6th-century bestseller, Glory of the Martyrs.

In the bible, the Old Testament Genesis story does not mention anything about the prostration command and Iblis’ downfall. However, two non-canonical texts, the Jewish work Vita Adae et Evae (written in Greek, probably around in first century CE) and the Christian Gospel of St. Bartholomew (dated to the fifth or late-fourth CE) share much in common with the Quranic Iblis-God-Adam confrontation.

The Vita Adae et Evae  relates how God breathed life into Adam and then God commanded Michael (the angel) to get all the angels in formation to worship His new creation. The Devil (diabolus) refused on the grounds that he was created earlier and his seniority should exempt him from bowing down. The Devil threatens to become a rival to God if God gets angry at him, and God condemns  the devil for his pride and disobedience. In revenge, the devil leads Adam and Eve astray.

In the Gospel of St. Bartholomew, the Devil is relating his life story to the saint. The devil reiterates that man was made from earth, and after Michael tells him to bow down, he refuses. In the Christian text, the devil’s excuse is not seniority, rather it is because he is made of fire and Adam lowly earth. The consequences are the same, the Devil is condemned by God, ejected from Paradise, and sets out on his plan for revenge.

There are also strands of pre-Islamic Arabic Gnosticism in the Iblis story. In Manichaean Gnosticism, the Fihrist of An-Nadim, calls the Manichaean Prince of Darkness “the Ancient Iblis” (Iblis Al-Qadim). However, it should be noted that the Manichaean missionaries used to equate a variety of devil characters into the Prince of Darkness moniker, depending on which audience they were addressing.

Iblis plays a major role in Gnostic myths preserved in Islamic religious literature. Some of these can still be found in the Isma’ili community as well as some Sufi sects. These are metaphysical myths which are based on a esoteric concepts of Intelligences over-reaching their bounds and a notion of cyclical time, wherein the revenge of Iblis upon Adam revolves around the tension between manifestation and occultatation (hiddenness) of God’s Truth. Basically, Iblis provokes Adam by telling him the people of this age should not remain in darkness, they need the truth, Adam is seduced into eating from the tree as an act of compassion, and reveals the secret to an unworthy age.  This theme is revisited in the writings of 13th century mystic, Farid ad-Din Attar.

In my next khutbah, I will explore other genres of Islamic religious literature to try and give more details on the mythic biography of Iblis in order to answer the question: Was Iblis an angel or jinn. Believe me, a lot of ink was spilled over this debate.  The genres which will be considered are Quran commentaries and collections of prophetic fables which range from the 9-16the centuries CE.  What are the major theological issues that discussions of Iblis bring out?

My final du’a is from 3: 191-193

Not in vain have You made them (heaven and earth). All praise be to you, O Lord, preserve us from the torment of Hell. Whoever, O Lord, should be cast into Hell shall be verily disgraced; and the sinners shall have none to help them. We have heard, O our Lord, the crier call inviting us to faith (saying) ‘Believe in your Lord’. O our Lord, to faith we have come, so forgive our trespasses, deliver us from sin, and grant us death with the just.

Rabbana ma khalaqta hadha batilan, subhanaka fa-qina ‘adhaban-nar. Rabbana innaka man tudkhilin-nara fa-qad akhqaytahu, wa ma liz-zalimina min ansar.

Rabbana innana sami’na munadiyan yunadi lil imani an aminu bi-Rabbikum fa-amanna, Rabbana faghfir lanan dhunubana wa kaffir ‘annna sayyiatina wa tawaffana ma’al-abrar. Rabbana wa atina ma wa’adta-na ‘ala russuli-ka wa la tukhzi-na yauma-l-qiyamati innaka latukhlifu-l-mi’ad. Ameen.

References:

Quran translation: Laleh Bakhtiar The Sublime Quran, (Chicago: 2009) Kazi Publications, 2009

Satan's Tragedy and Redeption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology by Peter J. Awn, (Leiden:1983) E.J. Brill, in the series Studies in the History of Religions edited by M. Heerma van Voss, E J Sharpe and JZ Weblowsky. Vol XLIV

Don't Be An Angel

“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: “I will create a viceregent on earth”. They said: “Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- Whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy name?”

He said: “I know what ye know not.”

And He taught Adam the names of all things, then He placed them before the angels and said: “Tell Me the names of these if ye are right.”

They said: “Glory to Thee, of knowledge we have none, save what Thou hast taught us; in truth it is Thou who are perfect in knowledge and wisdom.”

He said: “O Adam! Tell them their names.” When he had told them, Allah said: “Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and I know what ye reveal and what ye conceal?”

And behold, We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam"; and they bowed down; Not so Iblis, he refused and was haughty. He was of those who reject faith."   Qur’an 2: 30-34

In today’s khutba, I hope to answer some important questions that we as Muslims sometimes ask ourselves, challenge common sense, and hope to share with you a different perspective. Today’s khutba is for the most part on free will. More specifically, the ability to act independently and think independently. The reason being is that our free will seems to grant us a very special status among the creations of Allah (swt). One example of how prevalent and important our free will can be found in an ayat concerning Angels. When I ask you to describe Angels, what comes to mind? Due to today’s culture, you probably imagine very pious beings. Beings that are of the utmost purity. Beings that have a strong connection to Allah (swt). Beings that can refuse Shaytan’s temptations. Beings that have the clearest sense of ethics. Yet in 2:34, Allah (swt) commands the Angels to bow before humans. What do we have that Angels and other creations do not? The answer is free will over our actions and free will over our thinking. With that in mind, let us discuss our ability to act independently.

The Qur’an and Hadith seem to suggest that the ability to act independently is actually very unique. Animals, for example, don’t entirely appear to have free will over their actions. This seems to be evident in the Qur’an because Allah’s will is typically enforced by animals, as with the cave spider and the Prophet Muhammed (pbu) or the Prophet Yunus (pbu) and the whale. However, our free will comes with responsibility. If we don’t fast, don’t pray, don’t even believe in the shahadah, our lives are not in imminent danger. Allah (swt) will not necessarily strike you down with a lightning bolt from the heavens. We have the option of committing crimes, or being law-abiding citizens. Some people would go so far as to say that some of the worst human atrocities in history have happened because of our free will. Now, this is not to say that there will not be consequences in the hereafter- there most certainly will be a weighing of your deeds at the Day of Judgement. However, in this life, our religious and moral actions are entirely our choice. In my opinion, this makes our prayers all the more sincere because we have the option of either praying or not praying. An Angel or animal would not have this freedom of choice. Now, you may be wondering why I am choosing to discuss free will over our actions. The reason why I choose to discuss this topic is that for many years, and even in today’s modern age, there seems to be this push to have Allah (swt) do our work. The Prohphet (pbu) actually addresses this movement in a rather interesting Hadith.

One day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" 

The Bedouin answered:"I put my trust in Allah."

The Prophet then said: "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah" (At-Tirmidhi,). The Prophet is essentially saying do it yourself. Allah (swt) may help you , but it is always imperative that you involve yourself as much as possible.

We are blessed with the ability to learn, think, interpret, and analyze whatever piece of information we deem to be important. Learning and getting an education was especially important to the Prophet (pbu) if we can all recall his memorable hadith “the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr.” Furthermore, our ability to learn and think independently makes us very valuable among Allah’s (swt) creations.

Let’s return to Angels, or rather, education and thinking among angels with 2:32.  This ayat is essentially saying that Angels can’t think on their own, and can’t learn new information. We, on the other hand, can. Our knowledge is not limited to the Qur’an, it extends to science, mathematics, rhetoric, or music. All of this knowledge is outside of what is explicitly described in the Qur’an, and there is nothing wrong with pursuing it because if you can recall, Allah (swt) commanded the beings that could not learn or think on their own to bow before the beings that could. In other words, don’t be an Angel, learn and think on your own. The reason why this issue is important is that our freedom to learn and think, make us who we are and are well-established rights in the Qur’an. Yet, across the Muslim world, people are trying to deny these rights. In Nigeria, Boko Haram is attempting to ban all books that aren’t the Qur’an and shut down schools. In Afghanistan, the Taliban is replacing science classes with Qur’anic classes. There are many more examples across the world, and while it might occasionally seem slightly innocent, because Islamic studies are being taught, but know that these are violations of rights to learn, think, and act with free will- independently.  These are rights the Qur’an not only protects, but promotes.

I will conclude today’s khutba by urging a new kind of piety. The reason why I believe this change must take place is because when we think of a pious, religious, or holy person, we do not always think of a philosopher, artist, or musician. We tend to have this idea that in order to be pious, we must blindly memorize Qur’anic surahs in old Arabic, obey every word of our imam, or attempt to recreate the lives of the Prophet and other divine Muslim figures. However, this is what I consider “Angel piety,” because this is how Angels live their lives: revolving around Allah’s every word and not wanting to learn new words. We should begin a piety that reflects our human qualities such as thinking, learning, and acting freely. The human qualities that make us different, but superior to Angels and other creations of Allah (swt). Instead of just memorizing surahs, think about what they mean and what they urge you to do. Write about the surah and its meaning to you. You don’t have to be a khateeb to have an opinion. If you wish to be even more pious in your actions, use your creativity and think of other ways to serve Allah (swt) in ways in addition to Prayer. Community service and volunteer work are just some examples. But regardless of what you may do, think or learn, know that you are a free individual that can make choices about their Faith. Religious scholars may be wise, but they are not the all-knowing, and should be giving advice, not orders. You can ignore, follow, or even expand upon traditions, but in the end it’s all up to you.

-by Guest Khatib AR

Day 16

The title of my khutbah is "Day 16"

We are at Ramadan Day 16, a little past the half way mark, full moon in the sky. We are well past Mercy (the first ten days) and not yet near Salvation From Hellfire (last ten days), instead we are smack dab in the middle of Forgiveness. Now all three aspects of Ramadan, mercy, forgiveness, salvation, all three represent domains where God expresses preferences, and we, as humans, have no way of knowing whether we have obtained God’s mercy or forgiveness or salvation from hell until it is pretty much too late to do anything about it. Humans have no control over God’s blessings.

Humans do have control over their own decisions. So we can decide how much mercy we want to give other people, or how much forgiveness or how we might try and make someone’s life easier or more miserable- particularly if we work at the BMV.

Forgiveness is a very tricky area for me, a vast array of gray zones.  We are told that we ought to be forgiving. Some religions- such as Christianity- define themselves by the unobstructed ability to forgive. Health professionals tell us forgiveness is good for our bodies. But in our culture, forgiveness is often underrated. I myself do not trust people who are too quick to forgive or too quick to apologize. I feel that they have not had time to process the complex feelings that go along with betrayal, abuse, and exploitation. I know a women 70 years old who will tell me, as though it happened yesterday, the sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager. For some people, it may take a lifetime to forgive. We need to be respectful for that time. The Dixie Chicks sing,

Forgive, sounds good

Forget, I'm not sure I could

They say time heals everything

But I'm still waiting

I'm through with doubt

There's nothing left for me to figure out

I've paid a price, and I'll keep paying

I'm not ready to make nice

I'm not ready to back down

I'm still mad as hell, and I don't have time

To go 'round and 'round and 'round

It's too late to make it right

I probably wouldn't if I could

'Cause I'm mad as hell

Can't bring myself to do what it is

You think I should”

-Dixie Chicks from their song “Not Ready to Make Nice”

It is also easier to forgive when you know the person that hurt you is not in a position to hurt you again. Just because you are ready to forgive does not mean your abuser will stop hurting you.

Another problem with forgiveness is that sometimes I am not sure what I did wrong, what in my behavior has made the other person so angry or hostile towards me.  I am not the only one with this problem. In Surah 80, ‘Abasa,  “He Frowned”, God upbraids Prophet Muhammad for bad behavior. 

This is a very early Meccan surah. The tradition behind it was Prophet Muhammad was having an important conversation with some extremely influential chiefs of the Meccan tribes. He was hoping that by convincing the chieftans, the rest of the Mecca population would convert to monotheism. During this conversation, Prophet Muhammad was approached by one of his followers, a blind man named Ibn Umm Maktum who had some questions about the Quranic revelations. Instead of answering this handicapped, likely unimportant, member of the community, Muhammad frowned and turned away from him, resuming his conversation with the big-wigs.  He was soon given this revelation.

“He frowned and turned away because the blind man approached him! Yet for all thou didst know, he might perhaps have grown in purity or have been reminded and helped by this reminder. Now as for him who believes himself to be self-sufficient- to him didst thou give thy whole attention, although thou art not accountable for his failure to attain purity, but as for him who came unto thee full of eagerness and in awe (of God)- him didst though disregard!

       Nay, verily, these (messages) are but a reminder, and so, whoever is willing may remember Him, in revelations blessed with dignity, lofty and pure, by the hands of messengers noble and virtuous.” (80:1-16)

In later years, Prophet Muhammad often greeted Ibn Umm Maktum with these humble words, “Welcome unto him on whose account my Sustainer has rebuked me.”

Now unlike me, when Prophet Muhammad made a mistake, God let him know through a revelation. This was not the only time Prophet Muhammad made a mistake while trying to persuade the powerful, intractable people of his truth. In Surah 53, An-Najm, the Star, also revealed in Mecca, the original ayah was rather conciliatory and is recorded in the tafsir of Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, and al-Tabari:

“Have ye considered Al-Lat and Al-‘Uzzá and Manāt, the third, the other? These are the exalted gharāniq, whose intercession is hoped for.”

 (the meaning of gharaniq is a bit unclear and is used only once in Quran. May refer to high flying birds, such as cranes, eagles, or hawks).

The Meccan pagans were very relieved to hear this- it meant their goddesses could intervene with Allah. This was just the kind of compromise they were looking for, and some pagans even joined in a sujud at the end of the surah. The pagans stopped persecuting the Muslims, and those who had fled to Abyssinia began making plans to come home.  However, this ayat was later changed to something far less diplomatic.

“Have you , then, ever considered Al-Lat, and Al-Uzza and Manat, the third and last? Why for yourselves male offspring, whereas to Him female, that, lo and behold, is an unfair division! These (goddesses) are nothing but empty names which you have invented- you and your forefathers- for which God has bestowed no warrant from on high. They (who worship them) follow nothing but surmise and their own wishful thinking, although right guidance has now indeed come unto them from their Sustainer. (53:20-23).

The persecution of Muslims started back up and Muhammad had to find a different option: rather than compromise his revelation, he migrated to Medina. 

In the early Meccan years, whenever Prophet Muhammad tried to placate the powerful pagan elite, God would send him a revelation that would demand the Prophet not compromise His truth.  Did God forgive Prophet Muhammad for his mistakes? I’m sure God did because, after these inserted verses, the same tradition states that God sent Muhammad this revelation:  'We never sent any apostle or prophet before you but that, when he longed, Satan cast into his longing. But God abrogates what Satan casts in, and then God puts His verses in proper order, for God is all-knowing and wise.' [Q.22:52]  

Prophet Muhammad had taqwa, God consciousness. He could hear the voice that made no sound, in the revelations, in the commandments, and in forgiveness.

Can we listen to a voice that has no sound? I think we can, not to the extent that the Prophet could, but I think all humans have the ability to have God consciousness within themselves and during the month of Ramadan we have particular opportunities to develop our taqwa further.  I would like to talk about that in the second part.  

PAUSE

Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik ‘ala ‘abdika wa rasoolika Muhammadin sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, wa ‘ala alihi wa sabhibi ajma’een. O Allah! Let Your prayer, Your peace, and Your blessings be upon Your servant and Your messenger Muhammad, and upon his family and all his companions.

I’d first like to talk about the definition of taqwa. For me, taqwa is the little voice inside us that tells us when we have done something wrong. If we are sensitive to it we may feel guilt, or shame, or the overwhelming need to apologize. It is the inner sense we have of something being right or wrong. Some people call it a “moral compass”.  My favorite definition of taqwa is from Fazlur Rahman, who wrote,

“This unique balance of integrative moral action is what the Qur’an terms taqwa, perhaps the most important single term in the Qur’an. At its highest, it denotes the fully integrated and whole personality of man, the kind of ‘stability’ which is formed after all the positive elements are drawn in. The term is usually translated by the words ‘fear of God’ and ‘piety’. Though these terms are not wrong, Muslims are increasingly discarding the term ‘fear of God’ because they think the phrase misleading in view of the false picture, widely prevalent in the West until recently- and present even today- in the light of which ‘fear of God’ might be indistinguishable from, say, fear of a wolf. The root of the term, w-q-y-, really means ‘to guard or protect against something’ and it has also been used in this literal sense in the Qur’an.

   Hence taqwa means to protect oneself against the harmful or evil consequences of one’s conduct. If, then, by “fear of God’, one means fear of the consequences of one’s actions- whether in this world or in the next (fear of punishment of the Last Day)- one is absolutely right. In other words, it is the fear that comes from an acute sense of responsibility, here and in the hereafter, and not the fear of a wolf or an uncanny tyrant, for the God of the Qur’an has unbounded mercy- although He also wields dire punishment, both in this world and in the hereafter.” – pp 28-29, Major Themes of the Qur’an

One of the things the Quran tells us to do is to let that taqwa light shine, to not suppress it. If you are a person of taqwa, you will have plenty of rewards, in this life and the next.

I would like to suggest three Ramadan lessons that can help us strengthen our taqwa, each emphasizes the process of  forgiveness.

One thing you learn very quickly in Ramadan is that anger requires a lot of energy to maintain. In our well-fed North American society, we often don’t pay attention to that. We look at anger as invigorating, something that gives us energy, a fuel that will help us as we protest injustice or a creativity flame allowing us to make a new song about how our last boyfriend just dumped us (Taylor Swift). However, during Ramadan, you know you will not be able to make it through the day if you let anger burn through all your calories. You need to make a priority list of what is important to be angry about, and what, in the end, are just small things that you need to just let go. The world will not collapse if the line in the post office is moving slowly. To borrow from the health care profession terminology, Ramadan forces us to triage our anger.

The second lesson I have learned from Ramadan is that my decision making abilities, and my cognitive abilities in general, do suffer from food and sleep deprivation. Knowing that in particular contexts I am very liable to make mistakes means that I need to forgive myself when my judgment is impaired. And from forgiving myself, I can move on to forgiving others. I am impatient and snap at my children because I am fasting and ketonic. What about others who are in chronic pain? What about people who are suffering from some post-traumatic syndrome from something they have witnessed or experienced? We all make the best choices we can, given our level of information, cultural and historical circumstances, nutrition levels, sleep, etc. Sometimes these are not good choices, but if we attempt to understand where the other person is coming from and what that person might be experiencing- what led them to this decision, then perhaps we can be more forgiving of their poor choices.

The third lesson, although you might not have guessed it from the length of this khutbah, is that talking takes a lot of energy. It is much easier to remain silent, even in the face of being insulted, ridiculed, or put-upon. In the end, this silence will likely to translate into everyone getting along much better since the snarky remarks have been nutritionally sapped. And in this newly found calm, there are some good questions to ask oneself, “What are the words I truly need to say?” and  “How might my words impact others?”

I’d like to close with a du’a from 2:201

Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil’ akhirati hasanatan waqina ‘azaban-nar.

Our Lord! Grant us benevolence in this world and benevolence  in the hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the fire. Amen

References

Quran translation: "The Message of the Qur'an" translated and explained by Muhammad Asad

Major Themes of the Qur’an by  Fazlur Rahman, 2nd Edition,(Kuala Lampur: 1989) Islamic Book Trust