A Worthy Adversary, Part 6 Evil Influences on the Mundane

The title of my khutbah today is Evil Influences on the Mundane. It is part 6 of A Worthy Adversary series.

In this khutbah, I will continue to review the hadith literature to give an overview of the presence of Iblis in daily life, the times of the day Iblis or Ash-Shaytan is most effective, and the defenses God offers believers to combat this persistent foe. To reiterate from my previous khutbah, the hadith are part of our tradition, whether we agree with it or not.  For many centuries, the hadith have been grounded in a consensus of certainty- this is how Ibn Rushd defines orthodoxy, the consensus of certainty.  However, with new sources of knowledge in the scientific, medical and technological realms, this consensus has broken down between Muslims. While you will find some Muslims who strongly adhere to hadith, you will also find Muslims who barely pay any attention to hadith. Hadith are not necessary for their daily spiritual practice. Nevertheless, I think it is important to understand the historical overview of the hadith tradition regarding the source of evil and the prescriptive measures for how to combat it. I do this so you can be sensitive to how particular theories regarding the nature of evil can direct human actions. For example, if you’ve ever had an aunty get hopping mad at you for walking in front of her while she was praying, I think you will understand the source of her anger by the end of this khutbah.

The hadith consistently emphasize the efficacy of prayer as defense to all satanic temptations. According to hadith, Satan need only hear the call to prayer to be struck down with revulsion, rendered impotent, and he quickly retreats on the wind before further damage can be done . Prayer affirms the believer’s allegiance to God and rejection of Satan’s seductive webs.

Ibrahim Ibn Al-Mustamirr Al-‘Uriqi told us, ‘My father related that ‘Ubays Ibn Maymun related that ‘Awn al-‘Uqayli related form Abu Uthman An-Nahdi, from Salman who said, “I heard the messenger of God-may God bless him and grant him peace!- say ‘He who leaves early for morning prayer, leaves under the banner of faith. But he who leaves early for the bazaar, leaves under the banner of Iblis.” --Ibn Maja, Sunan, 2:751 #2234

Since prayer is so effective at driving Satan out, Satan must work hard to weaken the prayer link between God and man. Therefore, the act of prayer is constantly attacked. Although Satan initially withdraws upon hearing the call to prayer, this is only a temporary set back, a strategic maneuver. Satan soon returns to whisper distractions (waswasa). When an individual becomes drowsy, inattentive, forgets the proper counting and sequence of prostrations and invocations, then Satan has done his job. If this happens to you, the hadith recommend that the individual perform two prostrations and continue on with prayer. The simple remedy will completely frustrate Satan’s efforts to distract the believer engaged in daily prayers.

According to the hadith literature, Satan’s attack on the prayer can externalize itself. If a person engaged in prayer allows another person to come into his presence and interrupt his recitation, then the offender must be immediately driven off, for he or she is a minion of Satan himself. In addition to apparitions of Satan in human form, he also appears as an animal, most often in the shape of a black dog. When a black dog disrupts a person’s prayer, the dog should be put to death as it is a sign of the devil.

In the hadith world view, Ash-Shaytan permeates even the most mundane levels of human existence. Ash-Shaytan is a constant companion through the daily routine.Therefore, a wide variety of du’as and formulaic invocations must be applied in order to prevent Satan from getting a foothold in the believer's heart. A Muslim must pronounce the name of God on entering his house, otherwise Satan will become his houseguest. God’s name must be invoked before eating, otherwise Satan becomes the constant dinner guest. Satan uses his left hand to eat, drink and taste, therefore Muslims can never use the left hand whilst dining. If food falls on the floor it is not proper to discard it all. Remove what was soiled, but eat the rest- otherwise you will be providing more food for Satan. I guess this makes the hadith supporters of the 5 second rule. Satan not only meddles with the meal, he also tries to tempt people into consuming what has been prohibited by divine law.

“Ibn Abi ‘Umar related to us that Sufyan related from Ayyub from Muhammad, from Anas who said, “When the messenger of God-may God bless him and grant him peace!- captured Khaybar we grabbed donkeys as they were coming out of the village. Then we cooked some of them. The spokesman of God’s messenger- may God bless him and grant him peace- cried out ‘Does not God and His messenger forbid you this? For truly it is filth from Satan’s work!” The pots with their contents were overturned and what was in them kept gushing out. “--Muslim, Al-Jami’ as-sahih, 6:65 Note: Donkey meat as well as the braying sound of a donkey are associated with Shaytan.

The hadith abound with prescriptions to counteract ritual impurity, because if there is impurity, then Ash-Shaytan is behind it.

The hadith are emphatic that Muslims must take refuge in God and in His law if they are to avoid the daily pitfalls that Satan prepares for them every minute of the day, and some times of day are more vulnerable than others. The transitions from light to darkness or darkness to light are periods of heightened satanic influence, although darkness is the most potent time for all things Ash-Shaytan.

Prayer should cease during the time of sunrise and sunset, as these are the times when the doors of Hell are opened up and Hell is also starting to heat up. After sunset, Satan wanders about freely at night. The house must be protected from Satan’s entry- lock doors, fasten waterskins and make sure the lids are tight on jars. According to hadith, Satan cannot loosen what has been firmly tied. Sunrise is the time of greatest discord between men (al-fitna).

“’Abd Allah Ibn Maslama related to us from Malik, from ‘Abd Alah Ibn Dinar, from ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Umar- may God be pleased with them both- who said, ‘I saw the messenger of God- may God bless him and grant him peace!- pointing towards the East. And he said, ‘Right there, truly discord is right there. Yes, discord is from right there where the horn of Satan rises.” Al Bukhari, Sahih 4:150.

The  distructive impact of fitna on the community and social subunits (family, etc) is a vivid and detailed concern of hadith manuals. For Iblis, fitna is an opportunity, from which he will send forth armies of devils to encourage discord among believers.

“Abu Kurayb Muhammad Ibn Al-‘Ala and Ishaq Ibn Ibrahim both said, ‘Abu Mu’awiya told us that al’A’mash related to us from Abu Sufyan from Jabir who said that the messenger of God- may God bless him and grant him peace!- said, ‘Iblis places his throne upon the waters. Then he sends forth his flying columns. To those who are best at sowing discord, he has granted a place close to him. One of them comes and says,’ I have done such and such’. Then he replies, ‘You have not accomplished anything.’ He said, “then another of them comes and says, ‘I did not leave him until I had caused division between him and his wife.’ He said, ‘Then Iblis brings him close to himself and says, ‘You have done well’”  Muslim, Al Jami’ as-sahih 8:138.

Anything that is contrary to proper conduct is also Satan’s work. Gambling and other games of chance were invented by Satan, as was frivolous talk and poetry. Famous hadith relate that Mohammad said, “…a man’s belly be full of pus is better for him than is being full of poetry!” (Muslim, Al-Jami’ as-sahih, 7:50).This is one example where I run into problems with hadith, and its not just because I like poetry. There are plenty of hadith that discourage participation in ancient traditions such as poetry, music, dancing, sculpture and painting. For me, there are far more dangerous influences on proper conduct in the 21st century than these activities. Sometimes I feel like Muslims are eager to accept new technology unquestioningly, because there are no prohibitions on it, no hadith to tell you not to do it. So when it comes to the things I worry about, such as propaganda, advertising, the use of social media to rob of us of our privacy and to radicalize our youth, on these topics, hadith are silent.

PAUSE

Since most of us are not as fortunate as Prophet Muhammad to have our hearts cleansed of evil influence by Jibreel, nor do we have our companion satan converted to Islam, according to hadith, the rest of us must seek refuge in God and perform extra ritual acts to escape Satan’s power.

Prayer is the most effective weapon at providing relief from satanic influences, and particular prayers are proscribed as protection against certain kinds of attacks. The first part of the shahada, la ilah illa ‘ilah, repeated many times is a general, all effective prayer against many different evils.

In addition to the shield of words, there is also the shield of sacred time, particularly the month of Ramadan.

“Yahya Ibn Bukayr related to us that Al-Layth related to us and said ‘Uqayl told me from Ibn Shihab who said Ibn Abi Anas, the muwla of the Taymi, told me that his father told him that he heard Abu Hurayra- may God be pleased with him!- say that the messenger of God- may God bless him and grant him peace!- said, ‘When Ramadan has begun, the doors of Paradise are opened and the doors of Hell are locked. The devils (ash-shayatin) are chained up.” Al Bukhari, Sahih 4:149-150.

Along with sacred words and sacred time, sacred places can be added. The Arabian Peninsula is the cradle of Islam, and all those who pray there are endowed with divine protection. Within the peninsula, the holy city of Mecca is the focal point where a believer senses most profoundly God’s mercy and refuge from Ash-Shaytan.

Nevertheless, despite the power of sacred words, time, and location, the interior state of the individual is what matters most. Hypocrites and unbelievers can perform prayers, fasts, and pilgrimages, but these acts increase their condemnation, not salvation. According to hadith, Trust in God and confidence in His Word are inner qualities and believers must accept God’s decrees with no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’, the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ are Satan’s creation. In contrast to Iblis, believers must show humble trust and confidence in God’s will (irada) and command (amr). Every bow a Muslim makes during prayer is a reminder to Iblis of the confrontation that initiated his downfall.

“Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Shayb related to us that Abu Mu’awiya related from Al-A’mash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayra who said that the messenger of God- may God bless him and grant him peace!- said, ‘When the son of Adam read about the prostration, he prostrated. Then Ash-Shaytan stood off at a distance and cried saying, ‘Woe to him!’ the son of Adam was ordered to prostrate and he prostrated. Now Paradise is his. I was ordered to prostrate and I refused. So the fire is mine!” Ibn Maja, Sunan 1:334 #1052

Man is weak and obedience to God’s will does not come easily to him. Iblis is constantly planning clever deceptions, forever committed to bring mankind into hellfire. Man’s ultimate victory can only be found through God’s mercy and God’s compassion, and God’s willingness to forgive man’s many mistakes. God’s forgiveness renders Iblis impotent, but God must patiently wait for men to repent first before He can give them His compassion and mercy.

“Then Muhammad said, ‘When the enemy of God, Iblis, learned that God the All-Powerful, the Sublime, had answered my prayer and forgiven my community, he took dirt and began pouring it on his head and making loud laments. The sight of his anguish made me laugh!” Ibn Maja, Sunan 2:1002 #3013

God’s mercy and forgiveness cannot be emptied, His heart does not harden. The hadith tell a story of a serial killer who had murdered ninety-nine people. This killer wanted to repent, but he was uncertain if penitence was still possible. He asked a famous sage “Is there any repentance left for such as me?” The sage was shocked, “After 99 murders?” The killer became enraged at this response, unsheathed his sword, and killed the sage right there. Now his body count was at 100.

   Soon after the sage’s decapitation, the killer felt remorseful, and sought out another man of wisdom. “I have killed 100 people,” he said, “is there any repentance possible for me?”.  Now this wise man was extremely wise, and he told the murderer, “Who would dare interfere between you and your repentance?” Then he advised the killer that in order to repent he needed to leave the evil environment of this village (where the wise man lived) and proceed onto the next village and worship the Lord there in a more righteous environment. The killer set out, but death overtook him on the way to the good village. Immediately, Iblis and the Angel of Mercy began to fight over who would possess the killer’s soul.

“Iblis said, ‘I have power over him! He never renounced his obedience to me for an instant.’ The Angel of Mercy argued, ‘But he left the village repentant’ and so they kept quarreling. ..God said, ‘Go, look. Which of the two villages was the closest (to him when he died)? Attach him to its people.’ When death had appeared to him he had urged himself on. He drew near to the righteous village and put far from himself the wicked village. And so they numbered him among the people of the righteous village.”--Ibn Maja, Sanan ,2:875 #2622

I would like to end my exploration of Ash-Shaytan in the the hadith traditions with an observation. While I do not agree with many of the hadith prescriptions and recommendations, underlying the foundation of hadith is the assumption that humans cannot control everything. This is a humbling and important reminder of our limitations.The Quran says,

“Don’t they see that We affect the land and reduce its borders? God decides, and none can reverse His judgment. He is quick to take account. Those who lived before made plots, but God controls all plotting. He knows the works of every soul and the ones who are ungrateful will know for whom is the Ultimate Abode.” 13:41-42

Unfortunately, the futility of humans controlling everything is something we have forgotten in our current era. We assume that because we can control some aspects of our world, we ought to be able to control everything. And once we have this idea of total control, it translates into comodifying  everything: everything has a price, everything can be manipulated to our desire. The result of this totalitarian idea of control results in enormous spiritual misery, abuse of power, and moral degeneracy.  Humans need to remember that when we try and control everything on a large scale, we screw it up. If you doubt me, take a look at what unsustainable agricultural practices do to our environment. The ambition to control everything is suicidal, the result is as Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Lo! Men have become tools of their tools.” The poet Wendell Barry wrote,

“Human control on any grand scale is impossible, and the technological and political controls that are possible are frequently the opposite of order; any viable human order must come to terms with the impossibility of absolute control.” – from the essay “The Specialization of Poetry”

My closing du’a is from Quran 3:8 “Our Lord! Do not make our hearts deviate after You have guided us and bestow on us mercy. Truly You alone are the Giver.” Amen.

Unity in Diversity

Surah Jonah  10:19

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim

Wa ma kanan-nasu

illaa ummataw-wahidatan-fakhtalafu.

Wa lawla kalimatun-sabaqat

mir-Rabbika laqudiya baynahum fima fihi yakhtalifun.

Mankind was but one community, then they differed.  And if not for a Word that had preceded from thy Lord, judgment would have been made between them concerning that wherein they differed.

Surah al-Ma’idah 5:48

And We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, confirming the Book that came before it, and as a protector over it.  So judge between them in accordance with what God has sent down, and follow not their caprices away from the truth that has come to thee.  For each among you We have appointed a law and a way.  And had God willed, He would have made you one community, but [He willed otherwise], that He might try you in that which He has given you.  So vie with one another in good deeds.  Unto God shall be your return all together, and He will inform you of that wherein you differ.

The ayat before and after ayah 48 in Surah al-Maa’idah show that it is referring specifically to the People of the Book and some differences between, Jews, Christians and the new revelations of Prophet Mohammed, pbuh.  The Muslims are instructed not to follow those of the teachings of earlier religions that contradict what is being revealed to the Prophet.  Ayat 49-53 specifically target hypocrites as the worst transgressors – those who claim to follow the new faith but then turn away from God’s commandments.  A careful reading shows that the Muslims have not been advised in these passages to reject those who follow other faiths.  They have been advised not to follow them, especially  in those ways in which they have deviated from God’s will, and not to be hypocritical – claiming allegiance to one faith and then supporting the other.  In other words, follow your faith in One God, honestly and sincerely. 

The admonition to follow the straight path and not deviate from belief in Allah  is probably the most repeated concept in the Quran.  We read it over and over, in almost every surah.  This is understood by most Muslims to mean that Islam is the only true faith.  I want to explore that idea today, especially in light of what that understanding means for us as Muslims in a multi-religious, multi-cultural society.  Quran acknowledges in Ayah 5:48 and Ayah 10:19 that diversity is a human trait, and that diverse communities can learn from each other when competing to create a greater good.  These days, I believe we need to apply that same approach to dealing with differences between Muslims themselves, and between Muslims and the broader society. 

I recently heard about a film that was made several years ago called The Mosque in Morgantown.   It’s about the fight between the journalist and activist Asra Nomani and the mosque community in her hometown in West Virginia.   In the trailer for the film, Nomani talks about going back to Morgantown when she left Pakistan after the execution of her friend and fellow journalist, Daniel Pearl.  “When I heard the sermons of hate and intolerance in my hometown mosque,” she said, “I knew that I couldn’t just watch silently.  I was gonna stand up and fight.”  So she wrote articles and tried to pray in the men’s prayer space.

Those in the mosque community did not see her activism as a noble cause.  Mosque leaders said “Asra’s articles didn’t give an accurate depiction of what’s going on in Morgantown.  It made everyone look bad.”  They accused her of comparing them to the people who killed Daniel Pearl, which they categorically rejected.  One hijabi woman said “She wants to bend the rules of Islam her way.  You can’t do that – these are not human rules.”

If God says in Quran that if He had so willed, He would have made us one community, but He willed otherwise, and we should compete in doing good deeds –why are Muslims so adverse to difference?

There are a couple of Hadith that are well known to most Muslims:

First, all of the principal Hadith scholars narrated the report that the Prophet told his followers, at the end of his life, that if they follow Quran and Sunnah, they will never go astray.

Second, a hadith from Al-Tirmidhi:

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people of Isra'il… and if the people of Isra'il were fragmented into seventy-two sects my Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in Hell Fire except one sect. They (the Companions) said: Allah's Messenger, which is that? Whereupon he said: It is one to which I and my companions belong.

These transmissions have left a legacy of rejection of diversity of opinion in Islam.  Muslims believe that if they just follow Quran and Sunnah, they will not go wrong. 

But the fact is, as soon as the Prophet left this life, his followers, those who had lived with him and been the direct recipients of his message for 23 years, immediately disagreed with each other about the meanings of Quran and Sunnah.  And the disagreements have not stopped since.  Orthodox interpretations have been imposed, sometimes to the death of those who differed.  But there have always been disagreements over what is meant by the words of Quran and the legacy of the Prophet. 

And now we Muslims who are living as minorities in democratic countries find ourselves surrounded by diversity on every front, in societies where the idea of imposing any kind of orthodoxy is anathema to the very fabric of the social order.  And the freedom guaranteed by that social order is the same freedom that protects our right to be here practicing our faith.  We must make our peace with diversity.

If we look to God’s natural world for instruction, evolution shows us that species diversification is essential for survival, and species that do not adapt to changes in their environment eventually die out.  If we look to human history, we see that autocratic regimes eventually fall.  Intransigent ideas do not survive.

So I gave myself the task of looking for illumination from Quran.  Are there any messages to guide us in a sea of diversity?   

And so I research.  And it is not easy, God knows.  In fact, when I hear atheists critiquing religion – which is common on our radio and TV these days, I have to admit, I sometimes wish I could join them.  Life would be seemingly so much simpler if I didn’t have to keep searching for meaning in inadequate translations of a text written for people in a 7^th century tribal culture – just let it go.  How tempting!  But for better or for worse – and of course I believe it’s for better – I can’t let go of my belief in God.  I can’t imagine life without it.  I believed in God before I came to Islam.  In fact, my belief in God brought me to Islam, and that belief is what keeps me devoted to the project of finding meaning for myself in this faith.  I will make mistakes, and God forgive my many shortcomings, but not giving up on that up on that project is my way of submitting to God’s will for my life. 

And so I continue to read, and as always, I find meaning that resonates.

The first concept that I find most applicable to the notion of diversity in interpretation and practice of faith is the idea of the nature of what God is in the first place.  Who or What is Allah, that we all worship and follow?  As we all know, when one of the companions asked this question of the Prophet, Surah Ikhlas was revealed:

Surah 112:  Al-Ikhlas 

Qul Huwal-lahu Ahad

Say:  He is the One God:

Allahus-Samad

God the Eternal – the Uncaused Cause of All that Exists.

Lam yalid wa lam yulad.

He begets not, and neither is He begotten;

Wa lam yakul-lahu kufuwan Ahad.

And there is nothing that could be compared with Him.

This concept of God was so foreign to the Arabs – used to worshipping idols created in the image of human beings - that it had to be repeated to them over and over and over in revelation.  God is beyond all human understanding – you must accept that, and trust that notion to the point of never worshipping anything other than that which can never be fully understood.  So no human being – no group – no community – no religion – can claim to have a complete understanding of God.  Those that do are the ones who are truly lost, and the ones we should truly fear.  We can learn and grow from each other’s ideas, and we should, knowing that we are all inadequate before God.  Search for understanding from every source – even the atheist might have something I can learn from - but trust completely ONLY in the Creator Who cannot be known.

Pause

Surah Maryam  19:69-70:

Thumma lananzi anna min-kulli shi’atin

ayyuhum ashaddu alar-Rahmani itiyya. 69

Thumma laNahu a’lamu bil-ladhina hum awla biha silliyya. 70

Then indeed We shall pluck out from every group whosoever among them was most insolent toward the Compassionate.

Then We shall surely know those who most deserve to burn therein.

We should we open to finding understanding from any source, but don’t we need guideposts to help us discriminate among them?  Well, Quran gives us a big one. Here is another reference:

Surah al-Ra’d  The Thunder 13:30

Thus have We sent thee [Prophet Mohammed] unto a community before whom other communities have passed away, that thou mayest recite unto them that which We have revealed unto thee; yet they disbelieve in the Compassionate.  Say, “He is my Lord, there is no god but He.  In Him do I trust and unto Him do I turn.”

God is Rahman - the Compassionate, and those who reject Compassion are truly lost. 

Think about it – we begin every recitation of the Quran, every invocation to God with those words – Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim – in the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.  Is it possible that compassion is the key to dealing with diversity?  Where is the compassion in the story of the Morgantown mosque?  Neither Asra nor the hijabi woman seemed to have much compassion for the other.  Of course, in that story I identify more with Asra Nomani than with the woman in hijab.  I assume that the hijabi woman would have no compassion for me.  But when I read those ayat from Surah Maryam and Surah Ar-Rad, I had to ask myself, how compassionate am I towards her?  I am so used to feeling marginalized because of my commitment to equal treatment for women and men, I immediately assume that those who disagree with me would have no compassion toward me.  How presumptuous is that.  By making that assumption, I approach the other defensively, which naturally elicits a defensive response, regardless of how the person might have responded to me had I felt less threatened.  I should have confidence in the value of my own position, while trying to understand the other.

And as it happened, I was given the chance to do that last weekend.  We were at the Turkish American Center, praying Isha prayer in the mosque.  I had seen that prayer space before, open and beautiful.  But this time there was a screen up, separating men from women, with women, of course, in the rear.  At first I felt my usual resentment.  But as I prayed, I allowed myself to appreciate the separation, the seclusion from the men, the feeling of being special and protected.  I understood the other point of view, even while appreciating the value of my own preference of having men and women at the same level, worshipping God together.  I don’t have to devalue my own perspective to see the value in the other.  That, I hope, is a start in the direction of compassion – for myself and those who are different from me.

Surah Al Hujurat  49:10-13

The believers are but brothers; so make peace between your brethren, and reverence God, that haply you may receive mercy.

O you who believe!  Let not one people deride another; it may be that they are better than them.  Nor let women deride other women; it may be that they are better than them.  And do not defame yourselves or insult one another with nicknames; how evil is the iniquitous name after having believed!  And whosoever does not repent, they are the wrongdoers.

O you who believe!  Shun much conjecture.  Indeed, some conjecture is a sin.  And do not spy upon one another, nor backbite one another.  Would any of you desire to eat the dead flesh of his brother?  You would abhor it.  And reverence God.  Truly God is Relenting, Merciful.

O mankind!  Truly We created you from a male and a female, and We made you peoples and tribes that you may come to know one another.  Surely the most noble of you before God are the most reverent of you.  Truly God is Knowing, Aware.

As we try to understand what is happening to and through Islam in our world today, we must encourage creativity – new ideas – never losing sight of our heritage, but allowing all ideas to flourish in the search for answers moving forward.  This is unity in diversity – to be strong enough to embrace difference, indeed to celebrate difference and - this is the hardest part – to do so with compassion. 

Surah al-Hajj  22:77-78

O you who believe!  Bow, prostrate, and worship your Lord!  And do good, that haply you may prosper.

And strive for God as He should be striven for.  He has chosen for you – and has placed no hardship for you in the religion – the creed of your father Abraham.  He named you muslims aforetime, and herein, that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and that you may be witnesses for mankind.  So perform the prayer and give the alms, and hold fast to God.  He is your Master.  How excellent a Master, and how excellent a Helper!

Fa ‘aqimus-Salata wa atus-Zakata wa tasimu billihi

Huwa Mawlakum fani mal-Mawla wa ni’man Nasir. 78

Sadaq Allahu Al-Azeem.

A Worthy Adversary Part 5, Sin-prone Hallows

The title of my khutbah today is Sin-prone Hallows. This is Part 5 of A Worthy Adversary series.

The hadith body of literature is extremely vast, so I will only be exploring some of the hadith about Iblis and Satan which are in three of the most commonly accepted hadith compilations (Al-Bukari, Muslim, and Ibn Maja).

The first ahadith mentions Iblis by name, and is found in the Muslim collection Al-Jami’ as-sahih, 8:31:

“Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Shayba related that Yunus Ibn Muhammad related from Hammad Ibn Salama, from Thabit, from Anas who said that the messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace!- said, “When God formed Adam in Paradise, God bequethed him what He wished to bequeath him. Then Iblis began to walk around him to see what he was. And when Iblis perceived that Adam was hollow, he knew that he (Adam) was created as a creature who could not restrain himself.”

Iblis alone, among all the angels, is curious and intelligent enough to perceive man’s inherent weakness. Iblis uses this knowledge to his advantage, exploiting men and women and making them his slaves. From the time of birth, he initiates their entrapment by pricking them. This is why all babies cry out at birth, only two exceptions were ever made to this rule- Isa and Maryam.

From Muslim as well as Al-Bukhari:

“Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayla related that from ‘Abd Al’A’la related from Ma’mar from Az-Zuhri, from Sa’id, from Abu Hurayra who said that the messenger of God- may God bless him and grant him peace!- said, ‘No child is born without Satan (Ash-Shaytan) pricking him. Then the child begins to cry out from the goad of Satan- except the son of Maryam and his mother.”

All three hadith collections use the same Arabic idiom to relate intimate nature of the relationship between Shaytan and human beings: “Inna ‘sh-Shaytan yajri min al-insan (or Ibn Adam) majra ‘d-dam” It is difficult to translate this into English, but the idea is that Satan is part of man’s very lifeblood (dam) . It is impossible to purge him because Satan moves along the same hollow path of arteries and veins (majra d-dam) through which human blood flows. To be alive means to know Satan in one’s very core, to kill him would entail self-destruction. Although the Quran tells us that God is closer to us than our jugular vein (50:16), hadith tell us that Ash-Shaytan moves through our veins.

When I thought about this, that humans are vulnerable because we are hollow, it reminded me of T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Hollow Men":

"We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar.

                    Shape without form, shade without colour,
               Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

   Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other kingdom
Remember us-- if at all-- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men"

Man is hollow and craves to be filled. Shaytan is more than happy to provide cheap promises which fill the gaps.

If all humans are hollow creatures which provide niches for Satan to dwell, then how much control did Satan have over the inner drives and psychic processes of Prophet Muhammad? Muhammad must also have been pricked by Satan at birth, so how did he rid himself of Satan’s taint? The hadith provide answers:

“Shayban Ibn Farrukh related that Hammad Ibn Salama related that Thabit Al-Bunani related from Anas Ibn Malik who said that the messenger of God- may God bless him and grant him peace!- was visited by Gabriel- may God bless him and grant him peace!- while he (Muhammad) was playing with some young boys. Gabriel seized him, threw him down on the ground and split open his chest. He removed his heart and removed from his heart a clot. And he said, “This is the satanic part of you.’ Then he washed it (the heart) in a gold basin with water from Zamzam. He mended it and put it back in its place…And Anas said, ‘I used to see the trace of this scar on his chest.’

In addition to the satanic taint, each and every man and woman have their own particular shaytan or jinn. Even Muhammad, whose interior was cleansed by Gabriel, had his own personal shaytan. However, with God’s help, Muhammad’s personal shaytan converted to Islam and thenceforth was a force only for good.

“Uthman Abu Shayba and Ishaq Ibn Ibrahim related that Ishaq told us that Uthman said that Jarir related from Mansur, from Salim Ibn Abi’l-ja’d, from his father, from ‘Abd Allah Ibn Mas’ud who said that the messenger of God- may God bless him and grant him peace!- said, ‘There is no one among you who does not have a jinn as his companion placed in charge of him.’ They said, ‘And you, too, O messenger of God?’ He said, ‘Even me, except that God came to my assistance and against him and he (the jinn) has become Muslim. Now he only urges me to do good.”

In traditional Muslim life, the spirit world constantly interferes in human life. Spiritual interference becomes a rational explanation for occasional irrational behavior. For example, uncontrolled rage is a direct result of satanic influences, and alleviation of this conduct is achieved by seeking refuge in God from “Ash-Shaytan ar-rajeem”, “Satan the Stoned”.

Satan also has the power to materialize in human form. By assuming this disguise, he can approach unsuspecting men and women in a non-threatening manner in order to seduce them. One of Satan’s favorite disguises is to approach a believer as a man seeking spiritual religious truth. He first asks about the origin of the heavens, the world, the creatures that live in the world, and about God’s prophets and messengers. The giveaway question is “And who created your Lord?” At this point, the good believer should recognize this as blasphemy and seek refuge in God.

Man’s confrontation with Satan in disguise occurs most often in the semi-conscious state, in the realm of dreams and sleep. In the dream world, Satan takes on much more frightening shapes. The hadith distinguish between dreams, al-hulm, and vision, ar-ru’ya. Dreams can be affected by satan, vision is only sent by God. The cure for al-hulm is straight forward; spit three times to the left, some add that one should change sleeping position. In contrast to al-hulm, a vision, ar-ru’ya, is to be cherished since it is linked with the revelation of God’s will. An ar-ru’ya often unveils things of consequence for one’s waking state.

Although Satan can take on nightmarish forms, Satan can also assume the dream form of a friend, lover, or family member- an effective method of leading a trusting believer astray. The hadith assure the community, however, that God will protect Muslims from ever seeing Satan disguised as Prophet Muhammad.

“Abu Marwan al-‘Uthmani told us and said that ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz Ibn Abi Hazim related from Al-‘Ala Ibn ‘Abd Ar-Rahman, from his father, from Abu Hurayra who said that the messenger of God-may God bless him and grant him peace!- said ‘He who sees me in sleep has truly seen me, for Satan does not take on my form.”

The hadith are very perceptive about shutting down the hysteria which may follow from spreading satanic dreams. The hadith tradition prohibits communicating frightening dreams of encounters with Satan to others. An oft-recurring hadith is about a man who dreamt that his head had been cut off and that his body was rushing after his rolling head. Muhammad calms the man by telling him that this is Satan’s way of messing with him. Additionally, the Prophet warns him that he should not advertise his dream to the community. “If Satan toys with someone of you in his dream state, do not under any circumstances tell people about it.” (Ibn Maja, Sunan, 2:1287 #3912). As refuge against continual bad dreams, believers are counseled to take refuge in God and recite the verse of the Throne (Quran 2:255).

Ash-Shaytan pervades the whole sleep process from onset of drowsiness to waking. Hadith warn people to cover their mouth when they yawn, lest Satan enter. The noise one makes as yawning is the sound of Satan’s laugh. Hadith counsel that upon waking, believers must purify their noses with water since Satan makes his home there during the night. During the night Satan ties a cord around the believer’s neck and knots it three times. If on waking, God’s name is invoked, one knot is loosed. The second knot is removed by making wudu, and the last knot is eliminated by making fajr prayers.

One last satanic influence during the night has to do with sexual intercourse.  Hadith tell believers to seek refuge in God when having intercourse, and God’s help and protection should be invoked to prevent Satan from harming the child that God may produce in the union.

(PAUSE)

Before I delve any further into the hadith literature, I feel I need to tell you that the first time I read through this section, I got very upset. Although many of these hadith were familiar to me, I had heard them from family, friends, acquaintances, and at the masjid, I didn’t like them. It was this kind of tradition that I have the most difficulty with and I reject or suspend much of it. I do not give it the kind of authority over my decision making that many within the Muslim community do.

In reviewing the hadith tradition, it is important to keep in mind what kind of things influence our decision making capacity. Are we guided by authority figures, ethical principles, lived experience, cultural values, orthodoxy, tradition, time of day, what we just ate, advertising or some combination of these factors? While I might deride a believer for being superstitious, might not that same believer deride me for being overly trusting in scientific studies? We all tend to put our faith in institutions and explanations that reinforce our ideas of authentic existence. When I take an ibuprofen for a headache, I am reinforcing my belief in the efficacy of modern medicine-  reliably reproducible studies which have been conducted on large patient populations to measure efficacy of a medication. When a Muslim says “Al-hamdu lilallah” after sneezing, he is reinforcing his belief in the efficacy of hadith- practices of the Prophet that have been handed down in a reliable transmission through generations of believing Muslims. Each of us believes in something, we choose to put our trust in different knowledge streams.

Debating who is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in a belief system is an exercise in futility because these belief systems are not necessarily derived from logic, they are primarily derived from sources that are believed to be authoritative and authentic. That is not to say these sources aren't important, but they cannot be evaluated using the tools of logic. As per Wittgenstein, "Whereof one cannot speak, one must be silent.” Instead of sinking time into debates of who holds the most authority or authenticity, let us instead examine how particular theories which explain phenomenon (hypotheses) can direct future actions. I think you can see some of this at work from the examples in the first part of this khutbah (i.e. irrational behavior as explained by spiritual interference), and I will continue to give more examples in my subsequent khutbah which will analyze the role of Ash-Shaytan in daily life through the lens of hadith literature.

As Muslims, we feel it is important to have spirituality in our daily lives. The challenge comes as how to have a healthy form of spirituality manifest itself in daily practice. We are made hollow, so what will we choose to fill these hollow spaces? The Quran reminds us of the importance of this task in 6:124;

“And whomsoever God wills to guide, his bosom He opens wide with willingness towards self-surrender (unto Him) and whomsoever He wills to let go astray, his bosom He causes to be tight and constricted, as if he were climbing unto the skies; it is thus that God inflicts horror upon those who will not believe.”

In this ayah, the word for ‘tight and constricted’ is ḥarajan, which in Arabic has the connotation of thick vegetative growth, the kind that you find in a dense forest that chokes out the light. If we fill our hollow spaces with things and practices that take us away from God (excessive drugs, alcohol, sex, pursuit of material gain), these practices in the long run have an end point- complete despair, “as if he were climbing unto the skies”. This is a terrible emotional horror, one that can be fully experienced on this earth. While the pleasures of this world may seem like short-cuts to spirituality, they are not. They do not lead to healthy growth, they do not bring one closer to God, they are dead ends. Only faith and self-surrender to God can bring us light, hope, and peace of mind.

My closing du’a is from Quran 60:4-5.  “Our Lord, on You we have placed our trust, and to You we are penitent, and to You is the eventual returning. Our Lord! Do not make us a cause for their pleasure for those who are ungrateful and forgive us. Our Lord! Truly You are the Mighty, the Wise.” 

Amen.



References:

Peter Awn “Satan’s Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology” in Studies in the History of Religions (supplement to NUMEN) Vol XLIV, edited by M. Heerma van Voss, EJ Sharpe and RJZ Weblowsky, (Leiden: EJ Brill Publishers) 1983

 T.S. Eliot The Complete Poems and Plays 1909-1950 (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: New York) 1971, p 56

The Message of the Qur'an translated by Muhammad Asad (The Book Foundation: Bristol) 2003

  

Islam Must be a Shared Journey or (How to Connect American Youth with Islam)

Being a Muslim is a journey that must be active and ongoing. For second-generation Muslim American youth, I think it is especially important to have mentors that are also searching to enhance their understanding of Islam. It is also important for youth to integrate their different interests with their faith so that Islam becomes seamless with all aspects of their lives.

Actively exploring Islam with my parents as a young adult made it possible for me to connect with the religion. As a college student, I had begun learning about the world in a sophisticated way. I was experiencing new things all the time. I was being trained to question and analyze everything. So it only made sense that, in order to connect with Islam, the process would have to be similarly analytical and exploratory. A didactic approach would never be enough. Thus, my parents became my colleagues as well as my mentors as we explored Islam together. 

When I was a kid, my parents always did their best to explain things to me in a way that would make sense to me at the time. As I got older, that challenge became increasingly difficult.

I have always had strong faith and belief in God, but in my first years of college, I felt disconnected from Islam as a religion. I could not relate to the other Muslim students on campus at all. Their practice of Islam seemed very far removed from my own sensibilities. I could not get involved with the Muslim community there. I admit that for a long time I didn’t pray regularly. I had not yet figured out how to connect my faith with my social life, my academic pursuits, or even my identity.

My parents felt an urgent need to help me internalize Islam as a young adult. They recognized that the process could not wait. That was one of their motivations to intensify their study of Islam. They began to put extensive effort into researching and interpreting Islam in a way that makes sense to them, and in a way that can make sense to a second-generation Muslim in her twenties.

The most important factor in this endeavor was that my parents included me in the process. They always shared what they were learning and discussed it with me. They challenged me to consider every example from both my own perspective and the perspective of others.

Finding a community that we could relate to helped all of us to broaden our connection with Islam. When I was growing up, I sensed my parents’ dissatisfaction with the conventional Muslim communities we knew then, and that in turn made me feel alienated from those communities. But when my parents discovered the Webb community, and started meeting all of you, and introduced me to the group, I was able to connect with other Muslims for the first time. Like my parents and I, this community is searching for a better way to engage with Islam. Finding a Muslim community I was comfortable with helped me learn how to relate to Muslims in other communities, no matter where they’re coming from. Now, I am actively involved with the Muslim student community where I currently live in Berkeley.

The initiative to start your own prayer group was also a formative opportunity for me. It offered the first Friday prayer experience that I could relate to and find fulfilling. I feel completely at home in this gathering.  Hearing everyone’s personal experiences and perspectives on Islam has helped me to realize that I am not alone in my struggles, and that understanding Islam needs to be a continuous process no matter what stage of your life you are in. I never used to attend Friday prayer service in college except on Eid. Now here I am giving a khutbah.

Observing my parents’ evolving practice of Islam has also had a critical influence on me. In their own journeys, they have shown me the real purpose of ritual in Islam. For example, when my father returned from Hajj a couple years ago, I could tell how transformative it was for him. It gave him a new lease on life, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I have seen a similar transformation in my mother since she committed to praying five times every single day. She comes away from each prayer very calm, focused, and reassured. Following my parents’ journey taught me that maintaining a connection through ritual allows Islam to permeate your life and give you balance.

My parents never pressured me to pray with them, but always invited me to do so. Eventually, I felt compelled to get back into it regularly. They always encouraged me to lead the prayer. This summer I decided to start attempting tajweed. With some coaching from my father on the guidelines, I started developing my own style of recitation. It has made prayer a more deeply spiritual experience for me. I now feel that, through recitation, I can relate to that level of transcendence I have observed in my parents’ practice of Islam.

I’m going to recite part of Surah Al-A’la…

I went from not praying at all to praying every day because I was sharing the experience with my family, and because I was able to personalize the ritual. Now it feels as natural as anything else I do.

Although I felt distanced from the religion early in my young adult life, the most critical factor that made it possible for me to connect with Islam was sharing the journey with my parents and with our community. If I had been handed a codified set of rules, with no room for interpretation or growth, I never would have been able to connect with the religion. But because it has been such a dynamic process, and a shared experience, my practice of Islam has become completely congruent with my faith and with every other aspect of my life.

[Pause]

One way that my parents encouraged me to engage with Islam was to connect it with other things I was learning. This allowed me to take agency of my understanding of Islam. It also helped me to bridge my faith with my academic endeavors, which were also very important to me. I’d like to share an example of how my non-Islamic studies actually helped me to understand Islam.

One of the most difficult questions I struggled with growing up was the question, “why does God make bad things happen?” I used to ask my father this question periodically. It was one of the few for which he did not have a clear answer. He said, “I don’t know, Sara. There are some things only God knows the answer for.”

This question continued to occupy me over the years, and it still does. But I found a way to reconcile the problem through an unconventional source: earth science.

My studies of earth science have trained me to approach every matter through the lens of “deep time,” as we refer to geologic history on the order of millions of years.  I have thus adopted the habit of considering everything from scientific problems to personal matters on both short- and long-term scales. And I find that alternating between the two allows me to see how things are connected.

Consider, for example, earthquakes. Earthquakes can devastate towns and kill a lot of people. Why would God make such a thing happen? 

Consider the deep-time perspective: earthquakes happen when tension is released between two tectonic plates (large pieces in the Earth’s crust) that slide past each other. Tectonic plates typically move very slowly, in pace with the growth of your fingernails. Over time, stress builds up between the two plates, and eventually that stress is released all at once as an earthquake.

I have learned that movement of these tectonic plates is actually vital to our existence. Tectonic plates made the Earth habitable by life billions of years ago. Volcanoes that formed of the margins of tectonic plates spewed out gases that created an atmosphere. The atmosphere allowed water to condense and collect on Earth’s surface as a liquid. It also trapped enough of the Sun’s heat to keep the planet from freezing over.  The movement of tectonic plates also shapes the planet; it forms continents with mountains and plains; it affects climate and environment, which affects the evolution and distribution of organisms. Without these processes, we would not be here, nor would we have any of the natural resources on which our survival depends. 

Earthquakes are a necessary consequence of tectonic activity, a byproduct of the laws of physics. Earthquakes are not punishments from God; they are a necessary part of the system God created that allows us to exist. It is therefore up to us to use our capacity for observation and analysis (as the Quran tells us to do repeatedly) to figure out where earthquakes are likely to occur and how to mitigate their effects on people’s lives.

So in answer to the question, “Why does God make bad things happen?,” I would suggest that God does not make bad things happen, but rather, that bad things sometimes happen as a necessary consequence of the system God created that allows us to exist. That still doesn’t explain why a given earthquake must strike at a particular time, or affect particular people. But I also believe, as all Muslims do, that every injustice, whether circumstantial or deliberate, will be accounted for on the Day of Judgment. Taking the “big picture” perspective does help me to reconcile these and other disastrous events and understand why they must happen.

So in summary, what helped me connect with Islam was exploring it with mentors who encouraged me to search for my own answers, and who were actively searching for answers themselves. Islam has to be an ongoing journey. Here’s to a fruitful journey for all of us in the New Year, insha’Allah!

I will end by reciting the second half of Surah Al-A’la…