Learning through history by gentle persuasion

Part 1: Learning from History

Recently, I went on a solo trip through Frankfurt, Cologne, and Strasbourg to experience traveling on my own and also to learn from the history of these cities. One of the lessons that stood out to me in particular was that social progress comes with challenging hurdles. 

This lesson was especially apparent in a Frankfurt house of worship,  the St. Paul’s Church or Sankt Paulskirche. For those of you who do not know, the St. Paul’s Church was the site of the first parliament in Germany during the 1848 Revolutions. This was the first time in German history that any sort of parliament had ever convened, and it was about time too. France, England, and the Netherlands had already established parliaments, personal freedoms, and constitutions. Germany was lagging behind its neighbors and needed to catch up in what we now consider to be fundamental human rights.

Shortly after their first meeting, the Germans soon learned that democracy was far from easy to maintain. The parliament was plagued with endless debates, constantly shifting political parties, and confusing bureaucracy. Despite all of the barriers and obstacles the delegates faced, they were ultimately able to accomplish one of their greatest goals: a German constitution that guaranteed inalienable rights of all German citizens and outlined a new comprehensive German government, with the Prussian king as emperor of a constitutional monarchy.

Unfortunately, the two most powerful empires in the German speaking regions, Austria and Prussia, refused to recognize the constitution and the Prussian king refused the crown, fearing the constitutional monarchy of a large empire would result in less personal power than what he had as an autocratic king of a smaller kingdom. Democratic constraints are an anathema to autocratic rulers, as we are learning in contemporary American politics. Without the approval of either Austria or Prussia the first German parliament collapsed within only two years of its inception, and Germany remained a collage of loosely affiliated autocratic kingdoms. In fact, some argue that the rulers became even more reactionary and regressive perhaps as a reaction to the progressive spirit that had nearly unseated their autocratic rule.

However, the parliament at the St. Paulskirche was not all in vain. The German constitution that was drafted in 1849 became the foundation for the current German constitution that was written 100 years later. Although everything must have seemed hopeless to those champions of democracy in 1849, the work that they did would have a profound effect on the course of German history.

Within Islamic history, this theme of hope and salvation during times of hardship is also very common.  We see examples of despair in human society such as the persecution of the Israelites by the Egyptians followed by the revelations received by Prophet Musa - peace be upon him , and perhaps most memorable within the Islamic tradition, the time of ignorance and oppression in Mecca until the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is easy to imagine a sense of hopelessness perhaps similar to how the Germans felt in 1850, when their dreams of self-determination were crushed.

However, it is important to remember that in many of these cases, people were able to rise above societal setbacks by learning from the attempts of their forefathers. The Quran seems to suggest that learning from history can perhaps remind us of not only the glory of Allah(Subhanahu wa ta'ala), but also the ups and downs in human society.

Quran: “It is not a guidance for them (to know) how many a generation We destroyed before them, amid whose dwellings they walk? Lo therein verily are signs for men of thought” 20:18

History is a valuable lesson for us and God reminds us to embrace the knowledge of history in order to become better individuals and better societies. I definitely learned a lot of history on my trip and I feel that these lessons of history make me a more grateful person because they help me realize the blessings we enjoy and how people before us struggled to provide them for us today.

Part II: Gentle Persuasion

The last city I visited on my trip was the now French city of Strasbourg, the location of the European Union Parliament. While it was most certainly a beautiful city with a rich culture, it also became a grim reminder of the dangers of aggressive assimilation. Before we delve into that though, let me give you some context for my arrival into Strasbourg.

As an occasionally over-confident German American who can get by on both English and German, I thought I would have no trouble navigating Strasbourg, a center of European politics and formerly German city. Therefore, I felt no need to try to pick up any French phrases or expressions prior to my arrival. I thought I knew my history of the city and I truthfully believed that my German could perhaps get me by if my English failed. This was far from the truth.

When I first arrived in Strasbourg, the first thing I noticed in the train stations was that they gave all information in French, English, and then German. I thought this was a bit strange because as I soon found out, at least half of the tourists were from Germany, and they were travelling via train. When I later checked into the hotel, I first tried German and was met with blank stares by the concierge. Soon, I discovered that all street signs, menus, and news channels in the city were in French. German wasn’t even the secondary language of the city; that honor was given to English, the official language of the European Union.

I thought perhaps by learning more about the city’s history, I could solve this peculiar conundrum, and figure out why Strasbourg was seemed to be striped bare of its German roots. At first though, I ended up getting even more confused.

Strasbourg, as I learned, was a Free Imperial city under German rule from roughly the 1400s to the late 1600’s. This was very significant because it allowed the city to levy their own taxes, mint their own coins, and determine the official religion of the city. These were privileges that only German cities of the time could have access, making Strasbourg the quintessential German city.

The paradigms shifted in the late 1600’s when Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, captured Strasbourg, and claimed it for France. Even though Strasbourg was now under French rule, the French monarchy never tried to overtly impose French authority upon city. This changed with the French Revolution. By the 1790’s France, not Germany, was championing the ideals of self-determination and freedom. As a result, the city’s residents soon began to favor France and embrace the French nationality. The lesson here is that ideals - not political or military power - shape the culture of a people.

Yet just 80 years later, Strasbourg would once again return to Germany and the Germans decided to infuse Strasbourg with “Germanness” if you will. They rapidly constructed entire new quarters, taught German in school curriculums, and invited Germans from all over the country to move to Strasbourg. It seemed as if Strasbourg would once again become a German city, again won over by the ideals of education and modernity.

The hope was ultimately fruitless after World War I when the city was once again in the hands of the French. Soon though, I came to realize why the city seemed to be so barren of its German ancestry: the Nazis.

When the Nazis defeated France in 1940, they aggressively sought to make Strasbourg German. Speaking French in public from 1940 to 1945 was a crime. French was completely stricken from all education curriculum, and all French youth clubs were replaced with the Hitler Youth. Even whistling the French national anthem could be enough for a jail sentence. 

Through all of this hyper aggressive assimilation, the Nazis ultimately achieved what no group had done before: they had stripped away the German of Strasbourg. They failed in the most spectacular way simply by using aggression instead of persuasion and they violated the mot core belief of the people of Strasbourg: self-determination.

The prophet understood the value of gentle persuasion and negotiation, which is evident when he negotiated the truce of Hudaybiyyah, which lasted two years with the Meccans. According to Muhammad Asad, “As soon as perennial warfare came to an end and people of both sides could meet freely, new converts rallied around the Prophet, first in tens, then in hundreds, then in thousands. So much so that the Prophet could and did occupy Mecca almost without resistance.”

The lesson from the Prophet’s life and the history of Strasbourg is that ideals, education, dialogue ultimately win, whereas aggression and persecution is doomed to fail.

The Quran and the Aramaic Gospels, Part II

I gave a khutbah in April about the work of two scholars – Neil Douglas Klotz and Emran El-Badawi - who have focused on the relationship between language and meaning – especially the Aramaic language that was commonly used in the Middle East during the time of prophets Jesus and Mohammed.  I had first become interested in the idea of translation as a distorter of original meaning through reading Klotz’s work.  He offers a much more nuanced, non-didactic interpretation of biblical texts like the Lord’s Prayer (Prayers of the Cosmos) and the Gospels, (The Hidden Gospel:  Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus).  Klotz’s interpretations reinforced for me the notion that the foundational texts of the monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – are indeed a continuum of a single faith trajectory.  But Klotz is a Sufi scholar (The Sufi Book of Life:  99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish, is a meditation on the 99 names of Allah), not an academic researcher. 

Emran El-Badawi’s work has taken the “continuum” hypothesis to the level of focused academic research.  The book that followed from his doctoral dissertation, The Quran and the Aramaic Gospels, is a comparative analysis of the Quran’s Arabic text and the Aramaic text of the Gospels, a scientific study of linguistics.  I consider this work to be a seminal contribution to our understanding of Quranic revelation and it’s place in the evolution of human spirituality. 

By studying both meaning and linguistic structure in the Quran and the Aramaic Gospels, El-Badawi was able to discern the main verses that form the backbone of the interface, or “dialogue” between the two scriptures.  He described four categories of meaning that apply to both scriptural traditions:  1/ the prophets and their righteous entourage, 2/ the evils of the clergy, 3/ the divine realm, and 4/ divine judgment and the apocalypse. 

In his linguistic analysis, El-Badawi looks at whole passages, clauses or phrases, and short phrases that share multiple relationships.  El-Badawi’s study provides a detailed analysis of the concentration, distribution and frequency of these types of relationships, and summarizes the findings in several graphs.  Short phrases form 71 % of all the relationships that he found.   He also looks at words that are derived from the same root words or borrowed words; these comprise 27 % of the relationships.  Finally, he examines rhymes and repetitions that are related between the scriptures.  These are comparatively miniscule, however the repetition of the curse formula against the ‘scribes and hypocrites’ in Matthew 23 (and Luke 11:44) and its parallel against the ‘disbelievers’ in Q 77 puts those texts in dialogue.

El-Badawi concludes that “Quran is in close dialogue with the text and context of the Gospels through their transmission in the Syriac and Christian Palestinian dialects of Aramaic….  This dialogue was mediated through a literary and hermeneutical (interpretive) strategy that he calls ‘dogmatic re-articulation.”  His conclusion is that “the Quran does not demonstrate a superficial awareness of the Gospel texts.” 

His evidence shows that the Prophet and his companions were familiar with the prophetic tradition of the Jews and the Christians around them, especially texts from the Bible like the books of Psalms, Isaiah, Acts, Romans, Revelations, and related Aramaic traditions of Rabbinical commentary and Christian preaching.  The Quran is familiar with the events in the Acts of the Apostles, the doctrines of Paul’s epistle to the Romans and the apocalyptic imagery of the book of Revelations.  In other words, the Quran reveals a “broader conception of al-injil beyond just the Gospel Traditions to include the New Testament as a whole.” 

El-Badawi found parallels between the experiences of Muhammad and his community of believers, and the Old Testament prophets.  Prophet Muhammad and his followers experienced expulsion, fear, and hunger, after which they were rewarded with a (new) ‘secure sanctuary’ (haram amin) and many fruits (Q 24: 53-57; 28:57; 106) – just like Abraham and his people. 

         Surah 106  Quraysh

         So that the Quraysh might remain secure [1]

         Secure in their winter and summer journeys [2]

         Let them, therefore, worship the Sustainer of this Temple [3]

Who has given them food against hunger, and made them safe from danger. [4]

They received ‘mercy after hardship,’ fleeing upon land and sea (Q 10:21-23; Q 17:70) – just like Noah and his family, and not unlike Jonah in the belly of the fish.”

         Surah 17:70  Al-Isra  The Night Journey

Now indeed, We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam, and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favored them far and above most of Our creation…

El-Badawi found that, contrary to the predominant focus of contemporary Muslim preaching, the Quran’s main focus is not with the pagan cults of cities and towns in or near the Prophet’s surroundings (Mecca, Yathrib, Taif, and so on).  These cults, maintains El-Badawi, were – unlike the image portrayed in the Sirah – probably in serious decline by the time of the prophet Muhammad.  El-Badawi contends that the Quran’s reference to the so-called ‘names’ (asma) of the daughters of Allah (Manat, Lat, and Uzza; Q 53:19-23; 37:149-50; further Q 12:40) likely reflected only one trend of the diversity in the Quran’s time and culture in any case.

The predominate conversation in Quran is with surrounding Christian dogma and Jewish law.  Rival camps of Jewish, Christian, and Hanafite monotheists seem to have constituted the standard form of religious practice in the Quran’s milieu, and polytheistic pagan cults its exception. 

The evidence from El-Badawi’s study “makes it clear” that traditions from the Aramaic Christian sphere intersected with the Quran’s environment early, on multiple occasions, and from different individual sources.  [This is]… best illustrated in the opening verses of the so called ‘Meccan Surahs,’ including Q 51:1-9 which integrates terminology from Syriac, and [other dialects] of Aramaic into the Arabic grammatical constructions (maf’ul mutlaq) that are a hallmark of the … prophetic speech employed in the Quran.” 

         Surah 51:  Adh-Dhariyat  The Dust Scattering Winds

Bismil-lahir-Rahmanir-Rahim 

Wadh-dhariyati dharwa [1] - Consider the winds that scatter the dust far and wide

Fal-hamilati wiqra [2] – and those that carry the burden [of heavy clouds]

         Fal-jariyati yusra [3] – and those that speed along with gentle ease

Fal-muqassimati amra [4] – and those that apportion [the gift of life] at [God’s] behest

Innama tu’aduna lasadiq [5] – Truly, that which you are promised is true indeed

         Wa innad-dina lawaqi [6] – and truly, judgment is bound to come!

Was-samaa ‘i dhatil-hubuk [7]- Consider the firmament full of starry paths!

Innakum lafi qawlim-mukhtaliff [8]- Truly you are deeply at variance as to what to believe

Yu faku anhu man ufik. [9] – perverted in view is the one who would self-deceive.

El-Badawi shows that Qur’an itself is part of a prophetic continuum. 

“The Qur’an may be appreciated as both a collection of divine revelations as well as a product of religious cross-pollination.  Therefore, it is not the finality of an individual prophetic tradition nor its written legacy – scripture – but rather the continuity of prophetic tradition and scripture that bestows upon us the broadest perspective from which to appreciate them both.”

“The broadest appreciation of Qur’an – which goes beyond the confines of classical exegetical literature (Tafsir) and contributes truly original insights to the genre of Qur’anic Sciences (Ulum al-qur’an) is to perceive its dogmatic re-articulation of the scriptures coming from earlier prophetic traditions as well as its contribution to later prophetic traditions.  It is to appreciate a complicated text whose inspiration from the divine realm and articulation onto the plane of human history make it one of the greatest manifestations of scripture, both in the world of late antiquity and in our world today.  Wa allahu a’alam.” 

El-Badawi’s work provides support and concrete evidence that the monotheistic faith traditions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – cannot be separated, and can best be understood when viewed in relationship with each other. 

Innal-ladhina amanu wal-ladhina Hadu wan-Nasara was-Sabi’ina man ‘amanu billahi wal-Yawmil-Akhiri wa ‘amila salihan-falahum ajruhum inda Rabbihim wa la Khaqfun ‘alayhim wa la hum yahzanun.  [2:62]

Truly, those who attain to faith, as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians – all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds – shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have and neither shall they grieve.  [2:62]

The Dunya Blues

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(PAUSE)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

References:

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

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

Three Character Traits and the Test of Ramadan

A few weeks ago I was reading a book called “The Collapse of Parenting” by Leonard Sax. The book was rather alarming because it pointed to some disturbing parenting trends coupled with a lack of discipline with respect to our newer technology- screens and the internet. Leonard Sax is a pediatrician and he bases his observations on thirty years of clinical practice as well as citing studies in the medical literature. Some people say Sax approach to parenting is rather traditional, but I like it. Many of the qualities Sax urges parents to instill in their children are qualities which Islam and the Quran also value. SO my khutbah today will be an exploration of three character traits which Leonard Sax says are crucial to the development of healthy young adults and how these traits are manifested during Ramadan.

The first trait is perseverance. Sax believes if children are not taught perseverance they become fragile children who turn into fragile adults. Children need to learn that they may not succeed the first time they try something, they may need to be patient and work harder to achieve goals, and that their self worth is not built around easy success. He gives two examples, one is a boy who plays video games all day and has a certain measure of accomplishment doing this. His father suggests that he try out for the football team. The boy does, but is told by the coach that he will have to lose 15 pounds, do a rigorous work out schedule and may not be on the starting team. The boy decides not to try out and returns to his video games because that is easier for him. The father lets the boy do so with the refrain, “He should do what makes him happy.” This attitude is, Sax feels, bad parenting because the boy is not learning perseverance. Another example is a girl who takes a challenging AP Physics class. The girl had always gotten straight As and saw herself as a stellar scholar. She started the AP Physics class and it was not easy for her. She really had to struggle even to get a B. This experience plunged her into a near catatonic state of depression because her whole self-worth and identity had been built around this image of herself as the super brainy student. This extreme reaction to a bit of challenge is what Sax calls “fragility”.

Does the Quran value perseverance? Yes it does, and I will give some examples. Sometimes, the word used is “steadfast”.

"Seek Allah's help with patient perseverance and prayer. It is indeed hard except for those who are humble." (2:45)

"Oh you who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer, for God is with those who patiently persevere." (2:153)

“Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods, lives, and the fruits of your toil. But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. Those who say, when afflicted with calamity, 'To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.' They are those on whom descend blessings from their Lord, and mercy. They are the ones who receive guidance." (2:155-157)

“Or assumed you that you would enter the Garden while God has not yet know those who struggled among you and known the ones who remained steadfast?” (3:142)

“Oh you who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy. Vie in such perseverance, strengthen each other, and be pious, that you may prosper." (3:200)

"Patiently, then, persevere - for the Promise of Allah is true, and ask forgiveness for your faults, and celebrate the praises of your Lord in the evening and in the morning." (40:55)

How does perseverance manifest itself during Ramadan? Well, it seems self-evident, we have 30 days to fast. And at this time of year, the days get slightly longer and it can be really hot outside. You have to be careful and pace yourself because dehydration can be a real problem. Fasting is about endurance, which isn’t terribly glamorous. It’s about hanging on with sheer willpower, and that is tough. Ramadan is not just about fasting, it is also supposed to be fasting while maintaining patience with others and having good behavior. This is not easy when you are hungry and thirsty. It is really easy to get angry and snap at people, much harder to maintain calm and have patience. Also, with our schedules in the West, we often don’t get enough sleep during the week and have to struggle doing our jobs while sleep deprived in addition to being hungry and thirsty. Sometimes people can’t fast because of medical or other health considerations. Sometimes people have to break a fast for these reasons. Just because you can’t fast does not mean you are a bad Muslim. Many people feel very guilty if they can’t fast, and they shouldn’t. Your identity as a Muslim is not solely based on whether you can fast or not. Don’t  be a fragile Muslim.

The second quality good parents should teach their children is self control. This character quality is reinforced by psychological research which has shown that children who have the most self control, this is tested by how long they can delay getting a reward (delayed gratification), these children have the highest success in life as measured by education and income levels.

A big problem with our Western technological society today is that the internet and social media do not encourage self control. These technologies encourage excess and binge-watching and instant gratification in the form of “likes” and numbers of followers. Most of use grew up in environments where television was only on for certain times of the day, and certainly, when children’s programming was only a small portion of that time. Today, children have access 24/7 to any show that appeals to their tastes and the only thing that restricts them is parental authority. If parents do not implement rules and restraint with regards to screen time, children will not learn self control. Social media does not teach self restraint.

Does the Quran value self control or self restraint? Yes does it, and I will give some examples but first some language and translation caveats. Sometimes the language that is used is for self control is translated as “purify” or “purification”. The other word that is used in Quran is “sabr” which is translated in a variety of ways but typically as “God consciousness” or “God fearing” but which I think you could interchange with self control or self restraint. 

"No one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint, none but persons of the greatest good fortune." (41:35)

“And as for him who fears to stand in the presence of his Lord and forbids his own soul from its whims and caprices then surely Paradise is the abode. (79:40-41)

“…and by the soul and what shaped it and then inspired it to its acting immorally and God-consciousness. He who makes it (the soul) pure prospers. Surely is frustrated whoever seduced it.” (91:7-10)

How does self control manifest itself during Ramadan. Well, the Quran spells that out pretty clearly:

“O those who have believed! Formal fasting was prescribed for you as it was presecribed for those before you so that perhaps you would be Godfearing.” (2:183)

The final quality which Leonard Sax says parents need to inculcate into their children is humility. Children need to know that they are not necessarily the best at something, that the world does not revolve around them or cater to their tastes. Humility is the building block to maturity and acknowledging the needs of others as well as the community as a whole.

Again to bash our preoccupation with social media (creator of  the "selfie": social media encourages self promotion and self aggrandizement and pairs this activity with a vision of self identity based on how many “friends” you have (quantity over quality) or “likes” you get on your Facebook page.

Does the Quran value humility? Please judge for yourself from this small selection of verses:

“The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say words of peace.” (25:63)

“Call to your Lord humbly and inwardly. Truly He loves not the ones who are aggressors.” (7:55)

“Before thee We sent (apostles) to many nations, and We afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they might learn humility. When the suffering reached them from us, why then did they not learn humility? On the contrary their hearts became hardened, and Satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them.” (6:42-43)

I would also like to add a nice hadith I came across:

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.”  Someone said, “Indeed, a man loves to have beautiful clothes and shoes.” So the Prophet said,”Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.” Sahih Muslim 91

Does humility play a role in Ramadan? This is not as obvious as the previous traits, but I think it does. I find it humbling that at the end of the day, when we break our fast, we have pure clean water to drink and good food to eat. Sadly, this is not the case in so many parts of this world. We have been blessed by Allah in this regard. While fasting, it is humbling to know how dependent my body is on food and water. I realize, pretty quickly, that I have limits. I cannot”do it all”, and I must slow down. Some things in Ramadan just don’t get done, and that is ok. I find it very humbling when non-Muslims make a solidarity fast with me. They don’t have to fast, but they see the value in fasting and they want to show they respect me and my religion. I find it humbling when I drive by a sign in someone’s yard that says, “To our Muslim neighbors, Blessed Ramadan”. For many people, who we are and how we behave, our personal interaction with non-Muslims—that is their introduction to Islam. It is a very humbling feeling to know that your behavior represents Islam for those outside the religion.

In conclusion, Ramadan can be a great teacher. Ramadan can instill in us the character qualities of perseverance, self control and humility. These are not easy lessons by any means, but as Muslims who believe in delayed gratification, we think these qualities will help us in this life and in the next.

Frivolous Portraits

Today I am going to be giving a khutbah on something I never thought I would give a khutbah on, and I can only attribute this to the Power of Art. My khutbah is called, “Frivolous Portraits”.  These are some reflections on the Syrian refugee crisis which were inspired by Mounira Al Solh’s exhibit ‘I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous’ currently showing in the Contemporary Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. This past Sunday, Abid had to do some volunteer hours in the city and while he was helping the homeless, I went to the Art Institute. 

In the modern wing, they were having a show by the Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh. Mounira Al Solh works in Beirut and Zutphen (Netherlands). Her father is Lebanese and her mother is Syrian. Beirut is about two hour car drive from Damascus. She lived in Beirut through the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s, but she could not speak out about the war through her artwork at that time. In an interview with Henrik Folkerts, Al Solh said, “Growing up in the war is not about analyzing; it’s more about surviving. It’s beyond words. Even when you get older, there are traces that you will never be able to analyze or speak about.” However, this changed for her when the Syrian civil war broke out.  Al Sohl said, “I was living in Beirut at the time, and it was like being in the direct image of the war- not the actual war, but its mirror. A direct reflection of its impact, an immediate witness to how people flee and are focused on survival.” This ‘mirror effect’ gave her enough distance to be able to express the experiences of Syrian refugees through art.

The exhibit at the Art Institute is called “I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous” and this title is taken from an interview with the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.  When Darwish was asked how he felt about being identified as a poet of the “Palestinian cause”, the poet responded that he would prefer to speak about love, life, and great literature. Rather than reducing people to victims or advocates of a political cause, he insisted on their humanity. He strongly believed in the right to be frivolous.

So while this exhibit is about refugees and the political crisis in Syria, it is a lot more than that. For me, this exhibit demonstrated the humanity of the refugees, and the humanity does sometimes get lost when people are reduced to the one dimension of victimhood. Yes, there were stories about trauma, but there was a lot of every day life, hopes, dreams, and humor. The exhibit consists of over two hundred drawings; portraits of refugees the artist drew as she interviewed them. Some people she interviewed more than once, and about their experiences at different points in time. At the beginning of the popular uprising, people were optimistic about the opportunity to live in a freer and more open society. As the civil war progressed, people became more pessimistic, and when people escaped, in addition to trying to adapt to a refugee camp or settling into a new country with a different culture, nearly all of the refugees were grappling with the guilt of leaving friends and family behind.

Another part of the exhibit is embroideries. Some are portraits on, what looked like to me, ready to be assembled throw pillows. There is also an embroidered sperveri, a Greek tradition of decorating canopied bridal beds. This sperveri is decorated on the outside with Ottoman and Greek motifs and when you look at the bed portion there are ten or so stories in Arabic and English which memorialize those lost and deceased. The embroideries were collaborative efforts with women in refugee camps and minority communities.

Al Solh has interviewed refugees in Lebanon, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Greece, and even Chicago.  She has collected so many different stories and different perspectives. Young Syrian refugees in Lebanon are unaware that Syrian soldiers fought in these Beirut neighborhoods in the Lebanese civil war, and many of the Christian residents still remember the trauma. Refugees coming into Chicago are heavily vetted and come to this county via airplane, a very different experience for refugees coming to Greece via boat or those who have to cross a land border to Turkey or Jordan.

Why I bring up the refugees during a khutbah is not just the fact that they are Arab Muslims, which is one good reason, but I am also reminded that the religion of Islam is full of refugees and immigrants. Our Muslim calendar is dated from the hijrah, the migration of Our Prophet from Mecca to Medina. Even earlier than, a group of Muslims had immigrated to the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia – this group included Uthman ibn Affan and Ruqayyah, the daughter of the prophet who was Uthman’s wife at the time. Our Qur’an has many examples of the migration of the Bani Israel from Egypt to Palestine, and there are a number of ayat concerning migration. Some examples are

2:218 “Lo! those who believe, and those who emigrate (to escape the persecution) and strive in the way of Allah, these have hope of Allah's mercy. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

3:195 “And their Lord hath heard them (and He saith): Lo! I suffer not the work of any worker, male or female, to be lost. Ye proceed one from another. So those who fled and were driven forth from their homes and suffered damage for My cause, and fought and were slain, verily I shall remit their evil deeds from them and verily I shall bring them into Gardens underneath which rivers flow - A reward from Allah. And with Allah is the fairest of rewards.”

16:110 “Then lo! thy Lord - for those who became fugitives after they had been persecuted, and then fought and were steadfast - lo! thy Lord afterward is (for them) indeed Forgiving, Merciful.”

59:8-9 “And (it is) for the poor fugitives who have been driven out from their homes and their belongings, who seek bounty from Allah and help Allah and His messenger. They are the loyal. Those who entered the city and the faith before them love those who flee unto them for refuge, and find in their breasts no need for that which hath been given them, but prefer (the fugitives) above themselves though poverty become their lot. And whoso is saved from his own avarice - such are they who are successful.”

 One aspect of human nature that does not seemed to have changed very much for the last two thousand years is the pattern of immigration and displaced persons- whether people leave their homes to escape persecution or find new opportunities, the refugee phenomenon has continued for centuries, and does not show any signs of letting up. Whenever the refugee finds themselves in a new environment, inevitably, there is a response to that person from the native population; acceptance and help, or suspicion and hostility.  Religion urges people to be generous to those in need, while the base human survival instinct has a far less open-handed agenda.

PAUSE

Whenever I come across a Muslim artist, I am interested in how they come to terms with the hadith prohibitions on figurative art. These are in Al-Bukhari and Muslim collections and state

1) The most greviously tormented people amongst the denizens of Hell on the Day of Resurrections will be the makers of images (al-musawwirun)

 2) He who makes an image (sawwara suratan) will be punished by God on the Day of Resurrection until he breathes life into it- which he will not be able to do.

The second warning is most likely a reference to Quran 5:110

When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic.” –Marmaduke Pickthall translation

For the legal jurists, Jesus is the only artist who is allowed to create. The Hadith scholar and Shafi’I jurist, Sharaf al-Din al-Nawawi (1234-1278) wrote in his collection of Hadith,

“The authorities of our school and others hold that the making of a picture of any living thing is strictly forbidden and that is one of the great sins because it is specifically threatened with the grievous punishment mentioned in the Hadith….the crafting of it is forbidden under every circumstance, because it imitates the creative activity of God…This is the summary position of our school on the question, and the absolute majority of the Companions of the Prophet and their immediate followers and the succeeding generations of scholars accepted it; it is the view of al-Thawri, Malik, Abu Hanifah, and others besides them.”

By invoking the names of these other scholars, al-Nawawi is implying that ALL the legal schools have the same opinion about figurative art. However, I would argue that with this reasoning, that art “imitates the creative activity of God”, one could also put forward the same argument in discouraging modern medicine, forensic science, anthropology, robotics, and computer sciences. In the Qur’anic reference, the art of bringing birds to life as well as the curing of lepers and the blind and the bringing forth of the dead is all possible only with God’s permission. Do our artists, physicians, scientists, and programmers have God’s permission in practicing their craft? We can talk about this after the khutbah.

While it is true that in many Muslim societies there has been a general discomfort or even outright destruction of figurative art (think of the Bamiyan Buddha statues and the Afghan Taliban), it is also true that there has been a lot of figurative art which was supported by Muslim rulers and other court elites and these artists were regarded with high esteem and status in their societies. Clearly, these patrons of the arts found value and meaning in figurative art which did not constitute worship (idolization) but rather the image led them to discover higher truths.

What are the higher truths that Mounira Al Sohl’s images of refugees tells us? For me, despite a language and cultural barrier, I felt a connection to the humanity the portrait was trying to convey. (Show example here). The portraits, for the most part, were done on yellow legal paper, and what they said during the interview is written as marginalia around the face/faces. I couldn’t read or understand the Arabic, but I could read the expression on the faces: hope, despair, kindness, perseverance, grief, dignity, contentment, trauma, guilt. The legal paper is also a reminder of the status of refugee (stuck in a bureaucracy) and as well as the fragility in the face of change and time. The portrait is a snapshot of a particular person at a particular time in their life. One day you have a normal life, and then a month later, a week, even a day and your life can be thrown into total chaos.

(Recite Surah Al-Asr).

The portrait is a snapshot of a particular person at a particular time in their life. The portrait is not the complete person, it can never be. We are far too complicated beings to be crammed into and summed up in a single snapshot. Even a thousand portraits could not capture the complete person, and all artists and photographers realize this. But an image can help the viewer find their way to a higher truth about the conditions of human existence.

At the end of her interview, Al Sohl said,

“It is a great joy to see those who really fight to make their way into this new life. They have to climb up again with everything they have: their feet, their teeth, their toes, their mouths, to reach a certain level, a bit closer to how they used to live back at home. Many others are slow and won’t be able to go that far. And some are just happy that their children at least will have a life and they forget about themselves…Guilt is a common emotion among the many people I have met. Although their reasons for feeling guilty varied, one should not forget that living in a safe place doesn’t mean that a person’s mind is fully shielded from trauma and violence. As I experienced myself when I came to the Netherlands…once you are in a safe place, emotions rooted in your past come out stronger than ever before.”

Let us thank God for our ability to have empathy for our fellow human beings, thank God for the gift of art which can often facilitate this process. Let us make du’a for the refugees and immigrants, to make their way easier as they make a new life for themselves in a different country, to help them heal and give hope.  Let us ask God to help us make refugees and immigrants welcome and help them to the best of our abilities in a way that is pleasing to God. Amen

References:

Mounira Al Sohl interview based on a conversation on June 1, 2017 in Kassel, Germany conducted by Hendrik Folkerts, Dittmer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, printed in her artist statement pamphlet for the February 8-April 29 2018  I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago

Interview with Mahmoud Darwish in BOMB Magazine No. 81, Fall 2002

Quran translation by Marmaduke Pickthall

Sharif al-Din al-Nawawi Riyad al-salihin (Garden of the Righteous)

A Worthy Adversary Part 14: The Perplexity of Single-Mindedness

I was reading and I came across this passage:

“But why, Ramsay would ask, do we confine our study to great political and military figures to whom the generality of mankind has attributed extraordinary, almost superhuman qualities, and leave out the whole world of saints, to whom mankind has attributed phenomenal virtue? It is trivial to say that power, or even vice, are more interesting than virtue, and people say so only when they have not troubled to take a look at virtue and see how amazing, and sometimes inhuman and unlikeable, it really is. The saints also belong among the heroes, and the spirit of Ignatius Loyola is not so far from the spirit of Napoleon as uniformed people suppose.” P  358 The Manticore by Roberston Davies.

What struck me about it was characterizing virtue, which we always think of as a good thing, as “inhuman and unlikeable”. If we look carefully at the lives of saints, or political leaders, or political leaders who are considered saints, we often find less than savory sacrifices which are made in the name of the Cause. It isn’t the sacrifices which necessarily bother me, but what I find more unsettling is the single-mindedness of purpose, the unshakable conviction that what they are doing is absolutely right. While I admire focus and concentration and deplore multi-tasking, and I understand that attention to detail and strength of purpose can produce amazing results, I also find the lack of doubt to be very alien to me. I am confused by people who don’t question their own motivations and beliefs. This confusion on my part has led me to today’s khutbah which is called ‘Perplexity of Single-Mindedness”.

My model for single-mindedness of purpose is Iblis. Iblis’ declared purpose is to drive humans off the path to God, to test them and only the ones who are not tempted by Iblis have the possibility of closeness to God. In my previous khutbahs, we have discussed Iblis, his mythic biography as documented in Qur’an, tafsir, hadith, qisas and historical texts in the Islamic tradition as well as the use of the Iblis motif in the Sufi tradition. All Sufis agree that Iblis is a negative force within the spiritual life. However, this didn’t stop Sufis from using the stories of Iblis to engage in discussions of difficult theological topics, such as how one deals with God’s will (irada) and God’s command (amr), particularly when the irada seems at odds with amr; Iblis’ failure to bow before Adam is the classic example of this conundrum. Sufis, such as Rumi, Ibn Ghanim and al-Junayd, who saw Iblis’ primary motivation as unabashed evil (arrogance, power, ignorance, etc) did not see any rehabilitation possibilities and considered Iblis condemned to Hell forever. Iblis as evil and condemned is a primary track of Sufi thought. However, there is a parallel track of thought which sees Iblis in a very different light. This line of reasoning goes back very far, to Husayn ibn Mansur Al-Hallaj (850-922 CE).

Al-Hallaj explored the Iblis motif in his book Kitab al-Tawasin.  This book has been preserved in its entirety in the original Arabic and there is also a Persian translation with extensive commentary by the famous Sufi Ruzbihan Al-Baqli (1123-1230 CE). The Arabic is difficult and often obscure, so the Persian translation is helpful that way, but it is also interesting because al-Baqli has a more traditional Sufi outlook and he really struggles with some of al-Hallaj’s paradoxical and unorthodox views of Iblis.

Al-Hallaj teachings use opposites to pull the reader to considering new possibilities. He uses the Zen “shock and awe” method. The 20^th century Sufi Idris Shah explained it this way,

“If you clap your hands and observe only the movement of the hands, they appear to oppose one another. You have not seen what is happening. The purpose of the ‘opposition’ of the palms was…to produce the handclap.” P 100 The Magic Monastery

Al-Hallaj’s first ‘shocker’ is to mention Iblis and Prophet Muhammad together when he writes, “The only ones whose preaching was sound are Iblis and Ahmad- may God bless him and grant him peace!” In the heavens Iblis preached to the angels about obedience and the Path to God, while on earth he taught mankind the ways of Evil. However, the opposite poles are complementary if you look at their ultimate purpose:

“Because things are known through their opposites, fine white silk is woven with a backing of coarse black wool. The angel can point out good deeds to someone and say to him as an abstract statement, ‘if you perform these deeds you will be rewarded’. But he who does not know evil in the concrete, cannot know good.” Al-Hallaj, Tawasin #19

Al-Hallaj sees both Iblis and Muhammad as essential characters in the unfolding of God’s divine plan. They carry out God’s will unswervingly, despite the pain each much suffer.

“Iblis was told, “Bow!” and Ahmad was told, “Look!”. But this fellow did not bow and Ahmad did not look. He turned his face neither right nor left.’ Tawasin #2

Al-Hallaj backs up this assertion from a verse from Quran “His Eye turned not aside nor did it wander from its orbit.” (Quran 53:17)

In dealing with God’s amr, Iblis relied on his majestic power and spiritual perfection of centuries of obedient worship, while Muhammad was overcome by his own frail humanity and God’s overwhelming power. Al-Hallaj does not ascribe moral significance to this difference, but his translator Al-Baqli repeats the traditional condemnation of Iblis’ preoccupation with power and his underestimation of Adam’s true nature (since Iblis misjudged Adam’s worth, all that prior obedience and preaching is nullified). But Al-Hallaj is going to create even more problems for his translator.

Al-Hallaj singles out Iblis for two estimable qualities: preaching and single-minded obedience. Al-Hallaj even goes on to say that Iblis is a spiritual model for all Muslims because he, more perfectly than any other created being, witnessed the Unity and Oneness of God even at the expense of self destruction.

“There was no monotheist like Iblis among the inhabitants of the heavens. When the essence revealed itself to him in stunning glory, he renounced even a glance at it and worshipped God in ascetic isolation…God said to him “Bow!” He replied, “To no other!” He said to him “Even if My curse be upon you?” He cried out “To no other!” My refusal is the cry, “Holy are you!” my reason is madness, madness for You. What is Adam, other than You? And who is Iblis to set apart one from the other?” Tawasin #6-7

Iblis as the perfect monotheist? Al-Hallaj takes it even further, he uses Iblis and Pharaoh for models of spiritual life because they share the virtue of futuwa, noble and chivalrous qualities of a Muslim knight since both Iblis and Pharaoh demonstrate fidelity and dedication to duty. In the words of Richard Roeper in the TV series “The Night Manager”, “You make a decision. And then you commit.”  Iblis and Pharaoh are fully committed to the decisions they make.

Most people, then and now, are not willing to accept these two anti-heroes as spiritual guides. Al-Baqli took Al-Hallaj’s futuwa designation and reduced by acknowledging their extraordinary but misguided courage. Al-Baqli says any act of bravery is a laudable deed but the morality of the deeds must also be taken into account. He blames Iblis and Pharaoh’s perverted futuwa on going overboard in the ecstatic religious experience, the sin of “I”.  This was Al-Hallaj’s problem when he said “I am the Divine Truth’ “Ana al-Haqq”- he failed to differentiate between himself and God. He saw only the “I” when he should have seen that he only reflects traces of the divine, creative spirit. God’s breathing into Adam did not make Adam divine but allows him to shine forth the spirit of God.

Muslims who idolize reason have a hard time dealing with the paradoxical teaching of Al-Hallaj because instead of ascribing moral blame to Iblis (his pride, arrogance, love of power), Al-Hallaj portrays Iblis as a tragic, martyr figure who, despite his dedicated preaching, perfect monotheism, and eternal loyalty, suffers destruction by the God he lovingly worships. In Al-Hallaj’s Tawasin, Iblis is an example of the power of the mystic contemplation to carry the soul beyond the paradoxes and logical contradictions that permeate everyday experience of materiality and individuality. Perfection of this single-minded mystic contemplation leads to an experience of annihilation in the Beloved.

PAUSE

From the Qur’an, we know that Prophet Moses had an encounter with God on Mount Sinai. The exchange is recorded as;

“And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and his Lord had spoken unto him, he said: My Lord! Show me (Thy Self), that I may gaze upon Thee. He said: Thou wilt not see Me, but gaze upon the mountain! If it stand still in its place, then thou wilt see Me. And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain He sent it crashing down. And Moses fell down senseless. And when he woke he said: Glory unto Thee! I turn unto Thee repentant, and I am the first of (true) believers.” Qur’an 7:143

A common Sufi teaching story is Moses encountering Iblis on his way down from Mount Sinai after the crumbling mountain incident. We find this story in Ibn Ghanim, in Ahmad Al-Ghazali (brother of Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali), Farid ud-Din Attar (contemporary of Al-Baqli), and in al-Hallaj’s Tawasin. 

In al-Hallaj’s version, Iblis scolds Moses for gazing on the mountain instead of focusing on God alone. Then Moses asks Iblis if he remembers God. Iblis answers,

“O Moses! His remembrance is my remembrance, and my remembrance is His remembrance: can it be that those who are remembering be anything but united together? My service is now purer, my moments freer, and my dhikr clearer. For I used to serve Him for the sake of my own prosperity; now I serve Him for His. …. He refused me access to others because of my jealous ardor. He deformed me because of my bewilderment; He bewildered me because of my exile. He exiled me because of my service; He made me a pariah because of my companionship; He reviled me because of my praise…He separated me because of my unveiling of Him; He unveiled me because of my attainment of union. He brought me to union because of my being cut off. …If He should torment me with His fire for eternities on end, I would not bow to anyone. Nor would I grovel before any person or physical body, for I know of no adversary to Him, nor any child begotten of Him. My preaching is the preaching of truthful men, and I am a sincere lover.”- Al-Hallaj Tawasin #14-17

We have two distinct, parallel tracks of the Iblis narrative in the Muslim tradition

1) All visions of Iblis are the products of his power of evil deception, despite the emotional quality of his words and the tragedy of his separation

2)  Iblis is a complex and tragic personality who serves as an exemplar of loving self-sacrifice and unquestioning faith to the point where he defies God to serve God.

But both narratives of Iblis have one notion in common: Iblis’ downfall was due to his single-mindedness and blind conviction. In the narrative of Iblis as purely “evil”, he is convinced that he knows man’s fate and man’s flaws and that this gives him the right to not bow down to Adam. In the Sufi narrative of Iblis as a complex and tragic personality, he again is convinced that defying God is the best way to worship and serve God.

What can we learn from this? We are often told by scripture and tradition that we should not follow in the footsteps of Iblis. The PG interpretation of this commandment which our Sunday Schools provide to our children is that Muslims should always obey God. Here is a different – TV-MA rated -interpretation: Avoid the trap of blind zeal. We may think we have it all figured out and we may want to pursue our goals unquestioningly because we are convinced we are righteous. But this was Iblis’ downfall. He forgot to doubt himself. Let us pray that we never forget to doubt ourselves.

References:

The Manticore from The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies (Penguin Books) 1983 p 358

The Magic Monastery by Idries Shah (Octagon Press: London) 1981 p 100

The Night Manager  by John Le Carre and David Farr (BBC miniseries) 2016

Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an translation by Marmaduke Pickthall 1930

Kitab at-tawasin by Husayn ibn Mansur Al-Hallaj, edited by Louis Massignon (Paris: Paul Geuthner) 1913