Page 6 - Chapter One:
"The Hadith of Gabriel talks about iman or "faith" in terms of its
objects, and these specify points of reference that are needed to understand the nature of
things. In another Hadith, the Prophet spoke about the meaning of the word iman
itself. "Faith", he said, "is to acknowledge with the heart, to voice with
the tongue, and to act with the limbs." This Hadith suggests that human beings are
compounded of three domains ranked in a clear hierarchy - heart or inmost awareness,
tongue or articulation of understanding, and limbs or bodily parts. These three domains
are distinct, yet thoroughly intertwined. In as much as they are distinct, they came to be
studied by different disciplines and judged by different standards.
"Acting with the
limbs", or putting faith into practice, is the domain of jurisprudence. It is here
that people "submit" to God’s will by obeying the commands set down in the
Sharia.
"Voicing with the
tongue"is the realm of expressing faith through articulated self-awareness, or
rational speech. Human beings are differentiated from other animals precisely by their
power of speech, which expresses and conveys the awareness hidden in the depths of the
heart. As a domain of learning, voicing faith belonged to those Muslim scholars who
investigated the best ways to understand God, the universe, and the human soul.
"Finally,
"acknowledging with the heart" is to recognize the truth and reality of
faith’s objects in the deepest realm of human awareness. The "heart" in
Koranic terms is the center of life, consciousness, intelligence, and intentionality. The
heart is aware and conscious before the mind articulates thought, just as it is alive
before the body acts. Faith’s inmost core is found only in the heart. The Prophet
seems to be referring to this core when he says, "Faith is a light that God casts
into the heart of whomsoever He will."
Commentary:
Contrary to the author’s contention, the Hadith of Gabriel did not talk about
‘iman’ in terms of its objects. The author is slipping in a whole metaphysical
and epistemological set of issues of his own choosing through the term
"objects".
Faith does have a focus
or orientation of its own, but this does not necessarily mean that this focus or
orientation is toward something else outside of that faith. Indeed, the Hadith with which
the above quote closes indicates that "faith is a light that God casts into the heart
of whomsoever He will."
This light radiates its
own understanding. It is its own illumination. It is the focus of its own penetrating
insight. It is oriented toward its own nature and ‘structure’ in accordance with
the degree of the light which has been cast into the heart by God.
The individual who has
received this blessing ‘sees’, via the heart, everything else through the light
of such faith. It is knowledge which engages existence through the ‘eyes’ and
properties of such light.
Just as physical light
comes in many different wavelengths, so too, the light of faith has its own forms of
‘wavelength’ that are expressed through the infinite spectrum of degrees of
faith-knowledge from among which God may choose, as He will, to cast into the heart of a
given individual. The properties of a given instance of faith are a function of the
specific degree of knowledge which has been selected for bestowal, just as the properties
of physical light are, in part, a function of the particular wavelength of the sort of
light being considered.
The nature and quality of
‘iman’ varies with the context in which it is rooted or immersed.
‘Iman’ in the context of Divinity, is different - though, obviously, not
unrelated - from ‘iman’ in the context of angels, scriptures, prophets, the Last
Day, or the apportioning of all things, whether good or evil.
In each instance, the
light of faith is a degree of knowledge which carries ‘something’(in the form of
understanding) of the character or nature of the kind of ‘reality’ in question.
Each context of faith has its own spectrum of light which radiates degrees of knowledge
and understanding appropriate to that spectrum.
Conversely, just as the
light of faith gives expression to degrees of knowledge, so, too, the darkness which is
manifested through a lack of faith gives expression to degrees of ignorance. The
Qur’an says: "Or, (the unbelievers state) is like the depth of darkness in a
vast, deep, ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by dark clouds: depths
of darkness, one above another. If a man stretches out his hand, he can barely see it. For
any whom Allah gives no light, there is no light!" (24:40)
The author mentions
another Hadith of the Prophet which indicates that ‘faith’: "is to
acknowledge with the heart, to voice with the tongue, and to act with the limbs." The
author goes on to contend that this Hadith suggests human beings consist of "three
domains ranked in a clear hierarchy" and that each of these domains came to be
"studied by different disciplines and judged by different standards".
Oftentimes, disciplines
of study arise and take on a life of their own such that the ‘reality’ of that
in relation to which the discipline originally may have arisen, as a human form of
response, becomes less important than the protocols, methods, assumptions, and biases of
the discipline in question. Similarly, the various standards which different disciplines
employ in order to pass and impose judgements often tend to be more a reflection of a
given discipline’s historical battles and struggles than they are a reflection of the
‘reality’ with which a discipline supposedly is preoccupied.
The nature of faith, as
described by the Prophet, does not suggest, as the author of Sufism - A Short
Introduction contends, that the human being consists of "three domains ranked
in clear hierarchy". The author is imposing his own conceptual schema onto the
Hadith.
Faith is a light with
unified properties. When this light is present, it is given expression through what is
said, what is done, and what has been ‘acknowledged’ by the heart as true, in
accordance with the degree of knowledge which is inherent in such an instance of faith.
At any given moment,
there can be faith without speech or action, but there cannot be faith without the light
of God that has established or cast faith into the heart of an individual. When this faith
is present, then, at any given juncture in time, the individual blessed in this way is
oriented or predisposed toward speaking, acting, and understanding in accordance with the
quality of that faith. Alternatively, if, when appropriate to do so, a person is not
prepared to speak and/or act, or understand in accordance with the illumination of this
light of faith, then, either the light of faith is not actually present or it is in danger
of being lost.
The author is rendering
the words of the Prophet as if the latter were providing a definition. Instead, the
Prophet is offering three tests for determining the presence of faith.
Faith is not speech, per
se, for many people speak without having faith. Faith is not actions, per se, for many
people act out of intentions that are rooted in other than faith. Faith is not just any kind
of acknowledgment of the heart, per se, because the heart is capable of being both guided,
as well as being misled, depending on whether spirit or the carnal soul (or the world, or
Iblis) has the most influence on the heart. Nor, is faith a combination of speech, acts,
and acknowledgment, per se, since all three of these can come together in ways from which
faith is absent.
The Prophet knew all
this, so, presumably, he was not engaged in an exercise of definition when he spoke of
faith in relation to speech, acts and acknowledgment. He was not saying that the word
‘faith’ is semantically equivalent to ‘speech plus acts plus
acknowledgment’ - rather, he was saying something else.
Faith is present
when speech, actions, and/or the heart reflect the light of that faith and give expression
to the presence of the light of that faith in appropriate ways and at appropriate times.
If speech, acts, or understanding - which are oriented in accordance with the degree of
knowledge of a given instance of faith - are not given expression at appropriate times or
in appropriate ways, then faith, in all probability, is not present.
When faith is present,
one will observe (in oneself or others) certain conditions of speech and/or acts and/or
knowledge/understanding being satisfied. If one does not observe the fulfillment of such
conditions, then, faith is not likely to be present, or faith may be present but could be
at risk of departing in the event ones speech, acts and understanding continue to work at
cross purposes to, or in denial of, the presence of this light.
The author has translated
one test of the presence of faith by the word "acknowledge". That is, the heart
‘acknowledges’ the presence of a certain kind of light of faith within the
heart.
Other people have
translated the central, operative factor with respect to this aspect of what the Prophet
said in other ways. For example, some people talk in terms of a process of
‘verification’ within the heart concerning the presence of faith.
"Verification"
is a somewhat stronger and more rigorous term than is "acknowledgment". Be this
as it may, whether there is a process of ‘verification’ or a process of
‘acknowledgment’, the heart needs to take a certain stance of affirmation
concerning the presence of this special kind of light.
In order to affirm
something with the heart, the heart must be receptive to what is being affirmed. This
means that ‘faith’ - at least as approached by the Sufi Path, is not a matter of
a conviction, of some kind, attaching to some object of faith (e.g., God, angels,
scriptures, prophets, the Last Day, etc.).
Rather, faith is, as
indicated above, a process of being open to the light of God which is being ‘cast, or
has been cast, into the heart’. In addition, faith is being open or receptive to the
‘Source’ from which this light comes such that the individual of faith becomes
sensitized to, or attentive toward, or ready for, the possibility of receiving whatever
additional emanations may come from that Source, just as fertile ground is receptive to,
and ‘prepared to work with’, any seed which may be planted therein.
The Source of the lights
of faith is always God. However, God chooses whatever loci of manifestation He likes for
the pathways through which such lights reach the heart of an individual.
On the Sufi Path there is
a special kind of ‘receptivity’ or ‘openness’ or
‘inclination’ concerning the lights of faith arising from the Source. This
modality of openness is known as ‘nisbath’.
Nisbath is a capacity
for, and a process of, recognizing, and being open to, the light of God irrespective of
the medium or locus through which this light may arrive. However, nisbath is particularly
attuned to the reception of the lights of faith when such lights are manifested through
the locus of the shaykh, guide, or teacher.
The stronger an
individual’s nisbath is, the more attuned, sensitive, and open is the being of that
individual toward the lights of faith which may be cast, by God, into the inner sanctum of
the individual’s heart through the teachings, example, and being of the teacher or
shaykh. The weaker an individual’s nisbath is, the less attuned, sensitive, or open
is the being of that person toward the lights of faith which may be cast, by God, into the
person’s heart through the locus of manifestation of the teacher.
To be open, and to remain
open, to the lights of faith is a struggle. One aspect of this struggle revolves around
the presence of doubt concerning the lights which are being received or have been received
by the heart.
The lights of faith not
only consist of knowledge of a given degree and variety, but one of the effects of these
lights of faith is to dampen, dispel, or modulate doubts in the heart of the individual
through the very nature and presence of their luminosity. Nonetheless, doubts tend to
persist because just as we have a capacity of openness to the lights of faith, there also
is, within all of us, a capacity for closing ourselves off to the lights of faith, and one
of the ways of becoming closed, or disinclined to be receptive, to the lights of faith is
through the nafs or carnal soul within us which both generates doubts, as well as, is
receptive to doubts from other sources such as the activities of the mind, satanic
suggestion, or the influences of the world.
On the Sufi Path, nisbath
is one of the primary means of combating doubts. Through nisbath, the individual aligns,
and is helped to align, herself or himself with the teacher or shaykh in such a way that
preference is given to the lights of faith being manifested, by the Grace of God, through
the locus of the teacher rather than to the streams of doubt which are being generated
within, as well as received by, the individual from various sources.
The greater this
preference is, the stronger nisbath is. This enhanced preference serves to strengthen the
struggle against, among other things, the tendency of doubts to attack and attempt to
undermine the lights of faith in the heart.
According to the author
of Sufism - A Short Introduction , "‘acknowledging with the
heart’ is to recognize the truth and reality of faith’s objects in the deepest
realm of human awareness. The ‘heart’ in Koranic terms is the center of life,
consciousness, intelligence, and intentionality. The heart is aware and conscious before
the mind articulates thought, just as it is alive before the body acts. Faith’s
inmost core is found only in the heart".
While one could agree
with the author’s contention that "faith’s inmost core is found only in the
heart", the author fails to note that there is more than one level of capacity for
the process of acknowledging or recognizing the truth and reality inherent in the lights
of faith. Indeed, the ‘heart’, considered as a whole, has an array of modalities
for being receptive to the knowledge which is being transmitted through the lights of
faith.
For example, at one end
of the aforementioned array of possibilities inherent in the heart, considered as a whole,
is the ‘breast’. The ‘breast’ is a capacity or potential within the
heart for turning and being open to influences from different sources.
When this breast-capacity
is turned in the direction of the nafs or carnal soul, the heart tends to be receptive to
influences from the nafs, body, mind, world, and the satanic realm. When, on the other
hand, the breast-capacity of the heart is turned in the direction of ‘ruh’ or
spirit, then, the heart tends to be receptive to influences from the realms of the spirit,
the angels, scriptures, the prophetic tradition, and, of course, the Divine.
Another capacity or
potential inherent in the heart is the ‘fo’ad’. The ‘fo’ad’,
like the ‘breast’, is mentioned in the Qur’an.
Whereas the breast, when
properly aligned, can acknowledge the presence of the light of faith in the heart, the
dimension of the heart known as ‘fo’ad’ can ‘see’ what only can
be acknowledged by the breast. This quality of ‘seeing’ is much more akin to the
previously mentioned process of ‘verification’ which some people have used to
translate that portion of the Hadith which describes how faith is given expression not
just through voicing with the tongue and action of the limbs, but also involves some sort
of active embrace of the light of faith by the heart. ‘Seeing’ is a way of
verifying that goes beyond mere acknowledgment.
There are other
modalities within the heart for receiving the lights of faith besides the
‘breast’ and the ‘fo’ad. These other modes of receptivity and openness
to the lights of faith have their own unique characteristics and qualities which involve
much more intense, rigorous, and comprehensive capabilities than the sort of
‘acknowledgment’ which the author uses to translate the Hadith concerning three
ways through which faith can be manifested.
The author of Sufism
- A Short Introduction does allude to these other modalities when he stipulates that: " ‘acknowledging with the heart’ is to recognize the truth and
reality of faith’s objects in the deepest realm of human awareness". Nevertheless, by only alluding to such modalities, the author misses an opportunity to
show how recognition of the truth and reality inherent in the lights of faith is a
multi-faceted and/or multi-staged process, and, therefore, by so doing, indicate how
different people may engage the lights of faith in a way that reflects which modalities of
openness and receptivity may be active in any given instance - a way that gives expression
to different degrees and depths of knowledge and certainty concerning the lights of faith
from individual to individual.
In addition, when the
author states that the " ‘heart’ in Koranic terms is the center of life,
consciousness, intelligence, and intentionality", he is saying something which is
both true and, yet, in need of qualification. The Qur’an also mentions
‘ruh’ (the spirit), the ‘sirr’ (the mystery), the ‘kafi’
(the hidden) and the ‘aqfah’ (the more hidden).
As such, although the
heart is one of the primary centers of "life, consciousness,
intelligence, and intentionality", it is not the only center with the
potential or capacity for, among other qualities, "life, consciousness, intelligence,
and intentionality." ‘Fitra’, or primordial disposition, encompasses all of
these other capacities or centers, as well as the heart, and only when all of these
differing, but complementary, capacities are realized, can the potential and purpose of
‘fitra’ be fulfilled. Consequently, as important as the heart is, it does not
necessarily mark the end of spiritual possibilities.
Of course, someone might
stipulate that the heart is equivalent to the essence of the human being and, therefore,
encompasses all facets of spiritual potential. From this sort of perspective, the heart
would contain the ‘sirr’, the ‘ruh’, the ‘kafi’, and the
‘aqfah’ as different dimensions of heart-knowledge, and, therefore, collectively
would constitute the fitra or primordial disposition of human beings.
However, this sort of
approach neither seems to reflect the structure of the human being outlined in the
Qur’an, nor does it appear to reflect the descriptions of those shaykhs who have
spent some time delineating the metaphysical (i.e., that which is beyond the physical)
character of human, spiritual nature.
Alternatively, there have
been descriptions of the inner realms of human potential which have been expressed
entirely in terms of ‘nafs’, where ‘nafs’ is construed as a complex
‘self’ or ‘soul’ consisting of various dimensions that bear upon
issues of spirituality or the mystical path. For example, one framework of this kind
depicts the ‘nafs’ as harboring seven potentials.
More specifically, these
are said to be: (1) al-nafs al-amaara, or the domineering self; (2) al-nafs al-lavvaama,
or the censorious self; (3) al-nafs al-mulbima, or the inspiring self; (4) al-nafs
al-mutma’inna, or the tranquil self; (5) al-nafs al-raathziya, or the contented self;
(6) al-nafs al-marthzeeya, or the pleasing self, and (7) al-nafs al-saafiya, or the pure
self. Each of these is rooted in, or referenced by, particular verses of the Qur’an.
The first three
expressions of nafs noted above are said to be indicative of an ‘ordinary’,
average person’s general array of inclinations. Individuals characterized in this
fashion would be people who exhibit various combinations of: bodily/emotional appetites
(i.e., 1), conscience (i.e., 2), and a limited degree of spiritual aspirations (i.e., 3).
The second group of
dimensions inherent in nafs (4-6) reflect qualities of the spiritual elite. Those who, by
the Grace of God, have struggled through to these ‘elite’ facets of spiritual
potential would have started out, as all human beings do, by being enveloped in the first
three facets of ‘nafs’, outlined in the preceding paragraph, before moving on to
ensuing dimensions of nafs through sincere commitment to traversing the stages, states,
stations, rigors, and challenges within these elite spiritual possibilities inherent in
the deeper ‘realms’ of ‘nafs’ .
According to the
framework being outlined here, the ‘pure self’ (i.e., 7) constitutes the deepest
spiritual dimension of the ‘nafs’. Only the elite of the spiritual elite exhibit
the qualities of this facet of the ‘self’ or ‘soul’.
Irrespective of the
terminology which is used (e.g., nafs, heart, or fitra), reference is being given to the
complex spiritual nature of human beings. One might subsume spiritual potentials such as
‘sirr’ (the mystery), ‘ruh’(the spirit), ‘kafi’ (the
hidden), and ‘aqfah’ (the most hidden) under one, or another, facet of nafs, the
heart, or fitra, but all of these arrangements are merely ways of organizing and providing
a means of referring, in conceptual/linguistic terms, to that which God has molded into
human spiritual potential.
In other words, language
and concepts, no matter how organized and arranged, cannot serve as substitutes for the
realm of experience. In order to understand what is being referred to, one must taste and
imbibe the realities in question, and when one does, these conceptual frameworks fade in
importance and even relevance.
The author of Sufism
- A Short Introduction contends that " ‘voicing with the tongue’ is
the realm of expressing faith through articulated self-awareness, or rational speech.
Human beings are differentiated from other animals precisely by their power of speech,
which expresses and conveys the awareness hidden in the depths of the heart."
The power of speech may,
or may not, be a faculty which human beings have that is not shared, at least to some
degree, by other animals. Certainly, whales and dolphins might represent exceptions to the
authors claim, and there are many other species of animals (ranging from insects to
gorillas) who appear to exhibit powers of communication even if they do not have the
specific capacity to articulate speech which is enjoyed by human beings.
Whatever the truth of the
foregoing matters may be, one might disagree with the author when he maintains that
"human beings are differentiated from other animals precisely by their power of
speech". In fact, the appearance of such a claim in the context of a discussion of
spiritual potential seems, to say the least, rather strange, if not ironic, since the
true, defining characteristic which sets humans apart from the rest of creation, and not
just animals, is the spiritual potential which God has bestowed on human beings.
Moreover, the author is
just plain wrong when he claims that the power of human speech "expresses and conveys
the awareness hidden in the depths of the heart." What can be expressed, even when
said through the eloquence of a Rumi, Hafiz or Ibn al-‘Arabi, is but an extremely
small subset of the ocean of awareness which is hidden in the heart, let alone in the rest
of human spiritual potential.
There is a reason why the
term "ineffable" is used in conjunction with the mystical or spiritual Path.
Most of the experiences, stations, states, conditions, understandings, and modalities of
awareness of the Sufi Path are completely beyond the capacity of human speech to convey.
The literary excellence
of those spiritual elites who have been inspired to write, in prose or poetry, something
of the beauty, majesty, and nature of the Sufi Path are but allusions to a ‘reality
without a name’. Their works are creative, ingenious, breath-taking signposts which
are intended to point in the direction of a realm where words and concepts cannot go.
Their literary efforts, in all their magnificence, are but a few, verbal crumbs left on
the Path by those who have journeyed to an Ocean without shores and who are inviting the
rest of us, in the only way that words permit, to seek the Ocean and not be satisfied with
the crumbs that have been left behind.
In the quoted section
with which the present Commentary began a number of pages ago, the author
proposed that the Hadith of the Prophet that discussed faith in terms of three dimensions
(i.e., the tongue, the heart, and actions) was tantamount to indicating the Prophet was
suggesting, through this Hadith, that man was composed of three realms corresponding to
the dimensions mentioned in the Hadith and parenthetically noted above. The author went on
to assert that different scholarly disciplines arose in response to each of these
dimensions.
For example, the author
said: " ‘Acting with the limbs’, or putting faith into practice, is the
domain of jurisprudence. It is here that people "submit" to God’s will by
obeying the commands set down in the Sharia." Without wishing to discount the fact
that one of the ways in which faith is put into practice is through the physical actions
which are the subject matter of jurisprudence or Shari‘ah, nevertheless, this is a
very limited and misleading way of characterizing what the Prophet was alluding to in the
Hadith at issue.
Kindness, generosity,
humility, love, patience, forbearance, courage, sincerity, understanding, and ihsan - to
name but a few qualities, are not within the jurisdiction of Shari‘ah - at least when
conceived, as it generally is, as a discipline governing exoteric requirements associated
with Deen. All of the foregoing qualities, however, are, to varying degrees, within the
purview of faith, as well as other, deeper dimensions of spirituality, and usually are
given expression, in a multiplicity of forms, through actions of the limbs.
It seems rather odd in
the context of a discussion of the Sufi Path that the author would limit the scope of his
remarks at this point to maintaining that what the Prophet meant by "actions of the
limbs" pertained only to the Shari‘ah- as important and relevant as this facet
of Islam might be. In truth, and as suggested above, faith extends far beyond the basic
requirements of Shari‘ah, without excluding any of these requirements.
One could observe, to
varying degrees, the basic pillars of Islam, as well as acknowledge, to some minimally
acceptable extent, articles of faith involving: God, the angels, scriptures, the prophets,
the Last Day, and the measured apportionment of everything (both good and
‘evil’), and, yet, still be relatively devoid of kindness, generosity, courage,
sincerity, patience, love, forgiveness, and so on. There is nothing within Shari‘ah-
as usually understood - which stipulates that a person who is not patient or generous has
violated a rule of jurisprudence for which there are prescribed forms of relief which can
be sought, by individuals or the community, through Shari‘ah courts.
On the other hand, to say
an individual is a person of iman or faith, but is devoid of kindness, love, mercy,
compassion, and so on, is something of an oxymoron or contradiction in terms. The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said: "Kindness is a mark of faith,
and whoever has not kindness, has not faith."
Indeed, one of the most
appealing, magnetic features of people with abiding and deep faith revolves around the fact
that their faith is radiantly manifested through their limbs by means of acts of
generosity or forbearance or numerous other luminous qualities of character which affect
the hearts of those who witness and/or who are the beneficiary of such acts and, yet, are
acts which are not obligatory under Shari‘ah. In short, faith impels these acts, not
Shari‘ah - at least, not the exoteric aspects of the latter.
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