| 20 - Jamal and Jalal - Part Three |
In the previous
quotation, the author also maintains that the wrath of God is "closely associated
with the Sharia - which concerns itself with the outermost human domain, that of bodily
activity. However, the wrath that shows its face in the Sharia derives from God’s
mercy and leads back to it."
Wrath does not
show its face in the Shari‘ah. Wrath, however, may, or may not, be manifested in
response to how individuals respond to Shari‘ah.
The Shari‘ah does
reflect, among other things, qualities of order, discipline, rigor, privation,
constraints, striving, struggle, and challenge. But, these qualities are not the face of
wrath. They are windows onto the face of being, life, opportunity, possibility,
development, growth, and purpose.
Although Shari‘ah does
not exhaust the relationships which are possible between Divinity and humanity,
Shari‘ah does constitute a very fundamental dimension of spiritual guidance. As
spiritual guidance, Shari‘ah is an expression, or reflection, of the Divine Himma or
Aspiration out of which Creation arose.
Mercy may be one of the
attributes operating through Shari‘ah, but the mandate underlying Shari‘ah is
much broader than mercy. The mandate underlying Shari‘ah is a function of the
original desire of Divinity to be known through Creation, and, therefore, as the
Qur’an indicates "God embraces all things in Mercy and Knowledge" (40:7).
The author is also
incorrect when he claims that Shari‘ah "concerns itself with the outermost human
domain, that of bodily activity." In truth, God looks to the intention from which
acts emerge, and not just the bodily activity, per se.
The Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) has described how some people will fast, yet all they will derive from
their fasting is hunger. Similarly, some people will spend their nights in prayer, but all
they will derive from their efforts is sleeplessness.
Bodily actions are not
enough. There must be an inner sincerity as well.
The medium of exchange
through which the requirements of Shari‘ah are observed may be bodily actions.
Nevertheless, the standard on which this medium of exchange is based is the gold of
intention.
The author of Sufism
- A Short Introduction states that: "Although mercy and wrath have a yin-yang
sort of relationship in this world, the two do not have equal weight with God. A famous
prophetic saying tells us that God’s mercy takes precedence over His wrath, which is
to say that God’s essential nature is mercy and gentleness, and that wrath and
severity pertain to the domain of created things."
The Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) issued a warning which indicated that while people were free to
reflect on all facets of existence, they should not reflect upon God’s Essence or
Dhat. To posit "that God’s essential nature is mercy and gentleness" tends
to transgress the boundaries which the Prophet was cautioning people not to cross.
The Essence of God is
unknown and unknowable. One cannot perform a sort of reverse spiritual engineering with
respect to the Created realm and use the signs of this latter realm to draw inferences
about the nature of the Essence which made these signs possible.
Naturally, whatever is
manifested on whatever level, or in whatever dimension, of the Created universe, is made
possible by the Divine Essence which underwrites all that is possible, potential, or
realized. But, ultimately, no one knows the Divine Essence but Divinity.
Does this mean the
Created universe is cut off from the Divine Essence? In terms of knowledge and
understanding concerning that Essence, the answer is ‘yes’, but in terms of
Creation’s having been ‘brought forth’, the answer is ‘no’.
More specifically, the
original desire or aspiration or himma for the ‘Hidden Treasure’ to be known
through Creation was made possible by the Divine Essence. However, we do not know to what
Divinity was referring when It declared that "I was a Hidden Treasure and desired (or
loved) to be known".
We cannot assume
that Divinity was referring to all of Essence when mention is made of the
‘Hidden Treasure’. Alternatively, if Divinity was, in fact, equating the
‘Hidden Treasure’ with Essence, we cannot assume that
Divinity’s desire to be known encompassed all of Essence or all of the ‘Hidden
Treasure, rather than some facet or aspect thereof. Finally, whatever Divinity was making
reference to when indicating that ‘I was a ‘Hidden Treasure’ and desired to
be known’, in truth, the Creation which was brought forth to know Divinity, in some
fashion (and which also constitutes a set of created ‘spectacles’ through which
Divinity views or experiences the Hidden Treasure), this Creation only could know Divinity
in accordance with the ‘capacity to know’ which had been placed into Creation as
a potential for realizing the purpose of the Original Desire or Aspiration of Divinity.
In effect, all that can
be known, to whatever extent Creation has been given the capacity to do so, is what is
contained in the Desire or Aspiration or Himma of Divinity concerning the relationship
between the Hidden Treasure and Creation. We can know nothing outside of, or beyond, the
horizons of this Divine Aspiration.
Tawhid, the Divine
Attributes, the Divine Names, Creation, the ‘Reality of Muhammad’, Purpose,
Capacity, Possibility, Sharia, Realization, and Knowledge are all rooted in, and expressed
through, the nature of the original Divine Aspiration or Desire. The nature of this
original Himma defines the boundaries, properties and potential of the only universe
(physical and spiritual) we can ever know.
We have as many degrees
of freedom as are permitted by that original Divine Wish. Our limits are fixed by that
Divine Desire.
Beyond these degrees of
freedom and limitations, we cannot travel. Analogically, the Original Desire or Aspiration
is to Creation, what the Lote Tree was for Archangel Gabriel during the ascension of
Muhammad (peace be upon him) - namely, that beyond which we cannot go.
Existentially, we are
linked to the Divine Essence by virtue of the original Aspiration or Himma which arose out
of that Essence. If not for the former, the latter could not be, but the Divine Aspiration
reveals nothing about the Divine Essence except that this Essence has the capacity to
generate such Desires and that the Essence has underwritten all that is contained in that
Desire and, as such, forms the Divine Ground out of which the ‘magic beanstalk’
of Divine Aspiration has arisen.
Existentially, the
‘beanstalk’ (i.e., Devine Desire) roots us to that Ground, for the existence of
the Divine Wish, as well as our existence which issues forth from the depths of the Divine
Aspiration, both depend on that Ground for sustenance. Furthermore, although we can know
something of the ‘magic beanstalk’ (whatever is permitted in this regard), we
cannot know the Ground out of which this ‘beanstalk arises’.
The beanstalk knows the
Ground and is on intimate terms with the Ground. The knowledge of Creation, however, is
limited to the ‘life of the beanstalk’ - that is, the nature of the Divine
Aspiration.
As indicated in an
earlier quote, the author of Sufism - A Short Introduction refers to a
Hadith Qudsi (God is speaking through the Prophet but what is said is distinct from
Revelation) in which Divinity asserts that ‘My mercy has precedence over my
wrath’. On the basis of this Hadith, the author goes on to conclude that the Hadith
is just another way of saying that "God’s essential nature is mercy and
gentleness, and that wrath and severity pertain to the domain of created things."
‘Mercy’ and
‘wrath’ are attributes which are manifested through the Divine Aspiration
concerning the ‘Hidden Treasure’ and Creation. According to the Hadith Qudsi in
question, implicit in the purpose or intention at the heart of this Aspiration is a
principle which holds that either after all is said and done, and/or under appropriate
circumstances, the attribute of ‘mercy’ will be given precedence over the
attribute of ‘wrath’.
‘Mercy’ and
‘wrath’ are Divine attributes in as much as they give expression
to certain dimensions of the principle of tawhid which is operative within the nature of
the Divine Aspiration. However, one cannot ascribe the attribute of ‘mercy’ to
Essence, any more than one can ascribe the attributes of "wrath and severity to the
domain of created things".
‘Mercy’ and
‘wrath’ are differentiated Divine attributes which belong to
Essence in the sense that Essence has brought these attributes into Manifest Being, with
the properties which they have, and with the roles which they play in the purpose of the
original Divine Aspiration or Desire. However, non-differentiated ‘Reality’ lies
beneath that which is differentiated, and the very meaning of being
‘non-differentiated’ is to be without attributes of any kind.
‘Mercy’ and
‘wrath’ are ‘Role’ players, so to speak, just as are all the other
Attributes and Names of Divinity. They all are joined together into a principle of tawhid
which serves, and gives expression to, the original Divine Aspiration concerning the
linking of the ‘Hidden Treasure’ and Creation through knowing.
The author of Sufism
- A Short Introduction maintains that: "The rather stern and forbidding face
of the Sharia, which demands that people follow its commandments or taste the chastisement
of Hell, displays God’s majesty and severity, but lurking beneath its surface is the
promise of the precedent mercy." The "stern and forbidding face’ to which
the author refers, does not belong to the Shari‘ah, but, rather to nafsi amaara, the
seat of spiritual rebellion within human beings.
In effect, nafsi amaara
casts its own fears, dislikes, and disinclinations onto Shari‘ah, and, thereby, comes
to perceive the latter not as it is, and was intended to be by Divinity, but as that which
threatens the petty fiefdom of the nafs and which, consequently, must be avoided at all
costs. The face of Shari‘ah is stern and forbidding to no one except nafsi amaara or
other like-natured modalities of being (e.g., satanic forces).
The Shari‘ah does
not ‘demand’ that people follow it or face the chastisement of
Hell. The Shari‘ah just is.
What people do with
respect to the Shari‘ah is up to them. Whether people will face the chastisement of
Hell is up to God.
The Qur’an and the
Hadith both describe God as One Who is capable of forgiving all sins, including that of
not observing Shari‘ah. In fact, in the Hadithic literature, there are indications
that God will show His independence of all things - including the pious acts of human
beings - by admitting into Paradise some who have never done anything of
spiritual value in their lives.
Does this mean one can
ignore the Shari‘ah? No, it doesn’t , and one does so at one’s own risk.
Nevertheless, the
Shari‘ah does not confront human beings with an ultimatum of: ‘either follow me
or go straight to Hell and do not pass GO’. The Shari‘ah is intended as a source
of mercy, support, guidance, strength, comfort, protection, blessings, peace, healing,
knowledge, faith, sustenance, and growth - not only for individuals, but for families, and
the surrounding community, as well.
If one ignores the
Shari‘ah, then, one loses a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of, and make use
of, the many resources which are contained within Shari‘ah. In fact, those who ignore
Shari‘ah - in one form or another, may not have to wait for the Afterlife to find out
if they are headed ‘south’, for, quite frequently, Hell begins to seep into
lives, families, and communities which have abandoned the help which Divine law offers
them.
The Qur’an indicates
that Allah does not change the condition of a people until they, themselves, - through
intention - have opened themselves to such a change (8:53). This works in both a
constructive, as well as a problematic, direction.
Opening oneself to Divine
Law is, God willing, a catalyst to further, constructive, spiritual change. Closing
oneself off to Divine Law may be a catalyst for another kind of spiritual change.
Contrary to the
contention of the author of Sufism - A Short Introduction, the promise of
precedent mercy is not "lurking beneath" the surface of Shari‘ah. The
reality of mercy permeates the whole realm of Shari‘ah.
Unfortunately, many
so-called Muslims who consider themselves the custodians and guardians of Shari‘ah,
and, as a result, seek to impose Shari‘ah on others, often lack all semblance of the
mercy which is so evident in Shari‘ah. Consequently, all too frequently, people begin
to associate the disagreeableness of such self-appointed guardians with the Shari‘ah
itself, when, in truth, the former (i.e., the ‘custodians’) have nothing to do
with the latter.
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