The Boundary Problem
The following comments arose in conjunction with a woman who was being abused by her husband, as were her children. She had tried many things in order to make the marriage work, but all to no avail.
She didn’t know where to go or to whom to turn in order to find a resolution to her problem. Moreover, because of the many biases and prejudices that exist within many mosques and imams concerning women, she was reluctant to go to such places and people in order to get ‘help’ and counseling.
I wish there were some simple way to answer your question, but I do not believe this is possible. Or, perhaps, more accurately, a simple response might be offered, but without an appropriate context to give the answer perspective and rigor, the simple reply would have little educational value for you or anyone else, since, in truth, your problem is, I believe, just the tip of a very considerable, spiritual iceberg which many people sense is running loose in the channels of life – yet, the issue of how to avoid this hazard to navigation without getting sunk is a very omnipresent problem.
Moreover, the only real answer which can be given to the question you are asking is more in the way of food for thought that, when reflected upon, may help you to select a direction which, God willing, may be of service to you. In providing such food for thought there are quite a few themes which must be addressed, so I request your patience and forbearance while making the journey through what follows.
Your posting raises a lot of very important questions –– questions which are rooted in a variety of issues of abuse, and, ultimately, since all abuse is an expression of the presence of spiritual difficulties, the problems that you describe and to which you allude in your contribution to the discussion, are, in my opinion, quite appropriate topics for this forum. However, I also will say that your question opens what many will consider to be a huge Pandora’s Box -- something such people do not wish to be opened because the raising of the lid of this box presents them with challenges that are very disturbing to, and uncomfortable for, them.
However, personally, I do not look at the issues to which your question points to be a sort of evil leashed upon the world as was, in mythology, allegedly the case with Pandora’s actions ... but, in truth, was, undoubtedly, just another attempt to lay the ills and troubles of the world at the feet of a woman – when all humans are responsible for the problems which beset us -- as many have tried to do with Eve (may Allah be pleased with her), although the Qur’an clearly indicates that both Adam (peace be upon him) and his mate were equally responsible for transgressing against the bounds established by Divinity. In any event, I agree with the words which have been attributed to Socrates – namely, “the unexamined life is not worth living,” and, therefore, I welcome the problem with which you have presented us -- heavy though my heart may be concerning the circumstance both specifically with you, and generally with the state of the Muslim world, which makes your difficulty the kind of problem it is – one in which a person in trouble is disinclined to go to the local mosque, imam, mullah, or ‘ulama out of fear of being abused by the biases, prejudices, misunderstandings, arrogance, ignorance, and presumptions one may encounter in relation to either women or the teachings of Islam.
In general, people like to feel settled in their lives. Many people want to be reassured that the manner in which they believe is THE correct way to do things, and many of these individuals become nervous when the possibility arises that maybe, just maybe, there might be other –– perhaps, even better ways, of doing things -- or, even more troublesome, that there may be enough degrees of freedom in the Divine Plan that different people may choose different modalities of engaging God and -- oh, no -- God might be equally well disposed toward many of the choices which human beings make, as long as we, in accordance with the guidance of the Qur’an, do not transgress beyond certain boundaries.
The identifying of some of these boundaries has proven relatively problematic over the centuries. One might refer to this issue of identification as the ‘boundary problem’, and different schools of kalam, philosophy, Hadith, theology, jurisprudence, and mysticism have arisen in an attempt to, among other things, address the complexities of the boundary problem, since, in truth, the boundary problem envelops almost every aspect of life on earth.
Someone once asked a Sufi shaykh to provide a definition of tasawwuf or the mystical way. The teacher thought for a moment, and, then, responded with just one word: “Adab” –– that is, spiritual etiquette.
As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said: “Surely, your soul has a right against you; your Lord has a right against you; your guest has a right against you; and your wife has a right against you. So, give to each one who possesses a right against you.” In fact, all of creation has rights against us, and vice versa, and the science of doing justice to Creation is the practice of adab. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported to have said: “Creation is like God’s family, for its sustenance is from Allah. Therefore, the most beloved unto God is the individual who does good to God’s family.”
Observing, noting, acknowledging, understanding, respecting, and acting upon the rights of all the different facets and dimensions of Creation is the essence of adab for it is the means through which justice is dispensed so that everything is given what is its right to be given. The Qur’an indicates that : “God commands you to deliver trusts back to their owner,” (4:58) and adab is the modality of returning such trusts back to each and everything of existence. “O ye who believe. Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity...”(5:8)
But, what are these “rights” and what is the precise nature of the “good” which we should do to God’s family, and what is the specific character of the “trusts” which should be returned to their owners? Many people have responded in very different ways in relation to the questions being raised here, as well as in relation to many other similar questions.
The boundary problem is a matter of adab, justice, rights, trusts, truth, and understanding. Halal (permissible), haram (forbidden), makruh (doubtful), fard (obligatory), wajib (incumbent or highly recommended), sunnah (recommended) and mubah (as one likes or as one chooses), are some of the terms which are used to mark out the boundaries of lived existence.
In exoteric approaches to jurisprudence or Shari’ah, the tools that are employed to try to identify the appropriate applications of the aforementioned terms are: ‘aql (reason), qiyas (analogy), ijmah ( consensus of the ulama, or learned ones), and ijtihad (individual striving –– it is a variant on the root for ‘jihad’). Among the people of tasawwuf, tahqeeq is the tool of choice –– that is, verification of the nature of things through the process of kashf (unveiling) and yaqueen (direct, certain vision or grasping), and, one might remember that in addition to profession of the tongue and action of the limbs, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that verification of the heart is a necessary and essential component of faith –– that is, faith is not the blind commitment which many people suppose, and to seek an increase in faith is, really, to seek an increase in the verification of that which is true.
In all of the foregoing, the notion of taqlid, or following authority, often plays a very prominent role, and, interestingly enough, taqlid is derived from the same root as qilada which means ‘collar’ or ‘necklace’. The one who follows a given authority wears the authority like a collar or necklace which binds such an individual to the provisions and characteristics of whatever form of authority is being used as a guidance in a given matter –– and, herein, the nature of the problem confronting us –– and to which your question alludes –– begins to become apparent.
Obviously, the highest and best form of taqlid or process of following authority is to merge horizons with the Divine so that one sees with the sight of Divinity, and one hears with the hearing of Divinity, and one acts through the hands of Divinity, and one walks along the path of life in accordance with the guidance of Divinity. And, just as obviously, everyone and his (her) twin sister or brother has an opinion about what this all entails –– about what constitutes a proper expression of taqlid.
However, there are a few potholes along the path in search of who, if anyone, has the best understanding of such authoritativeness. Moreover, there is a formidable difference between accepting something on authority, in a blind fashion, and accepting something as being authoritative because of coming to understand the strength of the wisdom, insight, practicality, rigor, and reasonableness which is given expression through a particular perspective or judgment concerning such issues.
In addition, in this modern day and age, we have another complicating factor to throw into the mix. More specifically, there are two possible worlds –– namely, Dar-ul-Islam and Dar-ul-Harb.
Dar-ul-Islam is the realm where the Deen or way of Islam governs, informs, organizes, and orients the space within which life is lived. Indeed, one of the essential purposes of Shari’ah is to create the sort of safe, secure, peaceful, harmonious community and family space which enhances one’s opportunity to pursue the realization of Islam.
Dar-ul-Harb is the realm where the Deen or way of Islam has not been established. One who lives in Dar-ul-Harb is buffeted about by whatever sets of political, social, economic, philosophical, and spiritual forces that happen to be manifesting themselves in such a realm.
Although a Muslim or Sufi who is exposed to the crosscurrents of Dar-ul-Harb must, as best she or he can, still seek and act upon the truth inherent in Divine guidance, there are definite differences between the two realms -- and, what may be expected in contexts where Islam is the umbrella that protects one from the forces which seek to undermine the process of seeking the truth, and in contexts where one is at the mercy of whatever forces shape the contours of the existential landscape, are not necessarily the same. Like everything else, there are differences of opinion among ulama and other interested parties (as in, ‘most of us’) about what the shape of the boundaries should be in terms of the differences of expectation concerning individual behavior within Dar-ul-Islam and Dar-ul-Harb.
To add a few twists and turns to the foregoing theme, one can put forth a persuasive case that, presently, there is no Dar-ul-Islam. Stated alternatively, although many people may claim that THE ‘real’ Islam, whatever that is, is being practiced in this or that nation, in truth, there are numerous fundamental spiritual deficiencies in the way society is organized in virtually any nation one wishes to name –– that is, there are numerous breaches of essential adab, trust, fiduciary responsibility, and justice which are being perpetrated in every country on earth.
Furthermore, the revolutionary movements in each of these countries are really nothing but a variation on the same theme, and if they were to achieve power what is likely to ensue is not unlike those cases where one sweeps and moves the dust around on a floor, but the dirt still remains ... things just seem different because the piles of dust have been moved about –– freeing old categories of the oppressed, while heaping debris on new categories of the oppressed. And, for those who suppose that I might be picking on the Muslim community, the fact of the matter is, the same kinds of thing could be said with equal justification in relation to so-called democratic states.
Let’s return to some of the tools mentioned above which are available to us for trying to determine where the boundary lines are -- about which Allah speaks in the Qur’an -- which we should be wary of crossing or transgressing. For example, consider the term ‘aql’ or intellect.
There is a Hadith which indicates that ‘Aql was the first thing that Allah created. But, what is this ‘Aql?
There is a distinction drawn in the medieval Christian tradition between ‘ratio’ (rah-tee–o) and ‘Intellectus’. Ratio gives expression to the use of ordinary logic and reasoning. Intellectus refers to the lights of spiritual understanding which is a manifestation of various forms of intuition, insight, unveiling, visionary states, as well as the illumination of different spiritual stations –– each of which carries a different understanding concerning one’s relationship with Divinity.
For ‘ratio’ to be effective, it must work in harmony with, and serve as a reflection of, the findings and inspirations of the dimension of human understanding which is rooted in Intellectus. Ratio, is, at best, derivative, in a faint fashion, from the operation of Intellectus, and, at worse, ratio is completely out of synch with Intellectus, and the two come into opposition with one another. Thus, the Qur’an says of such circumstances: “It is not their eyes which are blind, but the hearts in their breast,” (22:46) –– that is, people who are under the influence of a problematic modality of thinking have a certain capacity to ‘see’, but because their mode of understanding is not rooted in the illuminations of a rightly guided heart, such people, in effect, are blind because their way of thinking neither reflects nor gives expression to the truth.
The medieval Christian tradition speaks of the Intellectus in a collective way to encompass all those altered states of being which serve as manifestations of the lights of Divine knowledge, and witnessing. The teachings of the Sufi path have provided a means of focusing on various facets of this infinite source of understanding, knowledge, and wisdom to which the Intellectus gives expression.
Thus, the heart, sirr, spirit, kafi, and aqfah each contribute different dimensions of understanding with respect to one’s relationship with God. The heart is the locus of gnosis. The sirr or mystery is the locus of witnessing. The ruh or spirit is the locus of love. The kafi, or hidden, is the locus of dominicality through which various lights and colors of Divinity are manifested, and the aqfah is the locus through which essential identity and unique spiritual capacity are given expression.
In fact, all of these faculties, in co-ordinated combination, give expression to the presence of Intellectus according to one’s individual capacity to manifest this presence. Moreover, there are practices, states, and stations associated with each modality of engaging the haqiqah or reality of Divinity as one goes through a process of cleansing and calibration to ensure the purity, sincerity, and objectivity of one’s experience of Divinity -- again, according to one’s God-given capacity to do so.
There are many people of kalam, theology, philosophy, and jurisprudence who suppose that the use of ‘ratio’ -- quite independently of Intellectus -- is sufficient to arrive at sound judgments in matters of Shari’ah. In other words, such individuals try to reduce ‘Aql down to matters of exoteric logic and reasoning – that is, they try to divorce the intelligence of ‘this-world’ thinking and creativity from the Intellect – and the latter is, in actuality, the first thing that Allah created and is far vaster, deeper, richer, more subtle, aware, flexible, insightful, and powerful than is the intelligence of everyday life.
In short, many people confuse levels of reality, even as they understand, however dimly, that the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) demonstrated a clear difference between the two with respect to his days prior to being called to the Prophetic life, and the days following his response to that call. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was known as al-Amin, ‘the trustworthy or honest one,’ prior to his Prophetic mission because of the integrity of his intellect and ethical demeanor, and in the 23 years of his Prophetic calling on Earth he was known as nabi, and rasool; he was the locus of manifestation for miracles and spiritual illumination that were dispensed, by the Grace of Allah, through the Prophet (peace be upon him) to people in accordance with their spiritual capacity –– he was associated with such qualities because, by the Grace of Allah, the Intellectus had been made manifest in him according to the extraordinary spiritual capacity which Divinity had bestowed upon him ... mere intellect in not capable of journeying to the heights of understanding to which the Prophet was brought during mi’raj (literally ladder, and, thus, the means by which one ascends), and, thus, even Jibril (Peace be upon him) was forced to remind behind at the Lote tree, while the Prophet (peace be upon him) went on alone: “And He revealed to His servant what He revealed” (53.10) – not as a mental event, but as an opening of essential Intellect.
Only after the Grace of God had been bestowed on Muhammad (peace be upon him) by means of the barakah of the Prophetic mission in an active form could the potential of the haqiqah-Muhammadi be realized. Only after the foregoing Grace had been given, could the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: “The shari’ah is my words; tariqah my actions; haqiqah my states; gnosis my capital; intellect the basis of my Deen; love my foundation; passion my mount; fear my companion; knowledge my weapon; forbearance my friend; trust my cloak; contentment my treasure; truthfulness my residence; certainty my refuge; poverty my glory, and by it I attain to an honor above the rest of the prophets and messengers.”
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