On Being Invited to the Qur'an and Sunnah - Part Two
Even on the
surface level of meanings, Allah describes the Qur'an as having both clear verses as well
as those which, while clear with the proper understanding, are, nevertheless, stated in
the forms of allegories, metaphors and similes. In addition, quite a few surahs of the
Qur'an begin with just Arabic letters such as Alif Lam Meem or Ya Seen
The Qur'an
testifies that none but Allah knows the meanings of these letters. Yet, Allah has promised
to teach the meanings of so many of the kernels of Truth which are manifested through the
Qur'an, to those who have, as the Qur'an urges us again and again to seek out, the proper
kind of intention, sincerity, humility, and piety in their dealings with Allah.
The Qur'an
is a Book from which nothing has been left out. And, everything in the Qur'an is for the
benefit, instruction and use of human beings, including the mysterious letters alluded to
previously.
Even on the
most exoteric, or outermost level of the Qur'an, there is an incalculable wealth of
healing, direction, support and instruction. However, the aspects of the Qur'an which do
not specifically deal with the fundamentals of bearing witness, prayers, fasting, zakat,
hajj, along with the specified proscriptive and permitted limits of human conduct, are not
mere window dressing - a Divine aside, so to speak, which merely introduces themes which
have nothing to do with the essential character of human existence.
In fact,
these ayats concerning specific promulgations constitute only about five hundred out of a
total of more than six thousand verses in the Qur'an. Consequently, the majority of the
Qur'an deals with issues, themes, questions, and so on, which even though they may touch
upon, and have ramifications for, the determination and application of religious law, they
also address many, many other issues and themes.
In broad
terms, one might refer to these differences as ones of rules and principles. The basic
requirements or obligations concerning, say, prayer, fasting, zakat, and so on, are, to a
large extent, stated in terms of rules of one sort or another - in other words, what one
can and can't do, or what is halal and haram, respectively.
Yet, there
is another dimension involving principles which cannot be reduced down to rules. For
instance, there are no rules capable of circumscribing what is entailed by love,
compassion, kindness, charitableness, commitment, sacrifice, longing, sincerity,
tolerance, forgiveness, humility and so on.
The vast
majority of the Qur'an deals with principles and not just with rules or laws. The laws and
rules are necessary, but the Qur'an cannot be reduced to them.
Considered
from another, but related perspective, the Qur'an distinguishes between people of the
left, people of the right, and those who are among the foremost. People of the left are
those who have condemned themselves to wasted lives, spiritually speaking.
People of
the right are said to refer to the generality of Muslims of a certain quality of devotion
- of whom Allah indicates there were many among the earlier times, and there will be many
among the later times. But, who are the foremost?
Allah knows
best, but they are not the same as the people of the right or else there would be no point
to the distinction. And, Allah does not make distinctions in an idle manner.
There always
is a purpose to these distinctions. Divinity is attempting to draw our attention to
something of importance - something upon which it is worthwhile reflecting.
Allah
describes the people of the foremost as being many among the earlier generations and few
among the later generations.
Whoever
these foremost people may be, God and his Prophet are not equating them to the generality
of Muslims. Being Muslim means one has been graced with entrance into a certain kind of
spiritual house, but it is a 'mansion with many rooms'.
Who among us
can say we have explored all these rooms and can inventory all the secrets and mysteries
which God has stored there? Who among us would be so foolhardy as to say we know it all,
and we can itemize absolutely, unequivocally and exhaustively what is contained therein?
Although we
all must be concerned about not making Islam - whether considered exoterically or
esoterically - into something which it is not, at the same time, we should not try to deny
the possibilities that are inherent in Islam either. In all boundary disputes, there
usually are differences of opinion about what belongs where or what is appropriate under
certain circumstances, and, so too, in the on-going tension arising out of the boundary
conflict between those of exoteric inclinations and those of esoteric inclinations, there
will be differences which extend across a variety of issues and themes.
Even some of
the great Sufi shaykhs have clearly indicated that not just anything is permissible in
tariqat or the mystical path. For instance, in Kashf-ul-Majjub, al-Hallaj quoted an
earlier Sufi master as saying: "Once the Sufi mystical path was a reality without a
name, and now it is a name without a reality.
The
foregoing was spoken some thirteen hundred years ago (Hijra calendar). It alluded to the
fact that during the time of the Prophet, many of the Companions of the Prophet were
esoterically or mystically inclined even while adhering fervently to the requirements of
Shari'ah or Divine Law, and, yet, there was no label of Sufi in existence at that time.
These
Companions learned the mystical path from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Indeed, among his many other duties and responsibilities, the Prophet was, and continues
to be, the first Sufi shaykh - the Shaykh of all shaykhs, the guide of all guides, who has
been given the capacity to do so by Allah.
Over time,
however, there were those who drifted away from the mystical path laid out by the
spiritual understanding given to the Prophet through the grace of Allah. Some of these
erring people referred to themselves, or were referred to as, by those who didn't know
better, Sufi.
Nonetheless,
there were others who also were said to belong to the Sufi path who had not abandoned the
esoteric dimension of the Prophet's teachings. These Sufi individuals got a bad name from
the misdeeds of the former group who were considered by some, mostly those who made up
such pseudo- mystical groups, to be Sufi.
There were
so many of these erring pseudo-sufi practitioners running about here and there causing
their own unique brand of mischief, that, in many ways - at least as far as this errant
category is concerned - it was as if the Sufi path had become a name without a reality.
Nevertheless, there still were authentic followers of the inner-teachings of the Prophet
who persisted in the face of such adversity, and there continue to be, today, such
authentic followers of the inner, as well as the outer, path of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him).
The problems
outlined by al-Hujwiri are still with us. More specifically, there are those (both from
within Islam, as well from without) claiming to be Sufi but who are not, while there are
others, and Allah knows best who they are, who are legitimate practitioners of the Sufi
path - which is but one of the terms (the more proper term being: tasawwuf) that are used
to refer to those who continue to look to the Qur'an and the Prophet to provide guidance
on the inner path.
In between
are a lot of people who are confused about who belongs to which of these categories. As a
result, a lot of back-biting and character assassination go on, both of which are not
permitted by Islam, but this has not stopped many from indulging in these practices.
The
confusion, uncertainty, and controversies which swirl around this area are so numerous and
frustrating that some people attempt to make a unilateral ruling and claim there is no
mystical dimension to Islam. In doing so, they become unwitting allies for all the dark
forces, within us and without us, that are attempting to prevent human beings from taking
the steps necessary to inherit our full spiritual legacy - the one which concerns the
human capacity for knowing, loving and serving Allah independently of considerations of
heaven or hell - though these latter realms are quite real in all their seven levels.
The
foregoing comments notwithstanding, is there something wrong with having a himma or
spiritual aspiration which seeks the highest possible rather than the minimum necessary?
If one has a God-given exploratory nature and wishes to discover what lies at the
spiritual heart of life, identity, purpose, meaning, understanding, truth and human
potential, and if the individual undertakes this journey in accordance with the teachings
of the Qur'an and the Hadith, considered in their entirety and not just in some
arbitrarily truncated version of those teachings, then where is the error in this?
It is not a
matter of one kind of inclination (eg., the exoteric) being right and the other kind of
inclination (e.g., the esoteric) being wrong, rather they are both part of the spectrum of
possibilities to which Allah is calling all human beings. As such, they both conform to
the requirements of not transgressing the bounds which Allah has set.
There are
boundaries established by rules, and there are more complex boundaries established through
principle. The former is referred to as Divine Law, while the latter is termed adab or
spiritual etiquette.
When one
Sufi teacher was asked what the mystical path of Islam was all about, the shaykh paused
for a moment, and, then, replied: "Adab". The Prophet had indicated that
everything has a right, of sorts, over a person, including one's parents, spouse, children
and neighbors.
Similarly,
every spiritual station which is possible, together with, every instrument of spirituality
within us - whether the sirr, heart, spirit or kafi - all of which are mentioned in the
Qur'an - have a right over us. Our problem is that we do not honor these rights, and the
Sufi path is about teaching those who are interested how to struggle toward honoring those
rights.
Each person
makes one's own choice in these matters. Allah is, insha' Allah, happy with both, and,
therefore, there is no justification for either kind of aspiration to make disparaging
judgements about the other kind of aspiration.
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