irshaad.net : The ascending stairways

Differing Orthodoxies

Abu Hamid Ghazali, in his work, Mizanal Amal (The Scales of Action) commented on the place of madhhabs (of differing schools of Islamic thought) within the larger context of religious belief and knowledge. In it Ghazali outlines three levels of madhhab which, in a sense, parallel the three primary levels which the human soul (nafs) can traverse, as mentioned in the Qur’an. These are the soul that is commanded by acquired habits or worldly passions (nafs ammara - Qur’an 12:53) rather than by reflection and the use of aql (spiritual intellect), the soul that corrects its own wrongdoing through an active conscience (nafs lawwama - Qur’an 75:2), and the soul that is at peace with itself through nearness to God (nafs mutma’inna - Qur’an 89:27).

The three levels of adherence to a madhhab that Ghazali catalogs are:

1. Madhhab in the sense of Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi, Malaki etc. Each had their doctrinal teachings and each proclaimed their orthodoxy. As Ghazali states, “…as for “madhhab” in the first sense, that is the way of one’s forefathers and ancestors, or the madhhab of one’s teacher or of the people of the land where one grows up. This differs according to towns and countries, and according to the teachers concerned. Thus someone who comes under the influence of …a Shafi’i or Hanafi has the passionate clinging to that madhhab implanted in his soul…. So people say that “His madhhab is…Shafi’i , or Hanafi - and the meaning of this is that he is passionately attached to it….The pupil is like paper that has been written on and which the ink has penetrated….For everything that is mentioned to him that is different from what he has heard (perhaps in his youth or from his teachers) does not persuade him. Indeed he tries vigorously not to be convinced….”(see footnote 1)

2. Madhhab as a deepening of one’s intellectual and spiritual understanding of religion. This is an inner movement allowing the emergence of and the eventual establishment of an active inner faith (iman) and spiritual intellect within one’s consciousness and heart. As Ghazali indicates, “…the second (meaning of) madhhab is what is appropriate in (spiritual) guidance and teaching, to whoever comes seeking to learn or to be guided. Now this cannot be specified in only one way, but rather it differs according to the pupil….”(see footnote 2)

3. Madhhab as the full flowering or unfolding of this faith within the heart. This is the experiential awareness of spiritual realities and a transformation of one’s inner world through nearness to God, and of one’s actions into those most reflective of an uplifted inner state. Ghazali writes, “The third (meaning of) madhhab is what a person experiences in his innermost self, between himself and God, such that no one other than God - may He be exalted! - is aware of it. He does not mention it except to someone who is like himself in his awareness of what he has become aware of, or else who has reached a stage where he is capable of becoming aware of it and understanding it….But this (requires) that the…inherited belief he grew up with (or which he acquired through teachers) and became attached to not be deeply rooted in his soul….”(see footnote 3)

The prophetic religious figures we revere recognized the sublime depths of the Reality which was unveiled for them. Their beliefs and actions flowed from something so profoundly deep that it could not be bound into a single, neatly packaged template or doctrine without discarding the rich vastness that underlies reality and which is evident in the layered richness of meaning and significance within revelation. They pointed to principles that were transcendentally alive within their hearts and they provided signs and indications of the unseen depths that are the supporting under-structure of our universe. They provided behavioral principles which, if followed, would elevate the character of both societies and individuals by bringing them into a state of balance that would benefit them both in this immediate world and in the world to come.

Categorization of religion into definitively organized and cataloged sets of beliefs occurs at a later stage. Each religion begins with a transcendental encounter, with an experience of higher realities, and with a revelation that awakens people to that higher reality and to what the true nature of reality demands from them. Then the followers begin to categorize and catalog and interpret (each group according to their own understanding, their own lens of perception), and in this way many schools of thought begin to spring from one source. They exert themselves to understand and explain the principles (both of belief and of action) that exist in the Qur’an (and the hadith). The schools differ because they cast their focus, their emphasis, on different areas of the source material and because each, according to its inclination, discovers different patterns and structures within this source material. Each group will claim to reflect accurately the true aim and intention of the source even as they unavoidably sift and select and interpret through their own mental sieve. This is not a criticism but a recognition of an innate human impulse to analyze, codify, interpret, and concretize knowledge into fixed templates.

It is like shining a light on the surface of the ocean to see into its depths. Instead the light illuminates in stark detail the surface of the water (and perhaps what is just fractionally below the surface) and all that floats and moves on this surface. The depths remain concealed, rendered invisible by the reflecting and scattering of light. Doctrinal approaches to religion can experience this same phenomenon. Historical events, personalities, tenets of the creed, rulings of law, and sharply defined boundaries of belief, emerge into stark prominence. These are all studied and elaborated upon in great detail. And though it is good and even essential to know all of this it cannot be said to represent a complete picture of that at which religion aims.

As different groups each shine their own light upon the surface, each characterizes that which has been illuminated by their specific beam as orthodoxy. Each organizes and catalogs, orders and delineates, and abstracts both dogma and doctrine from their understanding of what they have witnessed and understood. The limits of the field of view illuminated by their beam sets, for them, the prescribed limits of religious orthodoxy. Their interpretation of what they see, their hermeneutics, further distinguishes one group’s understanding from the others.

Sometimes they make their understanding of religious truth into the measure of truth itself. And they measure other groups according to this derived measure of truth, and label and categorize them according to the derived standard as if it was an infallible standard. Although a human understanding (other than a transcendental Prophetic understanding), no matter how learned cannot hold (sensibly) an absolutely infallible position. As Ghazali states, “….none of them has a miracle which would give his side precedence.”(see footnote 4)

All this recedes into the background when the surface of the water is breached and the vast depths of Reality’s ocean is sensed. Even studying only the surface astounds us - just as the manifold mysteries of the physical universe, which is the surface of reality, endlessly unfold before us and occupy our sciences. We shine the light of reason and observation on existence and reap instrumental knowledge and control. This is a heady and empowering experience - to gain a level of manipulative control over the material world through understanding the dynamics by which it operates. We learn how to move about more efficiently upon the surface (of physical existence) and manipulate for our benefit the properties of the physical world we study. The mastery of the ins and outs and numerous complexities and theological and legal details of a given religious orthodoxy creates a similar sense of empowerment.

But this is the study of surfaces - what underlies the surface is what spins the mind into bewilderment, awe, and inward transformation. Divine revelation represents a plunging into the depths and a return to the surface armed with the experiential certainty that the surface is only a skin and that what moves and shapes and sustains the skin (of physical existence) is of an unfathomable depth.

The differing orthodoxies of the various schools are then seen for what they are - localized illuminations, beams of light that reveal a useful and beneficial section of reality, not the whole, immeasurable infinitude of the ocean. They provide a template and a guideline which provides shape and form and boundaries so that one is not lost immediately in bewildering depths and diversity. But they can become limited absolutes - granting an absolutist prerogative to their one particular template. The greatness of God and the profundity of His revelation cannot be reduced so absolutely to the outlines deduced (however capably) by men. Each school has its characteristics, each has its methods, each struggles honestly to be true to its interpretation of the source material (the Qur’an and hadith), yet each is a school constructed and elaborated upon by human effort (with the limitations that implies even for the most capable of interpreters). They provide guidance, but they are not ultimate guidance (that is reserved for God and that which He gives to the Prophets through revelation - and to select individuals, in the measure He (God) desires to give, through inspiration and insight).

Those who have a madhhab in the third sense mentioned by Ghazali (”….the third (meaning of) madhhab is what a person experiences in his innermost self, between himself and God….”), follow an elevated madhhab that hints at the immense depths that lie beneath the surface. They recognize the monumental unbounded nature of reality. They recognize that what is deeper than the surface is what overwhelms and unifies the disparate points of view, and can reconcile the veneer of surface differences illuminated by separate beams of light, of separate schools and differing orthodoxies.

1. ” He who speaks does not know…”: Some Remarks by Ghazali, James W. Morris, Boston College, Studies in Mystical Literature, Vol. 5 (1985/appeared in 1987), pp. 1-20
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.

Attack on Gaza - Israel’s Ideological Imperative

I recently read an article titled “New Information Agency Winning Support For Israel” (Globe and Mail). It described how Israel was skillfully managing the propaganda front of it’s attack on Gaza by effectively swaying the nature of news and opinion coverage on all media fronts. Even YouTube was being flooded with video that portrayed Israeli military operations in a favorable light. Israel had gone to great lengths to ensure that the major media outlets as well as new media such as YouTube and popular news blogs and discussion sites would spin the unfolding events in a way that benefits Israel.

But this spin is only a miniscule part of the propaganda campaign that has gone on for years - the one that tells the endlessly repeated story about the imminent threat to Israel’s existence posed by the Palestinians. Every controversial action, no matter how outrageous, no matter how destructive, is justified on the grounds of removing threats to Israel’s security. Considering the vast discrepancy between Israel’s military capabilities and the almost shantytown existence of Palestinians in Gaza, it is a sign of the resounding success of Israeli propaganda that this fable has gained general acceptance. A fenced in, long term refugee camp (whose inhabitants struggle to raise themselves from poverty amongst endless import restrictions, trade blockades, travel barriers) is no threat to one of the best-equipped military states in the world. The real threat is to the Palestinians, whose land continues to be stolen a few homes at a time and encroached upon one fence at a time by the Israelis. The world seems too busy, too occupied, or too diffident to pay attention to this continuous process of annexation which continues under various pretexts, or to the constant hardships imposed through restricting the flow of essential goods available to the Palestinians, or to the intolerable living conditions and psychological pressures that arise as a result of the ever-shrinking options open to them.

Propaganda and spin - these have been effectively pressed into service by Israel over the years. In this current crisis, Israel’s Information Agency is openly claiming that it’s strategies and it’s seeding of the media with biased material is a wonderfully effective strategy. After all, the aim of such an agency is to serve a particular ideology and to bend all information, all facts, to the service of that ideological aim.

By it’s nature an ideological approach is a reductionist approach since the wide sweeping complex panorama of reality is then reduced to fit set ideological directions. It provides a set of facile algorithms which grind up available facts and re-form the resultant paste by pouring it into a preset ideological mold.

A process like this works well for a nation like Israel whose Zionist ideology does not seem to allow for a truly fair and legitimate shared existence with the Palestinians, nor will it accept and act on criticism of that ideology, even that which arises from within the state. This is because this ideology is more connected to will and power than to knowledge and morality. In other words, ideology trumps knowledge and morality. It reshapes, rejects, accepts, and even manufactures “knowledge” (as propaganda) according to the goals (will) of the ideology and in seeking it’s own preservation and growth (power).

A combination of ideology and effective propaganda has the potential to make people apathetic, cold, indifferent, or even pleased at the plight of others - those others who hold conflicting viewpoints. No longer able to see each other’s humanity, they instead see ideological ciphers. This allows a state or group to undertake unsavory or repugnant actions - bombings, aggressive and unbalanced military action, killing of civilians etc. - in order to accomplish that which they desire to accomplish, to carry out their business with a minimal amount of moral outcry. Hamas is guilty of this with it’s pitiful and foolish rocket attacks on Israel, and Israel prods the Palestinians through a myriad of continuous and purposeful provocations designed to generate just such a response that will allow it to take heavy-handed retaliatory action without being restrained by the international community.

This type of scenario has played out over and over again since the creation of Israel as a Zionist state. Over the years, the existence of groups such as Hamas, Fatah, the PLO, have all been used to excuse the refusal to come to a fair accommodation with the Palestinian people (to allow a viable Palestinian state) and to justify wholesale slaughter, expropriation of land, and greater restrictions on the already hamstrung Palestinian population. Israel will always manufacture excuses since it acts, not on the demands of the situation, but on an ideological imperative that will brook no other course of action, no other goal but complete capitulation of the Palestinians to Israeli demands.

And now the Israeli’s have become far more proficient in their management of international perceptions, so that, with barely a whisper of protest from governments or the major media outlets, they go to their brutal task with speed and amoral ease.

2009 01 05 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Discussion on takfir

A website called Seeking Ilm recently published a post about an Ottoman fatwa that pronounced takfir on a group of “rafida“. Takfir is when one group of Muslims declare another group of Muslims to be kafirs and therefore outside the bounds of Islam. The article saw some possible benefit in such a fatwa being revived in our time. With all sincerity, considering the disastrous prevalence of takfir (and takfir based killings) in the modern era, I couldn’t resist commenting negatively upon that notion and this led to an extended discussion on the place of takfir in Islam. The article and the ensuing discussion can be read here at the Seeking Ilm website.

I also came across an article and discussion on takfir at Indigo Jo blogs - the discussion terminates unfinished at Indigo Jo but is covered in full here at Katib’s website.

See also: The Hermeneutics of Takfir at Islam from inside.

2008 10 30 Irshaad Islam
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Spirituality in Art in Aboriginal societies (Zainab Hussain)

This essay was written by my (sixteen year old) daughter Zainab for an Aboriginal studies University class she took with Professor Georges Sioui, a very unique and knowledgeable First Nations teacher and a dignified and compassionate man. The directions in which he took the class (mixing spirituality and history) meshed beautifully with independent readings on Islamic history and traditional Islamic spirituality that my daughter and I undertook together. The understanding that emerged from her Islamic readings flowed naturally into a beginning grasp of traditional First Nations societies - those within which metaphysical/mythological consciousness flowed like a lifeblood that informed and affected all aspects of those societies. The spiritual roots that nourished traditional societies have undergone devastating damage in modern times and this essay, although it speaks specifically about art in the Amerindian context, applies generally to all traditional societies.

Spirituality in Art in Aboriginal societies (Zainab Hussain)

Aboriginal art arises from and is connected to the natural and supernatural world through its form and content. It is therefore an art permeated with the spiritual meanings which traditional Amerindian societies associated with the natural world and the importance which they placed upon it. This art, as it existed in traditional societies, was not an art designed only for museums or for the creation of decorative objects but it was art that was embedded into everyday functional objects that were in use by that society. Living in a world where everything was connected to both natural and spiritual domains, their art was imbued with meaning, and this created an atmosphere which encouraged a society to remain constantly connected to both natural and spiritual worlds.

It was assumed by the Europeans that the Indians, before they (the Europeans) arrived, did not have the leisure time necessary to make art, because they were too busy simply trying to survive. They assumed that the only time the Indians made art was for major events, such as births, deaths, events related to food supplies (such as the harvest or the hunt), and other things associated with survival. This was because the Europeans did not, and possibly could not, understand the Amerindian way of life and because they could not recognize an art that was dramatically different from European art.

The Amerindian way of life was one in which their well-being was linked with the earth, and in which they were intimately interconnected with everything in the natural world, and their art reflected this. While Europeans may have believed that they had no art or at best a primitive art, in fact the exact opposite was true. “…Evidence exists that the first peoples of this continent spent a great deal of time fancying up virtually every item of their cultural repertoire, primarily because they believed that every item, no matter how ordinary, was a gift from the Creator and somehow interconnected.”(1) Beautifying the object was a form of spiritual recognition, or worship, to show their appreciation for gifts received. Aboriginals never created art for the sake of art itself, unconnected to life, it always had a deeper meaning, usually spiritual. It was also simultaneously functional, whether it was a decorated pair of moccasins, a bowl, a weapon, or a tool - it had a practical function but it was also constructed in such a way as to remind the people of deeper connections.

Aboriginal art is different in a number of ways from non-traditional art forms. First, it is very old art - its roots possibly go back (according to recent estimates) between 25,000 to 40,000 years. It is a form of art that focused on primarily natural themes. The materials the Native artists used were strictly natural - they used components gathered from animals, minerals, and plants to create their artwork and the use of these materials in conjunction with the respectful and careful manner in which they were utilized emphasized the strong connection between what they created and the natural world. Finally indigenous art was almost always an expression of spiritual affinity, whether it was in weaponry, clothing, or housing, a spiritual obligation to the creator and all creation was inherent in the work itself and in the methods used to create the art.

Though there were many significant differences among the various Indigenous peoples, at base their beliefs had a degree of unanimity. Aboriginal people fundamentally believed in one all powerful being, the Creator or Great Spirit who created everything and who is engaged in a continual and perpetual act of creating and re-creating. The universe, the earth, and all of nature were perceived as gifts from the Creator, and therefore they had to show sincere appreciation and thanks for these gifts. They also believed that everything had a spirit and so deserved some level of respect. At this level they saw little difference between humans and animals, living and non-living, material and non-material, all were connected, essential to one another, and therefore to be respected. They believed that through their interconnectedness with creation they had a spiritual responsibility for the thoughts and actions that emerged from them. They had a profound regard for the earth as they saw it as a sustainer. Also they believed that, since each thing is complexly interconnected with the rest of creation, the world belongs to everyone and everything, including to the generations yet to come. Therefore they had a duty to keep the earth just as beautiful and useful for the generations yet to come as it was for them. For the Amerindians there was no separation between spirituality, culture, and everyday life. “The reality of the sacred circle of life, wherein all beings, material and immaterial, are equal and interdependent, permeates the entire Amerindian vision of life and the universe.”(2)

“The Indians did not set out to create art for its own sake. In traditional Indian thinking, there is no separation between art and life or between what is beautiful and what is functional. Art, beauty, and spirituality are so firmly entwined in the routine of living that no words are needed, or allowed, to separate them.”(3) Amerindian art was not merely something pretty to be put on display and admired as was often the case with European art, it had a real function and a spiritual meaning in it - it had its own spirit. One way in which the Amerindians showed their respect to the spirits of the things they made was to decorate the item to give it meaning through the decoration. They saw the art as a way to express their respect, appreciation, and understanding of the spiritual mystery of the universe, and everything it contains. Symbolic designs on everyday items, such as moccasins, were placed so that they could be seen best by the wearer (rather than by others) as a reminder, to themselves, of deeper truths. This was also true of items such as birch bark dishes, wooden bowls, drums, and other seemingly ordinary articles. And by wearing or using these items they were linking themselves to both the spiritual and natural worlds. “Aboriginal religious rites and Aboriginal art symbolize certain realties and at the same time bring those realties about….they have an active religious role of their own.”(4) They created and decorated commonplace objects as a spiritual exercise, These objects were linked to the natural world through their origin and through the manner in which they were made. They were linked to the spiritual world through the meaningful symbols which were embedded in them and through the religious concentration, the time and thought given to produce an object with practical and spiritual utility. This increased the appreciation for that object. These objects, through their decorative aspects, and through what they were made of, and through the way in which they were made, linked the user to both spiritual and natural worlds.

“Anyone who has studied traditional art becomes aware of the presence of an impressive amount of science which makes such an art possible. Some of the science is of a technical character which nevertheless remains both amazing and mysterious.”(5) The way in which natural materials were both utilized and worked shows a deep knowledge of natural processes and an ability to use these processes in a non-disruptive manner. An example of this knowledge is their obsidian blades, which can have a sharper edge than that attainable with metal. “Obsidian is a type of naturally occurring glass… obsidian blade edges can reach almost molecular thinness….”(6) Obsidian was used for weapons, tools, and also in their art work. They had to have a depth of knowledge in this and other matters related to their traditional civilization and in what it created “…in as much as man must know the manner of operation of nature before being able to imitate it.”(7) A way of passing on that knowledge was to teach that form of art to the younger generation, an art which involved understanding many natural sciences and which incorporated a complete spiritual outlook - a spiritual science.

Through this art that was connected to the natural world because it was made of natural materials and had natural themes, and that was connected to the spiritual world through its subject matter and through the way it was created and used, a unique environment was created. When people are surrounded by the messages carried by a natural and spiritual art that is present in every aspect of life, it creates an atmosphere that allows and encourages a society to remain in continual contact with the natural and spiritual worlds. The ultimate aim of all this art was to make the human being into a piece of art (8) - one that fits into the beauty of the natural and spiritual world. “…all human beings are sacred because they are an expression of the will of the Great Mystery.”(9) Traditional aboriginal society guided them in this direction. Even if there were some who did not have much of an interest in this path, the society and the atmosphere within it kept them within a certain range of connectedness to nature. This opposed to our modern day society in which it is a struggle to have any kind of contact with nature at all, and in which spirituality and religion plays only a disconnected and small part in our lives, and art is mainly for museums. In traditional aboriginal societies art encompassed all areas of life and embodied a sacred knowledge which powerfully and intimately connected the Amerindian to nature and to the Creator, to natural and spiritual worlds.

Notes

John W. Friesen and Virginia L. Friesen, Canadian Aboriginal Art and Spirituality: A Vital Link, (Calgary, Alberta: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 2006) 15.

Georges E. Sioui, For an Amerindian Autohistory, (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1995) 9.

Anna Lee Walters, The Spirit of Native American Beauty and Mysticism in American Indian Art, (San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books, 1989) 17.

Max Charlesworth, “The Religious Sources of Australian Aboriginal Art,” Aboriginal Art and Spirituality, ed. Rosemary Crumlin (North Blackburn, Victoria: Collins Dove, 1991) 111.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Knowledge and the Sacred, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1989) 265.

“Obsidian,” Wikipedia, 21 Nov 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian> (23 Nov 2007).

Nasr, 264.

Nasr, 274.

Sioui, 9.

Bibliography
Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art. New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1956.

Crumlin, Rosemary, ed. Aboriginal Art and Spirituality. North Blackburn, Victoria: Collins Dove,1991.

Dickason, Olive Patricia, Canada’s First Nations: A History of Founding Peoples from Earliest Times. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Feder, Norman. Two Hundred Years of North American Indian Art. New York: Praeger, 1971.

Friesen, John W., and Virginia L. Friesen. Canadian Aboriginal Art and Spirituality: A Vital Link. Calgary, Alberta: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 2006.

Harvey, Graham, ed. Indigenous Religions. New York, NY: Cassel, 2000

Jenkins, Philip. Dream Catchers. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Lipsey, Roger. Coomaraswmy Vol. 1 Selected Papers Traditional Art and Symbolism. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1977.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Art and Spirituality. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1987.

—. Knowledge and the Sacred. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1989.

Patterson, Nacy-Lou. Canadian Native Art. Don Mills, Ontario: Collier-Macmillan Canada, Ltd., 1973.

Rajnovich, Grace. Reading Rock Art. Toronto, Ontario: Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., 1994.

Sioui, Georges W. For an Amerindian Autohistory, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press,1995.

Walters, Anna Lee. The Spirit of Native American Beauty and Mysticism in American Indian Art. San Francosco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1980.

Wikipedia, 21 Nov 2007, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian> (23 Nov 2007).

2008 06 13 Irshaad religion
Art
modernity
first nations Comments (2) Permalink

The profanity of a profane world (Shuja Ali Mirza)

This was left as a comment (by Shuja Mirza) on the article “Danish cartoons and the sacred” at Islam from inside. However, being such a comprehensive (traditionalist) comment and conveying so expressively the fall away from metaphysical connectedness that the article only touches upon, I felt it deserved to be highlighted in a separate forum. I have reproduced it in full below.

——————————-

The Profanity of a Profane World

The modern era in which we find ourselves is unlike any other era in the history of the world. From the very beginning of human history, the greatest and most intelligent men of every epoch have given credence to the existence of worlds and beings beyond this physical realm, and have posited an Absolute Being who is at once the Origin and Destination of all things. It is only now—in the last few centuries—that man has found not only “reason” to doubt the things that his forefathers saw to be certain and sacred, but has also discovered the “courage” to break from tradition and, by standing on his own two feet, has had the audacity to deny the very existence of anything sacred. The roots of this newfound “enlightenment” of man can be traced to his predilection to rebel against his Creator—individually speaking, and to the effects of the Fall of man—on the level of society and civilization. A thorough examination of these roots reveals the fact that modern “reason” is nothing other than the obfuscation of metaphysical insight and vision or, at best, the vestiges of the sacred Intellect deposited in man; and the much touted “courage” is really foolhardiness and merely the masked rebelliousness of Promethean man.

To understand the rebellious nature of fallen man, it is important to first understand his “created” nature and the fact that he is not the cause of his own existence. Man exists, but then so do dogs. What separates man from other creatures is his ability to reflect and intellect his “own” existence. Upon doing so he discovers that in himself and by himself he is nothing and that his existence is nothing but the consequence of his connection with the Source of all existence. Just as a ray of light radiating from the sun has no independent existence, so too man is an effusion of Divine Being. But when man does not use his intellect and does not see in this essential way, he begins to imagine that his existence is real and that he is a “something” in its own right. Such a skewed view of reality results in a corresponding deviation of human will. Fallen man in this new and modern fashion of “seeing” now starts to appropriate powers and rights for himself that he previously saw as a trust from Heaven which he had to safeguard and be true to. As he is now the measure of all things, he is also the sole criterion of human activity and henceforth only he decides what is to be done and what is not to be done - a bona fide rebel without a cause.

It is when man is rebellious and a renegade from heaven that he does not see the need for mediums and conduits of grace that connect him with the Source of all being and all grace. He balks at authority—spiritual or mundane—and hopes to go it on his own. Unwilling to see anything beyond his own self, he fails to transcend his limited and relative reality and becomes a prisoner of his body and a slave of his carnal desires. Sensing this and the futility of his situation he becomes desperate and in an occasional act of vulgarity, lashes out at the very sources of grace and sanctity that could save him from himself and his dire situation. Hence it is not a coincidence that profanity and blasphemy aimed at holy personalities are commonly observed in our modern era. But arguably that which is worse than the verbal or pictorial blasphemies is the general attitude of indifference and nonchalance that modern men have adopted towards religion and the sacred. It is one thing to vent “hatred” towards sacred realities, it is quite another to totally ignore them. In this vein, the very act of living a modern, liberal, secular life that is “untouched” by religion is the greatest of blasphemies.

Turning now to the social plane, it is the general conditions of the Fall which bear heavily upon modern man’s inability to have faith in God and the men of God. To explain, in opposition to the cult of progress that modern man subscribes to, traditional religious doctrines have always seen man’s entry into this world to be a fall from a higher realm to lower and lower ones. They speak of a degression, not progression. On the noetic plane, they hold that the former generations of men had more of a direct access to Revelation and the vision of the prophet through whom the religion was established, the latter — due to their distance and the entropic conditions of the Fall — have more difficulty in “seeing” the truth. They need to be helped from the outside, so to speak. They require aids to achieve the vision and intellection of the former generations. These aids and “artificial” constructs are providentially provided, and are a part and parcel of the religious tradition as a whole. So while they are in reality instruments which compensate for the overall decline, they are seen ostensibly as “developments.” After the initial vision there is for instance the development in the religious universe and orthodoxy of a doctrine, theology, ideology, sociology, and political system.

For a time the constructs, ones that pertain to a discursive and rational understanding of religious truths, were satisfactory and sufficient, as reason was still based on higher levels of the intellect and the sense of the sacred and holy was still alive and strong in traditional societies. Further on this was not the case and reason was increasingly divorced from its higher principle—namely the sacred intellect or al-‘aql al-qudsī — and a purely human rationality came to take its place; a rationality that insisted that all aspects of being fall within the pale of its discursive and deductive methods. This led to the absolutization of the said constructs—things which are in principle relative, leading to their solidification, irrelevance, and eventual impotence. This in turn, opened the Pandora’s box of religious criticism and, after which, there was nothing sacred left. All things were to be dissected by man’s rational faculty and pronounced as dead after the event. Indeed, God himself was pronounced as dead at the scene of the crime that modernity represents.

Man without a sense of the Absolute is a man that is bewildered and distraught amongst countless relativities. In a world where there is no Sacred, everything is profane. In a profane world, profanity is indistinguishable from true and noble speech worthy of man and his divine origins. Without such distinctions, man is free to bark everything and anything that comes out of his mouth. Not realizing that the very freedom of will that he uses to express his profanity is only made possible by the existence of the sacred and supreme will of his Creator. Hence the profound statement of Meister Eckhart, “the more he blasphemes, the more he praises God” rings true in our day more than in any other. But the final word must be from the Master of Eckhart, Jesus, upon whom be peace, who said:

“Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.” (Matthew 18:7)

- Shuja Ali Mirza

2007 06 15 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Hiking break

2007 06 14 Irshaad Islam
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Stages of the “fall”

“Contemporary philosophical anthropology does not have the capacity to speak of a “fall” because it does not accept any reality beyond man himself – so there can be no talk of a fall from, or ascent to, that reality. In the mythological view of things and due to the levels of existence that it considers, there is mention of war with the gods and an escape or exile from their presence. For contemporary philosophical anthropology though, even this latter is not a possibility.

Scientific anthropology also cannot speak of a “fall”. This is because it reduces all reality to the natural and material level. The idea of the Fall can only be spoken of where there is attention paid to existence in its totality and to multiple states of being. Such a point of view has its roots in religion….

Post-modern ideas are rooted in contemporary philosophical anthropology and accept the idea of cultural relativity. As a result they not only do not see the issue of the fall or ascent of man as substantive, but also deny the story of man’s historical evolution. They see it rather as a cultural phenomena which is produced by humanity and hence can be destroyed by it.

Now in classical philosophy, where there is talk of the totality of existence and the laws of metaphysics, a certain type of “fall” is envisioned. For instance, Plato saw man’s appearance in this world to be the result of his falling from the intelligible world of the forms….

The first stage of the fall is the descent from the heaven of divine unity. In this stage, whatever is seen in the natural or imaginal worlds is no longer a sign or indicator of the One God. It is rather the sign of the intermediaries and agents which are mistakenly seen to be discrete and independent existents. The world of myth begins precisely at this stage. During the course of the levels and stages that follow, man’s connection with heavenly and imaginal realities becomes weaker and weaker yet. Until finally, there remains no trace of even the broken and skewed visions of those realities that he previously had. Those unsound visions and apparitions become totally hidden and the perspective of polytheistic man now becomes one that is purely worldly and material. He sees nothing but matter and feels only the physical….

The place where the physical sun goes down turns out also to be the place where the light of truth wanes and sets. This is so because the lowest stage of the fall of man took place in the geographical west and the lowest interpretation of man and the world appeared for the first time in this part of the world in the form of a new culture and civilisation.”

(from Existence and the Fall)

2007 06 11 Irshaad Uncategorized
Islam
religion
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Existence and the Fall by Hamid Parsania

A number of readers, both of this blog and of “Islam from inside” have requested information on the availability of “Existence and the Fall” by Hamid Parsania - snippets from the book appear scattered through many of the “Islam from inside” articles. The full book title is: Existence and the Fall: Spiritual anthropology of Islam”. It may be purchased here. Here is an excerpt from the preface, by the book’s translator Shuja Mirza:

“If modern man no longer asks himself, other than in a scientific way, about his origin, his present situation, and his future destination – as a countless number of his predecessors did – he stands in danger of misunderstanding the human situation and even, in a manner, forfeits an essential part of his humanity. To be truly human requires him to think, apply his intellect, and understand his own self in an essential, substantive manner. Understanding himself fully means apprehending his origin, life and destination – or to say the same thing – to come to know the true reality of his existence. A lack of understanding then, results in a loosening of his grip over reality and, in its extreme form, this ignorance ushers him into a world which is relative…and ultimately meaningless. He finds himself disoriented, alienated…and in an ambivalence with regards to reality. This ambivalence begins with obliviousness of essential aspects of the self and ends in profound delusion and nihilism. Hence in our time, more than in any previous age, the Socratic imperative “Know thyself”, itself the echo of the perennial message of all religions, becomes indispensable as an antidote and as the beginning of a cure.

This present work takes as its point of departure the substantive origin of man and traces, in a “historical” fashion, his movement away from that origin. It concludes with the arrival of man on the material plane of existence and his accelerating descent into the modern world.

The original Persian title of this book, “Hastī wa Hubūt”, might also have been rendered as “Being and Descent”. I chose “Existence and the Fall” for two reasons. The concept of the Fall is a universal concept found in all true religions and orthodoxies. As a universal idea eternally existing, it is a single concept, but one that is expressed in different ways depending on the context and people for whom it is meant. Hence, though in certain traditions the emphasis might be on specific facets of the idea, this does not, at least in principle, exclude the other aspects. – In the Christian tradition – the one which is usually more familiar to English readers – the emphasis falls more on the moral dimension of the Fall than on the metaphysical or ontological dimension. This means that the word “Fall” or “fall of man” is usually accompanied by such expressions as “fall from grace”, “loss of innocence” and “original sin”. In the Islamic tradition, on the other hand, …the fall is seen either as… a departure from heaven or as a descent from the divine realm to this mundane one. Where the moral dimension is mentioned, …it is always with reference to and as a consequence of the greater ontological or wujūdī picture of reality. It was my feeling that the English reader would find it easier to understand the word “Fall”, while keeping in mind its different nuance and usage in Islamic literature

The word “existence” comes from the Latin existere or exsistere, which is itself composed of the prefix ex meaning “out of” and the verb sistere or stare meaning “to cause to stand, to stand”. Hence exsistere literally means to “to stand out, emerge”….

As man “stands out”, seeking independence, he actually falls…away from his origin and principle – distancing himself and becoming more relative and limited. Hence existence includes and prefigures the idea of the fall. Man’s return is to…go towards his origin, root, and aspect of being qua being. This inward or esoteric tendency is to know, in a direct fashion, the reality of man and the world; to envision with the “eye of the heart” the created nature of things; to see that any thing is nothing in itself and that it is something only by virtue of its bond and connection with its origin; and finally, to see in created things the infinite faces, names and attributes of the Creator.”

2007 06 10 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Qur'an
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the believers see him

“Abu Basir has related that he said to Abu Abdallah (Imam Jafar-al-Sadiq) - upon whom be peace: “Tell me about God, the Mighty and Majestic Will believers see Him on the Day of Resurrection?”

The Imam answered, “Yes, and they have already seen Him before the Day of Resurrection.”

Abu Basir asked, “When?”

The Imam answered, “When He (Allah) said to them, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said: ‘Yea, verily’ (Qur’an 7:172).” Then he was quiet for a time. Then he said, “Truly the believers see Him in this world before the Day of Resurrection…. But seeing with the heart (al-ru’yah b-il-qalb) is not like seeing with the eyes (al- ru’yah bi-l-ayn). High be God exalted above what the comparers (mushabbihun) and heretics (mulhidun) describe!”

(Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (a.s.) on perceiving with the heart - from “A Shi’ite Anthology”)

2007 06 09 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Islam 101 - seven earths, seven heavens

“God is He who created seven heavens and of the earth a similar number. Through them all descends His Command: that you may know that God has power over all things, and that God comprehends all things in His knowledge.” (65:12)

Every higher level surrounds, envelops and comprehends the levels lower than it. Every lower level falls under the dominion of the level above it. Every higher level – with respect to that which it encompasses and dominates – can be referred to as a “heaven” or “sky”. Correspondingly, every lower realm can be called an “earth”.

In the same way that light and water descend from the sky to the earth of this physical world, Divine Grace and Mercy is showered down from the spiritual skies and heavens to the realms below. So, the affairs of the earth are made and managed in heaven. “He regulates the affair from the heaven to the earth…”

From these verses, it is possible to divide the three stages spoken of in the previous lessons into further sub-stages, and in so doing, arrive at a number of heavens and earths that fall into a precise vertical hierarchy. In this hierarchy, every heaven surrounds and comprehends the earth below it, while the divine heaven transcends them all. The Qur’an says, “and from beyond them, God is encompassing.” (85:20)

The Prophet in his Nocturnal Ascension (mi’raj), passed through the seven heavens and the Qur’an also speaks of seven heavens and seven earths: “God is He Who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them; the decree continues to descend among them, that you may know that God has power over all things and that God indeed encompasses all things in knowledge.” (65:12)

In a tradition from Imam Rida, upon him be peace, he described sevenfold heavens and earths – one encompassing the other.

The highest level is exclusively heaven, and is not an earth of any level whatsoever. Likewise, the lowest level is exclusively earth, and is not a heaven relative to any other level. Now, of the remaining six levels, each is a “heaven” with respect to the levels below it and is an “earth” in respect of those above it. In this way, seven heavens and seven earths can distinctly be spoken of. These seven heavens are spiritual heavens, not material or worldly skies.

The natural world and all that it contains is “under” and encompassed by them. Now of course in this physical world itself, there exists a heaven (or sky) and an earth pertaining to it. This heaven is the very same sky that is seen by the naked eye, and the same one that is decorated by the stars. The Qur’an says of this sky, “Surely We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of the stars.” (37:6)

The spiritual heavens are, on the other hand, otherworldly, and encompass this material world. It is for this reason that the means of arriving at these heavens and returning from them is not a worldly or materialistic means or method. No rocketship can take you to these heavens….”

(from “Existence and the Fall” by Hamid Parsania)

2007 06 07 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Qur'an
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words and actions

“Surely the people are two sorts with regard to wisdom. One makes it firm by his word, and spoils it by his bad work, and one makes it firm by his word and confirms it by his work. What a difference between them! Blessed are those who are scholars in their actions, and woe to those who are scholars [merely] in their words.” (Tuhaf al-’Uqul)

2007 06 06 Irshaad Uncategorized
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the faults of others

“Do not look at the faults of others as if you have been appointed to spy over them, but attend to the emancipation of your own selves, for you are slaves, possessed. How much water flows in a mountain without its becoming soft, and how much wisdom you are taught without your hearts becoming soft.” (Bihar al-anwar, xiv, 324)

2007 06 04 Irshaad Uncategorized
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the ego has bared its teeth

“The dog of the ego has bared its teeth and nipped the spirit’s foot. Since your ego predominates you are a beast. Your properties are determined by that which predominates, oh self-worshipper! This ego…it drinks down the seven seas. It makes a morsel out of a world and gulps it down. Its belly keeps shouting, ‘Is there any more?’ This ego will swallow down the seeds of your worldly designs, and once you have planted them, they will surely grow.” (Rumi)

2007 06 03 Irshaad Uncategorized
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through intellect

“O Ali, Since mankind seeks to come near to their Creator through all kinds of piety, bring yourself close to Him through activities of the intellect, so that you may arrive there before all of them.” (hadith of the Prophet)

2007 06 02 Irshaad Uncategorized
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embark on the road

Many follow religion as a formula, a series of ceremonies that have been handed down to them and which are followed without full depth of understanding. There is comfort (and a benefit) in performing rituals but the goal of a ritual is not the ritual itself. Ceremonies and rituals are symbols, they are indicators, or shadows of greater realities - there is profound intellectual content behind them, underlying them - they are an invitation to embark on the road to discovery of greater realities - to experience of and verification of these realities - to personal knowledge of them.

2007 05 31 Irshaad Uncategorized
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dispense mercy

“The dispensing of mercy brings down divine mercy….I am astounded by the person who hopes for mercy from One above him, while he is not merciful to those beneath him.” (hadith qudsi)

2007 05 30 Irshaad Uncategorized
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facing outwards

We cannot be fully human if we touch upon our humanity when looking inward (to our own peoples) but place it aside when we turn to face outwards.

2007 05 29 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Who answers the distressed

The Qur’an places the responsibility and moral burden of sadaqa (and of compassion towards those who suffer) upon individual Muslims - it makes each of us responsible for acting to relieve the suffering of those in difficulty. This is perhaps because it does not want to transfer such duties entirely to institutions, to lock it up within governmental agencies or within the systems of any given time as these are susceptible to political, social, economic, or ideological stratification. They are susceptible to falling into hierarchical layers based not on moral superiority or deep knowledge but based on accumulation of wealth and on the control of the organs of political influence - based on lobbying, currying favor, or altering rules and laws in order to benefit the already wealthy, to favor those who are already influential and thus to grow the power of institutions that further economic imbalance. In such conditions the destitute are cut adrift - they may dwell in a land where they are surrounded by wealth in all its material and economic forms but the keys to this wealth are locked up within the convolutions of the system itself - so that in the midst of wealth people perish from poverty. Bringing relief (for the sake of God) to those in distress becomes an elevated responsibility connected with the deepest wellsprings of faith - those who act in such a fashion are like the hand of God, a living response to the Qur’anic verse:

“Who answers the distressed one when he calls upon Him and removes the distress - He will make you elevated in the earth….” (Qur’an 27:62)

2007 05 28 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Look deeply

“Use the intellect that examines, that penetrates into matters…and not just the intellect that repeats what it hears, for surely there are many that repeat the knowledge that they hear, and there are precious few who examine it deeply.” (Imam Ali - Nahjul Balagha)

2007 05 27 Irshaad Uncategorized
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their labor is lost….

Their energy and effort, their time and the bulk of their thought, inventiveness, and mental energy goes towards their worldly pursuits. That is the portion of their life they act upon with utmost seriousness (as it is the (apparent) source of their wealth and influence) - they allow its fluctuations, its ups and downs to weigh them down or lift their spirits and overtake their minds and hearts - and in their free time they pursue distraction with the variety and variability of the entertainment available to them. Their energy and their best behavior is invested in the domain of work, in service and submission to their business or their employers - their irritability, their lack of patience, their frustration, their hastiness, manifests in their interaction with those who should be dearest to them - their family - and hardly any trace of the graciousness and compassion of religion appears in their character.

“Shall We inform you of those who are manifest losers in their deeds…their labor is lost (trapped) in this world’s life though they imagine that they are well versed in the skill of the work their hands produce….” (Qur’an 18:103-104)

2007 05 26 Irshaad Uncategorized
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The template of their fiction

When there is no connecting thread that ties information together the way is opened for someone to overlay a story (a way of viewing the information) onto events and in this way to color and shape perceptions. Rather than looking for patterns which naturally emerge from events and which best explains all the information, a desired interpretation is instead imposed upon the data. This is a function of propaganda - a storyline is strongly, emotionally, and persistently repeated - its outcome and objectives are linked to a national/societal ego, to strategic hegemonic goals, to pride, and to fear of imminent dangers and threats. The information that doesn’t fit the story is re-interpreted or deemed irrelevant or insignificant while that which bolsters and supports the ideological viewpoint is emphasized and harped upon as evidence of the truth of the story and the viewpoint. First comes the policy, then the story to legitimize the policy - this becomes the frame through which all information is viewed, the template which blocks out undesired interpretations - if it doesn’t fit the frame it’s not relevant. So we are asked to dwell within the limits of this story, to only look outward through that particular frame.

In this is a tragedy that overtakes all involved. Some swallow and then carry out the plot of the story in the hope and belief that the fiction they are enacting is a true one. They believe the imagined story, they act on that story, and they hope to bring it to the imagined ending. They have overlaid the template of their fiction on the world and through every means at their disposal they seek to press that template upon the world rending, tearing apart, editing out, or re-interpreting whatever does not fit the convolutions of the plot they spin.

2007 05 23 Irshaad Uncategorized
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One glance

“A single attraction from God outbalances all the efforts of men and jinn” (Prophetic hadith)

One glance….

2007 05 22 Irshaad Uncategorized
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On a straight path

“I put my trust in God, My Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving creature, but He has grasp of its forelock. Verily, it is my Lord that is on a straight Path.” (Qur’an 11:56)

There is no one that God has not taken by the forelock. The forelock was sometimes used as an allusion to the forelock of a horse - when one grasps a horse by this forelock one has complete control over the animal’s movement, and can lead it where desired. There is no creature that God has not taken by the forelock, leading it, through the passage of time, to its destination in a higher reality. The verse states that God is on the straight path, so there is no creature that is not moving inevitably on the path towards it’s Lord, since none can free their forelock from Him. All paths come from God and all paths lead back to God. As the Qur’an says: “To Him all affairs shall be returned…He is upon a straight path” (Qur’an 11:123)

He set everything upon a path that leads inevitably to Him, and that path is a straight path that leads unwaveringly back to Him. And nothing is excluded from following this motion as it is a motion embedded into the substance of this world, and every creature derives its existence and its reality from this substance - every creature journeys through life and encounters death and a destiny in the next world. So all things are on a straight path to Allah. Allah is the all-comprehensive name (al-ism al-jami) which brings together all the properties of all the names of God. When we call upon Allah we call upon Him through different names and properties. So when someone in distress calls upon Allah, He means “O Deliverer or O Rescuer”. When someone who is suffering illness calls upon Allah, he means “O Healer or O Health Giver”. When someone is being treated harshly and is in distress and calls upon Allah, he may mean “O Merciful” as he seeks relief and mercy.

The straight path takes to Allah in His totality since Allah encompasses all the names. So while everyone is on the straight path to Allah, the mode manifested during the journey to Allah determines what the end of the journey will be. In their mode of action and intention in this world does the path that a person takes move them towards the names of wrath and punishment or towards the names of mercy and compassion. Does it move them towards the names whose properties rule over hellfire or the names whose properties rule over paradise. So in this meaning the straight path indicates the inevitable journey that each creature takes towards its judgment and final destination.

The specific straight path that Muslims have been commanded to follow is described in various places in the Qur’an. In sura 6 (verses 152 - 154) there is a description of a straight path (linked to particular actions, characteristics, and ethics) common to the Jews, Christians, and Muslims following which the verse states “This is my straight path, so follow it, and follow not diverse paths, lest they scatter you from its road. (Qur’an 6:154) And in sura fatiha when we ask for guidance on the straight path we are commanded to specify it’s separation from other paths. “Guide us on the straight path” we ask - but what is the nature of this path we request - it is “the path of those on whom You (God) have bestowed Your favors” - that is the path we seek to follow - “not the path of those upon whom is wrath, nor of those who go astray.” (Qur’an 1:5-7) These others also move inevitably, irresistibly, straight towards a meeting with their Lord but their mode of movement and their final destination is one to be avoided. The mode of felicity and grace are the defining aspects of the straight path that is to be sought.

2007 05 21 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Qur'an
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in the darknesses of the land and sea

All truths in this world are partial truths since as limited beings we are (through our limitations) restricted to seeing things from one perspective or the other. We have trouble reconciling opposites and differences since our perspective is limited by the ever-present reality of our many limitations. Total illumination in which there is no error is only with God. Creation only experiences a limited light – it is said to be a night in which the creatures move about in the darkness of the constraints generated by our own hemmed-in, bounded knowledge. Just as in darkness a person seeks to find his way by the light and position of the stars (“in the darknesses of the land and sea” Qur’an 6:97), so also we seek to find our way by the lights of the Prophets (who are conduits for an illumination connected to the light of God’s throne) and by the light of revelation which contains the potential to illuminate our own soul and thereby provide glimpses of a shielded and trustworthy path to a higher world. Otherwise, if we rely solely upon what we create and what we invent, we will be in error since our inventions (whatever high opinion we hold concerning them) are suffused with the same limitations which permeate us – they are the product of limited creatures drawing upon their own limited understanding.

2007 05 20 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Divine attractors…Divine authorities

“Say…Who encompasses the hearing and the sight?…” (Qur’an 10:31)

Man rises to knowledge only through the faculties given to him by God, that is, the various senses, the ability to think and reason, and the potential for subtle and deep insight. Even the ability for these senses, such as the sense of sight, to function, is dependent on the system and laws through which the physical world operates. Sight is dependent on the existence of light, and vision is in fact limited to a narrow range of the full spectrum of light. All our information derived in this world is severely limited and incomplete, just as our senses and even the instrumentation by which we extend them provide us only a limited and incomplete view of the material world we live in. And our reason can carry us only so far in overcoming these limitations.

In this verse God is pointing out who has the limitations (us) and Who is free from limitations and regulates and encompasses all affairs and all systems (God). Within the systems He causes certain attractors, certain nodes of confluence, to arise - these provide a connection with levels of reality that rise above sensory knowledge and which, being above the senses, lead to deeper, sturdier, and more reliable knowledge. They act as a conduit for higher, more encompassing points of view, for more intense levels of reality. As such they carry weight and authority - they are divine attractors, guides manifesting in the form of revelation and the messengers. And through these two authorities further ways to knowledge will be opened up for the people.

2007 05 18 Irshaad Islam
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The means by which we see

We can witness the light of the sun only by means of the light of the sun…. so God says, “When My servant draws near to me, I become the means by which he sees….” (Sayyid Haydar Amuli)

2007 05 17 Irshaad Uncategorized
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For every one of you, a path

“…there has never been any dispute amongst the prophets and messengers with regard to the foundations and pillars of religion, then one should realize too that if differences do occur in the details and branches of the law, then these differences are of quality or quantity and do not indicate any difference in the essence or reality. Thus the reality of the shari’ah has been the same in all ages and locations; indeed it is untouched by contention and difference. What variations in law and rule there are arise because of the diversity of situation and time or because of the difference of degree in people’s spiritual rank and understanding. Thus Allah has said: `We make no difference between any of His apostles.’ On further investigation we realize too that this divergence results from the complexity of the creational order and harmony and as such could not be imagined otherwise….

If existence were not organized and arranged to this degree of sophistication, then it would not be possible for any of His servants (that is all of creation) to attain their own individual reality in accordance with their own individual capacity: it is clear that it would be impossible to channel all the varying capacities into one single path and at one simple level. Allah Himself says: `For every one of you did We appoint a path and a way.’ Thus these differences are in accordance with the nature of existence and a state of affairs other than this would not be possible.”

(Sayyid Haydar Amuli - “Inner secrets of the Path”)

2007 05 16 Irshaad Uncategorized
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Qur'an
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