The Whole of Creation is their Playground of God, Tariqa & Syaria - Prose of Ramadhan Part 34

If your idea of the Syaria leaves you groping
in the dark, why don't you switch on the light of the tariqa?

Islamic State of Mind (Ramadhan Verses 20)

They want the Islamic State

But they are not in the Islamic

State of Mind...

- Writing laws into law books

And saying "This is God's law!"

When I see that it is a human hand

Still holding the pen.

- Disconnecting the law from the love,

Demanding obedience without discretion,

Thinking only they must be right -

Building the fences of law so high,

That we cannot see the garden inside.

- Following the religion of hubris,

These fancy God-botherers,

Acting like tourists, coming and

Going as they please.

TARIQA SYARIA. A wise man once described the connection between the tariqa (the spiritual path) and the syaria (the law) of Islam thus - 'The syariah is like a fence, it protects a beautiful garden which is the tariqa." And that, in a nutshell is the symbiotic relationship between the two essence of the faith.

ISLAM WRONG? If the pronouncements of the syaria, if the canons of law themselves, as interpreted by man does not reflect the inner beauty of Islam, then frankly, I don't think that the law, the lawmakers and the lawgivers are Islamic. If they say that this fence is to protect a glorious garden of paradise which is Islam, but from outside the fence I see no garden, I see no beautiful trees or flowers, well, what are you talking about, then? Either you are wrong or Islam is wrong, and to be honest, I believe in Islam but I disbelieve in you.

I think Sufis exist. Because all Sufis love cats. Purrrr...

SUFIS? BAH, THEY DON'T EXIST! It is of course even worse when the lawmakers and lawgivers don't even recognise that tariqas and Sufism have a role to play in Islam. They will say that Sufism, if it ever existed (which they doubt), is long dead, buried with the Prophet and his Companions. But if the tariqa, the inner spiritual path towards divine servanthood and taqwa (the pacific heart) does not exist anymore, then what on earth is the law protecting?

I am an angel, but the coldness of their hubris
have turned me stone cold to them.

HUBRIS. So I hope these 'defenders of the faith' will come to heel before God, the Owner of the faith. But I am afraid that unless a divine intervention happens, they shall not submit. They shall continue to pray in the religion of hubris and by their love-less and rude 'declarations of law', they shall continue to exhibit their personal insecurity over their own faith, and their despair to openness, transparency and truth. They are running from shadow to shadow, bleating like paranoid sheep, "We are being oppressed! We must fight! We must fight!" - These are the men who think they represent the Nur (Light) of Islam? This is so funny, I could cry. I do actually. Too often. sigh.

HEROES. The Sufis fear no oppression, so they do not oppress. And the Sufis love frankness and openness, so they do not run from interfaith meeting. For to them, it doesn't matter where they are or whom they are with, if the purpose is to explore and extol the Divine Attributes of God and how He manifests His Love and His Plan over mankind, then it is always a good place. In that way, the whole of creation is their Playground of God.

Have a thoughtful Friday, sunshine. 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Islamic State? What Islamic State? - Cure of Confusion from The Sinners' Dictionary

MOB INJUSTICE. I do not think that mob justice has a part to play in Islam. When I think mob, I think injustice. It has been the counsel of the Saints for some years now, perhaps decades even, to the mureeds (students) under their charge, to avoid political gathering in public places. To especially avoid the angry and disgruntled, whether they consider their wrath justified under any moral, legal or spiritual convention. It is the nature of the times that we live in, that democracy becomes abused and can quickly turn into anarchy. And anarchy has no role, certainly no positive role to play in any society, of whatever religion or ideology.

WHAT IS AN ISLAMIC STATE? Muslim nations, by which I mean a country which is predominantly Muslims, have the highest example to follow. And that is the way of the Prophet (the Sunnah). But I wonder why is it that the more people stress on their 'Islamness', the less Islam it appears to me. In the wonderfully intelligent British political comedy television series, 'Yes, Minister', and later 'Yes, Prime Minister', I recall Sir Humphrey Appleby advising the Minister that when it comes to promulgating a Government White Paper (proposal for legislative change), it is best to put the difficult bit on the cover. So lets have more 'Islamic' countries, he will say. Because frankly, by calling itself Islamic,  the country often falls into a state of substantive-comatose - both the people and (especially) the Government considering the deed is already done. But in substance? Ah. Good question.

THE NAME. I think the best way to judge whether a country is Islamic is first the name. If it does not have the prefix 'the Islamic ....' is a good clue. I always thought that in Islam, it is for God Himself to judge whether you, on a personal level, are indeed a Muslim or not. For an entire nation, of perhaps tens of millions of people to claim in one spur of the collective ego that it is 'Islamic', is frankly, to my delicate nature, a trifling presumptuous.

TREATMENT OF MINORITIES. The second aspect is how the country treats its minorities. The moment I hear the baying of mobs and hordes, hungry to 'raise the banner of Islam' and 'defend the faith' against a small minority, well, that is also an intelligent indicator that Islam, in the truest sense of the word, is on the way out. 

FAIR PLAY. Because come on, if fair play has become abhorrent to the followers of Islam, then for heaven's sake, what are they actually following? Islam is not anything if it is not about fair play. And don't listen to the politicians and preachermen on their soap boxes justifying unfairness in the name of some holy pretext. There is no such pretext. Either these men are deluded or they are deceivers. Reject them utterly.

CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. One day, the Prophet was walking by a stream when he noticed a Companion performing the wuduq in the running water (physical and spiritual ablution prior to performing prayers). "I say, ol' chum." He said (well, not actually, but the gist is here). "Don't go wasting water. Get on with it and perform your wuduq quicker."

BEAUTIFUL THINGS. It is the nature of what the Prophet is offering, that anything that flows from his teaching must by its origin be beautiful. Beautiful buildings, houses and mosques. Beautiful music and poetry. Beautiful paintings and sculptures. Beautiful dancing and singing. And of course, beautiful manners and etiquette. If they are not, then pause and reconsider the source of your inspiration.

BEAUTIFUL MANNERS. It is the nature of a Muslim community that the members must exhibit an exceedingly humble and delicate code of manners. One day a mureed was walking with his Master when he came across a stone on the path. Remembering the sunnah which reminds people to help clear a common foot path, the young mureed kicked the stone aside. The Master promptly stopped to admonish the spiritual aspirant. "Even things which appear to contain no life in it, deserves respect. Next time, pick up the stone and set it aside by the path gently." The student mildly protested, "But Master, it is just a STONE." The old man then explained. "If you wish to continue following me, my son, know that to me there is no "...just a..." Then he paused. "What you cannot hear, I hear. And what you cannot see, I see. The stone was in a constant state of dzikr (remembrance of God by recitation of His Divine Names)." The mureed smiled and said, "Ah, thank you. That is why you are the teacher and I am the student." 

Well, these are some points to ponder over your cup of coffee. It is of course not exhaustive, but it is a good start. If a country, or a community cannot even wrap their collective turban around these basic concepts of human decency (which is basically what the Prophet exemplified), then I would advise them (not that they would listen to a sinner) to drop the title 'Islamic...' in their name, manifesto or logo, and to stop pandering to their private prejudices and systemic hubris manifested as 'piety'. 

Have a good day, sunshine. And whether the day is Islamic or not, leave that to the Creator to decide. 



Pax Taufiqa.

Islamization of Morality Laws - But I want to choose... God told me I could!

In my beloved country, and I guess in other muslim majority countries which like to call themselves 'Islamic countries', we always read the hue and cry of non-Muslims complaining about 'creeping' Islamization. This is especially true in respect of Islamic morality legislation. After all, for the non-Muslims, what is permissable according to their morale code is not permissable according to Islam (like drinking alcohol for instance), and what is morally and legally accepted by Muslims (polygamy, to name one hyper hot topic), may be abhorrent to some non-Muslims (and some Muslims too, truth be told).

But people rarely write about the Muslims themselves being worried about the codification and legislation of 'Islamic Moral' laws (the open and closed inverted commas are intentionally used here). Well, as a Muslim I am worried about the Islamization of my country's morality code of law. I think that we ought to be very careful how far we wish to legislate morality, especially when the prohibited activities (like going to karoake lounges and pubs) are only indirectly related to criminally prohibited activities like vice and drug-use.   

I do not know where to draw the line. Happily, it is not my job... and neither am I bound to appear politicially correct nor do I need to pander to the more 'conservative' elements of my brethren. But just to share with you - these are some basic ideas that have been swimming in the heads of sinners like me -

1. Religion (or as some people like to call it nowadays, 'spirituality') is not about stopping people from commiting bad things. It is about persuading people to see that doing bad things just isn't sensible, especially in the long term.

2. Folksy old sayings (much beloved by the chattering tabloids) like 'if a boy and a girl is sitting together alone, the third invisible person with them is the Devil' just tells half the truth. I have seen Devils impersonating man in mosques, whether in the congregation or preaching from the mimbar (pulpit) spewing hate and hubris like a giant evil armadillo.

3. As a human being. With brains (a little) and some sense of right and wrong (a little too) - I would like to keep the right to choose that God Almighty Himself has given me. I resent having to do anything for any reason other than my love and awe for Him - our Lord and Creator. And I certainly resent having to obey some misguided social dogma dressed in theological terms.

There is no beauty to the Law of Islam, if you divorce it from the Path of Islam. They are complimentary to each other, but are essentially different. Bad moral legislation is often because people have separated the Law from the Human Soul, which is the sole province and writ of the Path of Faith, the Path of Love, Truth and Incomparable Mercy. This is the complete reality of Islam, and any abdridged-hubris-centric version of the faith is an abberation. 

I hope things will get better. But tonight I am going to get a really good night's sleep - Who knows if tomorrow they will try to ban sleeping too...

Have a thoughtful day, sunshine. God bless you!

Pax Taufiqa.