Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Sweet and Salty
Al-Rahman (The Beneficent) - Chapter 55: Verses 19-20

"He has allowed the two great bodies of water to meet together. [Yet] between them there is a barrier which they do not overpass."

Two huge bodies of waters exist in the world: one of sweet water as in rivers, lakes, springs or underground water resources, and another of salty water as in seas and oceans. The latter bodies of salty water can themselves supply sweet water through the process of evaporation and condensation which may end in rain or snow. Although these two types of bodies may meet, as when a river ends in a sea where we see the sweet water poured through the mouth of the river into the sea, an isthmus or an invisible barrier keeps each body of water distinct in its original character, in spite of such meeting points. Therefore, despite the perfectly coordinated interrelations between the two bodies of water, and the meeting and mingling of their waters at certain points, they remain distinct, each benefiting human beings with its specific characteristic in providing drinking water or salt or in facilitating navigation.

Beyond such an obvious understanding of the verse based on scientific or concrete facts, there has been a mystic "sufi" understanding - as rightfully pointed out by Muhammad Asad in his note about it - that sees in the verse a symbolization of the sweet human spirituality and the salty environment of the world, between which a natural and healthy correlation ought not go beyond certain bounds.

Compiled From:
"Concepts of the Quran" - Fathi Osman, p. 40

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Protection

"O God, I seek refuge in You from worry [hamm] and grief [hazan], and I seek Your protection from infirmity and sloth. And I seek refuge in You from cowardice and miserliness, and I seek refuge in You from the stress of debt and from being tyrannized by men." [Bukhari]

Hamm is worry for what may come in the future, while hazn is grief over what has transpired in the past. This supplication of the Prophet (peace be upon him), then, is seeking God's protection from the past and from the future, which to God the Exalted are the same, since He is not limited by time or our perceptions of linear time. Infirmity (ajz) is not having the ability or power to do something because of some disability. Sloth (kasl), however is having the ability but not the desire, the will, or the drive. Cowardice (jubn) is lacking the courage to be firm when firmness is needed, while miserliness (bukhl) is cowardice with regard to money. The miser hoards his money out of fear and greed. Cowardice and miserliness are paired here because each refers to a lack of resolve to strive with the body and wealth. Debt and tyranny are put together because having debt makes person beholden to the lender; he or she is enslaved if the lender is unprincipled. On a global level, international debt is a means by which powerful nations keep weaker ones bonded. Economic bondage is a world weapon. There is great wisdom in seeking refuge from debt and being weak before people, for the two go together.

Compiled From:
"Purification of the Heart" - Hamza Yusuf, pp. 180, 181

Blindspot!

Israiliyyat

The use of biblical material (Israiliyyat) to supplement the Quranic narratives of the Prophets was problematic on a number of levels. In the first place, not only biblical material but also extra-scriptural narratives were frequently cited. These stories most likely originated in Christian and Jewish oral traditions and midrashim, and the connection of these traditions to revealed knowledge is tenuous at best. Most of these stories have little probability of originating in revelation and, in many cases, clearly conflict with general Quranic principles, if not specific narratives.

For example, in his tafsir, Tabari relates a story from "some people from the Companions of the Prophet" (an exceedingly vague reference that probably means no more than that it is an "old" story) that when Adam was first created, he wandered alone and lonely around Paradise. Then, one day, he awoke to find a woman standing by his head. He said, "Who are you?" The woman replied, "Your wife."

This story, which could have originated in the Bible, in the oral tradition of the People of the Book, or even in ancient Arabian narratives, seems relatively harmless. However, what follows in Tabari's tafsir is a series of narratives that put the blame for sin on Adam's wife, and link the physical suffering of menstruation and childbirth to what is recharacterized as Eve's sin. This clearly contradicts the Quranic narrative, which shows that Adam and his wife both sinned, and both were forgiven by God for their transgressions. Indeed, the Israiliyyat that most undermine Quranic values are those related to women.

Compiled From:
"The Story of The Quran: Its History and Place in Muslim Life" - Ingrid Mattson, p. 194