Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Blind Following
Al-Kahf (The Cave) - Chapter 18: Verses 4-5

"and that He may warn those who say, "God has taken a child." They have no knowledge thereof, nor do their fathers. A monstrous word it is that issues from their mouths. They speak naught but a lie."

"To take a child" is a Quranic idiom meaning to assume special paternal responsibility for a child, to recognize a child, to take the child to oneself or into one's care. This wording choice criticizes not just the belief that God could somehow "beget" a child, but the idea that He would single any individual human being out for that special relationship (even through adoption, for example).

The Quran repeatedly rejects the notion that God has offspring of any kind, whether it be the idolatrous Makkan belief that the angels were God's daughters or various claims made by or attributed to Jews or Christians. Given that this is a Makkan surah, however, these verses are likely referring to the idolatrous belief regarding the angels.

Those who make such claims have no knowledge thereof, nor do their fathers, meaning that their claim derives not from knowledge, but from gross ignorance and blindly following the belief of their ancestors without exercising independent though. In the Quran, blindly following one's forefathers rather than using one's intelligence to discern the truth of the messages brought by the Prophets is presented and criticized as a common human tendency.

That the claim that God has offspring is called monstrous expresses the moral gravity of this claim as well as the shock and surprise that such a claim should elicit. That the claim issues from their mouths emphasizes that it is something completely fabricated for which they have no valid source.

Compiled From:
"The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary" - Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Moderation in Worship

Islam's advice of moderation extends to worship matters. The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned his Companions against excessive fasting and observance of night vigil. In a clear hadith al-Bukhari recorded, the Prophet said in a general tone but one believed to be more specifically concerned with night vigil and prayers: "Observe acts (of devotion) to the extent of your ability. By the (Exalted Name of Allah) no fatigue ever overtakes Allah until you are overtaken by it yourselves."

The advice of moderation in devotional matters also applies to dua, or supplication, whether individually or collectively, for example, by the prayer leader (imam) in congregational prayers. Supplication should be brief whether in mosques or outside. This is implied in the instruction the Prophet gave to his Companions, including the renowned Muadh ibn Jabal, who was prone to extending his prayers while leading the congregation. When one of his congregation members reported this to the Prophet, he was stern with Muadh, addressing him in such words as "a-fattani anta ya Muadh" (are you causing fitnah, O Muadh?). This warning was given so that prayers are not made burdensome on the congregation members that may well include older people and others who might even decide to abandon coming to the mosque for that reason.

Compiled From:
"The Middle Path of Moderation in Islam: The Qur'anic Principle of Wasatiyyah" - Hashim Kamali. pp. 103, 104

Blindspot!

Psychopath

Religion as a deliberate enterprise to seize the ultimate principle of value and thereby to reintegrate the forces of one's own personality, is a fact which cannot be denied. The whole religious literature of the world, including the records of specialists' personal experiences, though perhaps expressed in the thought-forms of an out-of-date psychology, is a standing testimony to it. These experiences are perfectly natural, like our normal experiences. The evidence is that they possess a cognitive value for the recipient, and, what is much more important, a capacity to centralize the forces of the ego and thereby to endow him with a new personality. The view that such experiences are neurotic or mystical will not finally settle the question of their meaning or value. If an outlook beyond physics is possible, we must courageously face the possibility, even though it may disturb or tend to modify our normal ways of life and thought. The interests of truth require that we must abandon our present attitude. It does not matter in the least if the religious attitude is originally determined by some kind of physiological disorder.

Muhammad, we are told, was a psychopath. Well, if a psychopath has the power to give a fresh direction to the course of human history, it is a point of the highest psychological interest to search his original experience which has turned slaves into leaders of men, and has inspired the conduct and shaped the career of whole races of mankind. Judging from the various types of activity that emanated from the movement initiated by the Prophet of Islam, his spiritual tension and the kind of behaviour which issued from it, cannot be regarded as a response to a mere fantasy inside his brain. It is impossible to understand it except as a response to an objective situation generative of new enthusiasms, new organizations, new starting-points. If we look at the matter from the standpoint of anthropology it appears that a psychopath is an important factor in the economy of humanity's social organization. His way is not to classify facts and discover causes: he thinks in terms of life and movement with a view to create new patterns of behaviour for mankind. No doubt he has his pitfalls and illusions just as the scientist who relies on sense-experience has his pitfalls and illusions. A careful study of his method, however, shows that he is not less alert than the scientist in the matter of eliminating the alloy of illusion from his experience.

Compiled From:
"The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam" - Muhammad Iqbal