When Denial of Shirk (multiplicity of gods) becomes an Oppression!

When Denial of Shirk (multiplicity of gods) becomes an Oppression!

In the Qur'an we learn of the sage Luqman's (alay his-salaam) bequest to his children, "Indeed Shirk (the association of others with GOD) is the greatest of Oppressions".

For it is an oppression against your own self since GOD had taken the oath from you when you were but atoms issued from the loins of Adam (as), at the beginnings of our creation (Surah Araf).

It is an oppression against the whole of mankind, since without the recognition of a transcendental singular GOD, who can conceive and put into action a Universal Justice.

(http://shafeesthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/fallacy-of-shirk-polytheism-agnosticism_07.html?m=1)

And it is an oppression against the whole of Creation that cries out against and only bears man's insolence because the command of

GOD preceded and took precedence over it.

However even given all that, we live in a singular time when those who make it their primary business to deny Shirk (the multiplicity of gods) have become the greatest oppression against us.

For the people I speak of may well be my brothers is religion, but that should only encourage me to stop them when they err.

They are those who believe themselves to be the blessed, the guided, the Ahl ul Sunnah wa'l Jamat. Are we not all?

But these particular ones hold three fold program that they believe purifies them above all others. 

That program consists of the

affirmation of the primacy of the Qur'an and Sunnah, the fear of Biddah (innovation), and the denial of Shirk. 

In reality, all in reverse order.

And it is this misplaced and indeed over-emphasis on Shirk denial that is the root cause of their oppression on us.

For Muhammad (saw) said of us, being his Ummah, that he feared not for us to revert back to Shirk, but for us to become neglectful of our minor duties and responsibilities that men hold over men. And so it has been throughout our ages that the five rights that GOD holds over us

have never been neglected, save possibly one. 

And that one whilst it is GOD's

right, and our duty to perform in obedience to HIM, it is the one whose benefit to others is abundantly clear. 

It is the Zakat; the right that the poor, needy and traveller hold over us through GOD's grace. 

The portent of Muhammad (saw)

is true, that whilst we uphold those things we neglect the right of a brother over a brother; the salaam, the overlooking of errors, and when they can't be overlooked then the consideration of excuses, and the brotherly goodness in all that it entails.

And it is these people in their pursuit of the denial of Shirk that run roughshod over our rights.

For they do not understand that the denial of Shirk does not of itself lend one to belief.

Whilst the accursed devil recognised the supremacy of God, he failed in his submission to HIM. And even supplicated for an everlasting life that he might lay in wait for the children of Adam on every highway and pass.

The Cornerstone of Belief.

The denial of Shirk is not the cornerstone of our belief.

Rather it is the doing of good; the smile, the social acts, and the upholding of all that is right and the fight against all that is wrong.

For Muhammad (saw) told us as much when he said that belief has seventy branches and the least of it is the removal of harm from the paths that men walk.

And not the denial, nor the rail, against Shirk.

And it is this over-emphasis on the thing that Muhammad (saw) under-emphasised for us that have visited a great oppression on the Ummah of Rasulullah.

Our HERITAGE.

For the house of al-Saud, and their ideology of

the ahlul-sunnah, has destroyed and continues to destroy our heritage: the

places that witnessed a phenomenal time that was the Prophet's life.

Where another would keep historical sites and use

them as a means of education for the people, they un-keep them, destroy them

and ignore them.

A very precious heritage on the verge of being

lost, because they fear that which Muhammad (saw) did not fear.

And even if they were right in regard to the few,

why squander for the many, that which would greatly benefit us all.

Reasonable Belief v/s Unreasonable SCIENCE: From Nothingness to Creation in 3 easy steps.

PREAMBLE

I believe in Creation, and in an intent, and will, that Created. 

I believe in a Sustainer, a Provider and a Giver above all. 

I do not hold that a proof of my belief necessarily exist in this life. 

Nor that a proof is even desirable. 

But what I do hold is that it is REASONABLE to believe, and unreasonable to not. 

When we come to ideas on the coming into existence of existence itself, we often come down to an argument of a thing becoming from nothing. 

Whilst we would be hard put to to empirically show such an event, the fact that we can conceive of it means that the idea must be entertained. 

The first modern Scientific postulate of an unobservable object, following on from Einstein's general theory, were the aptly named Black Holes. Until that is a clever dick showed that there would even be a radiation emitted from those esoteric cosmological oddities caused by the spontaneous eruption of mirror particles on the Black Hole's event horizon. 

It would seem then that even things that we presume are unobservable, are in fact observable, only you need to know where to look and what for. 

The Qur'an in its first stanza lays a clear foundation:

1-That is the BOOK without doubt.

(A place to look). 

2-A guide to the humble. 

3- Those who believe in the unseen, who establish prayer and spend out if what WE have bestowed upon them (of their wealth to the poor and needy).

The first characteristic for those seeking guidance is humility in the sight of something higher than yourself. 

The second clarifies the first; true and lasting humility comes only to those who believe in an unseen World. 

Thereafter the Quran guides us in the application of those things, but at outset it differentiates the Muslims as being those who believe in an Unseen World. 

ARGUMENT 1-

Then it would be reasonable to say that a man either-

1- believes in an Unseen World, or 

2-believes that the World is all that can be seen, or all that he can see and observe. 

In case 1, the person in question would have no trouble conceiving of something coming from nothing, and the Quran follows this with guidance sure. 

That such people should examine the root of all Books that came before, the original teachers and not their followers. 

For there they will find the purity of monotheism that only today resides within Muslim beliefs. 

ARGUMENT 2

In the case of 2, such a man, being an empiricist, cannot conceive of nothingness since nothingness is by its very definition unobservable. 

And if he did then surely he would not remain true to his principle. 

For it is unobservable, and hence impossible. 

Or he says that there always was a thing; an infinite regression of things. 

But since he is a finite empiricist, not in an infinite number of lifetimes, will he be able to observe a thing without a beginning. 

He will never be able to show with any degree of certainty a thing without a beginning. 

Both of which he would be hard put to observe; something coming from nothing, or an everlasting thing. 

In fact for an empiricist, a true materialist, explaining existence is a conundrum which will only bring them grief. 

Their ideas fail and contradict. 

Their only recourse is to deny their principle on the greatest of questions. 

Now tell me, who off the two is more reasonable?

The one who believes in an unseen World and that a thing can become from Nothing, or the one who says that all that there is, is all that can be seen, and then conjures something coming from nothing, or conjures an unobservable infinite series of beginnings, neither of which he can observe.

ARGUMENT 3

And there you have a contradiction, between his principle and what he'd have to admit. 

Such a man falls in his principle and in his methodology for by attempting to lay claim to the greatest question that mankind has posed of himself; the question if origin; he has admitted his need for those things that he cannot observe. 

Or if he were to hold true to his methodology, and his principle, then he would be forced to discount and ignore the ultimate question of origin. 

Yes he might pander around its limits, but never could he address the essence of the thing. 

And such a man would be incomplete. 

For it is the nature of all men, who would be whole, to question their origin. 

And GOD is the best of Judges, WHO will repay all in full those who lie and fail to be true to themselves. 

Shafeesthoughts. 

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Location:London

The Truth is.....

What is TRUTH?

The funny thing about this question is that we all "know" what Truth is, and yet somehow that doesn't help us. Knowledge is measured by the clarity and relevance of expression, and yet when we try to answer the question of "What is Truth?", we stumble.

We can all give examples of Truth, but that is precisely because we all know what it is. But to explain it in itself, without recourse to our examples, is a totally different matter.

Some definitions...       
If pushed you might be tempted to use a circular argument...

"Truth is truth" obviously.... And then laugh nervously.

Or even a truncated, or reversed, circular argument ..
"Truth" ...is..."What IS!"...

Or you just might try to sound even more profound with the equivalent..
"That which IS".

Which are all really just saying ...
"Truth is that which is TRUE."

More Trials...        
And then realising the foolishness of your circularity, you might say...

"That which is Self Evident."    Think again, is that Truth REALLY?

How many times have you presumed something to be Self-Evident only to find later that it isn't?

And after that thought you might add the proviso..."That which is self evident to US as a collective", or even "to the majority of US". And then on consideration you might remember the many instances in History where vast numbers of people have been deluded. Or even that at one time vast numbers of people "Knew" that the World was Flat.

Kindergarten Child.             

The more we think on it, the more intractable and the more escapable it all becomes. And yet even a kindergarten child knows what it is and what it isn't!

It is that obvious, that self evident.

And when a child's innocence is broken, when he learns that there are lies too, does not his face screw up in disgust? Because he instinctively knows that Truth is beautiful, and Truth is good.

Just as we all instinctively know that there is but one Truth and not a plurality of truths.

This is the conundrum of Truth, that even a child knows it and yet we adults cannot lay our finger on it.

The language of Mathematics....

Of all of us, it is our Mathematicians and Philosophers who have best tried to capture and contain it. For them Truth is a property of a statement, or a well-behaved function of a statement that gives one of two values either "true" or "false".

In plain speech all this means, is what we already know, that Truth is not falsehood and that falsehood can never be true. And that any well-behaved statement must either be true or false.

Godel proved that there are statements (within any systematic language) whose "truth" or "validity" can never be proved. Within the language of maths, axioms are given and not proven. Godel went one step further and showed that even when we exclude our given axioms, no language can ever be sufficiently powerful or perfect enough when it comes to expressions of Truth or Falsity.

Truth remains and has remained the greatest of enigmas.

A Supplication.             

I started on this thought process by thinking on the supplication of the greatest of men, Muhammad ibn Abdullah (saw), Rasul Allah (the last Messenger of GOD sent to Mankind). May he (saw) forever be blessed, abundantly and infinitely.

For he (saw) asked of Allah t'ala, GOD Most High, "O Allah show us the nature of things as they TRUELY are!" and we ask "O Allah, show us the Truth as Truth, and Falsehood as Falsehood and give us the courage and strength to follow the Truth and deny Falsehood".

For a Muslim Truth is higher than Love.

And ALLAH t'ala is AL-HAQQ.... the Supreme Truth.

As I was thinking on the issue... I ah-hahed... and I realised the similarities between the Truth I spoke of above, and the Nature of GOD as we Muslims understand HIM.

Allah t'ala, GOD Most High.        

For us Muslims GOD is self- evident.

HE is obvious, without doubt.

In the Chapter of Purity, Surah Ikhlas, we read.. "GOD is the Self-Subsisting".. Sufficient is HE for HIMSELF, and HE has no need of anyone. Just like Truth which can only really be defined as and of itself and not in relation to any other. "GOD is Unique and ONE".

And just like the Kindergarten Children, We know GOD to be beautiful and the ever doer of Good!

For Muhammad (saw) said.. "GOD is beautiful and loves those things that are beautiful".

And GOD is AL-HAQQ, the Supreme Truth above all, and upon which all are dependant.

And all glory belongs to HIM who nourishes us and provides for us and opens our eyes that we might see. And we ask Allah t'ala to bless Muhammad (saw) abundantly and with the best of blessings for that he (saw) showed us the way. Ameen.

Shafi.

Transcendentalism and the Origin of the Written Word

Transcendentalism and the Word:..:

"Wherefore lies the origin of the written word?"

 No doubt "a picture paints a thousand words", but one "well placed" word cuts through a mountain of irrelevance to the essence of a thing.

"The Origins of Writing."

Writing began with pictures that were used to tell stories. And then Pictograms, stylised pictures, were used to represent objects just like in early Hieroglyphics.

And so we know from the study of ancient Hieroglyphics that over time, as it's writing was also used to document everyday life, it became more cursive. And thus more flowing and distant from it's origins.

But the most incredible jump in all technology, ever, came when those symbols began to be used to represent sounds or syllables. And then their further abstraction formed sounding letters and a complete circumscribed alphabet.

It boggles me as to WHAT could ever have caused the Homo Sapiens genus to abandon the use of simple pictograms, representing objects, and then adopt abstract alphabets?

Certainly there were countless benefits, but these of themselves cannot explain that momentous leap.

"Countless Benefits."

Can you imagine having to remember a unique identifier-symbol specific to every word that you knew? Only a few gifted people would have been literate!

As social organisations grew in complexity; as kings annexed more land and grew in authority; the needs to administer their people effectively would have been most pressing.

BUT

But in order to evaluate the ease of conversion from one form of writing to the other it is not sufficient to look with hindsight on the World of our forbears. Rather when we put ourselves in their shoes, only then can we fully realise the momentousness of that change and the vast implications it would have had for the thought processes of Mankind.

Abstract Concepts & Ideas.

For with abstract alphabets came the possibility, and the concurrent ease, with which we might express abstract (and invisible) ideas and concepts.

Before that, what concrete symbols could people have used to transmit knowledge of Truth and Justice, Good and Bad?

That is not to say that they couldn't conceive of those principles, nor speak of them. But they wouldn't have been able to lay their thoughts down in black and white, and thence systemise or think deeply about them. And they wouldn't have been able to transmit this knowledge to people they had never met.

Historical Analysis.

The Historical Analysis of this question should be no different from any other form of rational analysis. All of rationality works in one direction only, being a movement from what is known to what is unknown. The known informs us with regard to the unknown and not vice versa.

What we know is who and what we are this day. And so to theorise about the origins of our abstract alphabets, and literacy, it is enough of a starting point to examine literacy in our day and time.

1 in 4 people throughout the World are Muslim, and even though not all of them understand their Arabic Qur'an, most of them read it. For some of them it may not make them literate, but even for those literacy is a thing to be sought, and books are a thing to honour in whichever language they are written.

Possibly for a Millennium a like phenomenon was found in Christendom where their most widely read book was the Bible.

In Judaism, the first of the three (Abrahamic Faiths), the scribes who write the scripture are honoured as one of the religious classes.

The Word and The Pen.

"In the beginning there was the Word and the Word was with GOD" is the beginning of Genesis, the beginning of beginnings.

In Islam the first thing that Allah t'ala created was the pen, and HE commanded it to write and it wrote all that would be.

What Muslims KNOW.

Muslims honour, and call true, all of the Messengers and Prophet sent from GOD to Mankind. These start with Adam (as), the father off all men, and include Noah, Idris, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Solomon, John (the Baptist), Jesus and finally Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon them all).

Of these Muslims call five the greatest of Prophets sent to Mankind, these being Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (pbut). However Muslims recognise a difference between a Messenger from GOD and a Prophet of GOD. For all Messengers of GOD are necessarily Prophets of GOD, but not all Prophets of GOD are Messengers. The defining difference between the two is that a Messenger receives a revealed Book and a Law. All of the five except Noah received a Book.

Noah (as).

That Noah (as) is amongst the five greatest and yet did not receive a Book, and hence is known to be a Prophet but not a Messenger, suggests that in his age there were no books and no writing.

He preached amongst his people a marathon 950 years, and then made his famous supplication that brought upon them the deluge: "They will never believe!"

Even if we believe that the lifespan of his people numbered into the thousands, 950 years of calling people to the same singular truth, of there being an Originator, a Sustainer and a Caller to Account of all things, is incomprehensible by any standards.

Until, that is, we consider the differing potentials between the absence of writing (or even the sole use of concrete symbols for writing purposes) and "abstract alphabets".

The lack of an abstract alphabet, given by the absence of a book, meant that Noah's (as) people found it difficult to perceive the hidden / objective World that surrounds us all. It's absence further compounded their lack of sensitivity, so that they could not perceive just arguments nor truth.

And it is this absence that must have necessitated 950years of intense work, because GOD is not unjust. And GOD will not punish a people (in this World) without first giving them the opportunity of believing.

The Heavenly Books.

Muslims believe that GOD literally sent down from Heaven the Books that were given to the Messengers.

From Abraham's and Zathrustra's Scriptures to Moses Tablets and David's Psalms to the countless Books lost to antiquity. It is these Books that must have shown the way, by example, to what could be achieved by the adoption of abstract alphabets.

And this is possibly what ALLAH t'ala referred to in the first revelation that came to Muhammad (saw) from the Qur'an (a recital of the last such Heavenly Book to descend which never reached our Earth):

"Read in the name of your LORD who Created.

Created mankind from a lifeless bit of congealed blood.

Read (a command),

and your LORD (O Mankind) is most bounteous (giving/generous).

HE it is who TAUGHT (Mankind) by the PEN.

TAUGHT (Mankind) that which he knew naught."

S Alaq, Al-Qur'an.

 

 

A Sobering Thought.

We live in a Modern World in which progress is denial of all that came before. However the basis of our Law and Ethics are rooted firmly in the revealed religions.

More than that.

And the very words that we talk, the very concepts that we hold true, are a direct result of the Heavenly Books that ALLAH t'ala (GOD, most High) sent down to Mankind.

The last of which was the Holy Qur'an.

Paradoxically it is a verbal Message sent down upon an unlettered Messenger. Muhammad (saw) who rewrote all that it means to be a Man, a Leader and a Conqueror.

May ALLAH t'ala reward him (saw) abundantly, without measure, forever and ever. Ameen.

Shafi.

I will post more detailed commentary later.

Heaven and Earth

Heaven & Earth.

A LOSS?

In the last post I argued that many religious Muslims have difficulty with the loss of the revelationary link between Heaven and Earth. This finality, in a long and ancient history of Messengers, and Prophets, from GOD, occurred when the final Messenger sent to ALL Mankind, Muhammad (saw), left us.

And it is their incapability to deal with that loss that causes them to suppose the continued revelationary and/or spiritual succession of Muhammad (saw), either through his family (our Shia brothers) or through his dear ones (our Sufi brothers).*1

*1[The way in which our cousin brothers of the Christian Faith deal with the same problem is through the supposition of a ephemeral entity called the Holy Ghost and/or through the divinement of the society of their Church.]

However the message that Muhammad (saw) brought, whilst affirming all that came before it, revolutionized our understanding of the relationship and link between Heaven and Earth.

Heaven v/s Earth.

For in OUR prior Judeo-Christian Heritage we find that Heaven and Earth were divided, separate and disparate. The antonym for Heaven, there, is almost Earth. For in Christian fiction Hell lies below our plane of existence, at the very centre of our sphere.

There also we find that Adam (as) FELL to Earth, whereas in the Qur'an Adam (as) was sent down to Earth (anzalna, which is also used to denote the descent of the Angels, Revelation and even life giving rain). Both traditions agree on whence he came, Eden or Aeden is in the Heavens above, but the manner of his descent is relevant.

From Heaven, being the abode of the divine, Adam (as) fell to Earth, being the place of mundane.

Heaven is perfection, whilst the lot of those on Earth is decay and loss. Heaven is bliss, whilst Earth is all toil and hardship. Heaven is the place of those whom GOD loves, the elect company of near ones. And Earth is the place of the rebellious ones who do wrong.

Thus was the speech of the high company of Angels when they were told of the creation of Adam (as), "Will YOU, O GOD, create one who will wreck mischief and shed blood on Earth, Whilst we do glorify YOUR every praise (in Heaven)?" (TMQ S2 paraphrased).

And it is for this reason that all religions see religiosity as being other-Worldly, Heavenly.

Whilst Muslims acknowledge the primacy of the World to come, they are however forbidden from seeking to escape from the here and now of Our World, with all of its mess/ uncertainty and guaranteed loss (S. Asr).

For them Monasticism, or any other like phenomena, has been expressly forbidden through a Prophetic Hadith, and this is even whilst our Prophet (saw) acknowledged that GOD loves such people. (There is no contradiction here, because the fare of the Muslim is different from the fare of all other Nations).

Life as Struggle.

Muslims know that what GOD intended was for Life to be a Struggle. For when Adam and Bibi Hawa (Lady Eve) (as) were sent down, Allah t’ala decreed “And let there be enmity (hardship/ friction) amongst/between you” (S2). The you here refers as it were to the whole of Mankind. 

And so by extension if Life is easy then you are not living; truly not living.

Life is Struggle and full of movement. And in all that flux Muslims seek to keep their heads firmly fixed to their bodies lest they fall. Five times a day their hopes go heavenward, five times a day their eyes return homeward.

And so a Muslim is almost like a ballet dancer or dervish that spins and spins, and who in order to prevent himself falling keeps his head (and eyes) firmly fixed on one of two points... snap, snap, snap; between 2 points at two extremes.

To see the Spiritual.

Snap, snap, snap.....between the Spiritual and the Mundane.

Until with gathering speed, the two merge in his eyes... and he finds the Spiritual in the Mundane.

And so after those 5 appointed times, and after having been reminded of the true reality that awaits him, our hero seeks his livelihood on this, his, temporary home (Earth). And Muhammad (saw) on seeing a man working hard with his hands said of him “ALLAH t’ala (GOD, Most High) loves those hands.”

The Heavenly and the Mundane.

This understanding that the Heavenly can be found in the Mundane, is something that Muhammad (saw) brought. For whilst Nabi Isa (Jesus the son of Maryam)(as= may GOD be pleased with him) asked his haweri-oon (disciples) to renounce the World, Muhammad (saw) asked his followers to embrace the World and when the time comes, to embrace the Next. To embrace this World fully and in it’s entireity, but not to love it. To own wealth, but to not let it own you. To act responsibly and then to learn to have faith and trust in GOD, leaving all things to HIM (who creates and then fulfils).

For Muhammad (saw) said “Tie your camel first (to prevent it running away) and then have faith” and “Be in this World as a stranger/ traveller, who stops in the shade of a tree for a while”.

To hold an Opinion.

For such a Muslim, Islam is a religion full of empowerment. For they understand that it is easy to bow when you are weak, but when you are strong and you bow, that is something that GOD delights in.

And so we pray, how we pray. We stand to demonstrate our ability and GOD-given power and then we bow, to make clear our choice of submission. The fiqh-rules of the standing up after bowing forbids the use of an implement to aid in the standing. You cannot lean on a support, you must if able stand on your own two feet, by your own means.

And likewise for some Muslims piety is “Allahu Alam”= GOD knows best, which of a surety is Truth. But although the reply of the companions was often “GOD and HIS Messenger know best” on many occasions, this was not their reply towards the end of Muhammad’s (saw) mission.

For Muslims, who understand what GOD loves, hold an opinion. They study and contemplate and then hold an opinion and then when knowledge comes to them of what ALLAH t’ala or Muhammad (saw) decreed, or said, resign their opinion in favour of GOD’s decree. And this is true piety. To embrace the World and then to relinquish its hold on you for that which is better and much more longer lasting.

To remove pain and hurt 

They know that their Christian brothers conception of religion before them, that religiosity requires both atonement and pain, is not Godly. For God is not in need of pain and suffering. 

And that their duty is the removal of pain and suffering. The creation of a society that is free from it, where all of the people are but one brotherhood before the Most Merciful. 

Whom they choose

And they understand the specificity of “Choose the one who best knows the Qur’an” as opposed to the generality of “Obey those who are put in power over you”, two hadiths whose meaning becomes apparent to those who study the Seerah and the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw).

May Allah t’ala reward Muhammad (saw) abundantly who opened up for us both this World and the Next. And who taught what ALLAH t’ala intended for us, not to hide... but to fight against all wrong and oppression.

END

For more on whom we should chose see the following blog 

https://shafeesthoughts.blogspot.com/2016/09/who-messenger-chose.html?m=1

The Perfection of GOD's Favour, and the search for Meaning.

The Perfection of Gods Favour and The Search for Meaning

"This day I have perfected MY favor upon you (O Mankind) and chosen for you Islam as your religion!" Al-Qur'an

That statement was given to no other Prophet before Muhammad (saw), the final Messenger from God and the seal of all of the Prophets! And Umar (ra) on hearing this wept and said "After perfection there is decline".

Muslims have from that time been cautious, wary of any adding to or subtracting from that Divine Favour.

And rightly so, because if you were to do so, then in the words of Umar (ra) they would decline and go astray.

For how can you better perfection?

You cannot!

Our Dilemma

And therein lies our age-old dilemma, to live whilst retaining that moment. For life is movement.

And our dilemma is to live, move, do and achieve whilst trying to hang on to that moment of perfection, that was the life of Muhammad (saw) and the Qur'an that was sent down to him.

Many are the ways that people have sought to do that.

Imam Malik (rh)*1 believed to do so was to contain the acts, saying and customs of the Medinese. Others take different solutions to that dilemma, some emphasizing the spiritual aspects of the Tarikahs (sufism), and still others the juristic aspects of the schools of fiqh (law). But I believe that Muhammad (saw) left us a clear indication of how to hold onto that aspiration.

But first forget what I believe and examine with me carefully that statement of Allah t'ala that is the centre-piece our aspirations.

A lesson

If you were to look at this verse solely within the context of the Qur'an that we read today, you could be forgiven for overlooking it and failing to be impressed by it.

Look for it now at the beginning of Surah Maida. Within it's textual context it appears insignificant, and can be easily overlooked.

In fact if you were to know nothing of it other than it was revealed to Muhammad (saw), you could rightly believe that it preceded some fundamental other revelation!

That Allah t'ala revealed just prior to it (on THE one and same day) something of such significance that warrants it's declaration!

What happened on that day?

The Farewell Pilgrimmage and Sermon

It was the day of Arafat, in the Holy month of Dhul-Hijjah, on the Holy plains of Arafat.

On that day Muhammad (saw) gave his farewell sermon to countless thousands of Muslims who had gathered to perform the Hajj with him. This is significant!

That Allah t'ala revealed this declaration to the whole of humanity after Muhammad (saw) taught us the rites of Hajj, after Mecca had been purified of idolatry, and after Muhammad (saw) had summarised our religion for us in his farewell address!

This shows us the intimacy between the revelation and the sunnah of Muhammad (saw). Scholars argue as to whether or not the Sunnah explains or can even abrogate the Revelation. This incidence explains the intimacy between the Sunnah and the Revelation and makes such questions irrelevant.

The Search for Meaning.

Just after that farewell address and at other times, both before and after, Muhammad (saw) commanded his followers "Those who are present, tell those who are absent...."

Of itself this command of RasulAllah (saw), which bore the command of Allah t'ala, would have been sufficient for us to know Muhammad (saw) to the very last detail as we do today. Because his companions took those words to heart and transmitted to us every last detail that was that phenomenal time.

However, Muhammad (saw) went further than that and he said:

"Those who are present tell those who are absent, perchance they may better understand..."

To live in that moment, the moment when both heaven and earth united in the revelation that came to Muhammad (saw), the messenger of God, who withheld naught of what he knew!

That is to live the Sunnah and to seek it's meaning for our lives that we lead, which are full of movement, motion, going to and fro, that is the way that Muslims are meant to be.

To remove the shackles of canon, of privilege, of man-made honour, of haughty pride and to go and seek the meaning of that Revelation, both Qur'an and Sunnah, and it's relevance for our own lives.  To do so, is not to read a book, but is to live life to its fullest and to reflect on the life of Muhammad (saw) and the Qur'an, Allah t'ala revelation and speech and Muhammad's (saw) companion, constantly.

--

Shafi...B

 

*1 Imam Malik is my Sheikh and Imam, may God be pleased with him (ameen)... I use his example in this blog to point to the variety of ways that people sought to hold onto that perfection!

 

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